Motor Grid

Summer is flying by isn't it? I got back from a great presentation run in Abington, Virginia then went to Las Vegas for 5 days for SDE's I Teach K Conference then finished the week out in Chicago for the SDE PK-1 CCSS Academy.  I met some extraordinary teachers who are truly inspirational, which is a constant reminder to me of why I love what I do!

I had a web inquiry from a lovely teacher in Florida who was in my session in Chicago and wanted to know more about using a Motor Grid....so I thought I would post to share with others.

Motor Grid

Pick out an area in your classroom or the hallway where you can display a Motor Grid bulletin board to help those students who need to just get an extra "wiggle on." I make my Motor Grid either a 3x3 or 4x4 with construction paper squares. In each square, attach an image of a movement. It can be a picture of the actual movement (from google images) or a symbol/dye cut of an image that represents a movement (i.e. Frog=Do a Frog Jump, Bumblebee=spin around one time). The idea is to pick 3-4 movements and put them in random order so the student has to think about what movement they are doing next.

Your whole class can do the Motor Grid by repeating the cycle a few times when transitioning from activity, or you can  use it with those students who are struggling during instructional time (shouting out, wiggling, crawling on the floor, unfocused). I find when I do a pre-planned intervention such as the Motor Grid students are more on task after they do. It only takes about a minute to go through the Motor Grid 3-4 times, but the result can be long lasting. It will refocus the students, get their hearts racing a little, and in turn make them more alert or less impulsive.

Be creative when selecting motor movements and switch it up from time to time (1-2 weeks). Some ideas might be: cross crawls, push-up, back cross crawls, jumping jacks, run in place, spin around, touch head, shoulders, knees, toes, etc. Kids will enjoy doing the Motor Grid and you will find it will be great addition to your movement based classroom.

Enjoy!