Incorporating Movement with Zumba Kids
As summer draws near, brain breaks and movement are essential in the classroom to keep kids motivated and focused throughout the day. I mean think about it, do you like to work your brain for hours with no break? Even as I sit here writing this blog post, I can feel my mind wandering to other things!
Movement breaks don’t need to be long or drawn out, just a little something to get them up and moving. I’ve been using Zumba Kids guided dancing for a while now and love how excited my students get when they finally learn the moves. Each song is a few minutes long so it gives them enough time to clean the slate before starting the next activity. Plus, the songs are catchy and upbeat so kids love them!
[click_to_tweet tweet=”? Dancing can help improve memory and self-esteem. ? Bring a little flair in your classroom!” quote=”? Dancing can help improve memory and self-esteem. ? Bring a little flair in your classroom!”]
Zumba & Nearpod
I love incorporating movement into my daily lessons and breaks. It’s also important to share with students WHY movement is so important. The new Zumba Kids Nearpod lessons do just that. My kindergartners love the song “Turn” from Zumba Kids. I used that lesson to teach my students that dancing can help improve memory and self-esteem.
My class is only 2:1 for devices so my students worked in partners. They viewed the slides and answered questions about memory, self-esteem, and of course, who they think the best dancer is! Since I teach kindergarten, partnering students gives them the opportunity to share ideas with a peer orally. They can ask their friend for help when navigating some of the techier things within Nearpod. The Collaborate feature within lessons allows my entire class to learn from one another. This also provides additional opportunities to share.
After we talked about what dance can do for your brain, we all came to the gathering area to Zumba together! Part of the fun of doing Zumba in class is being able to move and be silly together. It was great to get them up out of their seats in one place.
After the dance, partnerships returned to their iPads to answer questions about how dancing made them feel. This really reinforced how movement can improve our mood, our self-esteem, and our memory. It was awesome to see how nearly every student said they felt better after doing some Zumba Kids. And honestly, after our dance break, I was feeling better too!
Try it Out!
“Turn” may have been my students’ favorite, but there are other Zumba Kids options too! Each one focuses on a different skill and song to help you best meet your students’ needs. We’re always looking for new ways to incorporate movement into our daily routines. These lessons help you infuse it in a purposeful, educational way. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
Download the Zumba Nearpod lessons here!
Kali is a tech-savvy elementary teacher whose passion for all things STEM fuels her innovation in the classroom and inspires other teachers to begin their own #edtech adventures.
