Movement in the Classroom
In school classrooms, we often put
the cart before the horse. Before we
can educate a child's mind we must
tend to his bodily needs. A tired,
hungry, uncomfortable child does not
learn well.
-Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben
Why does this topic interest you?
Exercise activities throughout the day can:
 Encourage healthy behaviorscreating healthier students
 Increase academic performance
 Increase attention and memory
 Increase moral and desire to be in school
 Decrease disruptive behaviors
OPENING ACTIVITY: CHA CHA SLIDE
Are you worried that
you can’t dance?
Your kids won’t know
the difference 
Using music with the
steps/instructions built within
will save time. You will not
have to create the sequence of
steps by yourself. However,
my students love to
suggest/create a movement
daily. By the end of the week
we have sequenced five steps
that we now can add music to.
S’COOL MOVES: FOCUS MOVES
VISION MOVES POSTER
This is an example activity that not
only provides movement for
students but improves:
Tracking from left to right
Ability to focus near to far
and far to near while copying from
the board or word walls
Rhythm, sequencing, and timing,
which are skills linked to
improvement in ADHD
These statements are taken directly from the back of the S’Cool
Moves Focus Moves Vision Moves Poster.
www.schoolmoves.com
Movement Encourages
Healthy Behaviors
By encouraging our kids to move and
practicing this with them, we are taking
steps to fight childhood obesity.
CURRENT MT ISSUES
Current MT Issues
Childhood obesity results in:
Type 2 diabetes- Youngsters with a condition called pre- diabetes are at almost
double the risk of dying before 55 (Franks, P., Hanson, R. L., Knowler, W. C., Sievers, M. L., Bennett, P. H., Looker, H.C. ,
2010)
Metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome isn't a disease itself, but a cluster of
conditions that can put children at risk of developing heart disease, diabetes or other
health problems. This cluster of conditions includes high blood pressure, high blood
sugar, high cholesterol and excess abdominal fat.
High cholesterol and high blood pressure. These factors can contribute to the
buildup of plaques in the arteries. These plaques can cause arteries to narrow and
harden, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke later in life.
Asthma and other breathing problems. The extra weight can cause problems
with the development and health of lungs, leading to asthma or other breathing
problems.
Low self-esteem and bullying.
Childhood obesity results in:
Sleep disorders. Sleep apnea, may cause snoring or abnormal breathing when sleeping.
Early puberty or menstruation. Being obese can create hormone imbalances that can
cause puberty to start earlier than expected.
Behavior and learning problems. Overweight children tend to have more anxiety and
poorer social skills than normal-weight children have. At one extreme, these problems may
lead overweight children to act out and disrupt their classrooms. At the other, they may
cause overweight children to socially withdraw. Stress and anxiety also interfere with
learning. School-related anxiety can create a vicious cycle in which ever-growing worry
fuels ever-declining academic performance.
Depression. Low self-esteem can create overwhelming feelings of hopelessness in some
overweight children. When children lose hope that their lives will improve, they may
become depressed. A depressed child may lose interest in normal activities, sleep more
than usual or cry a lot. Some depressed children hide their sadness and appear emotionally
flat instead. Either way, depression is as serious in children as in adults. If you think your
child is depressed, talk with him or her and share your concerns with his or her doctor.
Brain Break! Inch Worm Stretch
1. Stand up
2. Bend down and touch the ground with your hands. Bend
your knees if you need to.
3. Start inching your hands out in front of you. Your feet
should remain in place. You will be moving your hands
farther and farther out in front of you. More and more
weight will be on your hands.
4. Once you have extended yourself as far as you can go, keep
you hands still and stat inching your legs forward until they
meet your hands again. Try to keep your knees as straight as
possible.
5. Repeat.
Movement Affects Learning
The body learns ten times
faster than the brain and
forgets ten times slower. If
you want to change the
brain, change the body.
Modified from talk given by Dr. David Richo
Exercise grows our brain better than any
other factor we are aware of at the
present time
 Exercise readies our nerve cells to bind more easily and
stronger by increasing neurotransmitter activity, improving
blood flow and producing Brain Growth Factors (Serotonin,
Dopamine, BDNF).
Ratey, 2008
Exercise Increases Brain Cells
(New Brain Cells Produced in Four Weeks)
Van Praag et al, 1999, Brown, et. al, 2003
Physical Activities Change the Brain
and Body’s Chemistry
Exercise increases:
1. Adrenaline-provides energy
2. Noradrenaline- enhances focus
3. Dopamine- thinking, working memory
4. Cortisol-energy, memory
5. Serotonin-attention, mood
6. Glucose-energy, memory formation
7. BDNF & NGF-growth factors
Movement Affects Learning
A few studies that examine this claim:
 California DOE 2001- nearly a million students (grades 5, 7,
9) showed a positive correlation between levels of fitness and
standardized tests scores in math and reading.
