I am better when I move: the use of body movement in the literature classroom

The use of body movement in the field of literature teaching opens a valuable space for artistic experimentation and innovation. This is a piece of research based on a series of practical sessions undertaken in 2016 with a total of 50 primary school students at Joaquim Ruyra School in Blanes (Girona) who participated in several class activities combining poetry reading and writing and body movement. Our pedagogical intervention took place within the framework of the Catalan Language and Literature module and had the main objective of contributing to the deconsecration of poetry by using body movement to interpret and approach a poetic text. From a methodological perspective, we have applied clinical methodologies, participatory action research and a/r/tography. Inspired by the idea that several forms of knowledges can coexist and also by the theory that we don’t only have one but multiple intelligences, this practice-based research approaches the teaching of poetry using the movement of the body and vindicates the importance of movement in teaching and learning processes and as a basic element of cognitive development. We aim to break the prejudices that exist towards the poetic genre, to claim it as a popular and accessible genre and to approach it in an uncomplicated way, exploring its creative potential and connections with other artistic languages: we will move poetry, shake it and, with our whole body, dance it.