Brain Breaks: 5 minute activities to rest the brain, re-energize the classroom, and reduce disruptions

WHAT TEACHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT

BRAIN

BREAKS

What an insightful guide to brain breaks tailored for educators who grasp the neuroscience behind them. Packed with personal anecdotes, this book offers a refreshing perspective on incorporating brain breaks into the classroom. A must-read for teachers seeking a deeper understanding of how to optimize student engagement and learning.

NIAMH O’DONOGHUE, B.Ed., MSc Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education, International School of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, MYP Language and Literature/PHE teacher, 10 years

After reading this book, I talked with my kindergarteners about how their brains need a rest sometimes. We discussed how our transition activities and brain breaks give their brains a release from thinking. Now, my students are asking for brain breaks when they need them. They are noticing which breaks work the best for them, too. Brain breaks are changing my young learners.

GRACE RODRIGUES, International School Shanghai, Shanghai, China, kindergarten teacher, 38 years

Brain breaks are an essential tool in maintaining student engagement and facilitating effective learning, and I believe this book will be a valuable resource for educators seeking to enrich their classroom practices.

DR. TAYLAN CELTIK, International School Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, MYP/DP Mathematics Teacher & Curriculum Leader ISS, DP Mathematics Moderator, International Baccalaureate, 25 years

The ‘May I have your attention, please?’ section is great. I loved the line ‘Being present requires training the mind to turn off all the notifications!’ There are so many great ways to connect kids and refresh their minds in this book. My fourth graders loved the Three-Headed Expert and the Long-Lost Friends breaks. I can’t wait to get this book in the hands of my teaching peers.

TAMI KOSKE, Granville Intermediate School, Granville, Ohio, Grade 4, 25 years

The work that Deb is doing with brain breaks is changing how we teach at our school! She has brought in so many quick and easy brain breaks that even make staff meetings more interesting! She is empowering her students not just to have moments to energize and refocus but also to take control of their own learning. My students have started to monitor the learning environment and will ask to do a brain break when they are feeling low energy. With 90-minute class periods and middle school students, teaching with brain breaks is an absolute must!

KRISTIN MONTGOMERY, International School Stuttgart, Stuttgart Germany, MYP Spanish teacher, 16 years

As a retired teacher, I have been to many professional development meetings. I wish I’d had the opportunity to read this book for professional development. It is very applicable in all grade levels and subject matter. During my reading, I really wanted to try some of them. I know it would have definitely benefited my students and made me a better teacher. I especially like how Deb introduced topics, explained them, and then gave examples that you can visualize. She then gives you brain break activities to address the different learning parts of the brain, using both individual and group activities. I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down. It is a very easy read. I must admit that I have implemented several of her brain breaks in my daily life. Thank you, Deb!

DIANE LANCASHIRE, Mallard Creek High School, North Carolina, USA, HS PE/health teacher retired, 37 years

Notice: ebook piracy is both illegal and immoral. If you suspect that you received this ebook from an illegitimate distributor or retailer, please look at our list of authorized distributors. If you received this book from a retailer or promotion not on this list, then neither the author nor publisher have been paid for their work. Please support us so that we can continue to provide you with quality literature.

QUANTITY PURCHASES:

Schools, companies, professional groups, clubs, and other organizations may qualify for special terms when ordering quantities of this title.

For information, email [email protected]

Copyright ©2024 Deb Lancashire

All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher/author, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. All images, logos, quotes, and trademarks included in this book are subject to use according to trademark and copyright laws of the United States of America.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024921648

ISBN: 979-8-9904878-3-3 (paperback)

ISBN: 979-8-9904878-0-2 (digital)

EDUCATION / Learning Styles

EDUCATION / Teaching / Methods & Strategies

Cover design and typesetting by Kaitlin Barwick

brain-breaks.ck.page/3e96567779

Brain Break Academy: facebook.com/Brainbreak.guru

This book is dedicated to

students and teachers across the world.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1: The Magic Behind Brain Breaks

What Brain Breaks Are

What Brain Breaks Are Not

The Key to a Successful Brain Break

Brain Anatomy

How Do Brain Breaks Improve Brain Function?

