Teacher led exercise and its effect on student engagement.

Abstract

This study’s aim was to identify whether or not teacher led exercise at the beginning of the school day had an effect on second grade students’ ability to be engaged during morning math lessons. The participants were second grade students from a rural elementary school in western New York. The study was comprised of an ABAB design and data was collected using observations and checklists. Comparisons were made between student engagement on days following exercise to engagement on days with exercise. Results were investigated based on the entire group, student gender, student education classification, and both gender and educational classification together. Results indicated that within those groups, the exercise increased student ability to remain engaged and on task throughout math lessons.