On the fifth day of sharing...GoNoodle!

12/12/2016

What is GoNoodle?

Go Noodle is a revolutionary educational site that promotes movement and brain engagement in the classroom with imaginative games, videos, brain breaks, and activities. Activity videos include stretching, calming, dancing, and sports. Even though there are premium accounts available, the free account provides a great deal. Disclaimer: I have not purchased the premium version, but have played around with a teacher friend's account to test it out.

Using GoNoodle in the Classroom

My favorite ways to include GoNoodle in the classroom:

To Calm

During those times with students have a little too much energy or on those days where we all need a stress relief, GoNoodle's calming activites are just what you need. My personal favorite is the oh-so-charasmatic Maximo who leads fun yoga videos. However, with the holiday season in full swing, I love Melting, a calming video which focuses on breathing techniques by relating breathing to melting ice.

To Energize

Our students need frequent brain breaks in order to learn best. This is probably what GoNoodle is best known for and for good reason. With so many fun, engaging options, it's hard to choose! From Koo Koo Kangaroo to Moose Tube, there are so many fun videos that your students will never get bored or used to the same videos. Most videos in this area have choreographed, directed dances so it makes it easy for even the most reluctant students to participate.

To Learn

Event though the majority of GoNoodle is completely free to educators and parents, there is a GoNoodle Plus version which offers a ton of resources connected to ELA and math standards and learning objectives like Mega Math Marathon, where students actually run an entire marathon (over several visits) while answering math questions on a topic you choose or Bodyspell, a kinesthetic spelling activity.

The BEST thing about several of the GoNoodle Plus activities is that you can customize them with your own questions, making GoNoodle Plus a perfect for tool for reviewing your curriculum!

To Play

I saved the best for last! We all know those days where that lesson you spent forever planning ends a little too early or you have those extra five to ten minutes at the end of the day when your students are too tired to listen to story or maybe too excited to listen to one, or you're too tired to corral them to the carpet to listen quietly, or there has been a never-ending rain attack on your sanity so there has not been recess in four days...GoNoodle is there to save the day! The Indoor Recess Mega Mixes are perfect!