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Movement works with ALL Content, especially learning a new language

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Movement works with ALL Content, especially learning a new language

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Research studies and strategies included

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I'm a big fan of encouraging students to accompany learning with gestures and physical movement, particularly, though not exclusively, with English Language Learners.

I thought I'd begin a short "The Best..." list on the topic, and ask readers to contribute additions.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources On Students Using Gestures & Physical Movement To Help With Learning:

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a mainstay of many ESL/EFL instructors. Teacher Joe has a nice short description of it, and here's a much more TPR guide from the English Language and Literacy Center.

Here's a study on how gestures improve memory.

What's a quick and easy way to improve learning? is about a similar study.

Brief training with co-speech gesture lends a hand to word learning in a foreign language is yet another study.

I've previously written a post titled Using Gestures In Teaching & Learning.

The Secret Code Of Learning: Our body language can reveal more about what we know than our verbal language is by Annie Murphy Paul at TIME and provides a good overview of research on the topic.

Learning a language may come down to gestures is a Washington Post report on a new study. Thanks to The Center for Applied Second Language Studies for the tip.

Study: Gestures help language learning is another report on the same study.

High Fluid Intelligence, Gestures, and Simulation is from the Eide Neurolearning blog. It reports on recent research on gestures and learning.

To Learn A New Language, You've Got to Move More Than Your Mouth! is from Education Week.

A study found that "requiring children to gesture while learning the new concept helped them retain the knowledge they had gained during instruction."

Teachers' gestures boost math learning is from Eureka Alert.
Surprising Study - NOT: People Learn A Second Language Better By Physically Simulating Words No Surprise In This Study: Language Learners Retain Vocabulary Better When Connected To Gestures & Images Video Of The Day: Physical Movement Helps Language Learning
Why Kids Shouldn't Sit Still in Class is from The New York Times. It's a good reminder to incorporate movement in class, even if you don't use the videos they talk about in the piece.
Movement and Learning
How Seeing and Using Gestures Make Ideas More Memorable is from Mindshift.

This is obviously not a complete list, and I hope readers can suggest more resources.

If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.

You might also want to explore the nearly 700 other "The Best..." lists I've compiled.

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The Best Resources On Students Using Gestures & Physical Movement To Help With Learning

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I'm a big fan of encouraging students to accompany learning with gestures and physical movement, particularly, though not exclusively, with English Language Learners. I thought I'd begin a short "The Best..." list on the topic, and ask readers to contribute additions.

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Easy and practical strategies to implement everyday

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With every lesson I teach, the undeniable connection between physical movement and learning becomes clearer. Brain researcher David Sousa claims that physical activity increases the amount of oxygen in our blood, and this oxygen is related to enhanced learning and memory. A recent Washington Post article suggests that many student behaviors we associate with ADHD may stem from an overall lack of physical movement - both in and out of school.

However, many high school teachers still struggle to integrate movement into the classroom. I know that as a former English teacher, movement found its way into many of my "special" lessons, but it was often a missing ingredient of daily instruction. For example, when students worked on creating commercials integrating persuasive techniques, searched for books in the library, or carried out debates, movement was inevitable. However, when the main focus of a lesson was reading and writing (as many are in the English classroom), movement was minimal.

I've included some strategies that teachers of any content area can use to integrate movement into lessons. All of these are strategies that I either used or observed colleagues use with classes over the past week. Of course, authentic movement such as performance tasks, problem-based learning, and flexible group work is ideal. However, when you have a lesson that looks "sedentary," integrating one of these strategies will surely increase students' learning and engagement.
1. Gallery Walks/Chalk Talks
Sometimes we have multiple texts that students will need to read and analyze in a lesson. Why not post those texts on the walls, and have students rotate around the room in small groups? I have used this strategy with students analyzing primary and secondary documents for DBQ's (document-based questions) in history classes. One colleague had students analyze magazine ads for rhetorical techniques in her English class.

Gallery walks can also feature student-created texts. They can also be digital. An earth science teacher I work with had student groups create informational Animoto videos on different geographic formations. She then had students participate in a digital gallery walk where they watched the student-created videos on laptops, and took notes on each geographic formation.

