April 21, 2025 • 22 mins
Do you have a class full of wiggle worms? It might be time to rethink how you're using movement in the classroom! We’re sharing five easy and effective ways to add movement to lessons without losing valuable instructional time.
These simple strategies help channel student energy into purposeful learning, improve focus, and even reduce behavior issues—turning your classroom into a more engaging and dynamic space. Whether it’s interactive comprehension checks or quick brain breaks, you’ll walk away with practical ideas to make movement a powerful part of your teaching routine!
Prefer to read? Grab the episode transcript and all resources mentioned in the show notes here: https://www.secondstorywindow.net/podcast/add-movement-to-lessons/
Resources:
- Printable Brain Break Activities
- Neuro-Mag Magnesium L-Threonate
- Connect with us on Instagram @2ndstorywindow.
- Shop our teacher-approved resources.
- Join our Teacher Approved Facebook group.
- Leave a review on Apple Podcasts!
Related Episodes to Enjoy:
- Episode 163, The 6 Key Ways to Boost Student Engagement Every Day
- Episode 50, 3 Guidelines to Make Classroom Transitions Work Smarter No Harder
- Episode 49, Rapid Classroom Transitions: How to Save 45 Hours a Year
- Episode 48, How to Make Classroom Transitions Simple With Clear Beginnings and Endings
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Heidi (00:00):
This is episode 191 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:28):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're sharing fivesimple ways to add movement to
your lessons without losinginstructional time, and a
teacher approved tip formanaging wiggly students right
before lunch.
Heidi (00:51):
Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in yourclassroom right away. Emily,
what is our prompt for thisweek?
Emily (00:58):
This week, try adding sparkle fingers to your
transition routine.
Heidi (01:03):
I love this so much.
Emily (01:05):
I know okay. So when you need students to stop what
they're doing and listen fordirections, have them raise
their hands and wiggle theirfingers silently while they wait
for everyone to get ready.
Heidi (01:14):
This is so fun. It's so cute. It gives those fidgety
bodies something to do withtheir hands without making
noise. And bonus, you can easilysee who's ready. And when all of
those little fingers arewiggling in the air, it actually
creates a pretty magical momentin your classroom.
Emily (01:30):
I can picture it right now. It's so cute. If you like
this idea, or anything else weshare here on the podcast, would
you take a second and give us afive star rating on Apple
podcasts? Ratings and reviewsare one way that new listeners
find us, so every rating andreview really is a huge help to
us.
Heidi (01:46):
All right, Emily, why do we need to talk about movement
in the classroom?
Emily (01:50):
Well, think about how you feel after sitting through a
long staff meeting. I can hearthe groans. Your back starts to
ache, your mind wanders, andyou're counting down the minutes
until you can get up and movearound and get the heck out of
there, right?
Heidi (02:06):
Exactly. And now I imagine being seven years old
and trying to sit still forhours at a time. The reality is
that kids are designed to move,their growing bodies actually
need movement, not just forphysical development, but for
cognitive development too.
Emily (02:21):
Yeah, because movement increases blood flow to the
brain, which means more oxygenand nutrients are getting
delivered to those adorablelittle brain cells, and that
translates to better focus,improved learning and, dare I
say it, fewer behavior issues.
Heidi (02:38):
But I know, I know the resistance that teachers have to
this. I know you're thinking, Ihave standards to cover and not
enough time as it is. How am Isupposed to add movement without
falling even more behind?
Emily (02:50):
So that's the beauty of what we're sharing today. These
are not separate activities thattake time away from your
curriculum. We're going to sharesome ways to integrate movement
into your existing lessons.
Heidi (03:02):
So this isn't about choosing between movement or
instruction. You're enhancingyour instruction with movement.
And you know, for those of youteaching upper elementary, don't
click away.
Emily (03:12):
No, these strategies work for big kids too. They might
roll their eyes at first, buttrust me, they need the movement
just as much as the little ones,though you might have to work
really hard to get them on boardwith the sparkle fingers idea,
just saying.
Heidi (03:26):
But it would be worth it.
Emily (03:28):
Yes, if you could do it, I'd love to see a picture.
Heidi (03:31):
All right, let's jump into our five ways to add
movement to your lessons.Strategy number one is act it
out. Can you tell us about thisone, Emily?
Emily (03:39):
Yeah, when your students can become the learning they're
going to remember it so muchbetter. This works especially
well in subjects like reading,science, and social studies.
It's about getting their wholebodies involved in understanding
a concept.
Heidi (03:54):
I used to do this with vocabulary words all the time.
If we were learning a word likecollapse, I'd have the kids
stand up and, you know,literally collapse to the floor
like a pile of blocks, and thenwe'd use it in a sentence as we
stood back up.
Emily (04:05):
I love that, because you know they never forgot that word
after doing it like that. Ourbrains are wired to remember
things that involve movement andemotion, so this strategy really
locks in the learning, which isour goal, right?
Heidi (04:19):
And this strategy works for sequencing too. If you're
teaching the water cycle, forexample, you can have your kids
move around the room pretendingto be water droplets. They
evaporate by rising on theirtoes, condensed by huddling
together and fall down asprecipitation.
Emily (04:34):
Oh, so cute. And you'll hear some giggles, for sure, but
you'll also see the learning inaction. I have found this
approach particularly powerfulfor visual and kinesthetic
learners who might struggle withjust hearing or reading
information.
Heidi (04:49):
And the great thing about acting it out is that it creates
these strong mental images thatstudents can recall later. When
test time comes and they aretrying to remember the water
cycle, they'll easily rememberphysically moving through it.
