Five Ways to Incorporate Movement into Math & ELA in Kindergarten
After teaching little learners for the past few years, I know how hard it is to keep their focus and attention all day long. It is really hard for our youngest students to stay seated at their desks for long periods of time! As a kindergarten teacher, I have found it so important to incorporate movement into my lessons so that I can keep my students engaged but also support their learning and development (I talked about the importance and benefits of incorporating movement with learning over on this post).
The great thing about movement-based learning is that it can be very simple things that allow students to move along with the lesson. They will be able to make more connections and be more willing to participate when they get a chance to move their bodies! Here are five ways to incorporate movement into your math and ELA lessons!
Student Response Movement
Instead of just having your students speak or write the answer, have them respond by moving their body! You can have them stand on one foot, jump three times, do a jumping jack, a squat, etc. to show their correct answer. The best part about student response movement is that it doesn’t take a ton of prep or practice! It’s something you can start doing today during your math or ELA time!
Write the Room
Write the Room is a great way to get students moving while they are working independently or during partner work. You can have them read sight words around the room, solve math problems, find rhyming words, etc.
Dance Breaks
You can always incorporate movement through music or dance breaks in the classroom. It’s a fun way to transition from one activity to the next and I encourage my students to get the wiggles out. We love using GoNoodle!
Roll, Read, & Move
This is one of my favorite games to use in my classroom and my students absolutely love it. These game boards offer a fun spin on a game of reading sight words or math facts: movement breaks! They can be played in partner pairs or individually! All you need is a dice and some counters! Player rolls the dice, and moves that many spots! If they land on a movement break, (an air squat for example) they will perform as many air squats as the number they rolled!
Turn and Talk or Class Discussions with Movement
We all love a good turn and talk with a partner but why not switch it up a bit? Instead of students just turning and talking while staying seated, you can have students toss a bean bag or bounce a ball when it’s their turn to talk! It keeps them engaged and excited for their turn to share!
Movement in the classroom just works. Students learn better, are more engaged and think more clearly! Want even more ways to incorporate ready to go movement into your classroom? Be sure to check out my Math and ELA Games! These movement game boards are one of my favorite activities to use for math and literacy skills!
