Rationale
"Movement has been shown by educational, cognitive, psychological, medical, and behavioral research to be one of the best ways to get all children - typical and special needs alike - to gain control over their behavior and to engage with and retain what is being taught to them." Research has shown that students are more attentive and retain instruction better and for longer periods of time when incorporated with movement. Many teachers are aware of the importance of Brain Breaks (or as I prefer to call them- Brain Boosts) as they have experienced first hand, the difficulty of having students sit still for 5-35 minutes. As a pre-service teacher, I have seen the importance of giving my students regular movement breaks as it allows for my students to get their wiggles out, receive additional DPA, reenergize their brain and refocus. I have also seen a wide range of learning styles in my classroom. I have noticed that many students are kinesthetic learners however there appear to be limited activities that incorporate movement in some of the academic subject areas. I decided to focus my project on the importance of incorporating movement activities into language arts lessons. I believe that incorporating movement, in conjunction with traditional methods of literacy instruction (auditory, visual and tactile,) allows for all students to learn through their own learning style and needs.
This website was created as a resource for Alberta primary teachers to use while teaching literacy skills. As a physical education major, I have a strong passion and interest in active learning and movement based activities. As a Kindergarten teacher, I have noticed how many kids struggle to sit still and how their desire to move affects their concentration and focus levels. Early literacy is fundamental to a child's success as it builds a foundation for their future.
For my Professional Inquiry Project, I chose to research how early literacy skills can be taught through movement based activities. I chose to create an activity bank for teachers to easily access these activities. This activity bank is based on fundamental movement skills taught in physical education and is a daily physical activity (DPA) and cross-curricular integration resource. I have designed my website as a compilation of various movement based early literacy activities. Teachers can easily find movement based activities for each of the general learning outcomes in the Alberta Language Arts Program of Study.
This website was created as a resource for Alberta primary teachers to use while teaching literacy skills. As a physical education major, I have a strong passion and interest in active learning and movement based activities. As a Kindergarten teacher, I have noticed how many kids struggle to sit still and how their desire to move affects their concentration and focus levels. Early literacy is fundamental to a child's success as it builds a foundation for their future.
For my Professional Inquiry Project, I chose to research how early literacy skills can be taught through movement based activities. I chose to create an activity bank for teachers to easily access these activities. This activity bank is based on fundamental movement skills taught in physical education and is a daily physical activity (DPA) and cross-curricular integration resource. I have designed my website as a compilation of various movement based early literacy activities. Teachers can easily find movement based activities for each of the general learning outcomes in the Alberta Language Arts Program of Study.