The First Grade Bloom: TLF Chapter 1: Learn on the Move

Finland and the United States both failed at the same thing in 2013 and 2014, respectively. . .

. . .helping students stay active during the school day.

Finland decided to do something about it right away and created the Finnish Schools on the Move program. Several easy-to-implement movement ideas were compiled and shared with Finnish schools. A few pilot schools started it and eventually 800 schools jumped on the band wagon.

'Recess Activators' was one big idea. Since all students go outside for the daily breaks in Finland, older students volunteered and were trained to engage younger students in games and activities that promoted movement. Many teachers noticed that even though outdoor breaks are scheduled into each day it doesn't necessarily mean that kids are moving while outside, especially older kids.

Here's how I could see this specific strategy working in a U.S. school: brain break buddies. Brain breaks are all the rage and, while a great idea, can be hard to implement. I see the second graders at my school going outside in the afternoon every single day. I am boggled at how they can fit a break in because we are incredibly scheduled with our 'blocks' and there is no wiggle room. . .argh! The Kindy and sixth grade classes pair up each year to be buddies and I've also experienced 'reading buddies'. So why not Brain Break Buddies? Yes, it would take time to figure out a part(s) of the day during which both classes could unite and do this but it's worth a try, right?

Another idea, specifically aimed for older students is to involve them in creating some fun movement activities that they can and want to do during their breaks. But, in order for this to be successful, two 15-minute breaks were combined for a 30 minute break.

I really like this idea because giving students a choice and involving them in creating those choices is very powerful and motivating! I think, for this to work in U.S. schools, the materials needed to accomplish this would be the issue. Of course the P.E. teacher more than likely has items to let students use at recess or during a break but those items are also used for teaching. So maybe the PTA, a school fundraiser or even something like DonorsChoose.org could be utilized. Because, as Walker points out, engaging students in physical activity shouldn't rest on the shoulders of the P.E. teacher and recess.

An idea I could definitely see being popular at my school is dance. There was an amazing sixth grade hip-hop dancer that kids would crowd around at our annual end-of-the-year DJ party to watch. Inviting her to model and teach hip-hop would be dope! Another idea is to have a mobile (projection) screen available on which to show dance videos for kids to learn from, kind of like Dance Dance Revolution.

Aside from recess, infusing movement into the main classroom is vital. It's so vital that the state of Alaska, where I live and teach, made it law in 2016. Yes, there is a law called SB 200 that mandates 54 minutes of physical activity per full school day for all students K-8. This can include scheduled P.E. times but, for example, my students have gym three times per week for 30 minutes each time so the rest is up to me. But we're between a rock and a hard place because, in my district, a new reading curriculum was implemented this past year that mandates a certain number of minutes (a.k.a. the reading block) and more minutes are being added next year! So it's incredibly hard to find time to squeeze in vital breaks.
Two ways I've tried are whole group and small group. I call these 'Body & Brain Breaks'.
Whole group is usually after a lesson/activity finishes. I have a menu of quick games/activities that we roll a dice to decide upon. You can get this menu for free if you go to my TPT store. We also LOVE Go Noodle!
Small group is THE best way I incorporate movement into daily learning! The cornerstone of my teaching philosophy and practice is small group learning. For reading, I use a form of the Daily 5 and take all of the whole group teaching from our new curriculum and put it into small groups. This past spring I invited a mom to come in who is a yoga teacher who is passionate about the benefits of yoga for kids. She was one of the small groups in the hallway outside of my classroom and it was awesome!

Child's Pose

She kicked off my plan to incorporate independent yoga in the classroom by explaining what yoga is and showing them some basics. I then devoted one of the five groups (at the 'video station') to YouTube yoga videos I downloaded. Kids use wireless headphones and the video is show on the only desktop computer I have in my classroom. Each small group is 15 minutes in length.

Cosmic Kids Yoga with Jaime is awesome, check it out!

I'll leave you with another idea that Walker proposes in his book. It's something he calls a "Gallery Walk". Students take a piece of work and display it in the classroom and everyone walks around to look at and comment on each piece. I think this is a great idea and can be adapted for K-6. You're killing three birds with one stone: movement, displaying published work and peer feedback.

I would love to hear how you incorporate movement into your elementary classroom, please leave a comment below.