Deb Lancashire is an American teacher who is currently working with me in Germany. She is doing amazing work with brain breaks and brain-based learning and I’ve seen what an impact it is making on our students.
She recently wrote a book that has been game-changing! It’s called: Brain Breaks: 5-minute activities to rest the brain, reenergize the classroom and reduce disruptions. Deb is also speaking at the free online Classroom Management Teacher Summit where you can learn more about brain breaks and other tricks to manage your classroom. (These are affiliate links and I’m proud to be an affiliate for this book and summit. Thanks for supporting my work by purchasing through this links.)
What is a brain break?
Q: Okay, so tell us first of all, what is a brain break?
A: A brain break is a mental release of thinking. It’s a time to rest the part of the working brain and allow a different part of the brain to engage. Without that engagement, the working part of the brain does not rest and you haven’t completed a brain break. Students will still struggle with brain fatigue.
Q: A lot of teachers talk about brain breaks nowadays. What is and isn’t a brain break?
A: A brain break is an activity that engages a different part of the brain for a short period of time. What a brain break is NOT is releasing kids in the hallway to talk. It’s NOT allowing them to get on their phones or social media. You have to intentionally engage a different part of the brain in order for students to release and rest the part of the brain used in learning.
Q: Can you give us some examples of brain breaks? What are some of your favorites?
A: In I&S (Individuals and Societies) we do a lot of reading, research, and analysis. We are using the frontal lobe [of the brain]. The best brain breaks for activities where you’re using a lot of the frontal lobe processing and problem-solving are physical brain breaks, like dancing or exercise. This activates the cerebellum for balance and movement while resting the frontal lobe. Using the parietal lobe redirects thinking to language. Brain breaks that include singing, playing games, and word puzzles also give the frontal lobe a rest.
But the students’s favorite brain break this year has been the game,Yee-Haw. It’s an elimination game, where they stand in a circle and must quickly state a command for the next person. The commands include a skip, a dance, a reverse, or simple advance. they use funny words and motions like, “Yee Haw” to advance to the next person, “Hay Barn” to skip the next person, “RE-Verse” to change direction, or Get Down Little Doggie and do a quick dance with a classmate in the middle while all others clap. The game continues for 2-3 minutes. Students are eliminated if they are too slow, speak when they have been skipped, or use the wrong motion.
How Long Do Brain Breaks Take?
Q: What would you tell teachers that say, “Oh, I can’t take five minutes out of my class time to do a brain break-I have too much curriculum to teach.”
A: The reality is middle school students only have the ability to maintain focused attention for 18 to 25 minutes. If you require them to work for 40-60 minutes, they’re going to shut down after 25 minutes. They’ll struggle to get anything accomplished because they haven’t stopped and rested their brain. The brain break rests and refreshes thinking while providing an emotional lift in mood. Students are more productive in the final portion of class when given a brain break in a timely manner during class.
Q: So would you say it’s worth taking those five minutes to take a break and refresh the brain?
A: Let me say, without brain breaks, I must discipline and monitor off-task and disruptive behavior. I became a behavior manager rather than providing instructional support as needed. I time every brain break from 3-5 minutes. After the break, I restate their goal for the work session. I ask students to explain to each other the goal for the session. This reminder takes another minute, but the payoff is student clarity of directions and improved quality of student work. With refreshed brains, the students work independently. This allows me to target small groups for additional instruction, provide acceleration or enrichment to students who have mastered and finished the assignment, and give valuable and immediate feedback on student work.
Q: Do certain brain breaks work better for certain subjects?
A: I think brain breaks will work for any subject. You must be certain to activate a different part of the brain. Knowing what your students need is also helpful. Do they need to be re-energized? Do they need to calm down? Have they been independently working and would benefit from a partner or group discussion? Do they need practice in cooperation? In Brain Breaks, there are 5 areas for brain breaks: Build knowledge, Refocus attention, Energize the body, Activate growth mindset, and Connect between classmates and across the brain.
Q: How did you get into this? You are such a brain break expert. What got you started or got you interested in brain breaks?
