​This spring we had an awesome team of teachers attend our S.M.A.R.T. workshop from North Tama in Iowa. Among their many creative ideas and suggestions, this one stood out as a great end of year practice activity.

​Anne (our One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher feature this month) inspired us to think of how to incorporate core S.M.A.R.T. activities into academic review as the school year starts to wind down.
 
Thanks to a few generous S.M.A.R.T. trained teachers, here are a few downloads to kickstart this idea and inspire you to come up with some of your own.

Let’s be honest. The school year is winding down and we all just want to be outside.
 
Take some inspiration from this older post on how to incorporate S.M.A.R.T. movements outside on the playground.
 
Playground: https://www.actg.org/smartnews/one-smart-teacher8402604
Black top: https://www.actg.org/smartnews/one-smart-teacher2846866

​How does skipping correlate to reading?
 
Skipping and other cross-lateral movements, like Cross Patterning, do more than build coordination—they strengthen communication between both sides of the brain. This supports key reading skills. These movements help children develop eye tracking, allowing them to smoothly follow words across a page. They also build body awareness and understanding of directionality. This means they understand the concept of left-to-right and top-to-bottom, essential skills for reading and writing. Incorporating a “simple” movement like skipping into daily play can support both strong bodies and strong minds for school readiness.