The Brain-Body Connection

One interesting facet of kinesthetic learning reseach is the research-based evidence of the brain-body connection. I have done exploration of this topic in my academic dance classes, and would love to continue that exploration into my literacy classroom. I came across a great source called The Kinesthetic Classroom: Teaching and Learning Through Movement by Michael S. Kuczala and Traci Lengel. The authors discuss the brain-body connection and its implications on educational activities (see the link at the bottom of this post).

Here's a summary of what I learned:

• The brain learns by processing sensory information from its surrounding environment. Rote memorization of facts is not reflective of how the brain memory process works. Information needs to pass through both short-term and then long-term memory stages. This can only be done with a profound sense of interest or emotional connection to the information.
• Movement expidates this process by engaging the whole brain in an attentive process. In other words, movemet is brain-friendly. It involved more sensory engagement, makes recall easier, and engages whole brain learning for a more clear and total picture of learning. Many traditional classroom activities only incorporate either the right or left hemisphere.
• Movement forces and promotes immediate rehearsal of information, which is critical for memory. It builds a multisensory opportunity for learning which promotes better storage of information.
• Physical experiences hold better than semantic memory ones (reading a chapter in a textbook).
• A study done by Cindy Hess (2004) at the Action Learning Lab found that motor development provides the framework that the brain uses to "sequence the patterns needed for academic success." 
• Further research found that kinesthetic learning activities can accomplish all of the following: increase motivation levels, create positive learning states, raise test scores, prepare brain for learning, increase student attention, improve students' recall time.
• Movement actually improves brain function. It is "exercise" for cognitive development (the physical benefits are then a by-product). It creates an environment where new cells can grow and thrive, also known as neurogenesis.
• Getting more oxygen to the brain improves the learning state of the student.

Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=u3PJV-POIuMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=kinesthetic+learning&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false