Emily (05:01):
Exactly, so you can create movement anchors for
almost any subject. Just thinkabout the key vocabulary or
concepts you want students toremember and brainstorm some
simple movements to go withthem.
Heidi (05:14):
Alright, let's move on to strategy number two. Stand If
statements.
Emily (05:19):
I love this. It's such a simple way to get kids moving
and get some sneaky checks forunderstanding at the same time.
So you make a statement andstudents stand if it applies to
Heidi (05:30):
So for example, in a science lesson about habitat,
them.
you might say, stand if a fishwould live in the desert. Then
students have to process thatinformation and decide to stand,
or, you know, stay seated.
Emily (05:41):
Or in math, you could say stand if seven times eight is
greater than 50. Or in reading,you could try, stand if you
think the main character made agood decision in chapter three.
Heidi (05:53):
What I love about this strategy is that it gives you,
as the teacher, immediate visualfeedback about student
understanding. You know, if halfof your class is standing when
they shouldn't be, you know youneed to revisit a concept.
Emily (06:06):
And it gives every student a chance to respond, not
just the one who raised theirhand, plus that simple act of
standing and sitting is enoughmovement to help reset focus.
Heidi (06:17):
Just keep in mind that these movement based checks are
maybe not always reliable fordeep assessment. Your students
that are unsure will often lookaround and copy what their
classmates are doing. So thesetype of strategies are best used
for engagement and quickinformal checks rather than
truly measuring mastery.
Emily (06:35):
Yeah, that's a really good point. I always treated
these as temperature checks.They give you a general sense of
the room, but not precise dataon each student. If I saw a lot
of confusion, I'd follow up withmore individual assessment
later.
Heidi (06:50):
And building on this idea, we can also use movement
to show understanding in otherways. This works great for true
false questions, multiplechoice, or even just, you know,
general comprehension checks.
Emily (07:00):
For example, you might say, if the sentence is a
statement, touch your head. Ifit's a question, touch your
toes. Or show me a right anglewith your arms, or even hop once
for each syllable in this word.
Heidi (07:14):
I like to think of these as human whiteboards. Instead of
writing their answers, thestudent showed it with their
body. It kept everyone engaged.And it, you know, gave me a fast
way to kind of see who wasgetting it.
Emily (07:24):
For a little extra fun, you can mix in some personal
stand if statements too. Thiswould be really fun at morning
meeting. You could do stand ifyou have a pet, stand if you
like pizza. It builds classroomcommunity while giving kids more
chances to move.
Heidi (07:39):
Now let's talk about movement strategy number three,
learning stations or rotations.
Emily (07:44):
Oh, yeah, moving between stations is such a natural way
to incorporate movement. Insteadof doing all your math
activities at their desks, setup three to four different
stations around the room andhave students rotate around
every 10 to 15 minutes.
Heidi (07:58):
Even just that short walk between stations gives kids a
chance to move their bodies, andit naturally breaks up the
learning into more manageablechunks.
Emily (08:06):
And remember, your stations don't have to be
elaborate. One station might bea worksheet at their desks.
Another might be a math game atthe back table, and a third
could be a problem solvingactivity on the carpet.
Heidi (08:17):
Or you could even designate different parts of the
room for different types ofthinking. Maybe the front carpet
is for collaborative discussionand desks are for independent
work, and save the back tablefor your teacher led
instruction.
Emily (08:29):
The beauty of this approach is that you're not
adding any new activities toyour day. You're just changing
where students do the activitiesyou've already planned.
Heidi (08:38):
And if you are worried about transitions, which can be
tricky with this type ofsetting, we have got lots of
tips for that. Go back and checkout episodes 48, 49 and 50,
where we deep dive into makingtransition smoother.
Emily (08:50):
Yes, and there's great ideas in there for incorporating
movement into the way you doyour transition. So those that's
a great series to check out ifyou haven't listened to it yet.
Okay. Now strategy number fouris one of my favorites. So tell
us about this. Heidi, it'sacademic movement games.
Heidi (09:07):
I love using games to teach. So this is where you take
a familiar game or activity andadapt it to reinforce academic
content. These are so great touse near the end of the day, you
know, when the kids energy ismaybe starting to fade a little
bit.
Emily (09:20):
Yeah. So one example is sight word freeze dance. So you
can play music and have studentsdance, and when the music stops,
you hold up a sight word card,and then students have to read
it correctly before the dancingcontinues.
Heidi (09:33):
Another fun one is vocabulary charades, where
students act out vocabularywords while others guess. This
was always a hit with my secondgraders when learning about
science terminology.
Emily (09:43):
Or even something as simple as equation scavenger
hunt. You can hide index cardswith math problems around the
room, and students find a card,solve the problem and bring it
to you to check before findinganother one.
Heidi (09:55):
Having kids hunt for their own work to do will get
them to do way more work thanjust having a worksheet will.
Emily (10:00):
Ah, true story.
Heidi (10:02):
Another way to pair learning and movement is to just
use the walls in your classroom.If your students are stuck in
their seats, try turning yourclassroom into an interactive
space. Post questions,vocabulary cards, math facts or
even sentence strips around theroom, if you still have sentence
strips, and you have yourstudents walk around and
respond.
Emily (10:20):
And we love to do this with an end of your cumulative
review that we just call anaround the room review activity,
and we just stick up thequestions around the room, and
they walk around with clipboardsand answer the questions. And
suddenly the exact samequestions that they would groan
throughout their desks become anexciting adventure, because they
got to stand up and useclipboards.
Heidi (10:39):
A similar idea is to do four corners questions. You
label each corner of the roomwith a multiple choice answer,
A, B, C and D, and then you havestudents walk to their answer.
