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S.M.A.R.T. NEWSLETTER - November '20 DISTANCE LEARNING

10/27/2020

The proprioceptive system helps us understand the organization of our body parts. That’s because this vital system processes all the automated signals our muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons and bones send us about the stress they are experiencing. Without this information, we wouldn’t know how to orient ourselves or move in the space we occupy. We wouldn’t know how much force to use or or how to time movements. Proper development of the proprioceptive system in the brain stem is critical to children’s ability to navigate their bodies through the world.

How do we ensure our students are building a strong proprioceptive system? Creeping! This activity, which involves purposeful movement of all body parts, stimulates the Brain Stem and supports creation of vital neural pathways that carry the needed information to help children move.

S.M.A.R.T. teachers know how important this is, and are always looking for ways to have children creep at home, but sending home a Creep/Slap Track for every student isn’t practical! However, playing “Doggy, Doggy, Where’s Your Bone?” makes it easy to add creeping into daily routines. Send home printed bones with the academics you are working on or email a PDF to parents. Have students hide “bones” around their learning area and then creep around the room to find the answers to your questions.

Download the editable Bone files so you can make “bones” to address the academics your class is working on or to address individualized learning.

References:
S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Guide pages 55-56
S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide pages 72-73

Download:
Bone (editable in Word)
Bone (PDF)

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S.M.A.R.T. NEWSLETTER - NOvember '20 IN-PERSON LEARNING

10/27/2020

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In addition to strengthening the proprioceptive system, use of the Creep Track or Slap Track also helps with students’ visual development. Creep Tracks develop eye movements needed to move from one line of text to another, visual perception needed to recognize objects in different positions or levels, depth perception needed to know how close an object is, and integrates the visual and motor systems.

Educators who are doing In-Person Learning can use their Creep Track or Slap Track to support visual development. Using Domino Dot Cards on the tracks adds an academic twist by helping students recognize numbers. So what happens when we combine Domino Dot Cards, Creep Tracks, and fall? We get Acorn Domino Dot Creep Track cards! We’ve made them in easy to print and download PDFs for a variety of ages.

References:
S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Guide pages 50-51
S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide pages 69-71

Download:
Acorn Domino Dot Creep Track cards 1-2 (PDF)
Acorn Domino Dot Creep Track cards 3-4 (PDF)
Acorn Domino Dot Creep Track cards 5-6 (PDF)

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S.M.A.R.T. NEWSLETTER - November '20 HYBRID LEARNING

10/27/2020

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When the proprioceptive sense does not receive or interpret input correctly within the muscles, joints, and tendons, children may be uncoordinated or clumsy. Some common signs include:

Poor motor planning: figuring out what part of the body needs to move in order to complete a task
Poor motor control: the brain knows what to do, but it can’t figure out how to make the body do it
Postural instability: poor core stability and/or strength to maintain posture
Difficulty grading movement: knowing how much pressure is needed to complete a task

Adding creeping to our day helps students improve coordination by training their bodies to respond appropriately to the physical circumstances around them.

Teachers who are engaged in Hybrid Learning may be switching from one mode of instruction to another within a short period of time. Having children creep around the room as a transition will incorporate intentional, purposeful movement. You can also add academics into the activity when you have them searching for “bones” with sight words (materials available for download below).

References:
S.M.A.R.T. Pre-K CORE Guide pages 55-56
S.M.A.R.T. Curriculum Guide pages 72-73

Download:
Bones with K sight words (PDF)
Bones with 1st grade sight words (PDF)

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S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter - October '20 Hybrid Learning

10/1/2020

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As schools have moved into Hybrid Learning, educators are looking for ways to add in movement that doesn’t take away from the short amount of time they have with the students. Last month we talked about using transitions to incorporate movement into the day if you don’t have time to set aside for a course. But sometimes, that’s not enough movement! Making a die with movement activities for the students to roll will give the students an opportunity to be involved and give them a much needed movement break! Check out our S.M.A.R.T. Activities Die to help you get started, or read our March ’20 One S.M.A.R.T. Teacher, and see Nicole’s transitions card.

Download S.M.A.R.T. Activities Die (PDF)

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S.M.A.R.T. NEWSLETTER - November '20 DISTANCE LEARNING

S.M.A.R.T. NEWSLETTER - NOvember '20 IN-PERSON LEARNING

S.M.A.R.T. NEWSLETTER - November '20 HYBRID LEARNING

S.M.A.R.T. Newsletter - October '20 Hybrid Learning

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