Movement and Learning: Creating Successful Classrooms

We all know that moving our bodies every day is healthy for us. But did you know how important movement and learning are in a classroom? Did you know there is a connection between incorporating movement into the classroom and learning ability? Students who are allowed to incorporate movement while learning will be better engaged, can have better knowledge retention, and may achieve more. Incorporating phonics games and phonics activities allows for the best of both worlds. Movement. Learning. Engagement.

Nothing has shown me the need for movement quite like my daughter. She is in a constant state of motion throughout the day and her body learns best while moving. Requiring her to sit and be still to learn is impossible, unfair, and creates the opposite of learning. She shuts down and retains little information while being required to be still. I know she isn’t the only student who is this way. Therefore, incorporating movement helps those students who need to move to learn, but also supports all students as well. Movement and learning are basically BFFs.

Move and Learn

Adding movement into the day doesn’t have to be hard. Below are some wonderful ways to incorporate more movement and learning into your classroom. 

Phonics Games

Phonics activity worksheets don’t necessarily make students fluent readers, nor do they typically promote movement. Therefore, I try to use typical phonics worksheets sparingly. There is certainly a time and place for pencil/paper work, but I often can find more engaging, movement-based activities to teach the same skills.

Close your eyes and picture this…

• You look out across your classroom and see multiple phonics ability groups each engaging in movement-based phonics game (phonics games listed below make it easy to differentiate instruction).

• Students are smiling

• Laughter is heard

• There are jumping jacks, kangaroo hops and frog jumps happening

• Students are engaged and having fun. Oh and they are practicing crucial phonics decoding skills and they probably don’t even realize they are learning.

Also picture this…

• You have a big smile on your face as a student rushes up to you asking if they can play one more game. And of course your answer is YES!

You know how I can create such a vivid image? Because this is exactly what happens in my classroom every time students play this game.

I have 3 different activity phonics movement games that are a highlight every time they are incorporated into our day, which is almost every week. Students smile bright, move their bodies and practice phonics skills in a highly engaging manner. Take a look at these activities for yourself. 

Write the Room Activities

These write the room phonics activities requires students to be up and moving around the classroom as they practice phonics skills. This is a phonics scavenger hunt of sorts which also incorporates writing words by practicing newly acquired phonics skills. This is always a class favorite. Check them out here! I also have created a phonemic awareness version too.

As a reminder, phonemic awareness should always be taught before phonics. More on my blog post here.

Create different work zones

Students don’t need to complete all their work and tasks while seated at their desks. It is important to think about creating a classroom layout that offers flexible seating and various locations with different types of seating.

For example, in my classroom I have round tables, 1 low round table on a fluffy rug for students to sit on the ground, 2 fluffy chairs in the library, a main learning rug and a second huge rug in the back of the room. All of these locations are perfect for learning. Creating different zones to learn creates better engagement and allows for more student choice and autonomy.

Think about yourself as a learner. You probably learn different things in different areas in your house. I know I train my mind for meditation in a different spot than I train my muscles for a workout.

Morning meeting

One of my favorite times of day is our Morning Meeting. We build a classroom culture and community and this a time when students can move about more freely during the activity, sharing and message portion of the day. 

Many of the morning meeting activities are movement-based but they are reviewing academic skills previously taught. Talk about movement and learning having a powerful connection.

Brain breaks

Scheduling times for students to take a movement break throughout the day is crucial. Think about yourself having to power through researching, writing, editing, revising and publishing a paper all in one day. This would be nearly impossible for most without breaks. You know there is only so much you can accomplish before you physically need to get up and move your body. Students are the same, but need this even more. 

1. They are younger 

2. For many students they are learning and applying skills to the max EVERY SINGLE DAY

3. This helps them learn better

Some of my favorite brain breaks are simple breathing techniques and yoga flows. 

Must Do May Do

Honestly, I don’t typically need to add in a lot of movement-based brain breaks because I have structured my day in such a way that allows for a lot of movement. Not only do I incorporate the above movement activities, but I also have my entire literacy block (1.5 hours) set up to be a continuous movement cycle. I use a Must Do May Do approach to literacy instruction. Read more about it here in this post. 

For 1.5 hours my students are participating in sensory activities, phonics games, phonics activities, sight word practice and reading. All of this takes place in various spots around my classroom with the location chosen by the students.

Some students start reading a book in our comfy classroom library and then move to the classroom’s large rug to practice their sight words. Next, they move to our small round table that is so low it doesn’t have chairs but rather a fluffy rug to sit on. Students practice their phonics activities there and then move to a desk to practice sensory learning. This hour and a half is fun, engaging and promotes a classroom of movement. Students learn a lot and enjoy this part of the day. It’s truly a highlight for students and the teacher.

Incorporate Must Do May Do Now

If you are looking for a way to incorporate a Must Do May Do system in your classroom, which lends itself beautifully to a movement-based approach then click the link below. You will get a template and quick guide to get you on your way. Transform your day from constant teacher interruptions, students not completing work, 10 minute literacy center timer going off with little movement to a calm classroom full of movement, peer support and differentiate reading rotations all while you peacefully teach small reading groups.

I hope you can see how easy it is to incorporate more movement into the classroom and also how incredibly beneficial it is to learning and engagement.

Related Articles: Why I Ditched Literacy Centers for a Must Do May Do System