Integrating movement in the elementary classroom: Creating innovative materials that incorporate movement with content areas

Movement is an aspect of teaching that often gets left out of curriculum and lesson plans in the elementary classroom. However, brain research and educational studies show that movement can play a critical role in understanding. The goal of this study was to determine how educators can use movement to enhance lessons that are already being taught during the school day without needing extra materials, time, or money. Resources and activities were compiled, organized, and aligned to content standards in order to give educators ideas of ways to modify lessons to incorporate movement. The findings can be found on a website page to serve as a tool for teachers. Major themes of this study were the most common use of movement currently in the classroom is brain breaks, resources for integrating movement with lower grade levels are typically easier to find, and movement in the classroom can result in healthy habits outside of school. The purpose of this study was to explore the benefits of movement and to create innovative materials for elementary teachers which help to integrate content areas with movement. There are so many benefits of getting students out of their seats during the school day, and integrating physical activity with content areas can be an effective way to do so