It's a quick way to gaugeunderstanding and get some
movement in. And it's even morefun if your question has more
than one possible correctanswer. So then you can have
some discussion about why theychose corner A, and why those
(11:01):
kids chose corner C and theirdifferent reasoning behind it.
Emily (11:04):
Yeah, that way you don't also have a stampede of all the
kids just running to one corner.
Heidi (11:09):
Yes, also that.
Emily (11:10):
What's great about these games is that they don't feel
like work to students. Themovement makes the learning more
engaging and memorable.
Heidi (11:17):
And they are perfect for those times when energy is low,
you know, like after lunch ortoward the end of the day.
Instead of fighting the wiggles,you are channeling them into
learning.
Emily (11:27):
Our fifth and final strategy is probably the
simplest. Use intentional brainbreaks.
Heidi (11:33):
Brain breaks are short movement activities, usually one
to three minutes, that givestudents a chance to move,
stretch and reset their focus.In my class, we needed these
after any focused work, probablylonger than about 20 minutes.
Emily (11:45):
Yep. And the key to making these brain breaks
intentional is that, instead ofwaiting until the kids are
climbing the walls, you plan forthese brain breaks at natural
transition points in your day.
Heidi (11:57):
Maybe that's between subjects, or after a time of
focused work, or, you know, whenyou notice engagement starting
to dip a little bit. This wayyou are being proactive instead
of reactive.
Emily (12:07):
And as you know, there are tons of brain break ideas
out there. You could dostretches or a quick game of
simon says or follow along witha go noodle video.
Heidi (12:17):
And we actually have our own set of printable brain
breaks if you want somethingthat doesn't require technology,
which sometimes can be a realhassle if you're in a tight
bind. Our brain breaks are Printand Go cards with three
different types of activitystyles to match whatever your
class needs in the moment.
Emily (12:33):
Yep, we've got recharge activities for when kids need to
get the wiggles out, refocusactivities that help students
calm down and prepare toconcentrate again, and refresh
activities that engage theirminds in fun ways. You can find
the brain breaks in our shop,and we'll put a link to them in
the show notes.
Heidi (12:51):
What I love about brain breaks is that they actually
save you time in the long run.Yes, you know, you're spending a
minute on movement, but you'regaining several minutes of
improved focus afterward.
Emily (13:02):
It's like paying interest on an investment. That one
minute brings returns in theform of better behavior and more
efficient learning, and itprevents that cycle where kids
get wiggly, behaviordeteriorates, you have to stop
and redirect, and suddenlyyou've lost five minutes anyway.
Heidi (13:19):
It is definitely better to give them one minute of
structured movement than to losefive minutes on the chaos. When
I was a brand new baby teacher,I was really reluctant to waste
time on something that felt asfrivolous as movement.
Emily (13:31):
Oh, me too. I just thought movement was something
extra, something I could only doif we had time. But now I can
see that it's an essential partof effective teaching.
Heidi (13:41):
Movement isn't a distraction from learning. It's
a catalyst for learning. When wework with children's natural
need for movement instead ofagainst it, everyone wins.
Emily (13:51):
Okay, so let's quickly recap our strategies for adding
movement to your lessons. First,act it out. Let students
physically become the learning.Second, stand if statements. Get
kids up and down while checkingunderstanding. Third, learning
stations or rotations. Changewhere students do their work.
(14:12):
Fourth, academic movement games.Turn review into an active game.
And finally, fifth, intentionalbrain breaks. Plan short
movement activities betweenlearning segments.
Heidi (14:22):
And remember, you don't have to implement all of these
at once. Please don't feel likethat. Even adding one movement
strategy to your day can make abig difference for your wiggly
little learners.
Emily (14:33):
We'd love to hear which of these strategies you try in
your classroom. Come join theconversation in our teacher
approved Facebook group.
Now let's talk about this week'steacher approved tip. Each week,
we leave you with a smallactionable tip that you can
apply in your classroom today.This week's teacher approved tip
is manage those pre lunchwiggles. Tell us about this one,
(14:54):
Heidi.
Heidi (14:54):
Well we all know that right before lunch can be one of
the wiggliest times of the day.Kids are hungry. They've been
working hard all morning, andtheir focus is waning.
Emily (15:03):
Oh, yes, I used to dread that 15 minutes right before
lunch, because it was likeherding cats no matter what.
Heidi (15:09):
So instead of fighting those wiggles, one thing you can
try is a standing station forthe last 10 minutes or so before
lunch. Designate a few areas inyour room where students can
stand to complete their work.
Emily (15:20):
Okay, I love that idea. What does a standing station
look like?
Heidi (15:24):
Well, it's really just anywhere kids can stand. It
might be a counter or a shelf atstanding height, or really even
just a clipboard that they canuse while standing at the wall.
And then when you notice thewiggles are starting to ramp up
before lunch, offer the optionto move to a standing station to
finish their work.
Emily (15:41):
Oh, this is brilliant, because it gives kids the
movement they need withoutdisrupting the flow of your
lesson. And for some kids,standing actually helps them
focus better than sitting.
Heidi (15:50):
Oh, exactly. And the beauty is that you don't need
anything special or any extraplanning. It's just offering an
alternative workspace, assumingthat you give them the
consequence that if they can'thandle making that choice,
you'll have to choose where theystand or have to go back to
their desks.
Emily (16:07):
Oh, for sure. This is an option that you would want to
introduce with some expectationsand practicing how they should
behave there and letting themknow what the consequences are
if they don't follow thoseexpectations. Or this could tune
into a nightmare.
