The Walking Classroom was originally developed to provide students with physical activity without sacrificing instructional time (which it did!). However, over the years, educators have cited an array of other benefits of The Walking Classroom, including how the program builds core content knowledge and aligns with standards.
Builds Core Content Knowledge
As a teacher, I’m thankful for The Walking Classroom as it aligns with my curriculum and gets my students out of their seats and moving.
– Shelby Levisky, North Carolina
With The Walking Classroom, I select podcasts that correlate with our curriculum. I love that when I teach a social studies or science lesson, we can incorporate details that we heard in the podcasts.
– Jenny Carlisle, Illinois
The Walking Classroom expands what students are doing in the classroom and literally takes them beyond the walls and outside. They are connecting what they are doing inside of the building while having a chance to get fresh air, really listen, and then come back together to discuss.
– Andrea Roberts, Pennsylvania
I absolutely love this program! This is an amazing tool that provides my students an opportunity to learn core content through listening and exercising.
– Melissa Turner, North Carolina
I almost always tie the podcast into what we are learning in class . . Integration is key to getting through all I need to teach. I show one of the videos that go along with each podcast before going out for a walk. This gives my kids some background information about what they will be listening to, and it sets the tone for our learning.
– Teri Webb, Utah
I love using The Walking Classroom to build background knowledge when a topic matches with what we are getting ready to learn. While I pick the podcasts that fit best with our curriculum units and put them at the best time of the year for us,
– Beverly Campbell, North Carolina
I taught virtual learners who were at home all year long. We used The Walking Classroom as an independent activity to help cover some of the science and social studies content we were unable to cover in live sessions.
– Matthew White, Indiana
Aligns with Standards
One of the challenges of teaching in a dual language program is essentially having half of the time to cover all of the standards. The Walking Classroom has been a huge help in this area.
– Meghann Seril, California
While teaching during the pandemic, Walking Classroom was wonderful for students to enjoy during their mask breaks! The learning was engaging and fun while happening outdoors and safe. The podcasts of the Walking Classroom align with the standards and therefore with the curriculum, so students’ learning is extended through every listening walk.
– Sara Laughlin, Colorado
The Walking Classroom podcasts tie so nicely to the fourth grade curriculum and are so easy to use for review of a current unit or preview of the next unit. Taking this 15 to 20 minute walk in the middle of the morning is a great way to break up our day while enjoying some fresh air.
– Ellen Smith, Illinois
I love using The Walking Classroom because so many of the podcasts completely hit the mark on my standards.
– Stephanie Goudreau, North Carolina
My students love this program. They look forward to our TWC sessions. It also aligns perfectly across our curriculum and content areas.
– Kasey Latshaw, Pennsylvania
I was so excited to see the expansive list of podcasts The Walking Classroom offers! They flow so nicely with our ELA and science standards and also fit in very well with our social studies curriculum.
– Brittany Pierce, Illinois
Lessons worked cohesively together with the Georgia Standards of Excellence. Almost every ELA focus standard is covered in-depth in The Walking Classroom AND they have loads of supplemental resources on their website too.
– Stephanie Marquez, Georgia
and Speaking of Those Standards . . .
Currently a program adopter? Next time you visit the Adopter Resources, you may notice something new. In our ongoing efforts to support you, our adopters, in your lesson planning, each podcast resource page now includes that podcast’s alignment with Common Core standards and/or Next Generation Science Standards (for third through eighth grade).
And, as an especially exciting development, you can even search by standard code in the podcast search keyword field to see all podcasts that align with a particular standard.
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