The Conference Exchange



Integrated Teaching & Brain Research through Games, Gymnastics, & Dance:

Brain Stimulation and Development—“SMART”—Franklin Special School District Way

Speakers: John Parks, Bret Burgess, Michael Alvey, Kelly Selfe, Nancy Brown, Gail Burton, Vicki Dean and Kathy Clark, Moore Elementary School, 1061 Lewisburg Pike, Franklin, Tennessee 615-790-4700 clarkkat@

SMART (Stimulating Maturity Through Accelerated Readiness Training)

As Implemented at Moore Elementary 10:00 - 11:00 Daily

SMART is the core of our kindergarten special area program. Repetition and frequency are key factors in this brain stimulation program. Staff involved are: 3 physical education teachers, music teacher, art teacher, library media specialist and assistant, 1 teacher assistant, school counselor.

SMART class begins each day with selected Brain Gym activities. Children perform Brain Buttons, Cross Crawls and Hook-ups to activate whole brain learning. Brain Gym activities are followed by a five minute period of intermittent spinning. Spinning is a vestibular activity that requires the child to spin in place either clockwise or counterclockwise with arms extended. This is followed by a rest period with eyes closed. Spinning and resting are done in alternating 15-second cycles to a variety of musical selections. Following the spinning cycle, children engage in movement activities emphasizing continuous flow and micro and macro beats.

Students break into groups of 10 students each and rotate through the following centers working

4 ½ minutes at each center.

Vision Development

The SMART team uses this center to incorporate activities that involve crossing the mid-line such as lazy eights, and double doodles. Visual pursuits include wagon wheels, thumbkins, pencil pushups, and near and far focus. The visual activities aim to develop far and near point acuity and fusion, convergence, tracking, and lateral and vertical coordination of the eyes.

Students learn to jump a long rope turned by adults and progress to jumping a short rope, a very complex skill for five- to six-year-olds. This center is also utilized for additional practice of skills or activities introduced in other centers.

1. “Thumbkins” - Students hold their thumbs out in front of them at eye level. Using only their eyes, with their heads still, they look back and forth from one thumb to the other.

2. “Near and Far” - Students hold one thumb out in front of them; they look at their thumb and then at a point farther beyond their thumb. Students repeat near-far pattern several times.

3. “Pencil Pushups” – Students extend one arm, holding pencil with eraser topper; they focus with eyes on the eraser and bring it slowly near the nose; repeat several times.

4. “Lazy 8” – Students trace a figure 8 that is lying on its side; they first use a chart with starting point designated by a green sticker; students trace around the eight three times: with one hand, then the other, and then with both hands holding the marker or marker top; later use blank paper for the process.

5. “Double Doodles” – Bilateral drawing activity on dry erase boards, using “up”, “down”, “in”, and “out” strokes to create images mirroring each other.

6. “Wagon wheels”- Students slowly trace the lines on the wagon wheel with a marker top held in the hand with arm extended; eyes should focus on the marker top.

7. Trampoline – jump while reading chart on wall and moving arms according to the chart.

8. Rainbow tracing – trace over letters and shapes with colored pencils following the color chart on the wall.

Literacy and Guidance Center

Character education and personal safety are promoted through literature. Phonemic awareness instruction is scattered throughout the school year. Literature choices such as books, poems, rhymes, and choral responses are used to teach the students memorization, character education, rhythm, and love of literature.

Music Center

The music center involves students in activities designed to develop tonal and rhythmic audiation skills. The majority of these activities are based on Dr. Edwin Gordon’s “Music Learning Theory” and “Music Play” curriculum for early childhood (Valerio, Reynolds, Bolton, Taggart, Gordon, 1998). Children participate in vocal exploration games, finger plays, chants, songs and movement exercises in various tonalities and meters. Children learn to emphasize macro and micro beat pulsations using parts of the body, sticks, scarves, balls and hoops while moving with continuous flow. For more information visit the Gordon Institute for Music Learning website: .

Movement Center

3 - 9’ turning bars 3 - 7’6” trestles

1 - 5’ trestle 2 - Trestle platforms

2 - Climbing ropes 1 - Rope ladder

1 - Vaulting box 2 - mini-trampolines

2 - Hopscotch tracks 10 - Gymnastics mats

3 - Ladders, 6’, 10’ and 9’ curved 1 - Ladder tunnel

1 -6’ gym plank 1 - 10’ gym bench/beam

4’ x 8’ climbing wall panel 1 – Gerstung blast-off

The equipment is configured in several different designs to provide gymnastic activities of climbing, balance, and gross motor skills. Students have opportunities to turn flips on a turning bar, climb across monkey bars, climb up and down trestles, walk across balance beams, jump on mini-trampolines, hop through hopscotch courses, pull up on and slide down planks, and climb up and down ropes and rope ladders. The movement center is also designed to provide experiences for students to travel across, under, over, around, through, and between obstacles. Daily participation in the movement center helps students develop abilities such as body image, balance, spatial awareness, hand-eye and foot-eye coordination (visual-motor control), laterality, and directionality. Teacher directed activities are precise and specific. Students are also challenged to explore and design their own movement patterns.

Creeping and Crawling Center

The creeping or crawling center includes a progression of tasks involving cross lateral movements. The movements stimulate the right and left hemispheres of the brain to work in cooperative balance rather than in competitive conflict. The progression begins with a push off from the wall leading to alligator crawl and flip flops. Creeping on hands and knees is the next skill introduced. Much care is given to see that each child uses opposite arms and legs simultaneously. The children then move through stylized creeping and the creep track. With the creep track, students read letters, rhyming pictures, and sight words, as they creep cross-laterally on the track. Other benefits for children from this center are development of binocular vision, convergence, balance, depth perception, and coordination.

