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Move-To-Learn: How to Use the School Morning Telecast to "Activate" Young Minds

Some schools are really shakin' up the school year! My friend (who is a speech pathologist), and I are excited about what her elementary school is doing this year. The school's morning telecast, using the talented and deserving fifth graders, has added a new action component. Yes, you still pledge your alligiance to your country, find out what's for lunch, hear about the special events...and then...MOVE TO LEARN!

It seems the school's assistant principal has really listened to her staff say that movement holds the key to getting student's primed for learning. Therefore, the Move-To-Learn Program happens every morning in their school. Now comes the creative part. What would be most effective? Brain Gym? Focus2Learn? Yoga? Other ideas? What approach is most effective? What is doable and enjoyable for a kindergartener that is still engaging to a fifth grader? How much repetition vs. novelty is the right amount? What is the best background music? What is a meaningful affirmation to share each day?

Come brainstorm with us. Tell me if you know of a school that has done this, and what the format is as well as what the results are.

Tags: response to intervention

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Comment by Scott Adolf on September 12, 2011 at 10:58am: Try SPARK, The New Revolutionary of Science and the Brain -- Dr. John Ratey (www.sparkinglife.org)!!!

Comment by Martianne Stanger on September 11, 2011 at 8:36pm: There is a book called Move to Learn, Learn to Move that I love. Would be a great supplement to planned lessons that the teachers could browse for ideas.

Comment by Lori Smith, M.Ed. on September 11, 2011 at 1:27pm: I am taking this to the Principal of my school! I love the idea of adding movement to the morning announcement. What a simple way to make sure each day is started with kids getting their brains ready to learn. Our school district is getting better about serving a healthy breakfast (which is free for every child in our large school system), so this would be one more way to get learners learning. Yeah!

Comment by Martianne Stanger on September 10, 2011 at 9:37pm: What a great idea! In all honesty, though, I am not sure that moving to learn over the telecast is the way to go... I know that when I was teaching, announcements were often ignored or mocked by many students. In a smaller school then, we actually had a morning meeting where we all came together, face to face for announcements, sharing projects, doing exercises or what have you. In larger schools, we had brief announcements and then teachers had a brief time in their own classrooms to attend to things like this.

I think OUTDOOR time is as vital as movement, so why not a run or jump in the school yard or after announcements for the students? How about scheduling movement breaks into the day? Having an outdoor classroom space?

For the model as it is, three days to a week per type of movement would be good to start, I think, with fun dancing, brain gym, stretching. Then, maybe a vote or a contest to keep things fresh and focus on what the kids like.

And, if the principal is really on board, why not offer some wiggle seats or fitness balls to each classroom in lieu of some desk chairs? Encourage students to be able to sit, stnad, lay or whatever for their work as long as theya re focused and not distrubing other students? (I used to do this w/ 7th grade ELA stuents and they lvoed it!)