Module 5: Embodied Thinking

Embodied Thinking:

Embodied thinking is using our bodies and thinking about where they are, what they are doing, and how it feels (the sensation of our muscles, skin, tension, and balance). In my topic (play) we use our bodies all the time to think outside of the box. Our bodies in kindergarten help us learn new topics and understand concepts. When working with English Language Learners embodied thinking is key to helping them understand new English terms. During the spring we did a lesson on plant growth. We planted our own seeds in CD cases, the sensory table, and outside on the playground. We watched them grow and recorded their length, observed them, and took notes. To help the children understand the growth of a seed besides reading books, watching and observing their own, and talking about them. We used our bodies to understand the stages of seed growth. The children would make their bodies really small on the carpet and I would plant the seed. Then as I watered all the seeds they would begin to grow into a sprout. After the sprout they would grow some leaves, then slowly get taller, and have a full stem. The children would then slowly grow petals and grow into a flower or a bean plant. As they did this they used their bodies to demonstrate their understanding of the growth of a seed. Certain body parts meant certain stages of the seed growth. Using our bodies helps us understand new concepts. We get to feel like a seed and act like a seed.

The children also use embodied thinking when we are talking about shapes. The children will use their peers to create a triangle, octagon, rectangle, square, circle, trapezoid, etc. It's interesting the ways they contort their bodies and try to understand each shape and how many sides, angles, and points it should have.

We also used embodied thinking in our classroom to help us think about molecular movement. When we were discussing the topic solid, liquids, and gases it was difficult for some of the ELL students to understand this. We then decided to use our bodies to demonstrate what the molecules are doing in each one of these states. We told the children they were an ice cube starting as a solid. The children all huddled close just vibrating their bodies slowly. Then as they began to melt they turned into a liquid spreading farther apart and bumping into each other. Then as we continued to boil the water some of the water evaporated into a gas. The children then bounced off each other and spread far throughout the classroom. Turning into a gas was their favorite! Using our bodies in the classroom helps allow children to feel new concepts. It is teaching through a whole different perspective. Now when we ask children questions like how does a seed grow or what happens when a molecule is a solid. The children will be able to answer because they will think with their bodies and remember how they moved like a seed, or like a molecule. This will help them recall our little embodied thinking lessons to help them in the future with these concepts being taught.

Embodied thinking is an excellent tool to use in any classroom. Instead of sitting in our desks watching videos, reading, writing, etc. We can get up and use our bodies to understand and develop concepts further. It's important in general for young children to get up and move, so why not do it in a lesson and teaching something while they move.

Below is a video of a classroom acting out the seed growth. It is not my classroom, but it is something along the lines of what I would do in my classroom minus the guitar.

Here is a video I found of children using their bodies to understand solid, liquids, and gases.