As students move through progression of tasks, have them move with “one way” traffic. On the return, ask them to skip, gallop, jump, etc. This procedure promotes learning and practicing basic loco motor skills.

• Week 1 -Lying on stomach, with one-foot push-off from the wall. Reposition and push again. Focus on leg strength and reaching with the opposite hand.

• Week 2 -Flip flops

• Weeks 3-4 - Alligator crawl, continuous movement. Introduce the movement by showing video clip of a real alligator.

• Weeks 5-6 - Alligator crawl, with pause.

• Week 7 - Alligator races.

• Week 8 - Introduce continuously creeping on hands and knees. Check for 1-2 point striking pattern (right hand, left knee and left hand, right knee hitting at same time) rather than 1-2-3-4 point striking pattern (right hand, left knee, left hand, right knee) and cross-lateral rather than unilateral movement.

• Weeks 9-10 - Creep with pause, using drum to signal next movement.

• Weeks 11 – 36

o Creep tracks. Continue through Week 36 changing visuals as needed. Creep tracks provide opportunities to differentiate instructional visuals.

o Creep track visuals:

▪ common object pictures

▪ shapes

▪ colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet

▪ numerals in order, skip counting, and random numerals

▪ rhyming pictures

▪ Slingerland letter cards: a, apple, a

▪ sight words

Rolling Center

The rolling center includes activities for developing vestibular balance and visual skills. Students begin with pencil and log rolls on a flat surface and an incline surface, rolling clockwise as well as counter clockwise. Students are introduced to forward rolls and then cartwheels. With the use of spinning at the beginning of each class and the rolls in the center, students experience brain stimulation by circulating fluid through each of the canals in the inner ear. Miscellaneous activities such as cup stacking and obstacle course are also incorporated into this center.

1. Log roll: Begin using incline mat for fun.

2. Pencil roll

3. Forward roll: include forward rolls in an obstacle course containing tunnels and jump boxes.

4. Cartwheels

5. Cup stacking: Students practice cup stacking from left to right using three then six cups.

Balance, Sport Skills, and Ball Center

Head raises (elevators) are used at this center to rid children of Landau’s reflex. The skills of bouncing, catching, dribbling, volleying, striking, jumping and kicking are introduced in this center. Students learn to bounce and catch different size balls while counting, counting backward, skip counting (by 2’s, 5’s, 10’s), and counting in Spanish. Students reinforce cognitive skills by bouncing and catching a ball as they read word and number ladders. Students respond quite enthusiastically to using ball skills to develop eye-hand and eye-foot coordination, rhythm, and the movement concept of force (light and strong). Time is allotted later in the year to practice dribbling, volleying, striking and kicking. The balance beam is also introduced in this center.

1. “Elevator” - Students lay face down with arms by their sides on mats and slowly lift their heads up and then down again on a count of 3, keeping their shoulders, abdomen, legs, and feet on the floor. Practice for one or two weeks as needed. Children who no longer have the reflex are allowed to play with small manipulatives such as links.

2. Bounce and catch playground balls individually counting in cadence. Later in the year students will bounce and catch the ball while utilizing number and word ladders.

3. Bounce and catch playground balls with a partner. Work on one step forward to bounce pass. Work on catching ball with two hands.

4. Bounce and catch small “pinkie” balls. Bounce with one hand; catch with two. Later in the year students will bounce and catch the ball while utilizing number and word ladders.

5. Balance beam – students are taught to walk forward slowly with a heel-to-toe movement, arms straight out and eyes focused on an object on the wall, such as a snowflake. A beanbag is placed on the head to encourage the child to hold up their head. They will learn to walk backward with the same movements. They will add skills such as stepping over an object, through a hoop, and bouncing a playground ball.

6. Dribble playground ball while stationary and moving.

7. Tap dribble playground ball with foot. Toggle between dribbling with hand and foot, changing on signal.

8. Learn to throw a yarn ball overhand, aiming at a target.

9. Strike balloons with hands, then paddles.

Art Center

The Fine Motor/Creativity Center focuses on developing the muscles in the hands and cultivation the innate creativity and imagination of the student. The art center works on fine motor and hand-eye coordination along with the introduction of art basics. Fine motor skills are developed through a wide variety of activities. Art basics develop in conjunction with the fine motor activities. All art concepts are based on the Elements of Art (color, line, form, space, texture, value, & shape) and the National Art Standards.

Closing Segment

SMART closes with large group time. The students participate in songs, finger plays, and movements, reinforcing singing and beat competency skills. Simon Says is a favorite game during closing time. The literature connection during SMART introduces students to a variety of books, especially the nominees in the Volunteer State Book Award (K-3) program. By listening to these books, students are able to participate in the voting process for the statewide book award.

REFERENCES

Dennison Paul E. and Dennison Gail E. (1997). Brain gym handbook: the student guide to brain gym. Ventura, Ca: Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc.

Dennison, P., & Dennison, G. (1994). Brain gym: Teacher’s addition revised. Ventura, Ca: Edu

Kinesthetics, Inc.

Hannaford, Carla (1995). Smart moves: why learning is not all in your head. Alexander, NC:

Great Ocean Publishers.

Minnesota Learning Resource Center (1999). A chance to learn curriculum guide. Minneapolis,

MN: A Chance To Grow, Inc.

Valerio, W., Reynolds, A., Bolton, B., Taggart, C., & Gordon, E. (1998). Music play: The early

childhood music curriculum guide for parents, teachers, and caregivers. Chicago, Ill: GIA Publications, Inc.



................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download