Running Head: PHSYICALLY ACTIVE STUDENTS LEARN BETTER 1

Physically Active Students Learn Better

Jessica Katzenberger

Lebanon Valley College

The article Physically Active Students Learn Better: Finding New Ways to Implement

Movement in the Elementary Classroom, by Carri Krieder, provides essential strategies for

schools to integrate movement and physical activity into the classroom. “While we are seeking

new ways to ensure students’ academic success, we must ensure that we are not neglecting their

need for physical activity,” (Krieder, 2019, p.64). The article I chose focuses on student’s

physical health and how promoting movement in all classrooms can help students be more

successful. The field of education continues to change constantly and we as teachers need to

continue to adapt in order to teach to the whole child. Now more than ever students are being

held to the highest academic standards. However, we as a society are failing our students by

neglecting to provide them with the opportunity to succeed physically.

The article began by discussing the importance of grades in our society. If a child brought

home a D or F, this would typically be viewed as a poor grade. The author goes on to explain

how grading in our country would change drastically if we graded for overall physical activity

and sedentary behavior; we would receive a D-. There are so many standards in place that

children as young as 4 and 5 are expected to meet daily, yet students are still not being provided

with ample opportunities to be successful in life. As the pressure for high test scores increases,

schools are eliminating some of the most essential parts of a child’s education, such as

movement. Taking away time for physical activity in the classroom is not an effective solution to

getting students to increase test scores. “The Centers for Disease Control reviewed 43 studies of

the associations between academic performance and physical activity and found physical activity

to be positively related to students’ academic achievement, classroom behaviors, cognitive skills,

and attitudes,” (Krieder, 2019, p.64). When students are healthy, both physically and

emotionally, they are able to perform better academically.

Research, news, and media state that physical activity helps children learn, but we still

are not doing much about this as a society as a whole. It is said that children require at least 60

minutes of play daily to be healthy. Since students spend a majority of the day in school, teachers

need to take initiative towards integrating physical activity in their classrooms. Most people

believe this integration is not needed because we have physical education classes for students in

school. However, it was shocking for me to see that only 2-4% of elementary schools have

physical education every day for students. This means that schools are not providing students an

adequate amount of time participating in physical activity.

As classroom teachers, we have the power to help integrate physical activity and

movement in the classroom. Some effective ways to integrate movement in the classroom are

mentioned in the article, which include brain breaks or what Krieder called, energizers.

Movement can be integrated during transitions, before/after assessments, or when students are

sleepy/too energized. These short breaks for students take up no more than 15 minutes of

instructional time and help energize or focus students so that they can perform academically at

their greatest potential. The incorporation of movement is not only limited to breaks between

instruction, it can also be closely tied to academic content. Some examples include: practicing

numbers or addition by hopping, spelling with yoga poses, and dance movements to reinforce

terms/content. The more teachers are able to get students moving, the more teachers will see

students engaged and focused on the content being taught. “Children are becoming increasingly

sedentary and we are failing to provide children the opportunities they need to be physically

active,” (Krieder, 2019, p. 69).

I believe that this article is extremely important for all educators. Physical activity has

always been a huge part of my life and who I am. When I read this article I thought about how
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many students would benefit from the increased amount of movement in the classroom. I think

about all the students who struggle to sit through lessons and stay focused while teachers are

lecturing. We as teachers are failing these students. This article gives teachers very valuable tools

and strategies to help teachers incorporate movement in the classroom. I think this should have

an effect on how teacher handle day-to-day delivery of instruction. If teachers become more

aware of this concept, they will be able to deliver instruction more effectively and efficiently by

incorporating movement. I think it would be really beneficially for administrators and school

districts to start educating their teachers even more about this concept. Through professional

development presentations, teachers may begin to better understand this need for movement in

the classroom and feel more prepared to start it in their own classroom. If we as educators want

to help our students be successful we first need to be able to the meet their needs physically and

emotional.
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References

Kreider, C. (2019). Physically Active Students Learn Better: Finding New Ways to Implement

Movement in the Elementary Classroom. Childhood Education, 95(3), 63-71.