Facilitating Movement (Verbs and Adverbs)

Facilitating movement in the elementary classroom is a little bit more involved than one might think. If you just have the kids get up and start moving around the room it can easily become chaotic and someone might get hurt. Here are some suggestions for getting started:

• Let the students know that they are going to do a movement activity and why.
• Develop a detailed procedure for moving the furniture to allow room for movement. Make sure each child knows what he or she will be doing during the moving of the furniture. Be sure that they also know what to do when they are done. I suggest having them sit quietly on the floor.
• Have the students look around the classroom space and describe how they are situated within that space.
• Have the students stand on a signal and in a given amount of time move so that they are evenly divided within the space.
• Use a drum or other percussion instrument to keep a beat. Have the students move to the beat when the drum plays. Do this while seated. Give options for what to move (head, shoulders, toes, hands, etc.). Make sure everyone is successful starting and stopping.
• Invite the students to use locomotor movement with the beat (walk, hop, run). Specify which type of locomotor movement they will use. Have them freeze then the sound stops.
• You could also have them freeze at different levels (high, middle, or low), like an object or animal, etc., and/or evenly spaced within the movement area.
• Have them move in a specific way (adverbs: happily, lethargically, etc.). 
• Combine verbs and adverbs (walk lightly, for example).
• The possibilities are endless with this approach to what my students used to call "freeze dance."
• Develop a procedure for putting the furniture back where it was. 

Names in Open Space (Grades K-6: Reading, Writing, and Theatre)

Resources

Space for movement

Process

• Create a space in the classroom for movement by moving desks or tables. It is best if there is a procedure for this. If there isn’t already, develop an orderly procedure.  
•  Invite the students to find a space in the room and sit down in that space. Specify how they are to sit down. It may also be necessary to instruct them to not sit under furniture and to remain in a specified set of boundaries. Have them leave enough space on all sides of themselves that someone could walk between them and other students or between them and walls or furniture. Alternatively, you could have the students simply space themselves evenly throughout the space. Practice this by having them walk amongst each other (depending on their experience level) and freezing on a specific signal. Then, have them look around and discuss whether or not they are evenly spaced.
• Invite the students to write their names in the air with their hands. They can use block letters or cursive depending on grade level.
• Have the students make their name with other body parts (finger, pinky, thumb, nose, chin, etc) while sitting.
• Invite the students to stand. Have them make their names in larger space with their hand, head.
•  Invite the students to create a whole-body version of their first initial. Give adequate time for experimentation.
• Have the students sit on the floor in their space and invite individual students to share how they did their first initial. 
•  Invite the students to stand and create a movement sequence for their entire first names.
• Have the students sit on the floor while individual students share their names. If there isn’t enough time for everyone to share, divide the class into small groups and let them share with their group.  Or, have an entire group or four or so share their names simultaneously with the rest of the class.