Integrating Movement Into Classroom
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Overview and Purpose
Being a public school student in Brooklyn the entirety of my childhood education, outdoor recess was never something we had access to. The only form of physical movement we had was during our gym or dance class that was 45 minutes once or twice a week. It is becoming increasingly more evident that not only is adequate physical movement important for all people, but physical movement can also have a very positive influence on knowledge retention.
The intent of this course is to provide educators with information regarding the benefits of integrating movement into their classroom, as well as ideas for how they can incorporate physical movement into any subject area or grade level.
Topics that will be covered:
- What are the benefits of building movement into learning?
- What is whole body learning?
- What is NYCDOE's Move-To-Improve Program?
- How can educators integrate movement into the curriculum?
- How can movement be accessible for all students' abilities?
Needs Assessment
Instructional problem: The need to provide educators (participants) with the knowledge and skills on how to integrate physical movement into any subject and content area for their students. The additional need is to provide students with opportunities to use movement to help with retainment of knowledge. According to the CDC (2022), "students who are physically active tend to have better grades, school attendance, cognitive performance (e.g., memory), and classroom behaviors (e.g., on-task behavior)." It has been found that students today are getting 17 less minutes of exercise today than they did before 2020 (Sparks, 2023), so it's important that as educators we try and incorporate exercise where we can into our day.
The nature of what is to be learned: Educators (participants) taking this mini-course will learn about the benefits of integrating movement into learning as well as how to adjust their teaching and learning activities to make space for movement for their students.
About the learners: The learners (educators) are any K-12 teachers in the classroom. Some characteristics that may affect what kind of movement activities are integrated are: the physical capabilities of the students, amount of space in the classroom, and instructional structure of the school.
Intent statement: This mini-course will help educators address their concerns that students are losing focus and need time to move around throughout the day. This mini-course will also help students in addressing their needs by giving them opportunities to not only be more physically active but also use physical activity to help them retain more knowledge and be engaged.
Performance Objectives
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:
- Describe the benefits and value of incorporating movement activities into classroom and curriculum.
- Assess and evaluate learning activities and determine ways to integrate movement into them.
- Create learning activities that will integrate physical movement.
Course Units
This mini-course includes the following units. Click the title of a unit to go to its page.
Unit 1️⃣: Research on Integration of Movement
Learners will:
- Read research on the benefits of integration of movement into the classroom
- Complete a KWL Chart on what they Know about integrating movement into learning, what they Want to learn about the integration of movement, and what the Learned about the integration of movement into learning
- Complete a 3-2-1 activity at the end of the reflect on their learning
- Complete a quiz to assess their learning
Unit 2️⃣: Integration of Movement for Brain Breaks
Learners will:
- Read research and watch video clips that discuss and show examples of how to give students brain breaks throughout the day
- Identify examples of activities that can be used as brain breaks in the classroom
- Complete a 3-2-1 reflection activity
- Complete a quiz to assess their learning
Unit 3️⃣: Integrating Movement Into Math
Learners will:
- Assess and evaluate learning activities that incorporate movement into math instruction
- Apply ideas to their own experience
- Analyze the videos in looking for how movement was integrated and additional ideas
- Create their own activity that integrates movement into math learning
Unit 4️⃣: Integrating Movement Into Reading
Learners will:
- Assess and evaluate learning activities that incorporate movement into reading instruction
- Apply ideas to their own experience
- Analyze the videos in looking for how movement was integrated and additional ideas
- Create their own activity that integrates movement into reading
Resources
Afi. (2022, August 18). Physical activity in school-aged children. American Fitness Index. Retrieved May 4, 2023, from https://americanfitnessindex.org/physical-activity-in-school-aged-children/
Benes, Sarah, et al. 2016. “Teachers' Perceptions of Using Movement in the Classroom.” The Physical Educator, https://js.sagamorepub.com/pe/article/view/5316.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, July 26). Physical activity facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/physicalactivity/facts.htm
Cox, J. (2019). “Why Are Brain Breaks Important?” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-brain-break-2081615.
Kleinjan, D. (2020). Movement Matters: The Importance of Incorporating Movement in the Classroom. Northwestern College, Iowa.
Kreider, C. (2018) Read and Move: A new approach to read-aloud time in primary grades, Childhood Education, 94:2, 64-71, DOI: 10.1080/00094056.2018.1451692
Nandzo, J. (2014). Incorporating Movement into Literacy. Ghana Physical Education and Sport Journal. Vol. 3, pp 23-38.
Peterson, E. (2022, June 6). Reinforcing elementary math lessons with movement. Edutopia. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/reinforcing-elementary-math-lessons-movement/
Sparks, S. D. (2023, March 15). Students need more exercise. here's how to add activity without disrupting learning. Education Week. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.edweek.org/leadership/students-need-more-exercise-heres-how-to-add-activity-without-disrupting-learning/2023/03
“The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning through Movement | Michael Kuczala | Tedxashburn.” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Apr. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41gtxgDfY4s.
