5 Brain Breaks to Try Now!
Brain breaks have been on my wishlist for years. I read, I watched videos, and…I ran away. Finally I broke down and went to a Maestra Loca workshop in April, and I left ready to try a couple.
I am leaving #iFLT with five MORE I feel I could totally do on the fly!
Para ti/para mí
Un, dos, tres, dale (rock, paper, scissors, shoot) was my go-to after the spring workshop, but this is a perfect parallel to get some variety (in a cramped room). It’s like the game where you rest your hands on top of your friend’s and they try to slap yours, but as Erica says, “less violent”! ALSO, I dig how the kids practice “para ti” pretending to offer chocolate and “para mí” when they yank their hands back to their chest.
I kid you not: my own daughter was CACKLING playing this with me in the hotel.
Escribe en el aire
Another one from @ProfePeplinski: just have students write in the air. They can just write their name or answers to questions. They can write them in the air, on their hands, on their foot, on their other food, on their friend’s heads…anything to get some of those high frequency words in with a little bit of movement and silliness!
Yoga breathing
Erica modeled this one, but Justin mentioned it too! I love the counting in four, holding seven, and breathing out eight. What a natural way to practice numbers without a number unit! I think I might work UP to the seven and eight part, but I love what @IndwellingLang emphasized in his session about using changes in energy levels to activate attentiveness and that I’m taking back a calming brain break!
Enfermero/a
One student is designated as the school nurse, and a few students take turns trying to persuade him/her that they need to go home by acting out and describing ailments in simple target language. After they present their case, the teacher asks “¿Clase o casa?” and everyone gets to give thumbs up/thumbs down–but the nurse gets the final say!
Uno a once
First of all, counting almost always falls apart after diez in my classes, so I appreciate that this goes all the way up to eleven! Though we did this in a circle, I think this would still be a super easy thing to whip out quickly when you notice engagement dragging without necessarily getting up. Basically, the rules are:
- Only one person can say a number or we restart at “uno”
- I (the teacher) always say “uno”
- You can say more than one number, but not back to back
- You cannot just have two students go back and forth
- You can’t just go in order
