Minds in Motion: A Kinesthetic Approach to Teaching Elementary Curriculum

By Victoria Merecki and Susan Griss

Book Overview

Kids love to move. They use their bodies to play, communicate, and express emotions. In Minds in Motion , Susan Griss shows teachers how they can channel this kinesthetic language into constructive learning experiences, demonstrating what a natural route physicality can be to content area instruction. Minds in Motion introduces elementary teachers to the process of identifying, creating, and implementing lessons that encourage students to learn by using their bodies as well as their minds. It covers a range of subjects that includes science, math, language arts, history, conflict resolution, and more. Through the use of specific examples, Griss illustrates the benefits of physicalizing academic concepts, including how movement: makes learning tangible, accessible, and memorable cultivates critical thinking and the use of higher-level thinking skills demands both individual decision making and group interaction encourages students to make use of their own experiences and observations as a foundation for knowledge stimulates creative and dynamic energy in the classroom. An ideal resource for both preservice and inservice teachers, Minds in Motion offers practical advice and support for teachers who have no experience with movement and inspiration for those who already use movement in the classroom, but are looking for new and imaginative ways to transform lessons into creative kinesthetic experiences.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325000344
• ISBN13: 9780325000343
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 7.5" x 8.4"
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 5

Customer Reviews

Minds in Motion: A Kinesthetic Approach to Teaching Elementary Curriculum by Susan Griss

In a No-Child-Left-Behind era we hear many teachers say they have little or no time for art. Dance teacher Susan Griss reminds us that dance can be used as a useful teaching tool across all curricula to improve students understanding and to help the teacher assess that understanding as well as to get students to solve problems together and assess for themselves. She has suggestions for those teachers who might not be comfortable with dancing themselves and offers specific lessons that a teacher can use in math, science, social studies, language, reading and the other arts. Griss's clear and thoughtful writing can leave the reader believing that dance is an essential for the classroom.

"Squirm to Learn" Activities Are the BEST!

Susan Griss has written an outstanding book that demonstrates the superior value of actively incorporating the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence in learning. Movement brings oxygen to the brain resulting in enhanced interest and more focused mind-on-task behavior. She clearly shares how we may have been "taught" certain concepts, yet did not learn these ideas because of lack of physical, active involvement. The one activity that I have used with teachers focuses on asking them: "Through which medium does sound travel the farthest: solid, liquid, or gas?" The results are evenly divided until we act out the "molecules." This book has led me to look for and develop novel ways to get students' "Minds in Motion." One way is to develop a "Minds in Motion" chart from poster board. Using "Minds in Motion" for the title(3" letters)and five entries below it(3" letters with 3/4" between) with room on the left sidefor a 3" x 5" card with an answer on it clothes-pinned to each of the movements, the teacher reads a question, give them time to think, and then says: "Show!" The students perform the movement(jump rope, high 5, truck horn, YMCA, or round of applause) associated with the answer.