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Active Secondary Classrooms Energy Breaks Impact Student Learning

Active Secondary Classrooms Energy Breaks Impact Student Learning

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Active Secondary Classrooms

Energy Breaks Impact Student Learning

Brain Waves- Have Highs and Lows

Movement Data #1

• http://www.learningreadinesspe.com/• http://www.kidsreadandride.com/2011_Ar

kansas_Data.pdf • Finland – #1 in the world in literacy and

numeracy. After each 45 min class students engage in 15 minutes of activity

Why do our students need Classroom Physical Activity Breaks (CPAB)?

• It takes just 17 minutes (+/- 2) of sitting down for blood to leave the brain and pool in the hamstrings. Signals the body to release melatonin, reduces release of BDNF (brain fertilizer).

• Exercise fuels the brain with oxygen and triggers the release of neurotrophins which enhance growth, impact mood, cement memory, and enhance connections between neurons.

Why do our students need Classroom Physical Activity Breaks (CPAB)?

• Standing up creates more attention arousal, speeds up information processing by 5-20 percent, and increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain by 10-15 percent.

Brain Activity

What are the Academic Benefits?

• Physical activity and cognition are positively related (Sibley & Etnier, 2003).

• Physical activity improves cognitive performance and behavior improves following bouts of activity (Tomorowski, 2003).

• CPAB temporarily improve attention and behaviour (Pellegrini et al, 1995).

Academic /Motor SkillsAcademic• Associative Thinking• Deductive Reasoning• Abstract Thinking• Inductive Reasoning

Combination• Sequencing Analysis Sequence synthesis and Organizing• Visualization patterns• Visual discrimination• Verbal ability • Memory and reasoning

Motor• Center Line skills Eye-foot coordination• Spatial coordination • Eye-hand coordination• Hand-foot tracking

Cross Lateral Activities: ActivatingAll parts of the Brain Part 1

Brain Challenges:1. Hold your nose, reach over or under and grab

your nose with the other hand. Switch and switch

2. Point an index finger out on one hand and a thumb up on the other. Switch and switch.

3. As you write your signature on an imaginary table, rotate your foot in a clockwise circle.

Cross Lateral Activities: ActivatingAll parts of the Brain Part 2

Brain Challenges cont.• Guns and Roses: make a gun with your index finger and

thumb on one hand and a circle with your index finger and thumb on the other hand. Switch repeatedly.

• Slap count: face a partner, hands out with palms facing up. Cross over your body with your right hand and slap your partners right hand while counting 1.

• Repeat with the left hand and say “2”. Your partner then does the same action, saying 3 and 4 as they slap (lightly) your hands.

• Variations – count down or up in number intervals (e.g., 3’s, 4’s)

Chair Aerobics and 10-a-day

Chair Aerobics• 10 squats• 10 dips• 1 leg squats• Calf raises• Scissors• Leg swings• Send 10-a-day NASPE calendars to staff or create

your own 10-a-day activities

Activities: Colors/Hyperdash

• Pick a color – touch 5 things of that color around the room (can’t be a person!)

Hyperdash!• Post colored spots around classroom. Each spot also

has a number on it (you could also add a letter or a symbol to give you more options or use two different color sets).

• Hand out index cards – student must follow sequence on card.

• Can be a color, number or mixed sequence.

Rock Paper Scissors

• Stand back to back with partner jump 5 times, turn on the 6th jump and show

• Variations: use feet for symbols – together= rock, apart side = paper, front back straddle = scissors

Same Different

• Walk around room. On command get toe-to-toe with a partner

• Designate one person to be “same” and one person to be “different”

• Jump 10x. On the 10th jump, both partners put one foot forward

• If the feet are the same (both right feet), the “same” person gets a point, if they are different, the “different” person gets a point

• Change movement pairs from one session to the next – feet apart or feet together; palms up/ palms down

Sherlock Holmes

• Send two people out of the room• Choose one person to initiate and change the

movement of the class – quiet, subtle movements

• Invite the detectives back in – try to figure out who is the person initiating the change

• Add decoys to increase the difficulty

Maestro Board

• O = lunge• X = jump• Arrows show which direction to move (one step

only) • Read the notes like words on a page – L to R, top

to bottom and SAY THEM OUT LOUD.• Great activity for decision making, crossing the

midline of the body, tracking, and rhythm

The Maestro Rules

Maestro Levels

• Level 1: move and say the SAME direction asshown on the screen.• Level 2: move in the SAME direction as thearrows, but say the OPPOSITE direction.• Level 3: move in the OPPOSITE direction, as thearrows but say the SAME direction.• Level 4: move in the OPPOSITE direction as thearrows and say the OPPOSITE direction as shownon the screen.

