Move it! Bring Physical Movement into your World Language Classroom (Part 2)
Having students demonstrate their learning through gross motor activities can help with attention, engagement, and classroom management
Ah, 6th period – the bane of my existence. I was tasked with teaching French to 24 wiggly, squiggly sixth graders for 90 minutes (yes, you read that right!) at the very end of the school day. A tall order under any circumstances, especially in the year following Covid when I’m pretty sure the majority of these kids hadn’t touched a book or pencil for 18 months. Then there was Daniel. The wiggliest, squiggliest – not to mention loudest and most impulsive – sixth grader of all. Whether it was immaturity, too much sugar, or undiagnosed ADD, by this point in the school day Daniel really needed to be on a playground and not sitting in a French class.
Unfortunately, the playground wasn’t an option. Neither, it seemed, was getting him the behavioral support he needed from the overloaded social services system at our Title 1 school. It was up to me, and I had a curriculum to teach!
While all of this is frustrating for the teacher, I have a lot of empathy for the Daniels in my classes. We ask students to behave in ways diametrically opposed to their biology and their interests, spending hours each day sitting quietly and often passively, when a wide body of research proves this practice is detrimental to physical and emotional well-being. Physical movement, on the other hand, has been proven to improve cognition (and you can read more about this research, along with two kinesthetic instructional ideas, in part 1 of this blog post).
I’d be lying if I said I had a perfect solution. This class still stands out as one of the most challenging of my career, and my success with these kids was inconsistent. However, my most effective lessons with this group were the ones where kids were out of their seats, demonstrating their learning through gross motor activities.
Here are three low-prep techniques I used with this class, while still meeting instructional goals:
Gallery Walks
Gallery walks are a simple but effective way to add an element of movement to almost any activity. To create your gallery walk, post items around the classroom (on the walls or on desks) and have students visit each item and complete a task at each.
Some ideas for using gallery walks:
Take any worksheet or paper activity. Blow it up, cut apart the questions, and hang them on the walls. Students must visit each question and write down the answer. You can add a self-check element to this type of gallery walk by posting answers under each question; students can ‘lift the flap’ to check their work. This is a low-prep way to add physical movement to an otherwise ordinary classroom activity. In addition to the cognitive benefits of moving, a gallery walk format increases engagement and makes it easy to see at a glance which students may not be working.
Post photos around the room. Ask students to visit each and write 2-3 sentences describing the photo. Then return to their desk, choose one photo, and read their description to a partner. The partner must guess which photo is being described. Use this activity to describe physical traits of celebrities, clothing, furniture, nature, plates of food… basically any photos students have the vocabulary to describe will work. You can mix it up by changing the number of people in the picture (therefore changing the verb conjugation) or providing a pronoun as a sentence starter.
Have students circulate throughout the classroom and write answers to prompts at each table. Alternatively, students can write prompts at one table, then circulate and see what their classmates wrote.
In this activity, the teacher assigned 2 homework answers for each group to write on their table. (Use whiteboard tables or just paper and a marker)
Then the class circulated to check their own homework answers against what their classmates wrote.
Share student work by posting around the classroom. Have students visit a specified number of their classmates’ submissions and complete a short assignment. This works particularly well with video assignments; students can pull up their work on laptops, distribute them through the classroom, and visit several on their own time frame. I especially love doing this type of gallery walk in the library which gives us more room to spread out and makes the class a little more special. Have students turn in a brief ‘viewing guide’ for each of their classmates’ videos they watch.
And, for a technique to use gallery walks for reading instruction, read my blog post on Reading Instruction: Vocabulary Museum
Speed Dating or Concentric circles
“By the end of speed dating, I can give my real opinion without any notes!”
Speed dating is my favorite format to provide repeated speaking practice in a short period of time. Have students stand in two lines facing each other. Give a time limit and an oral task to accomplish. Then have one line take a step forward, and have the first person in line go to the end. Now everyone has a new partner; repeat the oral task.
Concentric circles operate on the same principle as speed dating; form an inner and outer circle in the classroom with students facing each other. After a specified length of practice time, have the circles move in opposite directions so each student has a new partner to practice with.
I often use speed dating after students have done some writing about their own experiences, preferences, or opinions. Students use this prep work to share with their partners while I gradually increase the difficulty of the task. For example, after listing their schedule and writing their opinion of each of their classes, I’ll scaffold level 1 students’ speed dating as follows:
Rounds 1 & 2: Read your opinions of your classes, and listen to your partner’s opinions
Rounds 3 & 4: Read your opinion of one class and then your partner will respond with their opinion of that class. Make it more of a conversation than the first 2 rounds.
Rounds 5 & 6: Each time your partner gives an opinion, react with a statement like ‘me too’ ‘me neither’ ‘I disagree’ etc. Then give your opinion of that class.
Rounds 7&8: Try doing all of the above, but this time try not to look at your paper. (If you have to peek, it’s OK, but see what you can do from memory.)
This instructional sequence provides many benefits:
*Students complete a verbal task eight times with decreasing support.
* The speaking task gradually moves from presentational to interpersonal.
* Students spend 15-20 minutes or more engaged almost entirely in oral communication.
* The physical movement involved helps break up the cognitive task, improving engagement.
* This repeated practice helps students gain proficiency, fluency, and confidence
Students have told me, “By the end of speed dating, I can give my real opinion of all of my classes without any help.” This is a huge accomplishment and is highly motivating for beginning students!
Information Relay
This is a quick, low prep game that is great for practicing vocabulary or detailed writing conventions. Here’s how it works:
“My most effective lessons with challenging groups are the ones where students are out of their seats, demonstrating their learning through physical activities”
The teacher places objects, photos, a list of numerals, a list of vocabulary words, or a few written sentences in an out of the way spot in the classroom. These items should be protected from student view (for example, behind a screen or inside a box).
Students work in pairs.
One member of the pair is the “writer”. The writer is seated at their desk with pen and paper or a whiteboard and marker.
The other partner is the ‘runner’.
The runner must race to the hidden objects, memorize as much as possible, then run to the writer and describe what they saw in the target language.
The writer records what they are told in the target language.
The runner may return to look at the objects as many times as needed.
When the list is correct, the team earns points from the teacher.
Play several rounds, with the runner and the writer switching roles.
This game is easy, fun, and gets kids moving as they work to master the details of the content selected by the teacher.
How do you incorporate physical movement in your classes? Share in the comments!