Benefits of Brain Breaks

2: Implement a Brain Break

How to Choose a Brain Break

When to Use a Brain Break

How to Implement a Brain Break

3: Going, Going, Gone … Into Long-Term Memory

Retrieval

Spaced Learning

Elaboration

4: Making Brain Breaks a Part of the Lesson

Summarize

Apply New Learning

Provide Memory Cues

5: May I Have Your Attention, Please?

Sleep

Remove Distractions

Limit Social Media

Practice Mindfulness to Build Focus

6: Reset the Mind

Best Brain Breaks for Calming

Best Brain Breaks to Increase Energy

7: The Body Moves, The Brain Grooves

Release Brain Overload

Decrease Stress

Boost Brain Function

Develop Social Skills

Increase Productivity

8: Growing Growth Mindset

Use Self-Talk

Identify Your Mindset

Practice!

Reflect on Your Work

9: Cooperation Brings Connection

Physical

Content

Cooperation

10: Speed Up Brain Function

Content Brain Breaks That Connect

Physical Activities That Connect

11: Brain Breaks for BIG Kids

Shift in Cognitive Thinking

Breaks from Technology

Calming and Sensory Activities

Rest and Reflect

Physical Release of Muscles

12: Brain Breaks for LITTLE Kids

Motor Skills

Communication Skills

Social-Emotional Skills

13: Creating a Positive Classroom Culture

Our Motto: We Are lifelong learners.

Appendix: Brain Breaks

References

About the Author

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Azul Terronez of Authors Who Lead for his excellent guidance during the writing process. From developing a proper mindset to webs, bubbles, prompts, and questions, the writing process worked well for me. The discussions with the Trail Blazers group of Jenny and Gwen helped to tweak and shape my book development. Azul’s enthusiasm and encouragement helped me overcome all roadblocks to writing.

My dear friend and master teacher Tami Koske graciously read the early chapter sections and gave valuable feedback. Her input and encouragement pushed me to continue writing this message.

A shout-out to Mrs. Koske’s fourth-grade students, who experimented with different brain breaks that are outlined in the book. The enthusiasm of both the students and their teacher encouraged my writing path.

A special thank you to Diane Lancashire, a retired award-winning high school physical and health education teacher, who read the entire book and shared valuable feedback from a different perspective. Her insight helped me to realize that this message is for all teachers.

I also need to thank the sixth- through eighth-grade students at International School Stuttgart. Their journey of using brain breaks and brain-based lessons is documented throughout the pages of this book. It has been a joy to watch their transformation in thinking and learning over the past three years.

Finally, I thank God. As I leave the classroom, His path for my life is awesome. He has placed in my heart a fire to share a message about the power of our brains to learn and how best to access and use our immense library of knowledge.

Introduction

As a teacher, I hope to create an environment that encourages happy, caring learners. My journey in teacher training in the ’80s included educational theory focusing on cooperative learning and behavioral methodology. William Glasser’s book Choice Theory in the Classroom taught me to use a learning team approach. It moved my students from rows to table groups. Students were grouped with varying abilities of high, middle, and low achievement. Glasser’s theories in practice allowed students to work together discussing ideas, editing work, and sharing learning strategies with each other.

The second core teaching in my education was behavior management. Our university taught BF Skinner’s theory of stimulus and response. It is program using negative and positive reward systems to control behavior. Marble jars on the desk were carrots for the students to earn a party. If the class performed desired behaviors each day, they would earn a particular number of marbles. When the jar was full, it was party time. Writing a disobedient student’s name on the board or using positive behavior sticker charts on students’ desks targeted and documented both positive and negative behaviors. I found that this practice did more to reinforce the bad behavior than to change it.

