Brain Breaks

Especially when I started out as a teacher, I was hyper-focused on cramming every single second with "content". Any moment where my students weren't consciously working on the curriculum felt like a waste to me. It wasn't until years later that I finally recognized that what I was doing was simply not working. My students could not focus for a full 50-60 minutes on one task. But! If I broke up the lesson some more, they completed the same task that I was struggling to get them to finish in an hour, in half the time. One thing that helps this to happen is adding variety and cooperative learning into the lessons (post coming soon!), but another element that supports my students' focus and motivation is scheduled brain breaks.

A brain break, in my definition at least, is a 5 or so minute activity that breaks them away from what we were working on, and gives their brain a rest. The activity can be wholly unrelated to what we are learning, or not. The main point is to do something else. I tell my students when we will take a brain break (usually right in the middle of the lesson), and this not only gives the lesson structure but enables me to motivate them towards it ("Ok everyone - let's keep writing for 10 more minutes and then it's time for a brain break!").

My favorite brain breaks for middle school and high school:

• Board Race

  Split the class in 2 (or more teams), and split the whiteboard into the same name of sections as you have teams. Each time should line up at the whiteboard. Choose a category (animals, countries, etc.) and a letter of the alphabet. Once you say

  "Go!" the first person on each time races up to the board to write something that fits the category and letter (e.g. G animals: giraffe, gazelle, gecko). Once they've written, they run back to the start and pass the whiteboard marker to the next person on their team. Imagine this like a relay race. The game ends when your timer ends (determine how long you want the game to go on based on the number of teams/students). The team with the most correct words wins! You can also add a rule that they don't earn a point for any word repeated across two teams - in other words, they only get points for unique words.

  
  

• Digital Memory

  For this game, I project my computer screen and use a memory game online to play. We go in order based on their seating to try to match up the tiles - each student tells me 2 tiles to flip over to see if they match. I honestly didn't think this game would be a hit (I thought it might be too slow), but I was pleasantly surprised by their enthusiasm for it.

  Some websites you can use include:

  • Puzzel.org Lets you create your own memory game, and add numbers to the tiles so it's easy for students to call them out.

  • Wordwall Has a bunch of premade games!

    
    

• Stretches

  Simple but effective! Sometimes I'll use a video for them to follow along with for a longer brain break (3-5 minutes) or we'll repeat a couple of easy stretches on our own for a short break (such as I-T-W stretches).

  
  

• Heads Up, Seven Up (or Three Up)

  Students love playing this classic classroom game. Choose 7 students (or 3 for a shorter turn around!) to be "it". The other students put their heads down (so they can't see) and their thumbs up. The students who are "it" creep quietly around the classroom and surreptitiously put down one thumb each before they return to the front of the room. Once they are ready, you say "Head's Up, Seven Up!" and the 7 students who had their thumbs put down stand up and take turns guessing who chose them. If they choose correctly, they take that person's place as "it". Continue until you're ready to move on! :)

  
  

• Silent Ball

  For this game, you need a soft ball and clear instructions to students about the rules so it doesn't get out of hand! Students sit on their desks. Students must silently pass the ball to each other before time is out. Anyone who drops a catchable ball, makes a bad throw, or makes any noise is eliminated and sits down. I usually play a timed game (10 or so seconds) which means I count down and whoever has the ball at 0 is also out. Some important rules: a player may only hold the ball for 1 second before passing. They may not pass the ball back to someone who passed it to them (until you get down to 2 players).

You can see a video and see more ideas for this game HERE.