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About
the Book |
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From Heinemann Books
Minds in Motion
by Susan Griss
Making the Link
between Creative Movement
and Nuts-and-Bolts Curriculum
ISBN 0-325-00034-4
130 pages $22.00
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Kids love to move. In Minds
in Motion, Susan Griss shows teachers how they can use this natural
kinesthetic language as tool for teaching the nuts-and-bolts curriculum.
Griss introduces elementary teachers to the process of identifying,
creating and implementing lessons that encourage students to learn by
using their bodies as well as their minds. Through specific examples,
she illustrates the benefits of physicalizing academic concepts,
including how movement:
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makes learning
tangible, accessible, and memorable
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cultivates
critical thinking and the use of higher-level thinking skills
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demands both
individual decision-making and group interaction
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encourages
students to make use of their own experiences and observations as a
foundation for knowledge
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stimulates
creative and dynamic energy in the classroom
An ideal resource
for both preservice and inservice teachers, Minds in Motion
includes more than 30 lesson plans in a wide range of subjects. |
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Table
of Contents |
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Every Child Wants
to Move
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From Muscles to
the Brain: Dissecting a Lesson
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Structuring the
Lesson: Space, Control, Time, and Format
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Assessment:
Evaluating the Mind in Motion
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Not Every Teacher
Wants to Move: Using Nonmovement Resources
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Lesson Plans: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, Math,
Multicultural Curriculum, Design, Mediation Skills and Conflict Resolution
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Appendices:
Stories, Suggested Music, Suggested Reading
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What
they are saying about Minds in Motion |
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Heidi Hayes Jacobs
(Columbia University)
“Exciting, inventive, and educationally sound, the practical
strategies offered in Minds in Motion should become part of every
teacher’s repertoire.”
Thomas
Armstrong (Author, 7 Kinds of Smart)
“Minds in Motion is the best book I’ve yet seen that can
help teachers teach kids how to use their bodies to learn everything
from the times tables to the Civil War. If teachers everywhere had
access to this book, I am sure that we’d have far less need for things
like Ritalin and ADD to control highly physical children . . . .
Teachers will discover new talents and abilities in their students that
can vastly enrich the quality of their classrooms.”
Amy L. Duma (The
Kennedy Center, Education Dept.)
“Minds in Motion is the answer for every teacher interested
in Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences who is wondering how to
incorporate the kinesthetic intelligence into his/her classroom.”
Eileen
Wasow (Bank Street College of Education)
“Griss’s integrated
approach spurs children to engage in critical thinking and problem
solving even as it awakens their creative and aesthetic spirits. Every
elementary school teacher and dance or movement specialist committed to
helping children become active learners should read Minds in Motion.”
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A
short selection from the book |
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"Children naturally move.
They react to and explore the world in physical ways. No one has to teach them
to jump for joy, to roll down a grassy hill, or to pound their bodies on the
floor during a tantrum. When they arrive in elementary school they are fluent in
this nonverbal, physical language. However, rather than using this natural
resource by channeling it into constructive learning experiences, teachers often
expend energy subduing children’s physicality.
What if, instead, teachers used
kinesthetic language to teach elementary curricular subjects? What if a second
grader’s love of spinning could clarify the difference between rotation and
revolution? What if a third grader’s natural propensity to jump and hop could
translate into a lesson revealing the principles of multiplication? What if a
fourth grader’s excitement about physical adventure could lead into an
enactment of a journey on the Underground Railroad, a journey into American
history?
. . .” |
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To order Minds in Motion
call Heinemann at 800-793-2154 or
click
here |