The ’90s brought learning styles—auditory, visual, and kinesthetic—and Howard Gardner’s theory of eight multiple intelligences. His breakthrough findings identified eight frames of mind:

Visual-spatial

Linguistic verbal

Logical-mathematical

Body-kinesthetic

Musical

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

These frames identify multiple types of learning tendencies possible within our brains. I enthusiastically created different paths to learning in my lessons to fit these types of thinkers and learners. I included project choices to provide opportunities for different learning tendencies.

I discovered that these practices were limiting my students, not enhancing their learning. The ideas address the facts of neurodiversity in the classroom, but they also boxed students into a fixed mindset. The faulty nature of this work was that it depended on me as the educator to provide multiple paths to learning—and it was exhausting. Unfortunately, even despite my hard work, these practices did not provide the ultimate goal for my students: ownership of their learning, which leads to happy, caring learners.

My teaching certification includes K–12 severe behavior handicaps and learning disabilities and K–8 regular classroom teacher. Because my first two teaching appointments included K–3 a Severe Behavior Handicap Unit and a 6–8 Learning Support pullout class, I was always assigned the at-risk and learning-support students in my regular fourth-grade and middle school classes. This required a structured and disciplined classroom. I worked at creating a safe and quiet environment for learning through assertive discipline practices. My classes’ test scores in reading and writing consistently met and exceeded state standards. The administration would ask, How are you doing this, with these kids? I explained that it had been done through structure, repetition, and feedback. I felt accomplished in my work with students.

But after fifteen years of teaching, I felt no joy. My work in the classroom was based on controlling behaviors and promoting a varied environment for learning. Sadly, the sole responsibility for growth of my students’ learning did not include the students! They were being painted with curricula. I knew that if I was not feeling the joy of learning in the classroom, then neither were they. I wanted kids to experience explosive growth in thinking, increasing levels of mastery in their reading and writing skills, and extreme joy in learning. I thought, There has to be something more.

This evaluation and reflection of my work in teaching led me on a journey into the study of how the brain learns. David Sousa’s book How the Brain Learns taught me the processes of learning within the brain and strategies to elevate thinking in my classroom. Brain Matters by Patricia Wolfe and Brain-Based Learning by Eric Jensen furthered my use of brain-based instruction.

Every text I read about the brain included the use of brain breaks to restore attention and improve brain function through increased oxygen. Each text repeated the fact that our brains have a limited amount of time for focus and must rest. My experiences with using their ideas and concepts revolutionized my classroom. It changed my mindset from managing students to facilitating learning for them. I was no longer the drill sergeant and sage on the stage.

How did I begin this transition to brain-based learning as a teacher? I started with brain breaks. Taking time every twenty-five to thirty minutes to refresh and refocus. These always included breathing, movement, and water. Breathing should involve deep breaths completely filling the lungs with an extended inhale and a slow release. Movement means physical exercise. The body moves, the brain grooves! I used GoNoodle and Just Dance on YouTube, and regular exercises. Water is crucial to brain function. Drinking a sip or two must be a part of every brain break.

I admit it was awkward at first. My first brain break was with a class of twenty-five sixth graders. We were dancing to the song Thriller by Michael Jackson. All the kids started at the back of the room. Some were shy and did not want to do it. Others were laughing and singing along. When the zombie monster-claw part of the dance began, the energy in the room became electric! The bold dancers encouraged the shy dancers to try it. Soon the whole class was marching in time to the Thriller dance. They were connecting with each other, laughing, and being very loud! I wondered if this was an appropriate use of class time.

But then the magic happened. When they returned to their work, every single student was smiling. With spirits lifted and brains refreshed, they enthusiastically completed the writing assignment.

The change had a significant impact on my students. Using brain breaks allowed them to release energy and connect with each other. They used their brains differently for two to five minutes between work sessions. It increased their focused attention during learning sessions and decreased distracted minds and off-task behavior. Brain breaks improved their concentration and productivity. Students began to tell