This is a second grade class performing this particular movement exploration activity for the second time. In the first lesson, I explained what the wave is and how we will send a motion around the circle. We did the traditional arm wave and the arm dropping onto the other arm. When the students first performed the arm wave and arm drop in the first lesson, they performed the motion one after the other, as you see they did again in this video. That is why I drew their attention to, “Doing it better,” or to the exact children who performed it in the expected manner. My recommendation for this activity is to let all of the children have a chance to perform the motion before correcting them. The reason I did not stop them partway through the sequence to correct them is because I needed to assess all of the children before I could determine if only some of the children are struggling to understand the activity, or if I have somehow confused the entire class with my directions.  

 

I came up with the arm dropping, sitting up on the knees, and laying down/sitting up motions on my own. I’ve used other motions as well, but these are the ones you see in the video. Use different motions each class to challenge the students in new ways.

 

Some things to keep in mind: Perfection is not mandatory during movement exploration. We are helping the children build a vocabulary of movement during this section of a First Steps lesson. Their best effort towards moving sequentially is what is expected.

 

There is a *bonus* video of another 2nd grade performing the same activity particularly well!