Making Lectures Come Alive

5. Get Students Moving

These are one-minute oxygen producing motions that can be done before, during or after a lecture. Follow the Leader, Sit, Stand, Stretch, and Speak: A. Have students stand and follow simple stretches that you do. You can assign other students to lead or do it as table groups. B. At table groups, have students follow a leader in some simple stretches. During the stretch, the leader states important concepts they have learned. Then they go around the group doing the same thing. C. Students can also sit and stretch instead. Bend, Breathe, Write: A. Students stand and then drop a pen or pencil on the floor. As they bend to pick it up, they exhale forcefully. As they stand up, they breathe in deeply. Then they stretch as high as they can and pretend to write a key concept on the ceiling.
Walk and Talk: A. Students walk around the room in groups of 2-3. Play upbeat music to keep the pace active. B. While they are walking, they are talk about what they have learned. The teacher can have a list of guiding questions for the students to follow. If there is time, they may also walk in the hall or outside.
Wall - Writing: A. Have blank charts posted around the room. B. At different times before, during or after the lecture, tell students to stand and with a marker, write their responses on the chart. Students may write at the same time on different spots on the chart. C. You can also have charts printed with pre-made questions at the top of each one and students can choose which one to go to, or they rotate through them.
Table - Writing: A. This is a variation and much like a carousel activity. Groups of students move from chart to chart, writing on each one. When they return to their original chart, they can read what the others have written. Here is a list of some suggestions: Things I want to remember... A question I still have... A summary statement... How do you plan to use the new information... My next step is... I also know that… My opinion is...
Review Relay A. Put students into groups of 5-7. B. On a chart pad have a topic word written vertically. For example, if students are learning about “NUTRITION”, put that word on the chart. C. Give teams of students a few minutes to brainstorm an acrostic with words or phrases that go with the word. D. On “go”, students from each team race to the chart and fill in the acrostic one at a time, passing the marker to each team member. E. The team that first completes their acrostic, wins. Variation: If there is not much room, students can be seated at table groups and pass the chart around to each member.
Beat-The-Clock A. As a whole group, students have to try to beat the clock with information they have learned. C.They have one minute to come up with 15 - 20 statements--this depends on the complexity of the topic and information. D. Students take turns standing and giving a statement. They can not repeat what someone else has said. E. The class wins if they beat the clock.