 Castelli, 2007- 259 third and fifth graders showed a positive
correlation between aerobic fitness measures and scores in
reading, math, and total academic achievement.
Woodland Elementary School KS City
Inner city school with 80% of kids
on free lunch program.
2005 Fall
PE once per week /50 minutes.
2006 Jan - June
PE4LIFE added:
• Cardiac monitored watches,
• Dance Dance Revolution,
• A few exercise
bicycles/fitness machines.
Five days a week /45 minutes.
Ratey
Johannes Skolen
Copenhagen, Denmark
 School PE was increased from once a week to 5 times a week for 250 students
for three months.
 ABSENTEEISM decreased by 38%.
 CONCENTR ATION ABILITY was measured and it improved 33%.
 Teachers reported, “The increase in exercise had great effects on
CLASSROOM BEHAVIOR.”
 Exercise had a major impact on GRADES; there was an average of 1.5 grade
improvement across the board.
Ratey
Naperville Public Schools, IL
•A revolutionary PE program has transformed the student body into
perhaps the fittest in the nation with Zero hour PE.
•Among one entire sophomore class, only 3% were overweight, versus the
national average of 30%.
•In 1999, Naperville District 203 scored #1 in science and #6 in math on
TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study)
Ratey
Standing appears to provide a 5–15%
greater flow of blood and oxygen to
the brain, thereby creating more
arousal of attention (Jensen, 1995).
Brain Break! Ten
In this activity, partners will put their arms out and display the
correct number of fingers so that both add to 10.
1. Stand up and find a partner. Decide who is A and who is B.
2. Face your partner.
3. Person A will put both arms together in one of these four positions:
straight up, directly left, directly right or straight down and display a
number zero to ten with his fingers and thumb.
4. Now person B will put her arms out in the opposite direction as person
A’s and display her fingers and thumbs to both total 10. For instance, if
person A had their hands straight up and displaying 3 fingers total with
both hands, then person B put their arms straight down and displays 7
total fingers.
5. Do this as fast as you can. Once person A has led for a while, switch
and have person B lead.
Goal
Improving Classroom Achievement
Through Physical Movement
Time is short and the
expectations are high. How do
you fit exercise and movement in
your classroom without giving up
on instruction time?
Yoga Animal Poses to Relax You
and Your Students
Students crave the chance to be creative while exploring
what their bodies can do.Yoga poses, put together in a
creative way, help the students begin to learn how to focus
and concentrate and release tension that builds up from the
busy day of learning.
Snake
Snake Pose: have the student lay on the floor on their bellies
and stretch from head to toe. Have them pretend they are a
snake in the grass and stretch in the sun. After holding this
pose for a few seconds, the longer the better, I then ask
them to raise their heads and shoulder and leaning on their
hands, I encourage them to do a quiet "hiss" sound.
Crocodile-Locust Pose
Crocodile Pose: have them move arms back along side the
body, raising head and bend upward from the waist, arching
head back. Then like crocodiles, encourage them to open
and shut their jaws several times. This is a fun imagination
pose as I tell them, "We're crocodiles in the swamp or the
river. What can we find to eat today. Look, get that frog or
bug" as they snap their jaws open and shut. Feel free to be
creative in your teaching yoga or flexibility exercises.
Cat-Cat Curl Pose
Cat Pose: have them raise their bodies till they are kneeling
on all fours. Encourage them to keep their arms straight,
with relaxed shoulders, raised heads. I let them make
"meow" sounds, then have them arch their back like a cat
who is mad. I encourage them to alternate between the
raised head meowing position to the arched back silent
position several times, breathing deeply when their back is
arched.
Dog-Downward Facing Dog
Dog-Downward Pose: I encourage the kids to
lift up their hips and keep arms straight as
they become a dog. This is a harder pose for
them to hold for very long so you can come
to plank and then back up again after a break.
Lion
Lion Pose: lean back on their knees and lift arms
completely off the floor, hanging down beside their
bodies as a lion. In lion, they lift their chests, open
mouth wide and from the abdomen, roar like a lion,
breathing in and out and stretching their tongue out as
they roar. This also can be rather difficult, but the tongue
being stretched out relaxes the neck and facial muscles,
so encourage them to be silly with "sticking their
tongues" out.