Do This, Do That

• Chosen leader performs various movements, each preceded by saying “do this” or “do that.”

• Students copy the movements but only if they are preceded by the phrase “do this.”

• If the directions are “do that”, no one is to move.

• Can use points – students try to get the least number of points during the game.

Do As I Say

• Leader gives verbal commands• Leader attempts to confuse the class by

performing a different movement from what they are saying

• E.g. Say “put your hands on your elbows” while placing hands on your waist

Academic Integration: Part 1Quick Math• Face your partner. Pretend to put your water gun in your holsters.• For one-hand addition, on the signal “Draw” each partner shows

any number of fingers and thumbs on one hand.• The first partner who adds the fingers and thumbs of both

partners wins the draw.• For two-hand addition, add partner #1 and partner #2 fingers and

thumbs together for the sum.• For one-hand multiplication, multiply partner #1 times partner #2

for the product.• For two-hand multiplication, multiply the sum of partner #1’s

hands times the sum of partner #2’s hands for the product.

Academic Integration Part 2

Evens• Students walk around the room.• On command they find a partner, designate one to be

“odds” and one to be “evens.”• Hit fist into hand 3x and on 3rd time stick out a

combination of fingers: 0, 1, 2,3, 4, 5.• Total number of fingers is added together.• If it is even, “evens” player get the point, if it is odd, “odds”

player gets the point.• Play best of 3 games then find another partner and repeat.

Academic Integration: Part 3

Balloons• One per group of students.• Keep up – have to review topic/ answer question/ link concepts

while keeping balloon from hitting the floor/ table.• Great for icebreakers – learning names etc at the start of the

year.• Languages – give students a theme, verbs to discuss.• Social Studies – review key concepts from current topic.• Post a word or a question on the board and give students a set

time to come up with an answer.• Latex allergies? Use a beach ball or yarn/ koosh ball. Set clear

ground rules for behavior ahead of time.

Academic Integration: Part 4Rock Paper Scissors, Math• Walk around room. On command get toe to toe

with a partner.• Face partner and say R-P-S Math.• When you say the word math, you should put

between 1-4 fingers out (no thumbs or zero’s).• The person who adds the numbers/multiples

the numbers first wins the round.• Play best of 5 rounds.

Academic Integration: Letter SpotsLetter Spots• Think of a word involving letters A,B,C,D,E. Right

shoulder = A, Right Ear = B, Nose =C, Left ear = D, Left shoulder = E.

• Without talking, spell out the word using letter spots on body.

• Partner has to say letters out loud and say the word.• Change letters/ body parts/ add body parts.• Vocabulary lists for topic; spell out answer to question

using body.

Academic Integration: Pre-Test

Pre-Test Taking Activity• Before starting test have students perform these

warm-ups/hook-ups:• 1 leg squat touch opposite hand to floor: 20 each side• Spins and turns: 5 spins in each directions• Knee to Elbow: 30 times for each elbow• Stretches• Hands over heads• Hands behind back• Shoulder shrugs• Head Rolls

Getting Everybody On Board

• Ask for time at the start of each staff meeting to go over one or two brain breaks

• Forward news articles on physical activity/ brain function/ academic achievement.

• Visit your school board and tell them what you are doing and why (have them try a few!).

• Have a set time each day for physical activity time e.g., announcements, homeroom.

• Daily challenges: how many leg raises, scissors can the class do during announcements.

• Monthly challenges: marathon, ironman, walk to the moon, 1000 minutes.

Resources• http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/publications/teachingTools/

upload/PA-During-School-Day.pdf • Pages 2 and 3 have a variety of links to different activities

http://brainbreaks.blogspot.com/ • This is where you will find video’s and explanations of a number of

the activities in this presentation. Great for sending a quick link to colleagues. You can also order the DVD and book from this site.

• http://pecentral.org/lessonideas/searchresults.asp?category=55 classroom integrated lessons. Most of them are elementary but you could adapt and tailor them to suit your needs

• http://abllab.com/wp-content/themes/abl/doc/abl-handout.pdf document from Jean Blaydes Madigan. Many of the games are elementary level but it contains some suitable for higher grade levels and some background research into brain based learning.

• Classroom activity success stories