Build health literacy and increase physical activity with The Walking Classroom
The research is clear: if we want students to succeed academically, we need to build health literacy and teach them to take care of their bodies. Regular lessons with The Walking Classroom can contribute to higher test scores, improved attendance, better behavior in class, enhanced leadership skills, and a lifetime of healthy habits.
Supports physically distanced and remote learning.
Incorporates health messages into standards-aligned learning
Each educational podcast begins with a brief health literacy message. Health topics include things like:
- Empty calories vs healthy calories
- The importance of hydration
- The dangers of smoking and tobacco
- Exercise and a healthy heart
- Bullying
- What Vitamin D does for us
- Individual talents
- and many more
Supports social and emotional learning with character value lessons
Each educational podcast also includes a character value woven throughout the narrative to support social and emotional learning. The character values include things like:
- Being considerate
- Empathy
- Respect
- Perseverance
- Cooperation
- Individuality
- and many more
The Walking Classroom helps improve students’ health literacy and build healthy habits.
A study by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that The Walking Classroom has significant impact on student health literacy. Each podcast includes a brief health message and lesson plans with discussion questions and quizzes help confirm understanding.
››› Read the study
The program is also a great tool to support social and emotional learning. In addition to the podcast topic, each podcast incorporates a character value that is woven into the narrative, sparking great discussions on subjects like bullying, empathy, perseverance, and many more.
Seeing those health message topics in each podcast has been wonderful too! It has allowed me to introduce and/or review health content with the students. My students can’t wait to share the health message with the rest of the class during our discussion sessions!”
››› Read how PE teacher Hadiatou Akinwande incorporates The Walking Classroom into both health and PE
How does it do it?
Students each need either our new mobile app or a preloaded “WalkKit” audio player with custom-written, entertaining, and educational podcasts on science, language arts, and history.›› See the all topics
Students go for a brisk 20-minute walk while listening to podcasts that each begin with a brief health message.›› Listen to a sample podcast on the Human Body’s Slimy Shields (with a 30-second introduction in Spanish)
›› Listen to more sample podcasts
Afterwards, lesson plans and quizzes help educators lead discussions to synthesize and solidify learning.›› Download the Human Body’s Slimy Shields Lesson Plan
But does it work?
Yes! Follow the links below to learn more.
- Read the results of a research study by researchers at UNC-CH that confirms the impact of walking on learning
- Read about the science behind The Walking Classroom
- Read success stories from some of our Walking Classroom adopters
- Read student comments about The Walking Classroom
- Check out our most recent year-end survey results
DOWNLOAD FREE HEALTH POSTERS HERE!