Last year was the first year that I taught middle school. As someone who had always been a high school teacher, the transition was a bit rough. There are some things I love about middle schoolers, like their enthusiasm to try anything. But that bubbly enthusiasm and nervous energy can also be hard to direct (and redirect) into something positive and productive.
One of the things I quickly learned was that I needed to brush up on my classroom management skills and make some changes to my lessons to make them appropriate for students of a younger age group. One of these changes was to be more conscious of the attention span that middle schoolers have. They can only focus for about 25 minutes before they need a break.
For more on attention span and the science behind brain breaks, read my interview with Deb Lancashire.
So what do you do when you teach 90-minute periods and students can only focus for 25? Brain breaks!
When I plan brain breaks I make sure that students are moving around and at a minimum standing up to get the blood flowing. If we are dancing or singing I don’t require them to participate but I do require them to stand.
Below are some of my favorite brain breaks for language classes (and honestly, they are great for any class). I especially love these because they are all done in the target language, so you don’t break the magic even during break time.
Video Brain Breaks
The best part of videos as brain breaks is you can hit play and the kids can participate without you leading it, so you get a break too!
Guessing Games
Here’s a fun one where students have to guess the movie from the emojis (culturally interesting because they see the translations of famous movies they know).
Body Percussion
Body percussion involves a song that students clap, snap or stomp along to. You can find songs in all sorts of languages. Two of my favorites are Uptown Funk, and I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,
Four Corners
Label each corner of your classroom with a different vocabulary word that students have seen recently. One student is the caller and faces the wall and closes their eyes. They count down from 10, while students walk to one of the four corners. Students will often try to move at the last minute, so I say that any students not in the corner when the caller gets to zero are out. Without opening their eyes, the caller calls one of the corners. All of the students that were standing in that corner are out and have to sit down.
The game continues until one person is left and that winner becomes the new caller.
Dancing Brain Breaks
El Payaso del Rodeo
This Mexican line dance is popular at quinceañeras and gets progressively faster so be ready for some craziness. You’re even teaching culture during this brain break!
How to Dance
Find any type of how-to dance video that relates to the target culture(s) you teach or is popular currently or has been in the past (like the mashed potato!)
Just Dance: Shakira Waka Waka Footballer
Search Just Dance + name of the song videos on YouTube for lots of great dances. These you’ll want to preview because either the song lyrics may not be appropriate or the dance moves might be too difficult for those new to dance or too crazy for a classroom setting. One of my students’ favorites is the World Cup version of Shakira’s Waka Waka.
Charades-type Brain Breaks
I usually don’t use these as a planned Brain Break but more of a we-can’t-go-another-minute-without-getting-the-wiggles-out break (as is often the case in Middle School).
Simon Says
No explanation needed. This game is great for complete beginners of any language because they can follow along and just listen for “Simon Says”
Human Clocks
If your students have learned time, have them pretend to be human clocks and use their arms like the hands of a clock to show the time that the teacher calls out.
Pantomime
Learning sports vocabulary? Name the sport and students have to pretend to play it. Learning clothing vocabulary? Tell students to put on a watch, a pair of pants or a baseball cap.
Body Dexterity Brain Breaks
These are the best because they are simple yet challenging and work different parts of your brain. There are many kinds you can do (think pat your head and rub your tummy),
Here is a ready-to-go reel that you can use of some finger ones.
Yoga
Find a 3-minute yoga clip in the target language (aim for standing yoga so you don’t have to touch the floor)
Partner Skills
Have partners sit with their feet on the floor facing each other. Grab opposite hands and try to stand up together.
Have partners sit back-to-back and lock elbows. Try to stand up together at the same time.
Boot Camp
Fair warning, the popularity of this one will really depend on the personality of your students. Have a mini boot camp and have your students do jumping jacks, squats, wall sits, wall push-ups or other exercises that are easy to do standing. Make it more fun by using a random number generator or an online wheel or choice board to choose the exercises and how many of them students will need to do.
I hope I’ve given you some new ideas for brain breaks for middle school. What do you do for brain breaks? I always love to learn new ones so share your favorite in the comments below!