Heidi (16:21):
Yeah, being clear about expectations is going to make or
break this. Be clear thatstanding work is still work
time. It's not a social break ora time to wander around the room
and try out all of the differentspots.
Emily (16:32):
Yeah. And you probably want to start small with this
idea, with maybe just three tofour standing spots at first,
and then you could use arotation system if lots of kids
want to try it. And then if youfind that it's popular and it's
helping your students, andyou've established good
expectations for it, it couldbecome a more regular option in
your classroom. But for sure,some kids are probably never
(16:53):
going to want to stand there,and some will probably want to
stand there a lot, because ithelps them focus better. It just
depends on the kids.
Heidi (16:58):
And really this is such a simple adjustment, but it can
make a big difference inmanaging that challenging time
before lunch.
To wrap up the show, we aresharing what we're giving extra
credit to this week. Emily, whatgets your extra credit?
Emily (17:11):
I'm giving extra credit to the TV show The Pit on Max.
When this first came out, Ididn't pay any attention to it
because I don't generally watchhospital things. I mean, okay, I
was very into Grey's Anatomy inthe original, in the original
first few seasons, when it wasso good. And I did watch the
original seasons of ER as well,which also had Noah Wiley in it,
(17:33):
who is in The Pit, yes. Butsomebody was raving enough about
it that I'm like, I'll just giveit a try. And guys, it is so
good. It is set in thisPittsburgh ER, and each episode
is one hour of one day, so thewhole season is just like one
shift on one day. And it is sowell done. Now, I will say,
(17:54):
because it's on max instead oflike on NBC, there is a lot more
gore. So just being prepared forthat. I am a pro from my years
of watching Grey's Anatomy, ofjust knowing when to look away.
Unknown (18:06):
When the squishy sounds start, you need to mute the
squishy sounds.
Emily (18:10):
So I do tend to watch this when I'm doing something
else that I can just look awaywhen I don't want to watch
what's going on, but like thestories and the format is so
interesting in the way thatthese stories build from episode
to episode. Since it's all inthe same day, you're seeing
patients over several hours, andI have just found it to be super
captivating. I've totally bingedit. There's like, one more
(18:32):
episode coming out this week,and then I'm gonna be sad, but
there is already a season twoconfirmed. So if you start this,
you can know it's not gonnadisappear. You can, it's worth
committing to.
Heidi (18:42):
That's good. There's nothing worse than getting
attached to a show only to haveit cut and axed from your life.
Emily (18:47):
I know. So if you watch this, let me know what you
think. Not you, Heidi. I meanyou too, if you want to. Not
that I don't want your opinion,but I know you won't watch it.
Maybe somebody you will. But ifsomebody else watches it, come
and talk to me about it. Whatare you giving extra credit to,
Heidi?
Heidi (19:03):
Well, how's this for a segue? I'm giving extra credit
to magnesium threonate becauseit did, it has saved my life. So
like back in the fall, my doctorsuggested I switch to that
rather than whatever I wastaking via citrate, whatever
form of magnesium I was taking,because threonate crosses the
blood brain barrier. That's athing, right?
Emily (19:23):
So smart. You're so smart.
Heidi (19:26):
I could work on that show, that medical show.
Emily (19:28):
You totally could.
Heidi (19:30):
And so I switched over, and I thought, like, I mean,
yeah, I guess it seems fine. I'mnot really noticing any, like, I
didn't get any superpowers. I'msure it's great, but it is a
little bit expensive. I mean,it's not crazy, it's, you know,
30 bucks for a month. It's notcrazy, but when you can get
magnesium, a lot cheaper, itjust seemed like some place I
could save money. So early inMarch, sorry, this is turning
into a story. Early in March, Ijust went back to the other
(19:53):
magnesium I was using, and thenI didn't notice that my restless
legs started to ramp up. Andthen suddenly I was like up for
hours and hours every night, andI couldn't figure out what's
going on until I remember that Ihad just switched over the
magnesium. So I'm saying allthat to say, if you also deal
with restless legs, trying outmagnesium threonate could be a
(20:16):
game changer, because once I gotback on that, it took a couple
nights, but I have not had thisproblem since.
Emily (20:22):
Well, now you've done a perfect case study of one. This
works great for restless legs.So if that applies to you out
there, you should try it too.
Heidi (20:30):
And if you have been there, you know how desperate
you are to try anything. I'vetried it all because it's the
worst feeling to just like belaying there and having your
legs go on an adventure withoutyou. You just want to sleep.
Emily (20:43):
And I've been taking this. I don't have restless
legs, but I have been takingthis, and I feel like I've been
sleeping better too. But I don'thave a perfect example like
yours. It's one of those like,Well, I think I'll just keep
taking it, because I think it'sdoing something. I guess if I
wanted a case study of one forme, I could stop taking it, but
I don't want to do that.
Heidi (21:00):
Because I didn't even think it was doing anything,
because it took so, you know, ittook a while, a couple weeks,
probably, to kick in. And so Ididn't make the connection. I
just was like, Well, yeah, thatproblem suddenly fixed. I don't
know what I did, but yay me. Ilearned. I love that stuff. Now
I've got bottles and bottles ofit in my bathroom cabinets.
Emily (21:21):
We will link to it in the show notes.
Heidi (21:24):
That is it for today's episode. Remember adding
movement to your lessons doesn'thave to be complicated. Try one
of our five strategies and seehow your students respond.
Emily (21:33):
And don't forget our teacher approved tip for
managing those pre lunch wiggleswith standing stations.
Sometimes the simplest solutionsmake the biggest difference.
