September 27, 2015

Go Noodle!

Oh my goodness! I have not posted a blog in a while! The beginning of this school year has had the days merging and time flying! We have been busy setting routine and establishing community. One way we have fun is using GoNoodle! I have been using GoNoodle for the last 4 years! This is the focus of my blog this evening.
https://www.gonoodle.com/s/dsmith-7
This FREE site has some AWESOME brain breaks that will get you and your students up and moving! You will find yourself dancing and moving to the latest popular dances (Whip, Nae, Nae) and new never to forget songs by Koo Koo Kangaroo (Pop See Ko, Get Loose). There are some excellent resources to share regarding ideas on how you can use GoNoodle in your classroom.

I find myself humming to the beats and hearing my students singing the songs during various times of the day!

You get to set up a class (for free) with a character called a "Champ" that will grow as you move. You are provided a progress bar that lets you know where you are on the way to growing your champ.  The names of the champs are creative and will delight your students just as much as you. The more minutes you move the more your champ will grow and change. My students are always so excited to head to the "transmogrifier" to see how our champ has grown. Once your character has grown to the max, you will get a Champ Certificate celebrating your hard work. Your students will LOVE the certificate!
Then, they get to pick a new champ. I use this as an opportunity to talk about making a decision as a group using a vote, giving everyone a voice in who is chosen next and tallying up the votes. This is a great opportunity to talk about comparison concepts (more/less) to determine who our next champ will be. I also get the opportunity to work through feelings of disappointment for those who didn't get the champ they voted for.

They have recently added indoor recess options, which are WONDERFUL! They are 15 minutes of a variety of movement to include a warm up and cool down. Did I mention that signing up is free?

The site is user friendly and set up to help you manage your favorite brain breaks as well as categorized movement activities according to movement type (calming, coordination, guided dancing, free movement, stretching, sports and exercise, and kinesthetic learning) so you can base your selections on your students needs.

There are some great FREE resources for you as an educator and for you to share with parents or other educators!


They have a blog that is FULL of wonderful information. If you have not already, go check it out!

Use this personalized link from me to you to sign up and start getting that blood flowing and brain ready for some learning!
Happy moving!
Diana