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Easy Modifications for Lessons to Incorporate Moving

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This post originally appeared on the blog Room 213: Engaging & Meaningful Learning.

MOVING HELPS LEARNING:
When I went back to school this year, I spent two full days in meetings. After a summer of relaxation and moving to the beat of my own wishes, I was required to sit for hours in a hard plastic chair while my well-intentioned principal droned on about the same information that he had written on the text-heavy slide show he was projecting. Every now and then, we got a chance to question and discuss, but for the most part, we sat and listened. And squirmed, and doodled, and tuned out, and wished we were back on the beach. The next day we went to a PD session. The screen was bigger and the presenters were far more engaging, but the chair was just as hard. By mid-morning, I was day dreaming. After each session, many of us wondered about the wisdom of having people who have been off for two months sit still all day. Ironically, however, many of us repeated the same scenario with our students the next week.

WE NEED TO MOVE TO LEARN:
The human body is not designed to sit for long periods of time; yet, that is exactly what it does in school. In Brain Rules (2008), brain researcher John Medina states that "physical activity is cognitive candy" and that "exercise boosts brain power". In fact, study after study points to the same conclusion: learners need to move. But is this research just about kinesthetic learners? Definitely not, for we all benefit from moving and stretching. It gets the blood flowing, it boosts creativity, and it breaks up the monotony of sitting in those hard old seats!

EASY WAYS TO GET STUDENTS MOVING:
I'm lucky to teach with some creative and inspiring teachers who use lots of active learning in their classes. One physics and math teacher has a trunk full of toys and games that get students moving as they learn about the principles of physics. If you walk by his class on the right day, you might even witness students in egg throwing contests. His most popular game, though, is in his math class, where enthusiastic students play "Sig Fig Says" to learn about significant figures. Another math teacher has a chin up bar hanging from the ceiling so students can take action breaks, and a biology teacher has exercise balls for students to sit on so as to better engage their core. Others have taken students paint-balling to re-enact battles in WWII or the feud between the Montagues and Capulets. The students in these classes clearly have lots of opportunity to move to learn. But do you have to go to great lengths to get your students' bodies and brains moving? Do you have to spend hours thinking up crazy lesson plans and field trips? No, because there are some very simple ideas that you can use every day. Here are some of my favourites:

1. At any point: one of the simplest ways to wake them up is to just have a break in the middle of class. Tell them to stand up and move around for a few minutes. We've all been in long meetings and know full well how welcome a little break to move around would be.

2. When students do group work, tape a piece of chart paper on the wall, so they have to do their work standing up. They don't need the chart paper either; they can stand around their desks and work at any time.

3. If you're comfortable letting them leave the room, send them for a walk 'n talk as they discuss their ideas. Send them in pairs or small groups for a walk around the school, or outside on the school grounds.

4. If students need to answer questions on a text: post them on pieces of chart paper that you will tape up in various locations in your room-use the hallway too, if you can. Students can move around from question to question with their notebooks to answer the questions. They can do this individually or in groups.

5. If you want to review homework or reading of a text: group students and send them to different parts of the classroom. Ask them to stay standing as they discuss the homework or the questions you have posed. Then, you can either have a full class discussion while they are sill standing or after they have returned to their seats.

6. If you want students to work on vocabulary building: on the top of several pieces of chart paper, write single words or full sentences that contain basic vocabulary. Tape up a number of them throughout your classroom and have students circulate around the room, adding synonyms to the page. If the page has a full sentence, they could suggest a change for any word in the sentence. They can't repeat a word, so as they move around the room, it will get more difficult for them to come up with a synonyms. When they finish, the can debate the "best" words on the sheets.

7. If you need your students to learn or practice skills: set up learning stations . Instead of giving them a long handout on how to write an essay or how to include research in their writing, break the process into small steps and have them do an activity at each station. For example, station one might have an exercise that teaches them how to write a thesis statement, station two might be about transitions, etc.

8. If you're working on debating skills: write debatable questions on several pieces of chart paper. You will need one for each side of the topic. (For example: School uniforms should be mandatory and School uniforms should not be mandatory). Ask students to choose a topic and stand by the sheet that represents their views. They can write their reasons on the paper, and then they can take turns having an informal debate.

9. Use discussion stations: either at a group of desks, or using chart paper on the walls, have students discuss issues that could come from the novel they are reading or from current events Give them ten minutes or so at each station and then have them move to the next one. (Along with movement, it's a great way to have them work on speaking skills in a safer environment). Once they've visited each station, you can have a full class discussion.

10. Any time you have students do group work on chart paper, have them do a gallery walk after. You can find out more about that in
Would you like to try some of these ideas but are worried about classroom management? You can get some advice You can also find many of these ideas for moving to learn in my free product at my TpT store. Just click .

Jackie has been teaching and learning in Room 213 for 24 years. She has her Masters of Education in secondary English curriculum and currently teaches 12th grade academic and general, as well as an 11th grade International Baccalaureate class. Her focus with all students is on learning how to learn, critical thinking, and love of reading. She lives in Prince Edward Island with her husband and three children. You can read more about her adventures as a teacher at her blog, Real Learning in Room 213 or on Facebook. You can also visit her at her TpT store Room 213 and on Pinterest.

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10 Simple Ways to Get Your Students Moving and Learning | The TpT Blog

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This post originally appeared on the blog Room 213: Engaging & Meaningful Learning. MOVING HELPS LEARNING: When I went back to school this year, I spent two full days in meetings.