Heidi (21:42):
Thanks for listening to the Teacher Approved podcast. If
you found this helpful, pleaseshare it with a teacher friend
who might need these ideas too.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily (21:55):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi (22:01):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye, for now.
Emily (22:08):
Bye.
This is episode 191 of Teacher Approved.
You're listening to TeacherApproved, the podcast helping
educators elevate what mattersand simplify the rest. I'm
Heidi.
Emily (00:13):
And I'm Emily. We're the creators behind Second Story
Window, where we give researchbased and teacher approved
strategies that make teachingless stressful and more
effective. You can check out theshow notes and resources from
each episode atsecondstorywindow.net.
Heidi (00:28):
We're so glad you're tuning in today. Let's get to
the show.
Emily (00:36):
Hey there. Thanks for joining us today. In today's
episode, we're sharing fivesimple ways to add movement to
your lessons without losinginstructional time, and a
teacher approved tip formanaging wiggly students right
before lunch.
Heidi (00:51):
Let's start with a try it tomorrow, where we share a quick
win that you can try in yourclassroom right away. Emily,
what is our prompt for thisweek?
Emily (00:58):
This week, try adding sparkle fingers to your
transition routine.
Heidi (01:03):
I love this so much.
Emily (01:05):
I know okay. So when you need students to stop what
they're doing and listen fordirections, have them raise
their hands and wiggle theirfingers silently while they wait
for everyone to get ready.
Heidi (01:14):
This is so fun. It's so cute. It gives those fidgety
bodies something to do withtheir hands without making
noise. And bonus, you can easilysee who's ready. And when all of
those little fingers arewiggling in the air, it actually
creates a pretty magical momentin your classroom.
Emily (01:30):
I can picture it right now. It's so cute. If you like
this idea, or anything else weshare here on the podcast, would
you take a second and give us afive star rating on Apple
podcasts? Ratings and reviewsare one way that new listeners
find us, so every rating andreview really is a huge help to
us.
Heidi (01:46):
All right, Emily, why do we need to talk about movement
in the classroom?
Emily (01:50):
Well, think about how you feel after sitting through a
long staff meeting. I can hearthe groans. Your back starts to
ache, your mind wanders, andyou're counting down the minutes
until you can get up and movearound and get the heck out of
there, right?
Heidi (02:06):
Exactly. And now I imagine being seven years old
and trying to sit still forhours at a time. The reality is
that kids are designed to move,their growing bodies actually
need movement, not just forphysical development, but for
cognitive development too.
Emily (02:21):
Yeah, because movement increases blood flow to the
brain, which means more oxygenand nutrients are getting
delivered to those adorablelittle brain cells, and that
translates to better focus,improved learning and, dare I
say it, fewer behavior issues.
Heidi (02:38):
But I know, I know the resistance that teachers have to
this. I know you're thinking, Ihave standards to cover and not
enough time as it is. How am Isupposed to add movement without
falling even more behind?
Emily (02:50):
So that's the beauty of what we're sharing today. These
are not separate activities thattake time away from your
curriculum. We're going to sharesome ways to integrate movement
into your existing lessons.
Heidi (03:02):
So this isn't about choosing between movement or
instruction. You're enhancingyour instruction with movement.
And you know, for those of youteaching upper elementary, don't
click away.
Emily (03:12):
No, these strategies work for big kids too. They might
roll their eyes at first, buttrust me, they need the movement
just as much as the little ones,though you might have to work
really hard to get them on boardwith the sparkle fingers idea,
just saying.
Heidi (03:26):
But it would be worth it.
Emily (03:28):
Yes, if you could do it, I'd love to see a picture.
Heidi (03:31):
All right, let's jump into our five ways to add
movement to your lessons.Strategy number one is act it
out. Can you tell us about thisone, Emily?
Emily (03:39):
Yeah, when your students can become the learning they're
going to remember it so muchbetter. This works especially
well in subjects like reading,science, and social studies.
It's about getting their wholebodies involved in understanding
a concept.
Heidi (03:54):
I used to do this with vocabulary words all the time.
If we were learning a word likecollapse, I'd have the kids
stand up and, you know,literally collapse to the floor
like a pile of blocks, and thenwe'd use it in a sentence as we
stood back up.
Emily (04:05):
I love that, because you know they never forgot that word
after doing it like that. Ourbrains are wired to remember
things that involve movement andemotion, so this strategy really
locks in the learning, which isour goal, right?
Heidi (04:19):
And this strategy works for sequencing too. If you're
teaching the water cycle, forexample, you can have your kids
move around the room pretendingto be water droplets. They
evaporate by rising on theirtoes, condensed by huddling
together and fall down asprecipitation.
Emily (04:34):
Oh, so cute. And you'll hear some giggles, for sure, but
you'll also see the learning inaction. I have found this
approach particularly powerfulfor visual and kinesthetic
learners who might struggle withjust hearing or reading
information.
Heidi (04:49):
And the great thing about acting it out is that it creates
these strong mental images thatstudents can recall later. When
test time comes and they aretrying to remember the water
cycle, they'll easily rememberphysically moving through it.
Emily (05:01):
Exactly, so you can create movement anchors for
almost any subject. Just thinkabout the key vocabulary or
concepts you want students toremember and brainstorm some
simple movements to go withthem.
Heidi (05:14):
Alright, let's move on to strategy number two. Stand If
statements.
Emily (05:19):
I love this. It's such a simple way to get kids moving
and get some sneaky checks forunderstanding at the same time.
So you make a statement andstudents stand if it applies to
Heidi (05:30):
So for example, in a science lesson about habitat,
them.
you might say, stand if a fishwould live in the desert. Then
students have to process thatinformation and decide to stand,
or, you know, stay seated.
