Brain Breaks for Focus: Launch Your Classroom! Episode 46

Brain breaks are a great way to keep your students energized and focused on your instructional content. Let's tune in as Kyle and the LYC team give us ideas for implementing purposeful brain breaks with student engagement in mind!

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Brain breaks are quick breaks chosen specifically to help students refocus and re-energize their minds before they move on to a new task. They are an effective classroom transition to build into your lesson plans, for several reasons. First of all, they help with student engagement! When students have scheduled, purposeful breaks, their time is wisely invested so they can return to your lesson ready to learn. They also curb potential student misbehavior by giving students a short break to expend their extra energy.

When teachers build brain breaks into their lesson plans, students will pay more attention during instructional time. By setting expectations for student behavior and noise levels during brain breaks, teachers can give their students strategically chosen brain breaks that can either energize them for an upcoming activity or help them focus on a high stakes lesson. Brain breaks also support a culture of active learning, which allows students to benefit from movement and interaction and encourages student motivation to learn!

The Mental Adventure is a brain break that helps students focus and engage in creative, innovative thinking. Students listen quietly to a simple story told by their teacher, and use their imaginations to supply the details the teacher leaves vague. After the story, the teacher asks students to share the details they imagined. Encouraging students to talk about what they imagined improves their visualization and gives them a sensory experience that will refresh their minds before they move into a challenging or creative task. The “mental adventure” wakes students up by employing their senses, and gives them a break from routine, all of which improve student engagement.

If some of your students are too shy to share what they imagined with the class, consider allowing students to share in pairs, draw a picture, or journal their responses. Allow every student an opportunity to share if they want to, and keep track of who shares each time so you call on all of your students equally. It is important for the teacher to tell a very simple story, so students have plenty of details to imagine and contribute during the brain break.

1) Which of my lessons would benefit from me using the Mental Adventure beforehand, and why?
2) How can I adapt this activity for my students with limited language ability?
3) What future assignments might students use these visualizations for?

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