Active Bodies, Active Brains: Building Thinking Skills Through Physical Activity » (New Edition)

Mary E. Clancy, PhD, has been teaching for more than 30 years and has seen the thinking processes in her students decline during that period. An associate professor and coordinator of the physical education teacher education program in the department of exercise and sport studies at the University of Tampa, Clancy has studied the thinking and brain-friendly development processes, developed a model to assist in the development of thinking, and made numerous presentations on related topics. A lover of movement and activity, she sees movement as the perfect vehicle to help children learn to think, be successful in their daily lives, make healthy decisions, and become independent.

Active Bodies, Active Brains offers a wealth of physical activities to help kids develop physical, social, and cognitiv/ie skills. Based on cutting-edge research on brain compatibility, these games and activities help children

• increase their ability to focus;
• integrate their movement with thinking, thus enhancing development of neural pathways;
• improve memory;
• open up more areas of the brain to participate in learning; and
• reduce stress and enhance positive feelings to increase their learning.

Active Bodies, Active Brains provides you with 66 activities and games&mdash:and it shows you how to easily modify and extend those to create numerous additional games. Indeed, by applying the techniques in this book, you can create an endless supply of brain-compatible physical activities while helping your students build cognitive, health-related fitness, and physical skills.

Preface How to Use This Book Activity Finder Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Introduction to Brain-Compatible Instruction

Chapter 2. Teaching Thinking Through Physical Activity

Chapter 3. Introductory Activities

Chapter 4. Basic Activities

Chapter 5. Intermediate Activities

Chapter 6. Complex Activities

References About the Author