OKC Students Learn With Their Brains, Bodies In Action-Based Learning Lab

Students are putting their brains and bodies to work at Martin Luther King Elementary in Oklahoma City.

Inside their new action-based learning lab, they're typing sentences with their toes on giant keyboards, reciting colors while stepping on a ladder, and even reading a book while riding a bicycle.

“It challenges your mind because you’re trying to multitask by reading but by also riding a bicycle,” Kamilah Bennett said.

At 11 years old, she has it all figured out. This is meant to make every part of your mind work to balance mental and physical tasks.

“When all of it is firing, then the learning is occurring better in addition to the retention,” Dana Chambers with Schools for Healthy Lifestyles said.

Schools for Healthy Lifestyles installed nearly $11,000 worth of equipment at the elementary school for free, to give kids a lab that school officials believe will make them better learners.

“With exercise we know that from looking at scans of the brain that after just 20 minutes, activity in the brain is increased, which helps with learning,” Chambers said.

Each teacher will get to incorporate the lab in their lesson plans. All 360 students at Martin Luther King Elementary will get to explore each station, twice a week to spice up their time at school.

“This is a really fun program to do and I think it can help students with their learning experience,” Bennett said.

There are currently two labs in the Oklahoma City Public Schools district. The second one is at Willow Brook Elementary.

Students in Yukon, Choctaw, Deer Creek and Putnam City school districts have also received the equipment. It’s paid for by a federal physical education grant.