Go Noodle: Get your noodle going!

Erica Lane
Oct 27, 2015
3 min read

We all know the feeling…the lethargic “ I must take a nap, my stomach is so full, I can barely keep my eyes open” feeling you get after a long day or a big lunch. Believe it or not, students can feel this way too! Their young bodies and minds are growing extremely fast. It’s no wonder they get to feeling worn down after a while.

If you are looking for a way to liven up your students or help them relax, I have discovered a great new online tool for you. This tool is called Go Noodle. This is a free tool that teachers can sign up for by visiting gonoodle.com. All they have to do is provide a class name, their name, their zip code, the school they teach at, and their email address. It takes around 30 seconds to sign up. Once you’re signed up, you can choose your grade level. This will determine the types of videos that Go Noodle shows you. Go Noodle offers tons of videos that incorporate singing, dancing, mock throwing, jumping, running in place, zumba moves, and even concentrated breathing exercises. The more videos you watch, the more points you get. When you reach a certain level, the character you have chosen to represent your classroom will morph into a bigger and better character.

To find the videos you would like to watch, you can choose either by channel or by category. The channels range from Olympic track and field to Zumba moves to Sing-Along-Chants. You can also choose by category. The categories include: stretching, coordination, kinesthetic learning, exercise, guided dancing, free movement, and calming. From these options, you are sure to find a video that is perfect for the needs of your student in any particular situation or mood they are feeling.

In the classroom, Go Noodle could be used to talk about health and the importance of exercise. Students could record how they are feeling before and after they complete an exercise. This could be done over the period of two days. On the first day they could record how they are feeling when class begins and when class ends. The second day, they could record how they are feeling at the beginning of class. Then, they could do 1 or 2 Go Noodle Activities. They could then record how they are feeling at the end of class. Together, they could compare and contrast the way they felt when they did and when they did not do the activities to help portray the importance of exercise.

A second way this tool could be used would be in math. The students could record their heart rates before they complete a Go Noodle Activity. Then, record their heart rates after doing 1 activity, then after completing 2 activities. The students could graph all of the heart rates, then find the mean, median, mode, and range of the data and reflect on the difference exercise made on their heart rates.

In conclusion, Go Noodle could be used for academic study as well as to relieve stress and provide a “wake-up call” for students who may not be the most active in class.