Movement In Math

You probably already know that when you incorporate movement into your lessons, your students are less bored and more engaged in learning.

But, Did you know that:

1. Movement actually increases blood flow in the brain?
2. Research shows that humans are able to recall better what we do actively? ( Jensen, 2005)
3. Movement increases attention?

There are so many ways to incorporate movement into your favorite math lessons!  Here are a few of my favorites:

Math Stations

Math Stations can be actual activities or just problems placed around the room.  I often will put one or two problems at each table and have my students travel around in partners or small groups to solve them.

One strategy that I learned recently is to have your students occasionally change partners or groups during the activity.  For example, I might say, "Partner Ones stay at your table, and Partner Twos rotate to the next table." This has really helped to cut down on off-task behaviors. It also gives students an opportunity to coach or teach each other which helps increase their understanding as well.

Scoot games are great for this as well!



Quiz, Quiz, Trade

In Quiz, Quiz, Trade activities, students are each given a problem card.  They pair up with a partner and each quizzes the other using their cards.  If they get the problem correct, the partner congratulates them.  If they answer incorrectly, the partner coaches them with the correct answer.  The partners then trade cards and find new partners.

 

 

My students were using my Quiz, Quiz, Trade Multiplication Cards.

Movements & Gestures for Vocabulary Terms

In a previous blog post, I mentioned using hand signals for geometric terms such as line, line segment, point, etc.  Hand signals are a great way to teach vocabulary terms of all types!




I found a video that uses similar hand signals to what we use here.




How do you incorporate movement in math?