Emily (05:41):
Or in math, you could say stand if seven times eight is
greater than 50. Or in reading,you could try, stand if you
think the main character made agood decision in chapter three.
Heidi (05:53):
What I love about this strategy is that it gives you,
as the teacher, immediate visualfeedback about student
understanding. You know, if halfof your class is standing when
they shouldn't be, you know youneed to revisit a concept.
Emily (06:06):
And it gives every student a chance to respond, not
just the one who raised theirhand, plus that simple act of
standing and sitting is enoughmovement to help reset focus.
Heidi (06:17):
Just keep in mind that these movement based checks are
maybe not always reliable fordeep assessment. Your students
that are unsure will often lookaround and copy what their
classmates are doing. So thesetype of strategies are best used
for engagement and quickinformal checks rather than
truly measuring mastery.
Emily (06:35):
Yeah, that's a really good point. I always treated
these as temperature checks.They give you a general sense of
the room, but not precise dataon each student. If I saw a lot
of confusion, I'd follow up withmore individual assessment
later.
Heidi (06:50):
And building on this idea, we can also use movement
to show understanding in otherways. This works great for true
false questions, multiplechoice, or even just, you know,
general comprehension checks.
Emily (07:00):
For example, you might say, if the sentence is a
statement, touch your head. Ifit's a question, touch your
toes. Or show me a right anglewith your arms, or even hop once
for each syllable in this word.
Heidi (07:14):
I like to think of these as human whiteboards. Instead of
writing their answers, thestudent showed it with their
body. It kept everyone engaged.And it, you know, gave me a fast
way to kind of see who wasgetting it.
Emily (07:24):
For a little extra fun, you can mix in some personal
stand if statements too. Thiswould be really fun at morning
meeting. You could do stand ifyou have a pet, stand if you
like pizza. It builds classroomcommunity while giving kids more
chances to move.
Heidi (07:39):
Now let's talk about movement strategy number three,
learning stations or rotations.
Emily (07:44):
Oh, yeah, moving between stations is such a natural way
to incorporate movement. Insteadof doing all your math
activities at their desks, setup three to four different
stations around the room andhave students rotate around
every 10 to 15 minutes.
Heidi (07:58):
Even just that short walk between stations gives kids a
chance to move their bodies, andit naturally breaks up the
learning into more manageablechunks.
Emily (08:06):
And remember, your stations don't have to be
elaborate. One station might bea worksheet at their desks.
Another might be a math game atthe back table, and a third
could be a problem solvingactivity on the carpet.
Heidi (08:17):
Or you could even designate different parts of the
room for different types ofthinking. Maybe the front carpet
is for collaborative discussionand desks are for independent
work, and save the back tablefor your teacher led
instruction.
Emily (08:29):
The beauty of this approach is that you're not
adding any new activities toyour day. You're just changing
where students do the activitiesyou've already planned.
Heidi (08:38):
And if you are worried about transitions, which can be
tricky with this type ofsetting, we have got lots of
tips for that. Go back and checkout episodes 48, 49 and 50,
where we deep dive into makingtransition smoother.
Emily (08:50):
Yes, and there's great ideas in there for incorporating
movement into the way you doyour transition. So those that's
a great series to check out ifyou haven't listened to it yet.
Okay. Now strategy number fouris one of my favorites. So tell
us about this. Heidi, it'sacademic movement games.
Heidi (09:07):
I love using games to teach. So this is where you take
a familiar game or activity andadapt it to reinforce academic
content. These are so great touse near the end of the day, you
know, when the kids energy ismaybe starting to fade a little
bit.
Emily (09:20):
Yeah. So one example is sight word freeze dance. So you
can play music and have studentsdance, and when the music stops,
you hold up a sight word card,and then students have to read
it correctly before the dancingcontinues.
Heidi (09:33):
Another fun one is vocabulary charades, where
students act out vocabularywords while others guess. This
was always a hit with my secondgraders when learning about
science terminology.
Emily (09:43):
Or even something as simple as equation scavenger
hunt. You can hide index cardswith math problems around the
room, and students find a card,solve the problem and bring it
to you to check before findinganother one.
Heidi (09:55):
Having kids hunt for their own work to do will get
them to do way more work thanjust having a worksheet will.
Emily (10:00):
Ah, true story.
Heidi (10:02):
Another way to pair learning and movement is to just
use the walls in your classroom.If your students are stuck in
their seats, try turning yourclassroom into an interactive
space. Post questions,vocabulary cards, math facts or
even sentence strips around theroom, if you still have sentence
strips, and you have yourstudents walk around and
respond.
Emily (10:20):
And we love to do this with an end of your cumulative
review that we just call anaround the room review activity,
and we just stick up thequestions around the room, and
they walk around with clipboardsand answer the questions. And
suddenly the exact samequestions that they would groan
throughout their desks become anexciting adventure, because they
got to stand up and useclipboards.
Heidi (10:39):
A similar idea is to do four corners questions. You
label each corner of the roomwith a multiple choice answer,
A, B, C and D, and then you havestudents walk to their answer.
It's a quick way to gaugeunderstanding and get some
movement in. And it's even morefun if your question has more
than one possible correctanswer. So then you can have
some discussion about why theychose corner A, and why those
(11:01):
kids chose corner C and theirdifferent reasoning behind it.
Emily (11:04):
Yeah, that way you don't also have a stampede of all the
kids just running to one corner.
Heidi (11:09):
Yes, also that.
