Ms. Feinman's Class at Dora Moore: brain breaks

Showing posts with label brain breaks. Show all posts

GoNoodle! Summer Camp

I hope you've heard your child talk about using GoNoodle.com in our classroom. We use this free website of interactive videos to help us get the wiggles out, focus, dance, stretch, practice mindfulness, and much more!

This summer, GoNoodle is launching a free summer program called Camp GoNoodle that helps kids stay active, use their imaginations, and explore their world. Each week in July, there will be a set of adventures to complete, two Camp GoNoodle songs to learn, and a badge to earn!

Once you join (totally free), you'll receive an email when the new weekly adventure has arrived. Your child can go to GoNoodle.come to check it out on their own, or you can do the adventures together as a family. Our class loves GoNoodle at school, and I know Camp GoNoodle will be a big hit over the summer too!

Make sure to sign up for GoNoodle at home!! Click on the picture below!

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Brain Breaks!

When students are transitioning, we typically do a Brain Break. These usually last 1-5 minutes. A wonderful website I have been using with the students this year is http://www.gonoodle.com. There are a variety of videos for me or the students to pick from. Some are relaxing, some are energizing, some are education, some are just plain silly.

Lately, the students have really been enjoying KooKooKangaroo! You can find their youtube channel here. You can also find their website here.

So why do we do Brain Breaks?

MOVEMENT MATTERS

Being seated for long periods of time has some major drawbacks for kids. Not only does it make it tough for them to get enough physical activity in the day, but it also makes it harder to actually pay attention and learn.

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How do I manage 24 students?

Sometimes, managing a classroom of 24 six and seven year old students is a lot like herding cats.

But over the past 10 years, I have learned a few tricks. Some tricks will work on year, and then the next they don't. So I always try to be flexible, patient and understanding. I found this infographic (below) and it has a lot of the practices I use in my classroom. I do not teach the students to meditate. But I do teach them many breathing exercises.

This year, I introduced the Relaxation Station. Students can ask to go- during independent time. Or, if I know a student needs it, I will send them there. In the Relaxation Station, I have Play-doh, squishy balls, stretch bands, fabrics with different textures, etc. This year, it is proving to be very helpful for my students.

The last item on the infographic is Expect. My expectations are held high for every student, and they all know that.

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Gonoodle.com

We reached level 5 with Freckles! Transitioning between subjects and activities we often do these "brain breaks" for 1-3 minutes. The students love it and it gets the wiggles out!