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Advice on How to Effectively Implement Movement

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QUESTION BALL TOSS

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Classroom Activity: Question-Answer Ball Throw

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Beginning teachers demonstrate a classroom activity that gets students speaking in the target language.

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5 Minute Brain Breaks! (and active ideas for vocab review....)

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5 Minute Brain Breaks! (and active ideas for vocab review....)

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Wednesday's guest post about why kids need to move from pediatric occupational therapist Loren Shlaes was so popular that I decided to follow it up with a list of Brain Breaks you can use with your students. These are great to use anytime your students are feeling restless and are struggling to pay attention. Most of these will only take a few minutes, and then you can get back to the lesson with your students ready to focus on the lesson at hand.

1. 5-4-3-2-1 In this simple game, students stand up and the teacher (or leader) has them do five different movements in descending order. For example the teacher would say: "Do five jumping jacks, spin around four times, hop on one foot three times, walk all the way around the classroom two times, give your neighbor one high-five (pausing in between each task for students to do it).

2. Trading Places Have students stand behind their pushed-in chairs. Call out a trait, and everyone who has that trait must change places with someone else (students who do not have the trait stay where they are). Examples: "Everyone with curly hair." "Everyone who ate cereal for breakfast." "Everyone who is wearing stripes."

3. Six Spots Number six spots around your room from 1-6. Have students each go to a spot of their choice. Choose a student to roll a die (if you can make a big one out of foam, it adds to the fun). All the students at the number rolled must go back to their seats. Students that are left go to a new spot, and the die is rolled again. Continue until only a few students are left.

4. Mingle, Mingle, Group! In this game students mill about the classroom saying, "mingle, mingle, mingle" in soft voices until the teacher says, "Groups of 5," at which point the students must quickly group themselves into groups with the correct number of people. Students who are left over must do three jumping jacks before the next round starts. The teacher can call out any number for the group size. You can also add rules such as: as soon as a group is complete, all members must sit down in a line.

5. Dance Party! Put on some rockin' music and dance! If you can make the room semi-dark and have a black light or other special effect, your kids will love it!

6. Freeze Dance! Similar to Dance Party, except that every so often the music stops, and students must freeze and hold the position they are in until the music begins again.

7. Name Moves Students stand behind their chairs. In turn, each student says his or her name accompanied by a special movement. For example a student might say, "Kayla!" while dramatically dropping to one knee and doing Jazz Hands. After the student does his or her move, the rest of the class says the student's name in unison and imitates the move. Then it is the next student's turn.

8. Keep It Up Students must keep a beach ball from hitting the ground. Add two or three balls to make it even more fun.

9. Simon Says An oldie but a goody!

10. Movement Songs Sing a song with whole-body movements, such as, "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," "Father Abraham," "Toe-Knee Chest-Nut," "Shake Your Sillies Out (Raffie)," "Grand Old Duke of York," "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean," etc.

11. Recorded Movement Songs Older students might enjoy a simple Zumba routine, YMCA, or the Macarena. Littler ones will love Sesame Street's A Very Simple Dance to Do.

12. Animal Pretend Younger children will enjoy pretending to be various animals (or even objects such as lawn mowers or airplanes). Call out a few in sequence.

13. Would You Rather Ask a "would you rather" question and have students show their choice by moving to one end of the room or the other. Have a few kids share why. Here are 20 free "Would You Rather" Questions to get you started.

14. Find It Fast Call out a color or other trait (e.g. something round, something made of wood), and students must find an object in the room that fits the trait and get to it quickly.

15. Physical Challenges Challenge students to do something physically difficult, such as standing on one foot with arms extended, or this one: Grab your nose with left hand, and grab your left earlobe with your right hand, and then quickly switch so that your right hand is on your nose and your left hand is grabbing your right earlobe. Yoga poses could also be a good variation.

16. Plates Give each student a paper plate. Students must walk around the room balancing the plates on their heads. If a student drops his or her plate, the student must freeze until another student picks it up and places it back on the student's head (while keeping his or her own plate in place, of course).

17. Line Up! Have students line up using a specific criteria, such as age (use day and month, not just year), height, alphabetically by middle name, hair length, etc.

18. Limbo All you need is a long stick and a pair of kids to hold it. Music is nice, too.

19. Human Knot Divide students into groups of about eight students. Have students each grab right hands with someone who is not directly next to them. Then do the same with left hands. The challenge is to untangle and become a circle without releasing hands.

20. Jump Skip Counting Have students count by twos, fives, tens etc. while jumping with each count. You could also practice spelling words this way.

Please note that I did not come up with all of these out of my own head. Here are some of the sources I used:

Here is a nine-minute video about how to manage Brain Breaks in your classroom. It has good ideas on how to quickly transition and group students. Try searching Brain Breaks on YouTube for ideas and dance routines you can use with your students.

Looking for more Brain Breaks? You can get 60 of them in a convenient card format right here!
What works in your classroom? Please comment with your ideas!

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20 Three-Minute Brain Breaks - Minds in Bloom

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Wednesday's guest post about why kids need to move from pediatric occupational therapist Loren Shlaes was so popular that I decided to follow it up with a list of Brain Breaks you can use with your students. These are great to use anytime your students are feeling restless and are struggling to pay attention.

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Skits/Role Play for Practicing Speaking

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Rolling dice to create sentences /choose topics

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using music to encourage movement while working

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Movement through
Stations Rotation

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Options for Alternative Seating