Gross Motor Activities
Yes, I know, it's stupid. First we deprive children of adequate recess time. Then we declare them hyperactive and poison them with chemicals. We should contact our state representatives to get this foolishness outlawed, but what can we do during the meantime?
One possibility is to incorporate gross motor activity into the subject matter. The following is only a listing of the possibilities which come to mind:
Pass the bean bag
Say "Carson City" and pass the bean bag to someone else. That person says "Tallahassee" and passes the bean bag to a third person.
Thanks to Karen Nye for submitting this idea to the discipline mailing list.
Calisthenics
"Hope! Cope! Dome! Tote! Vote! Coke! Take! Cake! Same! Rake!"
The most alert students stopped performing jumping jacks on the word "take," because that's when the words with the long o stopped. If jumping jacks gets too tiresome, try push-ups, sit-ups, or toe-touchers. Walking, running, jumping, or hopping in place could have a similar effect. If you want to make it really challenging, ask for one response
Don't bother keeping score on this activity; the students enjoy it enough as an end in itself.
Musical Chairs
"3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 5 10 15 20 25 30 . . ."
By this time, all the participants have noticed that the table of 3's is no longer being repeated, so the mad scramble for the available chairs has already taken place.
One word of caution: remind the class not to make too much noise. This game can get exciting.
If there are any other gross motor activities which can be related to reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, I haven't thought of them. So log into the discussion page and tell us about them.
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