Body Breaks

I can't say enough good things about body breaks and brain breaks.  I love them.  I think that they are a gift to teachers and to the sanity of teachers. 

I recently had a conversation with a new teacher who asked me a great question, and then made a very honest comment.
"What is the difference between a body break and a brain break?" and "I just don't know if I can fit it in my lesson with so much content to cover."

In reference to the question, I can offer my own interpretation of body and brain breaks.  To me, a body break is a set amount of time for students to get up and move around.  This doesn't always mean to get them in front of a SMART board for a 5 minute dance-a-long.  Sometimes it does, but most of the time, at least for me, it doesn't. 

I usually try to follow this general rule when using body breaks: "Short time, high intensity".  I want to get as much out of about 2 minutes as I can.  I want to get their blood pumping, and their heart beating faster.  One way to do this is by doing what I refer to as Physical Copycat.  I do various cardio movements, which students are expected to mirror...in silence (for the most part).  I jog in one place, do knee lifts, squats, hopping, and move my arms up, down and in circles.  Granted, this also gets MY heart pumping, but it's fine.  Usually I need a little pick me up too.

Another break is a table walk.  I have my students split up into small groups around one of the tables in our room and let them walk around it for 30 seconds.  Sometimes I say "switch" to tell them to move in the opposite direction.  I used to give students a set number of laps to do, but they always ended up doing the last lap more than once, so I switched to timing.  Frankly it helps keep me less annoyed.  This is also easily done around desks in pods.  I just split my students into their pod groups and send them on a walk. 

A brain break, on the other hand, is like allowing students to have a "thinking time-out".  They essentially get a break from whatever it is they are learning about, but you may not ask them to get up and move. 

I taught my students the hand jive recently.  That was funny. We started off really slow, and then "jived" progressively faster until we were going as fast as we could.  I was really trying to impress students with my super fast hand jiving skills, going as fast as I could go when one of my students stopped me and said, "You better slow down.  Your face is getting red."  !!  I love kids.

Another favorite is Copycat Clap.  Basically I clap different rhythms and students are expected to copy it in unison.  I don't give them any warning when I start, that way it doubles as a brain break and a strategy for getting students attention.

There are times when students need a significant break.  (And by significant I mean 5 minutes max.)  Sometimes, the go-to's just don't work anymore.  It's during these moments when I turn to on-line body break options.  I have three favorites.

The first is Go Noodle.  This site allows teachers to set up their class for free and choose a character.  Every time a body break option is completed, points are scored for their character.  There are a lot of options from dancing, to coordination to calming activities.  If you set it up on your favorites, it's easy to get to, and basically ready to go with minimal instructional time wasted.

My other two favorites can be accessed on You Tube.  The Learning Station and Just Dance are definitely student favorites.  The Learning Station has some really fun repeat-after-me songs (Go Bananas and Boom Chicka Boom) that are easy for students to learn and follow, and Just Dance gets them moving to their favorite tunes. 

An honorable mention here would be simple breathing activities.  Breathe in through the nose for a 3 count, hold that breath for a 3 count, and, controlling the breath, breathe out from the mouth for a 5 count.  This is a great way to calm a rowdy crowd. 

Now, moving on to the topic of time, and where we might fit in these breaks. 

I can definitely empathize with this teacher.  There is a lot for us to do in a week, a day, a period, but this is what I know.  If I give my students break, it helps them perform better.  For example, think of the last ten or 15 minutes of class before lunch.  Things can start to get a little hairy sometimes.  Maybe your time is the end of the day, or after a recess.  I've found I can either run around like a chicken with my head cut off, spouting all manner of stern but ineffective teacher talk at my student in the hopes that they will (PLEASE!) do something, or I can pause, use some of that time to choose and use an appropriate break activity (or activity combo), and then get back to work.  I will admit that it's not fool proof, and sometimes I have to try a couple to get them back to a productive place, but generally I see improvement.

As for when to use body breaks, I say it kind of depends.  Sometimes I schedule them into my lesson-after I've taught a new concept or read a book to the class.  Sometimes I want to teach a lesson and allow my students to stay focused for as long as they can.  Once I feel the energy in the room heightening, I use a body break.  There are some times when I just forget too.  This usually happens because I feel like I have lots to do that class.  What ends up happening is I find myself constantly asking students to focus on me, stop talking, stop playing, stop twiddling...  I'm getting better at recognizing these behaviors in myself, and that becomes a good indicator for when to use a body or brain break.

I would also like to say as an aside that if I am noticing a consistent lack of engagement and focus in my students, the first thing I do is look at my lesson.  Is it something that is engaging for students?  Have I explained the processes well?  Is there a purposeful reason for doing it?

Hope that helps to get you moving!
Happy dancing/clapping/squatting/copycatting/breathing/jogging-in-one-place...ing!