"Do You Know How To Chicken Noodle Soup?"- My Students Do!

   We’ve done so many things I could blog about! Yet, today’s entry is going to be about one of the students’ favorite things-! 

   Teaching first graders, I know the importance of movement breaks.  That being the case, I wanted to find an option for us to shake, wiggle, and roll, when we can’t go outside and run around.  The result……..  3 of my favorite classroom purchases ever (one was actually a Christmas gift from a parent). 

   After getting my SMARTBoard, I scoured the Internet one summer trying to find classroom exercise DVDs. I read several reviews,  and finally settled on two.

   The first one I found on Amazon was, “6 Fit Kids’ Workouts.”  This is a great DVD.  It’s led by a woman, who is joined by about four different aged students.   You can select from African, Kardio Funk, and Latin.  Each workout is 5 minutes long.  If you want something a little longer,  they have three 10 minute workouts which are a combination of the previously mentioned dance types.   The children truly enjoy doing these exercises.  They aren’t that complicated, but they do get their little heart rates up!

    Now- this next one is by far the classroom favorite.  "Hip Hop For Kids - School House Hop" is a dance DVD, which teaches the students hip hop dances, such as, The Chicken Noodle Soup, The Snap, and The Motorcycle.  The kids LOVE this one!  They always beg for me to play more.  There are approximately 6 different dances on this DVD, in addition to a dance music video, which is also a huge hit with the kiddos.  I’ve uploaded a few pics of my students doing , “The Chicken Noodle Soup.” It is so cute! I love watching them dance.  Some of them really get into it! So funny!!

 Lastly, last year a parent purchased "Gymathtics" for our classroom.  This is an exercise DVD similar to the Fit Kids’ Workout, except, it focuses on raising your heart rate while practicing your math.  There is a section on patterns- the students do exercises in a certain pattern.  There is also a section called, “Counting Kinesthetic”.  In this section, the students have to do air punches, kicks, jumping jacks, etc. while reciting number patterns (place value, odd numbers, even numbers, even prime numbers).  I think my favorite part of this DVD is the “Wind Down, Cool Down,” where she takes the students through a series of stretches.  This is especially nice as the students get all riled up dancing, and sometimes need that little cool down before getting back to work. 

                                Happy exercising!