What may have started as a reaction to inclusive options for children with special learning needs, is now gaining a foothold as standard practice. Movement breaks in the classroom — the whole classroom — seem to be the answer. It has long been understood in special needs classes and occupational therapy offices that movement breaks are immensely valuable.
Movement breaks in the classroom give children with SPD, ADHD, anxiety, dyspraxia, and other classroom challenges, such as fidgeting, poor concentration and day dreaming, a much-needed opportunity to reset throughout the day. The benefits of movement breaks in the classroom apply not just to those with special needs. Movement breaks have been shown to help increase concentration and focus. Research shows that movement breaks make learning more efficient.
Taking 5 minutes to let latent learning take effect allows your previous lesson to sink in. And, also the following lesson to start fresh. Biologically speaking, the hippocampus of the brain is the region responsible for creating new memories. Research suggests that the hippocampus functions better at making long-term memories when there are short breaks in between repetitions of new material. So, taking a break like a movement break is a great way to secure new educational material in class.
Physical activity also increases oxygen to the brain, which is critical for attention and learning. Yet, when we yawn, take deep breaths, or get up and move our whole body, oxygen-rich air circulates throughout our system. This is especially important in our brain for learning! Focus and ability to remember new material are directly linked to the amount of oxygen in the blood. Bounce a ball with them as they hop on one foot or jump rope. You can also use this for those students who need to maintain movement in the classroom during seatwork such as textbook reading.
For reading activities, keeping track of how many times the student touches the ball while they are reading can be a way to encourage them to read more often and with purpose. After a certain amount of time has passed, you can have them stop and tally their total for that session. If they reach or exceed their target number, reward them with a prize. If this is your objective to get students reading more then you will go with one of the latter options.
For instance, if reaching five touches while reading motivates them to read more, then they will just need to continue reading until they reach five touches for this session. These are just ideas to get you thinking about how movement in the classroom can be incorporated. If it is an extra incentive that they need, then this activity will work well too.
Have students stand up and move around for a certain amount of time maybe during language arts or science class , then tell them that they can sit down, but anyone sitting down will be out of the game.
Competition between teams or with the class as a whole is sometimes what you need to get students motivated. The game can be played with about four or five players per team, and there are no wrong answers, so you will want to make sure that everyone gets a turn. You can either play this game in a straight line so that there is only one way out, or you can have them move around in a circle so that they can go out any way they want and the game is more challenging.
They might be a little more interested in having a dance party with their friends rather than doing activities at the board, but if you offer this as an alternative or make it a requirement — they will participate.
There are many fun and engaging songs that you can play for students to do something different from what they normally would be doing in class. You can even make it a contest to see who can stay in rhythm the longest, and for every correct answer they get, they can move one step forward.
But if they break out of the rhythm or stop moving altogether, then you need to start over from where everyone is standing. You decide the length of the song and how many times it needs to be played before everyone can sit down and get back to business. You can also incorporate movement in the classroom as a way to transition from one activity to another, such as sitting down or getting ready for a test. If your students are working on writing an essay, there is no need to sit there the entire time.
Give them ten minutes to work on it, then have them stand up and walk around for three minutes while they brainstorm their ideas. Then you can give them another five or ten minutes to write an outline or first draft before they go back to walking again. You can even use physical responses to help students learn new material or concepts. If you tell them they are going to do a certain activity, such as jumping jacks, they need to stand up and do it with you before everyone sits down.
For a math teacher, have the class clap three times when he or she says something that relates to addition, then stop when they say another number word. Make it a race among teams if you have multiple classes in one day, so if they get it wrong, the other class gets to move forward. For some people this may be the singular reason they disliked school. Essentially, teachers, schools, administrators and districts will need to re-think this paradigm, especially when the benefits are numerous and varied.
The movements themselves can be very brief and simple. Thirty-seconds to two-minutes is enough time to make all of this magic happen. Some examples of simple breaks are bending over at the waist and touching the toes, marching in place, walking the class around the room, squatting five times, jumping jacks, moving a piece of paper in a figure 8 motion around and between the legs, or clapping loudly and quietly at given intervals. Teachers can pass papers out by playfully throwing the paper in the air so students have to get up and move.
The ideas can be functional as well as fun. Your staff and students will see and feel the difference. Between coursework or switching rooms for classes, do a classroom wave.
Designate a special day Fridays? Student birthdays? Periodically throughout the day, play up-tempo songs so students can show off their moves. Students mimic various sports movements for 15 seconds.
Serve tennis balls, bump volleyballs, block a jump shot, catch a football. Endless possibilities! Assign movements to rock, paper and scissor. Students pair up, jump three times in place, and then choose their position. Best of three wins. Call out a spelling word, then toss one student a ball to spell it. Review for a test by asking students true or false questions. If true, students do jumping jacks. Students touch their toes.
Mix the movements each session. One fourth grade teacher says she was worried that if she transitioned to 5 minutes of movement between subjects, she would lose too much valuable instruction time.
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