The earlier that children develop a love for physical activity, the
better able they are to acquire the healthy habits that will serve them
well throughout their lives. Moving With Words & Actions is designed
to help them develop that critical physical literacy.
Moving With Words & Actions offers early childhood and physical
education teachers more than 70 lesson plans that can be used
immediately or can be used as models for creating additional lessons.
The plans reinforce both physical literacy and language literacy; they
use words related to children's academic learning and understanding of
their immediate environment to entice them to move. The lesson plans
- Use an interdisciplinary approach, integrating academic concepts
from language arts, math, science, health and nutrition, community
awareness, and environmental awareness
- Are highly adaptable for various settings, including those
working with individualized education programs and 504 accommodation
plans as well as those teaching in limited spaces
- Offer great noncompetitive activities that are perfect for use by
recess, lunchtime, and before- and after-school specialists
- Have been field tested according to best practices to ensure age
appropriateness
Each lesson plan includes three learning tasks that help children apply
a variety of action words and movement concepts to the moderate- to
vigorous-intensity physical activities prescribed in the tasks. Most
tasks are easy to implement, requiring no equipment or specialized
setting. What's more, all lesson plans address SHAPE America's National
Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education, so
preschool children will have a head start on their kindergarten
learning.
This SHAPE America book, based on the authors' classic Movement-Based
Learning, has been completely revamped with new lessons and new
material to reflect current research, address the new standards and
outcomes, and emphasize physical literacy. Part I offers expert
guidance in selecting age-appropriate content, creating and implementing
lesson plans, making the most of every lesson, and assessing your
students' learning and progress. In part I, you'll explore the
importance of words in young children's lives and learn what constitutes
an appropriate learning task and how that understanding should inform
your teaching. These chapters also highlight two primary instructional
strategies for this age group, identify five teaching practices to help
student teachers create preservice lessons, and outline three assessment
techniques for teachers in early-childhood settings.
Part II supplies the lesson plans themselves, categorized by these
units:
- Healthy Bodies (examining body parts and the ways they move, and
increasing awareness of healthy nutrition)
- Our Community (enhancing children's understanding of community
helpers in familiar roles)
- Living Creatures (helping children appreciate animals by imitating
their movements, behaviors, and characteristics)
- Science and Math (using action rhymes, riddles, and games to learn
math and science concepts)
- Language Arts (expanding on children's language artss and movement
vocabularies with alphabet challenges, action poems, movement riddles,
and more)
Moving With Words & Actions will help you plan lessons with
confidence, use sound instructional strategies, and assess your students
effectively as they learn how their bodies function, move, and grow in
healthy ways. Children will enjoy the movement activities, which are fun
in and of themselves; but, more importantly, they will be taking a solid
first step toward becoming physically literate learners who will gain
the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to move with competence
in multiple environments and lead active lives.
