The Scientific American (7/23) reports on a the success of teaching programs that encourage students to “act out” as a way to boost learning. For example, one reading program has students manipulate pictures on a computer screen that coincides with the meaning of a sentence. The trend reflects “a growing body of research” that show that acting out grounds the abstract material into bodily experiences. The research suggests that classrooms “should include more physical activity in their instruction” so that students comprehend what a sentence says rather than simply decode the words.