Emily (11:10):
What's great about these games is that they don't feel
like work to students. Themovement makes the learning more
engaging and memorable.
Heidi (11:17):
And they are perfect for those times when energy is low,
you know, like after lunch ortoward the end of the day.
Instead of fighting the wiggles,you are channeling them into
learning.
Emily (11:27):
Our fifth and final strategy is probably the
simplest. Use intentional brainbreaks.
Heidi (11:33):
Brain breaks are short movement activities, usually one
to three minutes, that givestudents a chance to move,
stretch and reset their focus.In my class, we needed these
after any focused work, probablylonger than about 20 minutes.
Emily (11:45):
Yep. And the key to making these brain breaks
intentional is that, instead ofwaiting until the kids are
climbing the walls, you plan forthese brain breaks at natural
transition points in your day.
Heidi (11:57):
Maybe that's between subjects, or after a time of
focused work, or, you know, whenyou notice engagement starting
to dip a little bit. This wayyou are being proactive instead
of reactive.
Emily (12:07):
And as you know, there are tons of brain break ideas
out there. You could dostretches or a quick game of
simon says or follow along witha go noodle video.
Heidi (12:17):
And we actually have our own set of printable brain
breaks if you want somethingthat doesn't require technology,
which sometimes can be a realhassle if you're in a tight
bind. Our brain breaks are Printand Go cards with three
different types of activitystyles to match whatever your
class needs in the moment.
Emily (12:33):
Yep, we've got recharge activities for when kids need to
get the wiggles out, refocusactivities that help students
calm down and prepare toconcentrate again, and refresh
activities that engage theirminds in fun ways. You can find
the brain breaks in our shop,and we'll put a link to them in
the show notes.
Heidi (12:51):
What I love about brain breaks is that they actually
save you time in the long run.Yes, you know, you're spending a
minute on movement, but you'regaining several minutes of
improved focus afterward.
Emily (13:02):
It's like paying interest on an investment. That one
minute brings returns in theform of better behavior and more
efficient learning, and itprevents that cycle where kids
get wiggly, behaviordeteriorates, you have to stop
and redirect, and suddenlyyou've lost five minutes anyway.
Heidi (13:19):
It is definitely better to give them one minute of
structured movement than to losefive minutes on the chaos. When
I was a brand new baby teacher,I was really reluctant to waste
time on something that felt asfrivolous as movement.
Emily (13:31):
Oh, me too. I just thought movement was something
extra, something I could only doif we had time. But now I can
see that it's an essential partof effective teaching.
Heidi (13:41):
Movement isn't a distraction from learning. It's
a catalyst for learning. When wework with children's natural
need for movement instead ofagainst it, everyone wins.
Emily (13:51):
Okay, so let's quickly recap our strategies for adding
movement to your lessons. First,act it out. Let students
physically become the learning.Second, stand if statements. Get
kids up and down while checkingunderstanding. Third, learning
stations or rotations. Changewhere students do their work.
(14:12):
Fourth, academic movement games.Turn review into an active game.
And finally, fifth, intentionalbrain breaks. Plan short
movement activities betweenlearning segments.
Heidi (14:22):
And remember, you don't have to implement all of these
at once. Please don't feel likethat. Even adding one movement
strategy to your day can make abig difference for your wiggly
little learners.
Emily (14:33):
We'd love to hear which of these strategies you try in
your classroom. Come join theconversation in our teacher
approved Facebook group.
Now let's talk about this week'steacher approved tip. Each week,
we leave you with a smallactionable tip that you can
apply in your classroom today.This week's teacher approved tip
is manage those pre lunchwiggles. Tell us about this one,
(14:54):
Heidi.
Heidi (14:54):
Well we all know that right before lunch can be one of
the wiggliest times of the day.Kids are hungry. They've been
working hard all morning, andtheir focus is waning.
Emily (15:03):
Oh, yes, I used to dread that 15 minutes right before
lunch, because it was likeherding cats no matter what.
Heidi (15:09):
So instead of fighting those wiggles, one thing you can
try is a standing station forthe last 10 minutes or so before
lunch. Designate a few areas inyour room where students can
stand to complete their work.
Emily (15:20):
Okay, I love that idea. What does a standing station
look like?
Heidi (15:24):
Well, it's really just anywhere kids can stand. It
might be a counter or a shelf atstanding height, or really even
just a clipboard that they canuse while standing at the wall.
And then when you notice thewiggles are starting to ramp up
before lunch, offer the optionto move to a standing station to
finish their work.
Emily (15:41):
Oh, this is brilliant, because it gives kids the
movement they need withoutdisrupting the flow of your
lesson. And for some kids,standing actually helps them
focus better than sitting.
Heidi (15:50):
Oh, exactly. And the beauty is that you don't need
anything special or any extraplanning. It's just offering an
alternative workspace, assumingthat you give them the
consequence that if they can'thandle making that choice,
you'll have to choose where theystand or have to go back to
their desks.
Emily (16:07):
Oh, for sure. This is an option that you would want to
introduce with some expectationsand practicing how they should
behave there and letting themknow what the consequences are
if they don't follow thoseexpectations. Or this could tune
into a nightmare.
Heidi (16:21):
Yeah, being clear about expectations is going to make or
break this. Be clear thatstanding work is still work
time. It's not a social break ora time to wander around the room
and try out all of the differentspots.
Emily (16:32):
Yeah. And you probably want to start small with this
idea, with maybe just three tofour standing spots at first,
and then you could use arotation system if lots of kids
want to try it. And then if youfind that it's popular and it's
helping your students, andyou've established good
expectations for it, it couldbecome a more regular option in
your classroom. But for sure,some kids are probably never
(16:53):
going to want to stand there,and some will probably want to
stand there a lot, because ithelps them focus better. It just
depends on the kids.
