YOUNG LEARNERS

Bringing movement
to the classroom
Phil Keegan and Aysu Şimşek show how to allow some useful physical activity in lessons.

A nyone who has worked in a

classroom of young and teenage
learners knows how fidgety they can be
their classroom behaviour when they’re
active. Kids feel better about themselves,
have higher self-esteem, less depression,
an exercise or test is finished: the first two
are especially good in this regard.

and they will also know how pointless less anxiety. All of these things can impair
it is to tell people to sit still when they academic performance and attentiveness.’
The Sid Shuffle
start to fidget. They can’t, and there is no Exercise, as we know, gets blood to the The Sid Shuffle comes from the
reason why they should be able to sit still. brain and keeps it working well. film Ice Age.
https://www.youtube.com/
Humans did not evolve sitting down. In a couple of recent blogposts, Angela watch?v=uMuJxd2Gpxo
In Brain Rules, John Medina (2014) Hanscom, a paediatric occupational
describes how early homo sapiens therapist, argues along the same lines: The teacher can show the video and let
moved around constantly, eventually the students imitate and learn it (if they
spreading all over the world. It is ‘In order for children to learn, they need don’t already know it). Then at any time
thought that the average distance to be able to pay attention. In order to in subsequent lessons, the teacher can
covered was around 20 km a day. pay attention, we need to let them move.’ shout ‘Sid Shuffle’ and the students jump
Medina quotes research findings that up and do the shuffle for a minute or so.
show clear links between low physical With all this in mind, we recommend
activity and reduced cognitive skills. the following ways of getting more
In other words, exercise is good for the movement into your lessons. The
Mexican Wave
brain. And this applies to people of all amount of times will vary according The Mexican wave is an activity
ages, young to very old. to the lesson focus and type, but if an whereby spectators at a sports or other
average lesson is around 40–50 minutes, event stand up and raise both arms row
For classroom teachers, this information is we suggest that anywhere from four to by row, creating a curious visual effect
gold. Not only will students learn more if six movements is a good benchmark. as if the crowd is moving like a sea
they move more, there will also be fewer The first five can be done whenever wave. There is a video here:
classroom management issues. Medina the teacher sees the need to simply re- https://www.youtube.com/
(2014) quotes Dr Antronette Yancey: ‘Kids energise the class for whatever reason. watch?v=H0K2dvB-7WY
are less likely to be disruptive in terms of They can also be done to celebrate when
After teaching the students how the
Mexican wave works, the teacher can
shout ‘Mexican Wave’ at any time and
point to the student who should begin,
perhaps at the front or back of the
room, and the students follow one by
one and/or row by row depending on
the seating arrangements. A few rounds
should do the trick.

Grow a Tree
The teacher asks the students to stand
up and then crouch down. When the
teacher gives the command ‘Grow a

28 www.modernenglishteacher.com n Volume 25 n Issue 3

 YOUNG LEARNERS

tree’, the students have to slowly raise compare their answers with three or four quiet them down and refocus them on
themselves up and extend their arms other students and make a note of how the lesson. One trick to get the students
above their heads as if they were a tree many students have the same answer refocused is to use a squeaky toy to
growing slowly. and how many have different answers. get the students’ attention. Squeezing
it a couple of times will usually get
In the meantime, the teacher opens an the students attention, at which point
Music Mime online countdown tool (for example the teacher can tell the students to sit
The Teacher plays a piece of http://www.online-stopwatch.com/ down, take a deep breath, maybe close
instrumental music (any kind is OK) bomb-countdown/). eyes for five seconds or so, and then
and the students have to mime playing the lesson can resume.
one of the instruments they can hear in While this is going on, the teacher can
the piece of music. Jazz and classical stick the correct answers on the walls
music are particularly good for this around the room and tell the students
Further reading
activity, but anything will work. to go check them with a partner before Medina J (2014) Brain Rules: 12
conducting a whole class round up, Principles for Surviving and Thriving
at Work, Home and School. Seattle,
dealing with any problems as necessary.
The Code Word WA: Pear Press.

The teacher explains that there is a secret Blogposts by Angela Hanscom can
code word for the lesson, for example
Moving Drill be found here:
‘butterfly’. Whenever they hear that word It is a good idea to drill the https://www.childrenandnature.org/
author/angelahanscom/
during the class, they should stand up pronunciation of new words by asking
and jump or do the Sid Shuffle or some the whole class to chorally repeat the More information about Dr
other physical movement specified teacher’s pronunciation. When doing Antronette Yancey can be found
by the teacher. The teacher chooses a this with more than one word, the here: http://www.toniyancey.com/
different word each lesson and he/she teacher can ask the students to repeat home.html
can check the lesson material in advance the first word while sitting, then stand for
to ensure it comes up. Alternatively, the drilling of the next word or two, then sit
teacher can simply look out the window again and so on.
and find a way of getting the code word
into a sentence once or twice during
the lesson (‘Oh look, a beautiful butterfly
Walking Pair Work
just flew past!’). When the students have a pair work
speaking task, the kind that starts with
‘Talk to your partner about …’, the
Whole Body Answering teacher can tell the students to stand
Phil Keegan lives in Istanbul and
While giving answers to a True/False up and walk around the classroom works for Oxford University Press as a
or multiple-choice exercise or test, while they do it. A variation can be that Teacher Trainer. He previously worked
the teacher sets some actions for all the teacher claps her hands at random in Germany, Austria, The UK, The USA,
possible answers. For example, if the intervals and the students have to find a France, Malaysia and Slovenia. His book,
In My Opinion, a photocopiable collection
students think the answer is True or new partner and continue the activity. of opinion gap activities, is published by
‘A’, they put both hands up and lean Prolingua Associates.
to the right. If they think it is False or
‘B’, they put both hands up and lean
Hunt The Answers
to the left. If there are more possible The teacher sticks the answers to an
answers, they can stand up and shake exercise on the wall in the corridor
their bodies or stand up and twirl outside the classroom. After a pair or
around twice and so on. group work exercise, the students take
turns to run to the answer sheet outside
A variation is to designate the corners of and memorise as many answers as
the room as A, B, C, D and the students they can and then run back and tell
have to go to corner A if they think A is the answers to the group/partner. The
the correct answer and so on. With True/ teacher sets a time limit. A countdown
False answers, the teacher can designate tool can be used for this (see above). Aysu Şimşek is an English Language
Teacher at a private school in Istanbul.
a side of the room as True or False. She is particularly interested in creative
approaches to teaching and writes
Conclusion a regular ELT blog: http://aysusim.
Walking Peer Check blogspot.com.tr
A possible downside to using these
After finishing an exercise, the teacher activities is that the students can get
tells the students to walk around and overexcited and it can be difficult to

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