© 2024 Tales from Outside the Classroom ● All Rights Reserved
Adding in Movement
I’m so excited to participate in the Bright Ideas Blog Hop. The posts in this series all feature no strings attached, free ideas to use in your classroom. No sign ups, no products- just great ideas.
Today I’m sharing 4 ways I’ve incorporated movement, or kinesthetic techniques, into my teaching. Some I use regularly with my current 3rd graders, and some I’ve used with intervention students in the past.
Stand Up, Sit Down is one I still use regularly in my classroom. Basically, I tell students two different topics and that they’ll sit for one and stand for another. This gets them up and moving, is a low-stress review, and is also a quick time filler. I’ve used it to review parts of speech like nouns and verbs or adjectives and nouns. I’ve used it to review odd and even. It’s basically pretty open to anything you can fit into two categories. I like that it gets my unconfident students involved because they can just look around for assistance. I also often repeat what it is and the category it is as I explain it to students. It’s an easy way to get their blood flowing, up and out of their seats, but still keeping them contained.
Number Rounds is a math twist on the popular Sparkle game. I use it to review mentally adding 10, 100 or multiples of them to any number. My students struggle with adding 10 to a number like 851, especially when they’re the one that has to come up with 901. To play, I start with a number and a rule: Add 10 to each number starting at 51. Every time a student passes a new hundred, they sit down. Eventually you get all the way around the circle and the last one standing is the winner. This is Hard, with a capital H, for many of my students but gives them great practice and builds their number sense. It’s not the most movement based activity, but it gets the kids out of their seats which is important to them.
Forward, Backward is an idea I do when my students are in line. It’s an effort to keep them quiet and paying attention. Again, their forward and backward movements match my two categories. Step forward if the number is even, step backward if the number is odd. Step forward if the equation is true, step backward if the equation is false. I just recently started trying this out, but I love that it gets them up and moving. It’s also a great way to keep them busy for 90 seconds while you’re waiting in the hallway for something.
Scoot is not a new idea for many people, but I thought I’d include it just in case. If you aren’t familiar, Scoot is done by placing cards of some sort on student desks. They start on their own. When they finish, or when you shout Scoot, students move to the next seat and complete the task that’s there. In order for it to work, you need at least enough cards as students. I like to add in a couple different spaces just to help spread kids out.
I hope I was able to give you a few new movement ideas that you can implement in your classroom! This has really helped me with my rambunctious boys! I’d love for you to leave a comment if you have other great ideas on how to add movement into your classroom. You can use my image below to follow me in different ways to see more of my posts if you enjoyed this one.
Up next in the hop is Heather from 2 Brainy Apples. She’s posting on a cool hands-on science activity. To go see her post, click here.
LOOKING TO SUPPLEMENT?
▹ SEARCH ◃
▹ NEWSLETTER ◃
Hi! I’m Tessa!
I’ve spent the last 15 years teaching in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, and working beside elementary classrooms as an instructional coach and resource support. I’m passionate about math, literacy, and finding ways to make teachers’ days easier. I share from my experiences both in and out of the elementary classroom. Read more About Me.
23 Comments
Tessa, Scoot is a FAVORITE in my class, but we are to try Stand Up, Sit Down this week. I love the spiral review that can be incorporated! Thanks for sharing:)
Tammy
The Resourceful Apple
Scoot is quite popular I've heard. I hadn't known about it until TpT. I hope you like doing Stand Up, Sit Down. My kids enjoy it.
Great post! Love the ideas 🙂 Thanks so much 🙂
Hugs
Anna
Thanks, Anna
Great ideas! One of our favorite activities is Scoot…we love it! 🙂
We usually do Write the Rooms but they've been getting chaotic. Maybe I should try Scoot instead.
What great ideas! I have done Scoot, and my kids always love that one. But, I am definitely going to try the other three that were new for me. Thanks so much.
Nicole
Mrs. Rios Teaches Second Grade
I'd love to hear how they work out for you!
Thanks for sharing these great ideas!! I have used Sparkle for spelling, but never thought of using it for math– I will try it out! 🙂
Kate
EduKate and Inspire
I'm loving these movement ideas while teaching. Thanks!
Journey of a Substitute Teacher
Number Rounds is going to become a new daily game in my third grade math group – that is genius. We work on adding groups of 10 every day, but this will make them like doing it. 🙂 When I was in the classroom, I did it by standing in a big circle around the rug and throwing a ball around, but that won't work now that my "room" is a corner of the hallway. 🙂 This idea is PERFECT for us!!
I'm going to share your post with my colleagues – we need to incorporate 30 minutes of movement into each school day, so we are always looking for new ideas.
Thank you!
Blair
One Lesson at a Time
Some very useful ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome ideas and we all love Scoot in my classroom!
I love these simple ways to get kids moving and engaged! Thanks so much for sharing them in such a concise format!
Buzzing with Ms. B
I love these ideas! Thanks so much for sharing!
http://www.lessonplandiva.com
Love the forward/backward and stand up/sit down ideas! I definitely have some kiddos that NEED to move this year!
Katie 🙂
KTP: Keep Teaching and Planning!
I love all these ideas! I am going to share your post with a friend who is trying to help her teachers find quick ways to informally assess students. Many of these are great assessment tools.
Jana
Thinking Out Loud
These are great tips, Tessa! It is so important to get kids up and moving while they learn! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Shelley
Teaching in the Early Years
Oh My! Oh My! Oh My! THIS is one of the BEST blog posts that I have seen! I can't wait to try out some of these games, during my group times. I am going to try 'Stand Up, Sit Down' and "Number Rounds" (I teach Preschool so we will start with 1-10) Thank you for sharing these tips 🙂
Thanks for these great tips and techniques! It's very useful.
Appreciate your effort for sharing with us!
Regards,
Adam
__
Ps4jbreak.com
I love your ideas on adding movement to lessons. I am going to try all three that you have suggested. I am familiar with scoot and my students love when we do those types of "games."
Thanks,
Kim