Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Fluency and Fitness Brain Breaks?

By
Tickled Pink in Primary

This post originally appeared on the blog Tickled Pink in Primary.

Did you know that Fluency & Fitness could be used in multiple ways? I’m going to show you a variety of ways to use your Fluency & Fitness resources so you get the most bang for your buck!

Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
 
What is Fluency & Fitness?
In case you’ve never heard of Fluency & Fitness, let’s first start by learning what it is. I created Fluency & Fitness years ago as a way to help students get up out of their seats to MOVE while still learning! Our school was very strict on making every moment count. I wanted to make sure that this brain break was also educational; therefore it didn’t take away from our instructional time. Students are loving the chance to get up and move and they don’t even realize their learning! 😉 This idea for my classroom has slowly grown into bundles for over 50 literacy and math skills and ranges from preK through 5 grade. Read below to see how you can help your students get their bodies and brains moving!
 
5 Ways to Use Fluency & Fitness
1. Slideshow
The most common way to play Fluency and Fitness is as a slideshow. You do not have to have a smart board to play; a projector is all you need! You can simply project it onto your screen or just use your whiteboard. You get to choose how fast/slow you click through the slides, but can add timers as well. See below!
Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
 
This can be used during your literacy and math block, for morning meeting, transitions, inside recess, or simply just a brain break any time your kiddos need to get some energy out!

Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.

Here’s a little preview of some Fluency & Fitness in action! Visit my YouTube page here to see more videos.

 2. Literacy and Math Center Tubs
One way to use Fluency & Fitness for center time, is to print out the slides and throw them in a container. When students draw an exercise card, they can do the exercise 5 times or for 5 seconds. They can then keep the card and another student can have a turn. Keep playing until all cards are gone. You can decide if you want just the 1 student to do the exercise or all of the students in that group to get up for a quick brain break.

Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
I print 6 or 9 slides per page so they are smaller in size.
3. Ipads
Did you know that you can play Fluency & Fitness on your iPad. This could be helpful for individual student use, small groups, parent volunteers working with students in the hall, or if you have Apple TV and want to use the airplay option. 
Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
Directions to get Fluency & Fitness on your iPad:
  • Since the files are uploaded as .zip documents, you will need to download an app to unzip the folder on your iPad such as iZip. This app will extract the files from the folder, so you can open each file individually. 
  • Make sure you have Powerpoint downloaded on your iPad as well. You will want to open the files in Powerpoint so they show up in the correct format.
  • Students can click the “play” button at the top of the Powerpoint file, to play the slideshow.  
I made this tutorial to show you how to do this. 

 

4. Computer Center or Home Use
You can use Fluency & Fitness again for centers if you have a computer station. Students could simply play the slideshow on their computer and do the exercises by their seat. It can also be used at home with your own little ones! My nephew asks to do Fluency & Fitness when I’m babysitting him! Right after breakfast, he was ready to learn. 🙂 
Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
 
5. Assessments
Sometimes doing assessments can be very time consuming and boring for your students. Now you can use Fluency & Fitness to test your student’s knowledge! Simply print out this FREE assessment sheet for each of your students. Instead of doing this whole group, students will do it individually at their seat. As you go through the slideshow, students will write the answer in the boxes.  Here are a few examples: if the screen shows a math fact, students will write down the answer to the problem, if it shows a 10 frame, students could write down the number, if it shows a picture, students could write the beginning sound, etc. You can grab this FREE assessment sheet here! 
Grab a bundle:
After many requests, I started making bigger bundles of Fluency and Fitness so teachers can buy everything they’d use for their subject or grade level in 1 bundle. So far I have these BIG bundles: PreK, Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade, Reading (K-2), Math (K-2), Spanish, and my MEGA bundle. The MEGA bundle gives you ALL of my K-2 sets, bonus extras (see below) and any new sets I add to that bundle, you get for FREE!!! 
 
MEGA Fluency & Fitness Bonuses
If you own the MEGA bundle, you get a few BONUS items! This Fluency and Fitness game gives your students some small group practice on skills and gives them a chance to get a small brain break if they land on a certain square.
Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.

Another MEGA bundle bonus, are these exercise flashcards. Anytime throughout the day that your students seem to be getting a bit silly, you can simply hold up a card and have them stop working and do the exercise.

Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
 
The MEGA bundle also includes an EDITABLE version so you can make your own games! 
Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.
Are you still not sure if Fluency & Fitness is right for your classroom? You can try this Alphabet version for FREE here!!!

Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom.

I hope that you have discovered some new ways to use your Fluency & Fitness resources with your students. It’s always nice to be able to buy 1 product and use it multiple ways! 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can I add timers to the slides?
    • One thing that I felt was important, was to let the teacher be in control of the game. I do not have timers on the slideshows because I like to click through the slides slower as students learn the skill, and then faster as they are at mastery level. It makes it exciting for students to try to be faster than me once we get clicking fast. 🙂 Don’t worry: for those teachers that don’t want to have to click the slides and want to walk away from the computer to participate in the fun or just get a quick minute to do other tasks, I have created a video here showing you how to easily add your own timers. 
  • Can I add music to the slides?
    • YES! Due to copyright laws, I am not allowed to include music in a slideshow in this format. I have created another video here showing you how to add your own music. Honestly, I don’t even use music when we play. Some teachers just use their phone or a CD player during the exercise slides. Just do what works best for your kiddos!
  • Is this editable?
    • No, yes, and sort of 🙂 My MEGA Fluency & Fitness Bundle is the only one that does include an editable powerpoint where you can type in your own words or create your own set. The other bundles allow for you to move the Powerpoint slides around so they are in a different order each time you play if you’d like, but you cannot edit any of the content. 
  • Why should I buy the MEGA Fluency & Fitness Bundle?
    • The MEGA bundle is the biggest value. It’s my most discounted Fluency & Fitness bundle and it contains all of the math and literacy bundles I’ve made for grades K-2. Since it’s a growing bundle, you will also receive any new reading/math K-2 sets I make and can download the new ones for FREE!!! The MEGA bundle is best for people that work with multiple grade levels, would like to have resources for their high and low students, would like to have a resource in case they change grade levels, or simply would like to save money buying 1 bundle compared to multiple smaller bundles. You also receive some BONUS resources that are not included in other bundles (editable version, game board, exercise flashcards) 

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Fluency & Fitness helps students get out of their seats to move while still learning! Here are 5 ways to bring this learning approach into your classroom. After teaching Kindergarten for eight years, Brittany Lynch is now a full time TpT Teacher-Author. She loves creating engaging resources that ensure students can have fun while learning. In her free time she enjoys volunteering at her old school, shopping, playing with her dog Oliver, and reading. You can find her resources in her TpT store and on her blog, Tickled Pink in Primary. Brittany also enjoys sharing tips and ideas with other teachers via her Facebook page, Instagram, and Pinterest. 

Visit her TpT store

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