Chalk Talks are gallery walks where students are asked to interact with the posted texts. For example, quotes could be posted, and student could post their reactions to them. In a math class, students could solve a problem on chart paper, and explain their process. Other students could then use Post-Its to write comments or critiques of their solution and process.
2. White Board Meetings
White Board Meetings are a strategy I have seen two science teachers use often. Essentially, students will investigate a situation (often using a data set). Students will then make sense of the problem in a group. They will display their findings on a large whiteboard. Usually, students are required to show information in graphs, pictures, mathematics, and writing. Once students have have had time to include their information on the whiteboards, they present their findings to their classmates. Students and the teacher can give them feedback and ask them questions after they have presented.
3. North Pole-South Pole/Continuum
This strategy is great for formative assessment of learning and background knowledge. Essentially, one side of the room represents one idea, and the other side of the room represents an opposing idea.

For example, I used the strategy while teaching last Tuesday. My "North Pole" was "I feel extremely confident in how well I can comprehend and remember information in the statistics textbook." My "South Pole" was "I feel NO confidence in how well I can comprehend and remember information in the statistics textbook." Students were asked to align themselves with how they felt. If they felt neither way they would be in the center of the room. Many stood closely, but not completely, to one side, showing the continuum of their confidence. Their responses affected how I presented an array of note-taking strategies, and which students I worked with more closely during the lesson.
4. Musical Mingle
This strategy works along the same lines as Musical Chairs, but you simply ask students to stand. I often develop a series of questions that I want to ask students before the lesson begins (to assess background knowledge) or after the lesson (to assess learning). I ask all of the students to stand. I tell then that when I play the music, they will meander around. When the music stops, they will find a partner to discuss the questions with. Once students have had the opportunity to talks, we then repeat the process.

One caveat to this strategy is limiting your questions. Generally, any more than three or four questions results in some diminished focus. Once the activity is done, I ask for students to share some of their discussion point with the whole class. Most students feel confident sharing in the whole class because they had an opportunity to clarify and test their thinking with a partner earlier.
5. Stations
Most educators view stations as a staple of the elementary school classroom, but they are also extremely effective in high schools. Stations can be utilized for differentiation. For example, based upon students' current writing trends, a teacher could place students at station based upon areas they need to practice. Activities can be on paper, or they can be embedded digitally using QR Codes. Other stations may be rotational, such as short writing prompts, different math problems, different poems to analyze, or different activities for new vocabulary or concepts.

Clamoring for more movement strategies? Check out my sequel to this post with five more ways to get students moving.

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Five Movement Strategies in the High School Classroom

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With every lesson I teach, the undeniable connection between physical movement and learning becomes clearer. Brain researcher David Sousa claims that physical activity increases the amount of oxygen in our blood, and this oxygen is related to enhanced learning and memory.

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How to get students moving and learning...

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Find and save recipes, parenting hacks, style inspiration and other ideas to try.

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Example: Stand Up/Pair UP

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ALL students...

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See PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS FOR STRATEGIES

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Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd Edition

About

Since Teaching with the Brain in Mind was first published in 1998, it has inspired thousands of educators to apply brain research in their classroom teaching. Now, author Eric Jensen is back with a completely revised and updated edition of his classic work, featuring new research and practical strategies to enhance student comprehension and improve student achievement. In easy to understand, engaging language, Jensen provides a basic orientation to the brain and its various systems and explains how they affect learning. After discussing what parents and educators can do to get children's brains in good shape for school, Jensen goes on to explore topics such as motivation, critical thinking skills, environmental factors, the "social brain," emotions, and memory. He offers fascinating insights on a number of specific issues, including

Table of contents

Preparing the Brain for School

Book details

Product No.

ISBN

Release Date

Page Count

Member Book

No

187

May 2005

978-1-4166-0030-5

104013

ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

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Teaching with the Brain in Mind, 2nd Edition - ASCD

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Since Teaching with the Brain in Mind was first published in 1998, it has inspired thousands of educators to apply brain research in their classroom teaching. Now, author Eric Jensen is back with a completely revised and updated edition of his classic work, featuring new research and practical strat

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Letting kids move in class isn’t a break from learning. It IS learning. - The Washington Post

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Letting kids move in class isn’t a break from learning. It IS learning. - The Washington Post

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Last July I published a post titled "Why so many kids can't sit still in school today." It hit a nerve and became one of the most-read pieces on this blog last year, with readers continuing to click on it, along with related posts, such as " The right - and surprisingly wrong - ways to get kids to sit still in class" and " A therapist goes to middle school and tries to sit still. She can't. Neither can the kids."

Here is a new post on the same subject, by Aleta Margolis, founder and executive director of the Center for Inspired Teaching, a D.C.-based nonprofit organization that works with teachers, principals, and entire school faculties to foster the best teaching practices. Margolis writes about how teachers incorporate movement into lessons to make it part of learning, not just a break from it.

