Category Archives: Vol 7: Moving to Learn

2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Branches of Power: Using Drama to Communicate Understanding 

April 19, 2025 – 11:14 am

Wendy Tolbert, 2nd Grade, Starmount Academy of Excellence

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: This unit was a struggle to teach second graders in the past. I found an innovative and exciting way to bring this unit to life. Drama allows students to move, retain details, and be engaged all at once. The unit introduces the students to how it feels to be under Great Britain’s rule. They are forced to give up their goods and pay taxes. Then they go to war with Great Britain. Students show this by posing in a still moment using a tableau to retell history. This leads us to the discussion of the Declaration of Independence, the document that allows the colonist to separate from the king’s rule. The United States Constitution is a document that is the foundation of our democracy that states “it’s for the people by the people.” The constitution consists of three branches of power, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. In addition, students use a reader’s theatre to act out each branch. They will show their understanding by creating a triarama. The tableaux vivant demonstrates and interprets the three branches of government. 

Tags , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Branches of Power: Using Drama to Communicate Understanding 
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

 Reading and Moving: Integrating Movement to Improve Comprehension by Focusing on Text Structure

April 19, 2025 – 11:11 am

Sonia Stahl, 2nd Grade French Immersion, North Academy of World Languages

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: In this curriculum unit students will dive into the process of using different strategies to develop better comprehension when reading. The students will read two stories and will learn to answer basic questions about the stories (such as what, when, who etc.), analyze different characters and compare and contrast. All these will be supported by the addition of movement in order to address different learning styles and bring alive the text by involving the body. Creating a dance about the two stories and the main characters will be a new element and experience for my students. The purpose is for students to learn to think about the stories in more imaginative ways. These movement experiences will help the students better perform the tasks of compare and contrast, an abstract concept that is often difficult for them to understand. 

Tags , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on  Reading and Moving: Integrating Movement to Improve Comprehension by Focusing on Text Structure
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Shaping the Moment

April 19, 2025 – 11:08 am

Katelyn Gardepe, 4th Grade, Selwyn Elementary School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.

Synopsis: This unit is based on the idea that movement in the classroom needs to be a vital part of our everyday lesson planning. Throughout this unit, students will experience a variety of activities that allow them to not only access the grade level content standards, but also to get their blood flowing and help their brain become activated for the day’s lesson. A menu-like option of lessons allows for teachers to pick and choose from the lessons provided to supplement the current curriculum with what their students may need. In addition, these lessons are also great replacements for indoor recess or can be shared with your special area teachers for a content-focused lesson! 

The lessons within this unit focus on key geometry skills such as: 

● building and identifying 2D and 3D shapes 

● identifying lines, line segments, points, rays, and angles 

● utilizing attributes of quadrilaterals, triangles, and three-dimensional shapes to describe geometric figures 

Tags , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Shaping the Moment
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Moving to Learn: The Embodied Teen through Social-Emotional Learning 

April 19, 2025 – 11:06 am

Judy Duren, Exceptional Children, Mallard Creek High School

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: This curriculum unit will make a significant contribution to educators seeking strategies that contribute to the well-being of their students. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has made strengthening mental health support and resources a priority for school systems throughout the country and should not be underestimated. In this unit, students will focus on body-mind awareness skills and strategies that will embody lifelong social-emotional learning (SEL) skills through movement and expression. Students will develop the five pillars of social-emotional learning: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making through engagement and movement in and out of the classroom. In addition, this unit will support teachers in restoring balance to the classroom through design and structure. As I have utilized SEL strategies in the classroom with my students we have begun to build stronger relationships through trust. 

Tags , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Moving to Learn: The Embodied Teen through Social-Emotional Learning 
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Displaying Understanding Through Dance Integration: Connecting the Mind and Body in the ELA Classroom

April 19, 2025 – 11:03 am

Danica Wolfe, 5th Grade, Oakhurst STEAM Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: The goal of this unit is to teach 5th grade students the basics of dance elements and sequenced movement series so that they can create a dance that reflects their understanding and analysis of a fictional character in a class novel study. Over the course of the first five lessons, students will learn about the elements of body shape, action, space, time, energy. They will also learn how to sequence short series of movements. The next six lessons ask students to apply their knowledge of creative dance sequences to generate series of movements that reflect their understanding of a character’s perspective in a particular event in a literary plotline. These lessons coincide with the 5th grade literacy curriculum for our district. The final three lessons allow students to put finishing touches on their efforts by identifying music that fits their piece, putting on a performance for their peers, and reflecting on their learning through dance integration. This unit also serves as a starting point for teachers to build their capacity to use dance in the literacy classroom as a strategy to make comprehension of text visible through embodiment. The instructional strategies included in this unit would be useful in any literacy classroom and can be modified to meet the needs of a variety of ages and units of instruction. 

Tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Displaying Understanding Through Dance Integration: Connecting the Mind and Body in the ELA Classroom
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

KUMA: A Learning Tool for Problem-Solving Engagement

April 19, 2025 – 11:01 am

Dominic Dial, Math, Cochrane Collegiate Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: The problem-solving and critical thinking is the heart of mathematics. But unfortunately, the learners are struggling with how to deal with these matters. Hence, this curriculum helps you see that there is a holistic and scientific approach to assist you and your learners solve the problem-solving dilemma. This curriculum presents KUMA. It is an abbreviation for Known, Unknown, Methods, and Answers. In this curriculum, you will be guided on how to teach and integrate problem-solving in class and solve it using different problem-solving strategies. It has varieties of problem-solving where students act, draw, illustrate, move, talk and explain ideas. 

Tags , , | Permalink | Comments Off on KUMA: A Learning Tool for Problem-Solving Engagement
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Science and Relationships: Bridging the Gap 

April 19, 2025 – 10:58 am

Antiona Green, 4th Grade, Oakhurst STEAM Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: In this unit students will apply concepts of movement and the body to understand the interactions among organisms within an environment. This unit focuses on the essential question, “ On an ever-changing planet, what things need to be in place to enable living organisms to survive?” Using project-based learning through the 5E Instructional Model, concepts of Tableaux and dance, students will be able to explain how different organisms satisfy their needs in the environment in which they are typically found. Each component builds on the previous one to ensure students truly grasp the significance of animals and their role within their community. The elements of body, action, and relationship will serve as the pillars of this unit. Hands on activities and group dialogue enables teachers to cultivate a positive classroom environment where students work to exist within shared spaces. Giving students the opportunity to influence how and what they learn can greatly affect their effort, performance, and the degree of how much information is retained. At the end of the unit, students apply what they have learned to create a Tableaux incorporating concepts learned throughout the unit. 

Tags , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Science and Relationships: Bridging the Gap 
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Exploring Memory through Movement 

April 19, 2025 – 10:56 am

Andrea Calderon, 3rd Grade, Starmount Academy of Excellence

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: This curriculum unit (CU) will focus on the essential question: How are memories made? Throughout the course of this seven-lesson unit, third-grade scientists will expand upon their knowledge of the Human Body and the Central Nervous System. Scientists will focus on the brain and the three different types of memory: Sensory Memory, Short-term Memory, and Long-Term Memory. Students will gain insight into the world of dance by learning some foundational skills regarding dance composition and tools used to communicate within the dance community. For the culminating project, students will integrate their knowledge of the brain and memory with their knowledge of dance to create a dance composition to demonstrate how memory is made. 

Tags , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Exploring Memory through Movement 
2022 Vol 7: Moving to Learn

Musically Moving: Creative Experiences for Body and Mind in the Music Classroom

April 18, 2025 – 12:51 pm

Esther Alcamo, Music, Collinswood Language Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Click on the arrow to read the Synopsis.


Synopsis: This curriculum unit will provide elementary students with the opportunity to work with movement as a conscious part of the music curriculum. Through study of BrainDance, a warm-up sequence designed to mirror the stages of brain development and enhance movement and learning, students will experience the role of movement in learning and thinking. As described in the NC Standards for Music, moving to music or using corresponding gestures, is another way of telling or showing mastery. As students move to music with intention, they gain a deeper knowledge of the musical concepts presented. As the unit progresses, we will work towards student composed dances using the building blocks found in the movement concepts we will study. Students will use third grade music standards related to rhythm and note values in order to create choreography with Motif Writing. Music literacy and dance literacy will work together to create a kinesthetic, aural, verbal and spatial learning experience. 

Tags , , , , , , , , | Permalink | Comments Off on Musically Moving: Creative Experiences for Body and Mind in the Music Classroom