A: Every summer I chose a “cutting edge” educational practice to study and read a book from the expert. I read about the Myth of Laziness, the Zone of Proximal Development, Beyond Disipline, and Assertive Discipline. After my tenth year of teaching, I realized none of the discipline books I read had a significant impact on my classroom of learners. I started reading about brain-based learning with David Susa, Eric Jensen, and Patricia Wolf. I realized every single book about the brain included the fact that our brains need rest to function well. I began including a brain gym activity and breathing for 30-60 seconds before the lesson and an active brain break halfway through the class. We had 45 minute class periods. Now, I teach using a 90-minute blocks and the use of brain breaks has really changed everything. Students feel refreshed and renewed. They are more focused and on task. Students are more confident in their ability to learn. They are more connected to their peers. Disruptive behavior is greatly reduced.
Q: You’ve taught in a lot of different schools and educational systems. Have you noticed any patterns–are brain breaks more popular with certain types of students or are they more needed with certain educational systems or models?
A: I started using brain breaks in America and with sixth-grade Language Arts and history students. When I implemented the brain breaks students felt their needs were being met and understood. They were more engaged and excited about learning. As we talked about the needs of their brain, they began to realize they learn with their brain, and repetition and practice were essential for mastery.
I accepted a 4th-grade teaching position in Shanghai. The use of brain breaks for inclusive classes proved beneficial, especially for EAL students. Their brains were overloaded as all classes were taught in English. Brain break games and physical breaks worked best for this class.
I worked in Fukuoka, Japan with sixth-grade, seventh-grade, and eighth-grade Individuals and Societies classes. Most of the students were EAL and were in varying stages of speaking English. Brain breaks provided opportunities for connection between nationalities, a break from speaking in English, and refreshing their minds to complete the task.
I also taught physical education in Fukuoka and Stuttgart. I would use a content brain break in physical education. During our fitness workout, game, or competition, we would take a 2-3 minute water break and pair and share activities to review game rules, discuss strategy, monitor heart rate, etc.
The most common result of using brain breaks across subject areas is increased attention and joy. The breaks bring connection and fun to learning. The students who benefit most from adding specific brain breaks during the lesson have been EAL and ADHD students.
Brain Breaks for Language Learners
Q: Many of the readers of this website are language teachers, can you tell us anything that would be good to know about brain breaks for language learners?
A: As I wrote this book, several of the sources I reviewed and videos that I watched were from language teachers. They shared games, songs, and chants that would break a word into syllables, or review a grammar rule. They talked about the advantages the songs gave kids to release their brains. Teachers noted when you are learning a new language, your brain is working double time. Learners are constantly comparing the new word to their mother tongue as they try to make meaningful connections within their brains.
I asked the Japanese students in I&S classes: What are the benefits of brain breaks? How do brain breaks make you feel? Their responses included:
“It makes learning fun.”
“It gives my brain a rest.”
“I feel like I remember more when we have these breaks.”
The two most important keys to making brain breaks work in any class include:
- Timing: Letting students know how much time they have to work before they are given a brain break. State the brain break especially if it is content related. You might say- “In 15 minutes we will share 2 facts from your reading and notes.” “ You have 20 minutes to complete this part of the lesson practice. We will pair and share… play a game, take a short oral quiz…(name the brain break)
- Implement a brain break that uses a different brain function than the learning. (Speaking, moving, problem-solving, collaborating, etc.) Set a timer of 2-5 minutes for the brain break. Always finish a brain break with a sip of water.
A Book About Brain Breaks
Q: And you have a book coming out! Tell us about your book and where we can get it.
A: The book is called Brain Breaks: 5-minute activities to rest the brain, re-energize the classroom, and reduce disruptions
This book is for teachers who notice students struggle to focus and become disruptive. If you are secretly hoping for a simple solution to keep kids energized and focused during lessons brain breaks are your magic wand. Brain Breaks, the book, explains the science behind resting the brain to refresh and energize learners. The book shares stories, descriptions, and how to implement brain breaks in the classroom to restore attention and bring joy to learning. The appendix provides a collection of 100 brain breaks for teachers to use that address the needs of their cohort. It includes the following categories of brain breaks: B.R.E.A.K/C.
Build– Breaks to build long-term memory
Refocus – Breaks to refocus attention through mindfulness
Energize – Breaks to energize the body and mind through games and physical activities
Activate- Breaks to develop student ownership of learning through creating a growth mindset
K-Connections – Breaks that build cooperation between students and make connections across the brain hemispheres.
The book will be published this fall and can be found on Amazon Kindle (affiliate link) both digital download and paperback and on Barnes and Noble online and paperback.
Great. Thanks so much for talking with me.
If you are looking for a longer brain break, try some of these outdoor games for language learners
