Here in the North we often have very cold temperatures that keep students inside during recess and lunch breaks, sometimes for weeks at a time. Needless to say, all of the students get restless from many consecutive “inside days”, but the effect is especially noticeable in the primary classrooms. Those wee ones can get pretty “antsy” from all of their pent up energy. Added to that is the requirement here in BC for 30 minutes of Daily Physical Activity (DPA). One solution: count and dance!
I was recently in a grade 1 classroom where the teacher, Trina, had her students burning off some of that excess energy as they danced with abandonment during several counting songs.
She used YouTube videos (produced by Have Fun Teaching) that combined movement with counting. Trina did not even have a system where the students were actually watching the video (she used her classroom computer but there was no large screen for the students to watch). The children mainly listened the audio and watched Trina model some dancing!
She told me that the children move so much during the songs that after only a few songs the students are sweating with the exertion! And, of course, along they way they are learning to count.
The two songs I watched were these:
Counting Down from Twenty Song
The Counting By Twos Song
I hope you get your students grooving to a math song!
Mathematically yours,
Carollee
