See subsection of brain breaks for...
* best one-stop-sites for brain breaks
* mid-lesson energizers
* starters: to play as learners enter & get their things ready
* movement/song breaks
* fun facts to end off lessons or use with tutor class.
on this page...
* why brain breaks
WHY BRAIN BREAKS
Using Brain Breaks to Restore Students’
Learn about the science and classroom applicability of these quick learning activities.
By Judy Willis
Learn about the science and classroom applicability of these quick learning activities.
By Judy Willis
Early in my teaching career, I was disturbed by a note left by the substitute teacher. She wrote that during the three days she was with my students, they were responsive during the first part of class, but that many of them became inattentive, distracted, and even disruptive after about 20 minutes of her instruction. When I asked the students what had happened, they were of one voice: “She didn’t give us our brain breaks.”
WHAT ARE BRAIN BREAKS? For students to learn at their highest potential, their brains need to send signals efficiently from the sensory receptors (what they hear, see, touch, read, imagine, and experience) to memory storage regions of the brain. The most detrimental disruptions to traffic along these information pathways are stress and overload. Brain breaks are planned learning activity shifts that mobilize different networks of the brain. These shifts allow those regions that are blocked by stress or high-intensity work to revitalize. Brain breaks, by switching activity to different brain networks, allow the resting pathways to restore their calm focus and foster optimal mood, attention, and memory. THE NEUROSCIENCE OF BRAIN BREAKS For new information to become memory, it must pass through an emotional filter called the amygdala and then reach the prefrontal cortex. When students’ brains become anxious, highly confused, or overwhelmed, the activation of the amygdala surges until this filter becomes a stop sign. New learning no longer passes through to reach the prefrontal cortex and sustain memory. Even if students are not stressed by the pace or content of new learning, a point arises when the amygdala exceeds its capacity for efficient conduction of information through its networks into memory. Brain breaks can be planned to restore the emotional state needed to return the amygdala from overdrive into the optimal state for successful information flow. BRAIN BREAKS RESTORE BRAIN SUPPLIES Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals that carry messages from one nerve cell to the next, across gaps between the cells called synapses. These message carriers are necessary to keep one’s calm, focused attention and maintenance of a new memory. Neurotransmitters are in limited supply at each synapse and can deplete after as little as 10 minutes of continuing the same type of learning activity (attentive listening, practice drills, note-taking). Brain breaks, by switching the type of mental activity, shift brain communication to networks with fresh supplies of neurotransmitters. This intermission allows the brain’s chemicals to replenish within the resting network. TIMING Brain breaks should take place before fatigue, boredom, distraction, and inattention set in. Depending on students’ ages and focus development, brain break frequency will vary. As a general rule, concentrated study of 10 to 15 minutes for elementary school and 20 to 30 minutes for middle and high school students calls for a three- to five-minute break. |
BRAIN BREAK STRATEGIES
Brain breaks do not require disruption in the flow of learning. Simply stretching, moving to a different part of the room, or singing a song can revitalize the brain. Use your learning goals and students’ responses to guide you in selecting the best type of brain break. You might decide to use the time to boost mood or motivation, as well as restore the brain’s peak performance. MOOD: To restore the emotional state needed to bring the amygdala back from overdrive, help students build habits of emotional self-awareness and mindfulness. Prepare them for successful self-calming brain breaks by demonstrating and providing practice times as they build experience using mindful breathing or visualizations. Neuroscience has yielded information on activities that increase restorative neurotransmitters such as dopamine. Some of these activities, such as laughing, moving, listening to music, and interacting with peers, make great mood-boosting brain breaks:
Especially when topics of study are necessary foundations but are not of high personal relevance to students, brain breaks can enhance their motivation to attend to a potentially tedious subject.
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Some more Brain Break Information
Being seated for long periods of time has some major drawbacks for kids. Not only does it make it tough for them to get enough physical activity in the day, but it also makes it harder to actually pay attention and learn.
Angela Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist, writes in the Washington Post: Children naturally start fidgeting in order to get the movement their body so desperately needs and is not getting enough of to “turn their brain on.” What happens when the children start fidgeting? We ask them to sit still and pay attention; therefore, their brain goes back to “sleep.” In order for children to learn, they need to be able to pay attention. In order to pay attention, we need to let them move. Movement actually does “turn on” the brain. Look how activity can literally light up areas of a child’s brain that allow for better learning. |
HOW BRAIN BREAKS CAN HELP
It may not be realistic for schools to add in more time for recess or extra PE. But students can easily be given “Brain Breaks” throughout the day. Brain Breaks are short, energizing bursts of activity that boost blood flow, send oxygen to the brain, and help kids better retain information. It can be as simple as taking five minutes to stand up, stretch, and run in place next to the desk. My son’s first grade teacher takes the class on a short walk around the building every day. Research has shown that Brain Breaks increase students’ on-task behavior AND the amount of physical activity they get every day so it’s a win-win. Ideally, students should get multiple Brain Breaks in the day and be active in other ways as well. |
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