Heidi (16:58):
And really this is such a simple adjustment, but it can
make a big difference inmanaging that challenging time
before lunch.
To wrap up the show, we aresharing what we're giving extra
credit to this week. Emily, whatgets your extra credit?
Emily (17:11):
I'm giving extra credit to the TV show The Pit on Max.
When this first came out, Ididn't pay any attention to it
because I don't generally watchhospital things. I mean, okay, I
was very into Grey's Anatomy inthe original, in the original
first few seasons, when it wasso good. And I did watch the
original seasons of ER as well,which also had Noah Wiley in it,
(17:33):
who is in The Pit, yes. Butsomebody was raving enough about
it that I'm like, I'll just giveit a try. And guys, it is so
good. It is set in thisPittsburgh ER, and each episode
is one hour of one day, so thewhole season is just like one
shift on one day. And it is sowell done. Now, I will say,
(17:54):
because it's on max instead oflike on NBC, there is a lot more
gore. So just being prepared forthat. I am a pro from my years
of watching Grey's Anatomy, ofjust knowing when to look away.
Unknown (18:06):
When the squishy sounds start, you need to mute the
squishy sounds.
Emily (18:10):
So I do tend to watch this when I'm doing something
else that I can just look awaywhen I don't want to watch
what's going on, but like thestories and the format is so
interesting in the way thatthese stories build from episode
to episode. Since it's all inthe same day, you're seeing
patients over several hours, andI have just found it to be super
captivating. I've totally bingedit. There's like, one more
(18:32):
episode coming out this week,and then I'm gonna be sad, but
there is already a season twoconfirmed. So if you start this,
you can know it's not gonnadisappear. You can, it's worth
committing to.
Heidi (18:42):
That's good. There's nothing worse than getting
attached to a show only to haveit cut and axed from your life.
Emily (18:47):
I know. So if you watch this, let me know what you
think. Not you, Heidi. I meanyou too, if you want to. Not
that I don't want your opinion,but I know you won't watch it.
Maybe somebody you will. But ifsomebody else watches it, come
and talk to me about it. Whatare you giving extra credit to,
Heidi?
Heidi (19:03):
Well, how's this for a segue? I'm giving extra credit
to magnesium threonate becauseit did, it has saved my life. So
like back in the fall, my doctorsuggested I switch to that
rather than whatever I wastaking via citrate, whatever
form of magnesium I was taking,because threonate crosses the
blood brain barrier. That's athing, right?
Emily (19:23):
So smart. You're so smart.
Heidi (19:26):
I could work on that show, that medical show.
Emily (19:28):
You totally could.
Heidi (19:30):
And so I switched over, and I thought, like, I mean,
yeah, I guess it seems fine. I'mnot really noticing any, like, I
didn't get any superpowers. I'msure it's great, but it is a
little bit expensive. I mean,it's not crazy, it's, you know,
30 bucks for a month. It's notcrazy, but when you can get
magnesium, a lot cheaper, itjust seemed like some place I
could save money. So early inMarch, sorry, this is turning
into a story. Early in March, Ijust went back to the other
(19:53):
magnesium I was using, and thenI didn't notice that my restless
legs started to ramp up. Andthen suddenly I was like up for
hours and hours every night, andI couldn't figure out what's
going on until I remember that Ihad just switched over the
magnesium. So I'm saying allthat to say, if you also deal
with restless legs, trying outmagnesium threonate could be a
(20:16):
game changer, because once I gotback on that, it took a couple
nights, but I have not had thisproblem since.
Emily (20:22):
Well, now you've done a perfect case study of one. This
works great for restless legs.So if that applies to you out
there, you should try it too.
Heidi (20:30):
And if you have been there, you know how desperate
you are to try anything. I'vetried it all because it's the
worst feeling to just like belaying there and having your
legs go on an adventure withoutyou. You just want to sleep.
Emily (20:43):
And I've been taking this. I don't have restless
legs, but I have been takingthis, and I feel like I've been
sleeping better too. But I don'thave a perfect example like
yours. It's one of those like,Well, I think I'll just keep
taking it, because I think it'sdoing something. I guess if I
wanted a case study of one forme, I could stop taking it, but
I don't want to do that.
Heidi (21:00):
Because I didn't even think it was doing anything,
because it took so, you know, ittook a while, a couple weeks,
probably, to kick in. And so Ididn't make the connection. I
just was like, Well, yeah, thatproblem suddenly fixed. I don't
know what I did, but yay me. Ilearned. I love that stuff. Now
I've got bottles and bottles ofit in my bathroom cabinets.
Emily (21:21):
We will link to it in the show notes.
Heidi (21:24):
That is it for today's episode. Remember adding
movement to your lessons doesn'thave to be complicated. Try one
of our five strategies and seehow your students respond.
Emily (21:33):
And don't forget our teacher approved tip for
managing those pre lunch wiggleswith standing stations.
Sometimes the simplest solutionsmake the biggest difference.
Heidi (21:42):
Thanks for listening to the Teacher Approved podcast. If
you found this helpful, pleaseshare it with a teacher friend
who might need these ideas too.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeof Teacher Approved. I'm Heidi.
Emily (21:55):
And I'm Emily. Thank you for listening. Be sure to follow
or subscribe in your podcast appso that you never miss an
episode.
Heidi (22:01):
You can connect with us and other teachers in the
Teacher Approved Facebook group.We'll see you here next week.
Bye, for now.
Emily (22:08):
Bye.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.