By

Joy Pillow-Jone,   Gra-mar Middle School

Play:

In-Class Physical Activity Breaks — Good For Mind and Body

Topics:

Physical Activity Participation,  Student Leadership

Last week, grade level teams prepared activities that they offered during the first five minutes of every core subject. Students enjoyed dancing and moving around. We did have one teacher that preferred to offer the 5 minute activity at the very end of the pay. Students who generally sat on the sidelines actually participated. Every student in school participated in the Let's Move Movement.

How do you plan to make this Play last during the school year and beyond?

We will continue to bring creative ways to get students moving in the first 3 to 5 minutes of each core subject. This does not cost us anything, so we can do this activity from now until May 2019.

What improvements have you seen at your school?

Students are excited to see what activity we will do next.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Teachers felt like the five minutes was taking away from valuable instruction time. Teachers noticed that students being allowed to burn access energy made the students more focused and engaged in what the teacher was teaching.