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The purpose of this lesson is to teach and reinforce healthy, active behavior and to stress the relationship between physical health and other aspects of our well-being.
This lesson focuses on the importance of moving our bodies, and how this helps our bodies, our brains, and our well-being. Discussions about different kinds of activities, how our bodies feel when we are moving, and how moving our bodies can help us feel good introduce fun classroom movement activities.
Activity 1: (10 minutes) ANCHOR CHART REVIEW
Review the Pyramid of Happiness anchor chart from the slides. Review the lowest level of the pyramid and perform that action (rubbing tummy and pretending to drink). Make the connection to physical well-being. Remind students about the actions associated with each level of the pyramid. Have a discussion:
Most movement feels like play (grownups call this “exercise”). Encourage the children to share the ways that they move their bodies every day. Suggestions might include walking to school, playing on a soccer team, playing with friends at the park, etc. Create a list together of all the ways we can move our bodies every day.
Activity 2: (15 minutes) MY BODY MOVES
Read The Busy Body Book by Lizzy Rockwell or watch the read-aloud video. Use the storytime as an opportunity to move and explore how your body moves. As you read about each individual system, make the movements as suggested. For example:
Create a movement such as bending, twirling, clapping, etc., and have all the children repeat the activity after you. Allow the children to take the lead in creating a movement the other children can mimic.
Activity 3: (10 minutes) PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
Choose a physical activity to do as a classroom for 3–5 minutes. Possible ideas are: teacher-led yoga or Animal Poses Yoga, a guided dance routine, or any other highly active activity. Have a quick discussion:
Activity 4: (15 minutes) SHAPE PATTERNS
We can challenge our brains and our bodies when we move them every day. Make multiple copies of the Shape and Move Cards. Hold up each Shape and Move Card and show the children what movement each shape represents. Review the basic rules about making patterns with shapes (i.e., patterns repeat: AB, AABB, ABC, etc.). Using the Shape and Move Cards, make a simple AB shape pattern by lining up alternating shapes along the floor, or tape them to the board. As you point to each shape, have the students create a movement pattern, by moving according to the suggestion on the shape card. (For example, if you made a pattern with the circle and star cards, the movement pattern would be twirling, jumping jacks, twirling, jumping jacks.)
Shape Movements:
Put on some lively music and divide the class into pairs. Have the children work together—one creates the pattern and the other follows the shape and move pattern. Have partners swap jobs or trade with other pairs to create new shape and move patterns.
Extend the fun by using the number cards used in Lesson 5. Have a child draw a number card and a shape card. Perform the activity suggested on the shape card the number of times listed on the number card.
Activity 5: (15 minutes) CHILDREN’S BOOK READ ALOUD & DISCUSSION
Read I Got the Rhythm, by Connie Schofield-Morrison or watch the read-aloud video by DREAMI EDUCATION. Talk about how this girl in the story loves to move her body whenever she hears music. Ask the children if they know how to dance like the girl in the story. Put on some lively music and encourage the children to move and dance like the girl in the book. Invite the children to discover new ways they can move their body to music. Dancing or moving to music is one way that many people move and feel good. If you’re having a bad day, one thing you can do to help yourself feel better is to put on some music and move.
What is one way you like to move your body? Talk about the many different ways to move our bodies. Some examples:
There are so many different ways to move our bodies! Brainstorm a list of ideas and encourage the children to choose an activity that they can share with their family. What kind of movement makes you feel happy?
Extend the conversation by talking about ways that we can move our bodies without doing a formal exercise activity. Can you walk or ride your bike to school or the store instead of driving? Can you use the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator? Can you park in the back of the lot and walk to an entrance? What other ways can you use your body to do things that machines would make easier?
Plan a daily activity or “Move-it Moment” that the class can do such as a walk around the playground, walk like different animals up and down the hall, walk backwards or hop on one foot, create an obstacle course, or anything that gets the class moving every day. This is solely an opportunity to take a break and move to improve focus and brain functioning of the class. Assign a “Movement Czar” for the day and do whatever activity that child chooses for your Move-it Moment.
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