Want to know my secret for better teaching?
MOVEMENT!
Movement in the classroom is SO important! It helps the body and the brain!
Adding movement has amazing benefits for children, including
- Improved focus and memory
- Lower stress and improved mood
- Better behavior
I keep my kids moving throughout the day! This really is my secret to better student engagement and classroom management. Just a quick chance to move in a meaningful way helps kids get out the wiggles and get ready to learn again!
Here’s the best news! Adding purposeful movement is simple. It adds value to your instruction, and it doesn’t take away from what you are teaching. There are so many ways to get kids moving!
Easy Ways to Add Daily Movement
- hand gestures and motions 🙌 Kids can mirror your motions
- flexible seating ⬅️ You can read more about it here
- movement minutes ⬅️ You can read more about it here
- song or dance
- class walk
- gallery walk
- four corners
- write the room
- ⭐ MOVEMENT Games
- Phonics FREEZE
- Math FREEZE ⬇️ Try it for free below
- Guess and Groove for Phonics and Math
- Mystery Move and Groove
- Spin, Spell and Move
- Read, Write, Trace, Solve
- Four Corners Phonics
- Charades ⬅️ You can read more about it here
Phonics FREEZE and Math FREEZE
FREEZE is probably our favorite classroom game! Playing is easy, quick, and SO MUCH FUN! Kids get out all those wiggles while still learning. It’s the best way to sneak in repeated practice or review without kids ever realizing they are working!
HERE’S HOW TO PLAY:
- Pass out one card to each child.
- When you say go, kids being to move around the room. I always play music so they can dance.
- While the kids are moving, they trade cards.
- They must tell what is on their cards to trade. For example, read the word, tell the sum, etc.
- This is a great time do an informal assessment! Join in and play as kids trade cards with you!
- Kids can trade as few or as many times as they like. I insist that they don’t argue if someone doesn’t want to trade- just ask someone else!
- When the music stops, everyone must FREEZE! You pull out a Who Has card and read it aloud.
- The kid holding that card wins!
- You could give out a little prize like a sticker, eraser, pencil, or candy but you don’t need prizes to play.
Then just say “Go” and the game starts all over!
Are you ready to get your kids moving?
Join almost 30,000 teachers who use this game in their classroom!
Download a FREEZE game for free here or by clicking on the image below.
You’re obviously the kind of teacher who wants the best for every student! Engagement and management are important to you! Don’t stress… you can easily add movement to your daily lessons without any extra planning or wasted instructional time!
I’ve got everything ready for you! Just print and go! Just click on the images below to get started!
I would love to hear how you incorporate movement in your classroom! Just leave a comment below to share your ideas with other teachers!
