Math & Movement Training Manual (e-book)

The Math & Movement Training Manual

Do your students have so much energy that it’s hard for them to sit still? Children are naturally active learners, using their bodies along with their minds to practice and acquire new skills. Math & Movement is a supplemental program that harnesses children’s natural desire to move and gives them more opportunities to practice math skills until mastery is achieved.

Math & Movement is a kinesthetic, multi-sensory approach to teaching math that incorporates physical exercise, stretching, and cross-body movements. This manual includes over 250 movements for the six Math & Movement categories: Active Math-Whisper/Loud, Active Math-Skip Counting, Sit-Down Math, Tapping at the Table, Hallway Math, and Math n’ Yoga. Over 85 activities for the Math & Movement floor mats and banners are included as well as techniques using Math & Movement to recharge your students during a mental break or transition times.

The magic of the Math & Movement program is that children become so engaged, they forget they are practicing math! Math & Movement strengthens numeracy and literacy and energizes students and teachers. This program fits into transition times, allows children to exceed state standards, integrates core subjects, and offers children the opportunity to love learning math. Math & Movement is appropriate for pre-K through fifth grade or any student lacking math confidence.

Click here for a free download of the introduction and chapter 1!

The book is organized into the following ten sections:

• The Benefits of Math & Movement
• Active Math—Whisper/Loud Movements
• Active Math—Skip Counting Movements
• Sit-Down Math
• Tapping at the Table
• Math ‘n Yoga
• Suggested Activities for the Math & Movement Floor Mats and Banners
• Implementing Math & Movement into the Day
• Extensions of the Math & Movement program

The training manual is geared toward math educators in the early grades.

The ebook zip file contains the following formats: PDF, EPUB, and MOBI for use with Kindle, Nook, Sony, and most other e-reader software.

Author: Suzy Koontz

ISBN: 978-0-9815146-6-6

Pages: 174

Dimensions: 8 1/2″ x 11″

Testimonials

• One year after implementing the program, we have seen the following changes. Math is now fun for students; they are learning while enjoying the movement and the chanting. We don’t hear groans when it is time to do math. Math remediation is no longer monotonous drill work. It is active and participatory movement that encompasses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic cues so that all learning styles are incorporated. Pre and post-assessments showed steady growth in math skills. Hallway math became a part of the culture at our school. Noise in the halls became productive noise with skip counting and math facts being recited as children walked from one classroom to another. Time that had been just empty time was now filled with the joy of math! An added benefit was the increase in physical movement during the day. More oxygen flowing, more energy, more calories burned….helping students stay fit with healthy minds and healthy bodies. What is unique about Math & Movement is that it is not one more thing on the plate of teachers. It revitalizes what has already been on the plate, but has not been yielding results in return for the investment of time. We still ended up with students who did not like math and who were not learning math. Many students and adults are victims of “math phobia” resulting from math instruction that did not work for them. Math & Movement changes the way children learn math to an interactive approach that incorporates cross-body movements that engage both the right and the left side of the brain. Therefore, the learning “sticks” and children actually can see number relationships as they learn through the mats and charts that accompany Math & Movement.
• I think these activities will make a positive change in attitude and increase confidence within my classroom.  I will use several if not all skip counting activities to help with multiplication instruction.
• This presentation gave me great ideas that I can use right away in my classroom. I am amazed at how fun and easy math can be.
• This exceeded my expectations.  I benefitted from developing an awareness of how body muscle movement is important to the brain’s cognitive understanding of knowledge.
• This workshop really opened my eyes to how much I make my students sit.  I learned great ideas for transitions! This workshop is excellent!
• This was great!  I feel as though I can use everything discussed today on a daily basis in my classroom.  I learned how to introduce algebra to 4^th graders without scaring them.
• I teach Special Education and my students will love this program!
• I learned how to facilitate student learning of number concepts while kinesthetically connecting knowledge.  I enjoyed learning new ways to teach academic skills. Students with disabilities benefit from the use of movement to promote proper brain function and the acquisition of academic skills. Thank you for your presentation.
• I am teaching third grade this year.  We are really focusing on multiplication and division facts.  I feel that my students will greatly benefit from Math & Movement’s repetitive, kinesthetic math activities. Thank you so much for today!
• Awesome!  Great Idea!  I think this is so great for active kids as well as brain breaks.  This will help with behavior problems also!  So much better than traditional math!
• This is fabulous.  I have never used movement as a part of mathematics and it is such a simple concept.  I can’t believe that I never thought of it before.
• Very exciting!  We are quick to forget that there are other ways to learn other than “sit down and listen.” I can also see myself using these activities with my gifted students who always want more!
• I liked learning ways to incorporate movement with literacy!  Many of my kindergarteners are kinesthetic learners.  Math assessments are becoming long and rigorous for young kindergarteners. I think Math & Movement will help better prepare my students with their math skills and also provide a way to relieve stress and build confidence.
• A real and feasible way for math concepts to stick!  A great way for math to come alive!  Our students are very active and have trouble with skip counting.  This will be wonderful for all our students.
• I learned amazing techniques and tools to help get my kids active in their learning…even beyond math. I loved all the skip counting movements!  Excellent workshop!
• Many of our first grade students have behavior issues. I feel that Math & Movement is a wonderful way for them to release their extra energy.