Theory
	Book List
	Classroom Management (Book Chapter by Karl Androes)
	Word Knowledge (Book Chapter by Karl Androes)
	Reading In Motion Curriculum
	How the Curriculum Fits the CPS Reading Instruction Framework
	Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Teachers

Reading in Motion: Introduction to the Curriculum

Whirlwind dramatically improves the reading skills of under-performing Chicago-area children through arts-based instruction.

To accomplish its mission, Whirlwind created Reading In Motion, an arts-based reading curriculum which allows children to get out from behind their desks and use their entire bodies and minds to master reading skills.

The curriculum consists of engaging activities carefully tailored to the grade and developmental level of the students. A Whirlwind teaching artist (or a Whirlwind-trained teacher) implements the curriculum in the regular classroom or during special extended-day sessions, usually by implementing two one-hour lessons per week.

In Kindergarten through Second Grade, the curriculum uses dance-based activities that allow children to engage their entire bodies in phoneme awareness, phonics and other basic skills widely recognized as critical building blocks in acquiring reading skills.

First-graders, for example, might play a 'game' in which they take turns forming a letter shape with their bodies and pronouncing the sound associated with that shape. In another exercise, they work in groups to make the letter shapes that represent the sounds "Buh-A-Tuh," then pronounce the word 'bat' in unison.

In Grades Three through Six, the curriculum consists of drama-based activities that challenge children to understand and recall printed information by first creating visual images in their minds of the text they are reading.

Fourth-graders, for example, read an age-appropriate passage from a work of fiction, then visualize the scene as a picture or a movie and act out the text in the classroom.

The students are encouraged to incorporate into their performance facts and details which will indicate to an audience the story's setting, time and main characters. Students also incorporate their own inferences as to how the main characters feel about the events in the story. This skill is called 'visualization' and has been validated by researchers as an essential tool for improving reading comprehension skills.

At each grade level, the first few lessons of the Reading in Motion curriculum focus on basic learning skills such as self-control and teamwork. Children enhance these skills through lessons they experience as games rather than as schoolwork or self-discipline.

For teachers, these initial activities are useful classroom management techniques. Quickly, the lessons shift from learning skills to reading skills. The curriculum teaches the individual skills which together result in reading proficiency. These skills are taught in a sequence based on well-documented research about how children learn.

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