When I was still doing my MEd. in the Psychology of Education and debunking neuromyths, we had a session discussing how BrainGym wasn't really "repatterning and rebalancing our brains" for better learning. However, simple exercises could aid in learning because it's associated with blood flow in the frontoparietal areas, regions which help in higher-order reasoning processes. For a full report on BrainGym, click here.
So what does the Silly Ingredient have anything to do with this, you might be wondering.
I was sitting in class one day after the exams (yes, revision went by in a blur, and exams have come and gone!), looking at my kids, who were needless to say, a bundle of energy encased in tiny human bodies. I had to go through the answers to them and ensure that some sort of learning did take place. So I brightly told the class we were on a mission to zoom through the exam paper and I really really really needed their help for that. As all eager-to-please 10 year olds do, they boisterously stepped up to the task of assisting their teacher.
Within 5 minutes, I had lost them. They were all dropping like flies.
In desperation, I recalled Energizers I had encountered in Cooperative Learning strategies. Then I remembered how physical movement and exercise could really get the blood in the brain flowing (Finally, the point!). So I made up some short, silly energizers you could play with the kids to wake them up and get them ready for the next 20 minutes of chalk-and-talk. Over the past few months, I've perfected some. Feel free to make your own up - the sillier, the better!
1. Call the Action
First, tag actions to your own set of words. Then simply call out the actions and the kids will have to show them as quickly as they can. To make it more confusing and to drive the kids nuts, I often call out the actions and show the wrong action to throw them off. For example:
a) I tagged 1 to showing 1 index finger, 2 to showing 2 index fingers, 3 to putting both index fingers on one's lip.
b) High 5 to putting one's hand up in the air, high 10 to put 2 hands up, high 15 (leave this to the kids' imaginations - my kids put up both hands and one foot), high 20 (this one is always funny)
c) Bunny ears (to show bunny ears behind their heads with their fingers)
d) Medusa (intertwine 3 fingers from each hand and wriggle them behind your head to simulate Medusa's hair)
2. Mix Your Seats
I call out people with a defining characteristic and those who belong in that group has to jump up and change seats as I count down. Some categories I use are:
a) Those with long hair....change seats!
b) Those who wear glasses
c) Those who love peanut butter
d) Those who are scared of the dark
I also use this activity to get to know my kids better and find out things about them. Make up silly categories for your kids - they love those!
3. The Best Freezer
Basically, I get the kids to do a series of actions, where they have to concentrate on memorizing them. Teach the kids the actions in a rhythm so they can remember the series better. Then as they are doing them, I shout out "FREEZE!", and they have to freeze in the action, which is always very entertaining for their friends and me. Those who move get disqualified and stand in front with me to identify their unfortunate friends who aren't able to keep stock-still in the next round.
Another variation of this is me getting the kids to walk around the class and I would call out a particular category and those people who fall in it have to freeze. At this point, the kids usually get extremely noisy, so I incorporated this phrase, "You have to keep quiet because I'm calling...THOSE WHO SIT BY THE WINDOW!" After a couple of rounds, the kids learn that they have to scamper around while suppressing their laughter and excitement to an acceptable noise level, otherwise they won't be able to hear the group I'm calling out.
After 5-10 minutes of these energizers, the kids are normally on an adrenaline high. So to get them back to a more sedate state, I get them to sit down and close their eyes. Then I get them to take a deep breath, while I count down from 5 to 1 before they breathe out. This usually settles them down a little, leaving me with more perked-up kids and a longer time before their concentration flags again!
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