By Aleta Margolis

As an educator for the past 25 years, I'm delighted that our national conversations about teaching and learning are beginning to recognize that excellent instruction engages students intellectually, emotionally, and physically. We've come a long way in our understanding of the development of young minds. Yet despite research proving the lasting benefits of serious play, too many of our classrooms remain still, silent places, lacking any element of physical movement.

It's critical to maintain time for recess and free play that builds students' balance systems ( as powerfully described by Angela Hanscom), but we also need to emphasize the important role that physical movement can and should play within the classroom. Movement is a powerful teaching tool, and when we as teachers thoughtfully incorporate physical elements into instruction, we elevate the learning experience. As part of my work at Center for Inspired Teaching over the past 20 years, I train teachers to provide this type of active, student-centered instruction because it's how students learn best.

The teachers we train learn to create lessons in which students use their bodies to explore the math and literacy concepts their brains are learning. Teachers who've graduated from our programs are using movement to teach in classrooms across the District, across all disciplines and grade levels.

One teacher has her students measure their pulse and breath rates before and after a set of jumping jacks and then asks them to create graphs to display these results.

Another teacher makes a large outline of Washington D.C. using masking tape on the floor of his classroom and then has his students, brought together from schools across the District, map out the city's geography by walking to and from important sites - the Capitol, the White House, the Potomac River, and also their homes, their schools, their playgrounds.

A third teacher has his students estimate the perimeter of their playground and then physically measure the distance using their own feet and the standard foot on a ruler.

Vigorously shaking a container of cream to create butter teaches students about the difficult realities of frontier life and also about the science of their own bodies, about lactic acid and what happens when muscles are used too hard for too long. When students time each other running for 30 seconds, they get to practice using basic time measurements and also to begin asking big picture questions about advanced issues such as time perception. Why does 30 seconds feel so long when you're out of breath but so short when you're playing a game?

A graduate of one of our programs recently described the wealth of learning that can derive from physical movement, in this instance from an activity she calls " indoor ice skating ":

Thanks to my training, I understood the benefits of this play. By having to hold the paper plate to the ground with their feet, the kids were using concentration skills. . . . The gliding actions were helping to build their muscles and tone their gross motor skills. The act of having to navigate their skating around other kids, to take care of themselves and others and share the space, was helping them work on self-control and peer-to-peer social-emotional development. The fun and the joy of it were helping to get their blood pumping and adrenaline boosting.

As this teacher describes, movement isn't a break from learning; movement is learning, and the opportunities for thoughtful exploration in the classroom are endless.

Inviting students to participate physically can feel like inviting classroom chaos, and it's critical to recognize and respect that when teachers ask students to participate physically, we're asking them to complete far more complex, demanding work than just sitting and listening.

So how do you teach teachers to take this next step in building their practice? The answer lies in ensuring professional development engages teachers the way we expect them to engage their students - physically as well as intellectually. By taking teachers completely out of the typical training model, which requires them only to stare passively at PowerPoint slides, my colleagues and I ask teachers to tap into new ways of problem solving, community building, and communicating with those around them.

Incorporating movement-based activities can help learners of all ages articulate and internalize new ideas, and this process invites adult participants to leave their comfort zone and reexamine their roles as both teachers and learners. They explore the relief that students feel at being invited to move, as well as the uncertainty and shyness that can arise when something new and unexpected is introduced.

After participants experience this shift in mindset, my colleagues and I then focus on shifting classroom practice, training teachers to implement research-based strategies to infuse movement into lessons through careful planning, the setting of clear expectations, and the creation of meaningful work that authentically requires students to be fully engaged, in both body and mind.

It's difficult to train teachers this way and equally difficult to teach this way, but it's worth it. It's worth it because higher-level instruction, provided by teachers who have strong training and support, elevates classrooms from static places where we create forced fidgeters and compliers to vibrant learning environments that build expert problem solvers, inventors, and creators. For school to be a place where the talents of young people are cultivated rather than extinguished, we need to give students the freedom and responsibility to tinker, explore, test, prod, and physically interact with the world around them.

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You may also be interested in:
Why so many kids can't sit still in school today The right - and surprisingly wrong - ways to get kids to sit still in class
A therapist goes to middle school and tries to sit still. She can't. Neither can the kids.

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Letting kids move in class isn't a break from learning. It IS learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Last July I published a post titled "Why so many kids can't sit still in school today." It hit a nerve and became one of the most-read pieces on this blog last year, with readers continuing to click on it, along with related posts, such as " The right - and surprisingly wrong - ways to get kids to sit still in class" and " A therapist goes to middle school and tries to sit still.