Butterfly
Butterfly Pose: have the students sit on their bottoms,
legs flexed in a triangle shape in front of them with the
soles of their feet touching each other and hands on
their ankles. They then move their legs up and down, in
a "flapping butterfly" motion. Encourage them to float
and flap slowly and deliberately, being silent like a
butterfly.
Monkey-Tip Toe Pose
Monkey or Tip Toe Pose can be noisy if you choose. They
stand on their feet, bend their knees and squat down close
to the floor with their feet body-width apart. Have them
touch their hands to their chest and then raise and lower
their elbows while making a monkey sound. Let them use
their imagination as to what a monkey sounds like.
Encourage students to have spatial awareness at all times.
Turtle-Childs Pose
(Arms Extended Forward)
Turtle is a good way to begin to quiet down. Have the
child kneel and sit on their heels. Then lower their upper
bodies so that their forehead touches the floor. Have
them slide their arms forward above their head while
keeping their bottoms curled up on their heels in a small
hunched turtle pose. Have them hold inside their shell so
no one can see them.
Mouse-Childs Pose (hands by heels
with palms up)
Last kids yoga pose is the mouse pose for quietness and
stillness. From the turtle position, have the children slide
their arms back alongside their body toward their feet.
They keep their bottoms on their heels and place their
arms by their sides so that their hands are along their
entire body ending at the feet. I encourage them to
remain "quiet as a mouse" for as long as they can, usually
at least 30 seconds.
CLOSING MOVEMENT
Can you follow directions?
Track Name: The Previous Command
Body Jive CD by Ambrose “Braz”
Brazelton
This CD is available at www.edact.com.
It has a very helpful pdf file recorded
within the music CD. This file has
objectives written for each song, as well
as illustrating movement images.
We are about to find out!
Moving to Music!
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Macarena
Cupid Shuffle
Cha Cha Slide
Tootsiroll
YMCA
Chicken Dance
Hustle
Hokie Pokie
Electric Slide
Cotton Eyed Jo
Conga
Bunny Hop
CDs/DVDs to check out
•No Worries: Songs for Sensory Modulation (K-4th
grade)
•Body Jive by Ambrose Brazelton (middle grades)
•Kidz Bop music/dance videos ages 5-12
•Hip Hop dance moves for kids on ehow.com
(video)
What ever the source, music or video, remember
to preview before. Although videos and music may
be advertised for kids, use your judgment and
decide whether it is appropriate or not. I have not
previewed the Kidz Bop videos and am not certain
if they would be appropriate.
Resources to Check out from the CARE Library
 Break Breaks DVD
 Brain Gym Teacher’s Edition www.braingym.org
 Energizing Brain Breaks Booklet
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http://brainbreaks.blogspot.com
FitDeck Yoga Exercise Playing Cards www.fitdeck.com
Healthy Kids, Smart Kids by Yvonne Sanders-Butler, Ed.D.
Mind and Body Activities for the Elementary Classroom
Recess in Action booklet
S’cool Moves for Learning
Spark, by John J. Ratey, MD
Supersize Me DVD (school version)
Other Resources to Explore:
 Hip Hop Dance Moves for Kids Video Series
www.ehow.com
 Star Power for Preschoolers by Andrew Oser
 www.schoolmoves.com/index.htm
 Student Wellness Website- District site under Student
drop down
 Videos to watch
 www.brainrules.com
 http://www.learningreadinesspe.com/index.html
 http://brainbreaks.blogspot.com/
Contact Information
•Kendra Fanning- 4th grade teacher, West Elementary
Kendra_fanning@gfps.k12.mt.us ex. 7194
•Michelle Peterson- Health Enhancement teacher, Sunnyside
Elementary michelle_peterson@gfps.k12.mt.us ex. 7140
•Allison Struber- Student Wellness Coordinator
allison_struber@gfps.k12.mt.us ex. 6782
References
National Center for Health Statistics
Franks, P., Hanson, R. L., Knowler, W. C., Sievers, M. L., Bennett, P. H., Looker,
H.C. (2010). Childhood Obesity, Other Cardiovascular Risk Factors, and
Premature Death. N Engl J Med 2010; 362:485-493
Castelli, D., Hillman, C., Buck, S., & Erwin, H. (2007). Physical fitness and
academic achievement in third- and fith- grade students. J Sport Exerc Psychol, 29(2),
239-52.
California Department of Education. (2005). California Physical Fitness Test: A Study
of Relationship Between Physical Fitness and Academic Achievement in California Using 20
Test Results. Californa Department of Education, Sacramento, CA.
(http://www.asep.org/files/Grissom.pdf)
Ratey, J. SPARK:The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. Little, Brown
Company, New York, NY.