Spring Fever: Keeping Students Engaged as Spring Arrives

 Has anyone else been noticing lately that as the spring settles in it's been more difficult to focus on work? I know I am definitely "hitting my wall" and so are my students. March is a long stretch without breaks, and as the time passed on through the month, I noticed their focusing levels were decreasing. I know this time every year it's even more important to include "brain breaks" throughout the day. 

As teachers, we rarely sit- let's face it, I don't think we ever do! But for students, most of their day consists of sitting, even if they are on the carpet for a read aloud or working in small groups. I always feel the days where they have related arts such as music, they need more breaks because even that class asks them to sit for a lesson. Physical Ed. is the only class students get to move around besides their short recess periods. 

What makes a good brain break? I like to think first of movement- anything that gets them out of their seats and moving. I always tell my students "healthy bodies, healthy brains" because I want them to know the importance of exercise and incorporate movement into their daily living as a healthy practice. In my class, students know they are allowed to stand up and work at their desks, as long as they are not moving around so as to block another student's view of the Smartboard, and not displaying negative behaviors. Many students take this option at different times throughout the day. Watching second graders learn metacognition throughout the year has been wonderful. I notice patterns for when students tend to stand up; they get to know their own patterns of when they need to! 

Here is my short list of brain breaks I personally love: 

Go Noodle: You can choose dancing, midnfulness and yoga, stretching, and exercising. They even have indoor recess activities for those rainy days. 

Follow-the-leader stretching: We have a stretch break helper as a classroom role, and the student leads the others during a Go Noodle video, or can lead the class in whole group safe stretching exercises. 

Mazes and Crossword Puzzles: This might not require a lot of movement, but students get excited to solve these and love when they "race" each other through a maze. Allowing students to stand up while they complete these activities stimulates the brain as well. 

Water break: This might seem oversimplified but think about it, how many times a day do we as teachers need water as we speak? How many times a day do we allow our students to drink? Hydration is essential and we should provide these breaks for the whole class throughout the day. 

Of course there are more ideas than this, but for those of you looking for a starting point, I hope this provides to you a few simple pointers in the right direction. 

I'm also happy to share with you an article on brain breaks I contributed to through the Scholastic Parent magazine. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-tools/book-lists/resources/stories-brain-break-activities.html?eml=TCH%2Fsmd%2F20220331%2FFB%2FBrainBreaks&fbclid=IwAR3fAIodBg4kwuNCAQv5f5BDnO-lKDPQdd2lRtMan3_lgt_cEQ7dW4X23Ik

Scholastic has provided other articles and resources on the importance of brain breaks, suggested ideas and resources, and of course my favorite- how we can tie these breaks into reading! 

Final Thoughts: Keep incorporating brain breaks into your schedule. Keep assessing students' needs to see what type of break is necessary and for how long. Keep trying new ideas and researching, and of course... Keep sharing these ideas with one another- we are in this together!