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20 Three-Minute Brain Breaks

20 Three-Minute Brain Breaks
Wednesday's guest post about why kids need to move from pediatric occupational therapist Loren Shlaes was so popular that I decided to follow it up with a list of Brain Breaks you can use with your students. These are great to use anytime your students are feeling restless and are struggling to pay attention. Most of these will only take a few minutes, and then you can get back to the lesson with your students ready to focus on the lesson at hand.5-4-3-2-1. In this simple game, students stand up and the teacher (or leader) has them do five different movements in descending order. For example the teacher would say: "Do fivejumping jacks, spin around four times, hop on one foot threetimes, walk all the way around the classroom two times, give your neighbor one high-five (pausing in between each task for students to do it).Trading Places Have students stand behind their pushed-in chairs. Please note that I did not come up with all of these out of my own head. Related:  Classroom Hacks

Energizing Brain Breaks: Toe Tapping Energizing Brain Break Toe Tapping 1. Stand Up.2. Face your partner.3. Both you and your partner put out your right leg and tap your right feet together 1 time and say "1" out loud.4. Tap your left feet together 3 times and say "3" out loud.5. Tap your right feet together 2 times and say "2" out loud.6. WHAT ARE ENERGIZING BRAIN BREAKS?

Health and Learning:How to Teach Students About the Brain If we want to empower students, we must show them how they can control their own cognitive and emotional health and their own learning. Teaching students how the brain operates is a huge step. Even young students can learn strategies for priming their brains to learn more efficiently; I know, because I've taught both 5th graders and 7th graders about how their brains learn. I was a practicing neurologist before I became a teacher. Once I entered the classroom and observed how my students learned, the connections between my two professions became clear. I began to write about brain-based teaching strategies. When I began incorporating basic instruction about the brain into my classes and teaching simple activities to improve brain processing, students not only became more engaged and confident, but they also began changing their study practices in ways that paid off in higher achievement. I imagine neurons making connections in my brain when I study. Brain Filters: Let the Right Stuff In

Spelbeschrijving Het grote Sinterklaas Digibordspel Four Ways to Use Pinterest in Education It seems as though when one technology tool for the classroom is introduced, another one is waiting to make its debut! We’ve shared several 21st century tools with our readers; however, we have not acquainted you with a recent tool, Pinterest. Pinterest is an electronic bulletin board where users can “pin” images from around the web. These images are then categorized into various boards on the users’ profile. Lesson Plans- As briefly mentioned above, Pinterest is a superb visual resource full of pictures, videos, and website links. Pinterest can be a fun and exciting tool inside and outside the classroom. Is there a fifth way in which you would incorporate Pinterest into the classroom?

5 Tips for keeping kids active throughout the day | Teacher's Notebook Blog It doesn’t take many weeks into the school year before you start noticing a change in your students. Gone is the excitement generated at the beginning of the school year when learning is fresh. Now, students are struggling to stay on task. To boost engagement, give your learners ways to stay active throughout the day. According to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, being more physically active offers many benefits to classroom children. Take brain breaks Every 30 minutes or so, aim for movement in your classroom. Ditch the chair The traditional classroom chair may be doing more harm than good for your students. Incorporate music and storytelling Add music to your classroom, and give kids permission to take “dance breaks” when certain songs play. Storytelling is another way to get kids moving. Active review games Are you reviewing concepts or math facts with your kids regularly? Consider “Pop Goes the Answer.” Send them outside About the author:

Taal in beeld - Spelling in beeld - Speel mee met de lettermachine! Speel mee met de lettermachine! De Lettermachine is een gloednieuw online taalspel voor groep 4 t/m 8. Met Professor Knetters, Dokter Doek, de Letter Beesten en heel veel letters. Het spel kent een aantal verschillende levels: steeds weer een beetje uitdagender. De website houdt alle scores bij. Haalt uw klas of school de hoogste score? Persoonlijke highscores Scholen highscores Bekijk alle scores 50+Ways - home Why Kids Need to Move, Touch and Experience to Learn When students use their bodies in the learning process, it can have a big effect, even if it seems silly or unconnected to the learning goal at hand. Researchers have found that when students use their bodies while doing mathematical storytelling (like with word problems, for example), it changes the way they think about math. “We understand language in a richer, fuller way if we can connect it to the actions we perform,” said Sian Beilock, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago. Consider this word problem: Two hippos and two alligators are at the zoo. In an experiment on third graders, students were divided into two groups. The answer: “Kids who acted out the story did better on this problem,” Beilock said. “What was important was matching the words with specific action; that led to enhanced learning,” Beilock said. This area of study, called “embodied learning,” is not new to many educators. Increasingly scientists are proving Montessori right.

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