Week 5 Reflection

This week was all about movement and dance being incorporated into lessons.  We learned about the fundamental movement skills: locomotive, non-locomotive and object control movement which categorize if a person is moving somewhere else vs staying stationary or moving around something such as a ball.  We also learned about perceptual motor skills: time, directions, and space which relate to how movements helps students be aware of how fast or slow they are moving or spacial awareness and where their body is when they move.  I forgot to grab a picture for the blog because we were busy doing movements and dances along with the songs most of the class.  We also created movements to go along with the song “My Favorite Things,” from The Sound of Music.  These activities helped me realize that movement in the classroom can be used more in any lesson and not just for the students to use up some energy or for a brain break but to actually develop some understanding and learn from it.  Doing these types of activities could include children of different backgrounds by developing lessons to learn dance and movement from other cultures while also being used with social studies activities or finding movements to go along with stories being read for literacy.  Books that include movements can help the students stay focused and remember what is being read.  We would use a lot of GoNoodle songs to help with counting and spelling, but by allowing the children to create their own movements to be repeated can help with their creative input.  By giving everyone a turn to create the students can have fun while expressing their individual ideas and helping them remember the lesson easier.