Educators know how to pace lessons and meet students’ learning demands. Planning and executing I do, we do, you do activities—also known as gradual release—to guide classroom instruction can feel like a cycle. Sometimes it is seamless; other times it includes re-teaching and mini-lessons. To keep students engaged at all stages of this cycle, teachers access a deep bag of tricks. “Brain breaks” is one.
Our brains only process as much as our physical beings support. Two minutes of movement can help to “unkink the hose” and circulate the blood, sending more to our brains and making us more productive in the end.
A brain break will look different depending on the age of your students. One former colleague of mine used yoga in the afternoons to help her eighth-graders survive the after-lunch slump. Another colleague integrated Kagan’s Silly Sports and Goofy Games into her regular instruction throughout the week. Both of these examples served to refocus student attention and advance academic performance by pausing, re-energizing and then allowing instruction to flow freely again.
Inserting a one- to two-minute brain break into instruction may feel like a loss of time at first. In reality, these one to two minutes may be the difference between negotiating complex and rigorous classroom material or getting stalled.
I remember feeling I was accomplishing my goals as a classroom teacher when my students would say, “Ms. Sara, why do you make us think?” or “You’re makin’ my brain hurt!” I would smile and say, “Good!” But what I learned over time was that these statements from students weren’t always positive. Sometimes these statements preceded students shutting down and classroom disruptions. Kids had been warning me—knowingly or unknowingly—that their attention spans were reaching their limits. Once I realized this, I started incorporating structured mind and body challenges (unrelated to the content) to help my students gain focus and a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
Brain breaks can be small-motor exercises, such as patting your head while rubbing your stomach, or they can be full body movements, such as the song “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” which I remember singing as a kindergartner. They can be a game like (Un)Freeze Tag—the safer (indoor) version to the game of tag. All but one student is frozen at the start of the game. Students must walk not run. As students are tagged, they become “it.” When all students are “it,” the game is over. Another way to get kids moving is Balloon Volleyball. Blow up a balloon, and form a circle. Students must keep the balloon from hitting the ground. Count how many touches the class can accumulate before the balloon drops.
After some practice, I realized in addition to getting up and moving around, students also benefit from small-motor brain breaks they can do in their seats. Here are a couple of classics to try with your students:
- Wave Hello—students hold both hands straight out, palms facing out. First, move your right hand up and down. Second, stop moving the right hand and move your left hand side to side. Next, move both the right and left up and down and side to side without moving in a diagonal.
- Pat your head while you rub your stomach—a classic game of coordination and giggles.
Your daily warm-up, direct instruction, scaffolded and independent practice and exit tickets can feel like a lot of planning already. But keeping a few brain breaks up your sleeve to use when students lose focus will help that planning have more impact.
March 10-14 is Brain Awareness Week. Help your students maximize their brain power by exploring these energizing brain breaks.
Wicht is senior manager of teaching and learning for Teaching Tolerance.
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