About The Walking Classroom
The Walking Classroom
As a teacher, you’re probably familiar with:
- Standardized testing pressures
- Different learning styles of students
- Childhood obesity and its effects
- Students with minimal health literacy
- Hyperactive students
- Lethargic students
- Students unable to focus
- Students with minimal listening stamina
- Budget cuts that lead to fewer P.E. classes and decreased recess time
The Walking Classroom can help!
The Walking Classroom Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health and education of all students. The Walking Classroom program is an in-school obesity intervention that promotes health literacy and develops and supports lifelong fitness habits for all students while addressing different learning styles. The method combines standards-aligned academic content and exercise during the regular school day.
Using WalkKits pre-loaded with a year's worth of standards-aligned audio content, students walk, listen and learn.
Content
The podcasts are directly aligned to the 5th grade English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (link opens new browser window) (other grades are currently in development). Most podcasts last about 15 minutes, and each podcast is supported by an extensive lesson plan which includes a comprehension quiz.
Find out more about the wealth of content available with The Walking Classroom
Incorporating The Walking Classroom into the daily routine
The Walking Classroom is a thoroughly researched, field-tested program that capitalizes on recent findings that prove that physically active students learn more. Instructional time is not sacrificed by using The Walking Classroom—it’s just a different kind of classroom! The students are actively learning—usually outside!
Learn how to incorporate The Walking Classroom into your daily routine
History
The Walking Classroom is a program developed by Laura Fenn, M.S. Ed, for her fifth grade classroom as a response to the lack of opportunities for student activity during the school day. Fenn, an educator for over 15 years, noticed a direct correlation between her students’ academic performance and the amount of physical activity they regularly had, and she came up with a way to get students the exercise they desperately needed without sacrificing instructional time. The Walk, Listen and Learn program was an instant success in her classroom. Her students’ attitudes about exercise improved, as did their end-of-grade achievement scores, with her struggling students making the most noticeable gains. Soon Fenn dedicated herself to writing and producing age-appropriate, national standards-aligned podcasts specially written and recorded for 5th graders, and today The Walking Classroom is used by hundreds of students nationwide.
What is the SCIENCE behind The Walking Classroom?
There is a great deal of evidence of a positive link between exercise and cognitive function.
Click here to discover some key findings
Board of Directors
Get to know The Walking Classroom Board of Directors.
