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Ten Brain Based Learning Strategies

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I'm absolutely fascinated by the brain, and am particularly fascinated by the research that's been done to prove the best learning strategies. 
Research on the brain helps us know what helps children remember, and what doesn't. Here are 10 successful strategies for the classroom.


There's some great stuff out there! I read about the brain and learning daily, and just can't get enough. I've taught a few workshops about it, too. Even though I'm a second grade teacher, this stuff applies to all learners, from newborn babies to adult learners.

1.  Talking!  Research has taught us that learners don't learn much from sitting and listening. Sure, they need to listen a bit, but they need the opportunity to talk! The talking internalizes what they've learned. In my classroom, I'll give the children a few tidbits of information, then they have "turn and talk" time, where they discuss what they've learned. They love this, and it works!

2.  Emotions rule!  If you think about the strong memories you have from your past, I'll bet they are closely related to strong emotional experiences, both positive or negative: your wedding, your child being born, a death... strong emotions. This works with children, too! Hopefully, your teaching won't bring out too many negative emotions, but there are ways to get to the positive ones! Kids love games. Some children are very competitive, and thrive on that stuff! Getting up in front of their classmates brings out plenty of emotions. Of course, different kids feel different things, so just be careful about playing with the emotions of children.  What works for one might traumatize another. (Yikes, don't want to go there!)



3.  Visuals!  Vision is the strongest of the senses. Talking alone isn't enough. Make sure the children have plenty to look at in addition to what you say. Use posters, drawings, videos, pictures, and even some guided imagery with the children to help them learn. 



4.  Chunking! The typical attention span is the child's age plus or minus a couple of minutes. That means that many of my second graders can't attend past 5 minutes. Again, proof that typical "lecture" type teaching just doesn't work. That means they need a chunk of information, then an opportunity to process that in some way. Here's where "turn and talk" works, as well as an opportunity to write, draw, or even move. 



5.  Movement! Combining movement with the learning almost guarantees stronger learning. Here are some ideas: Counting by tens while doing jumping jacks, touch three desks while naming the three states of matter, and this one, from a blog post I wrote in the fall.



6.  Shake it up!  If you do exactly the same thing, exactly the same way, it becomes boring and the brain tunes out. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good things about sticking with a routine, but once in a while you need to shake it up! Have a backwards day, turning the whole schedule around (within reason, of course!)  change the seating arrangement, do one part of the day completely different. We need this in our own lives, too, don't we?



7.  The brain needs oxygen! They say 20% of all the oxygen used in the body is used by the brain. That means we need to get the kids up out of their seats regularly and moving!  I particularly enjoy the Brain Gym exercises. I recommend the book, but there are also plenty of Youtube videos on brain gym that will model the exercises for you and tell how they help learning! Of course, there's nothing better than old fashioned jumping jacks or running in place. And the kids love it!



8.  Make connections! We talk about connections in books a lot, but connections are important for the brain. It can't hold random information, it needs to connect to something else that's already there. Did you ever hear a kid say, "I remember that because I know...." You can make connections through your own experience and stories. I often talk about my daughter, my cat, or some other thing they know of to make something else come true. 


9. Feedback is essential! Practice doesn't make anything better unless the practice is accurate. Students need to hear they are on the right track. I use a color code to let the children know if they are on track, which I described in this blog post from September. It works pretty well for motivation, as well.



10.  Music is magical! Tell the truth, how many of you know all the words to a television commercial?  People my age know all the words to the Gilligan's Island Theme Song and the Brady Bunch Theme Song.  Did we work hard to learn those?  Nope, never even tried!  Because they were put to music, we learned them.  There are many studies on music and learning. One way I use music is that I often play "happy music" first thing in the morning. That way the children enter feeling good. Now this brings us back to #2 emotions!


These are some books I recommend if you're interested in Brain Based Learning:   


                        

       

      

Research on the brain helps us know what helps children remember, and what doesn't. Here are 10 successful strategies for the classroom.

Developing Writing Fluency

I was struggling with my Writer's Workshop time, thinking about how I had children with fantastic ideas, yet their writing wasn't flowing. 

I knew they had it in them, but I was struggling to get them past that hesitation... the fear of it not being "just right". A lot of writer's workshop time is being wasted because their writing isn't fluent. 


Developing Writing Fluency: Do your students have great ideas, but struggle to write down those ideas? A writing warm up might help!

After much thought, I remembered a writing exercise I'd done in the past at seminars and training on writing. I also thought about how I believe in a need for a warm-up in all areas... reading, math, even singing, and sports! 

I've used discussion as well as graphic organizers for a writing warm-up. Although these definitely have value, they didn't quite do the trick, so I made these booklets. They use these booklets and write anything they can think of for two minutes. The only rules: No erasing and they have to keep the pencil moving. If they can't think of anything, they simply write "I can't think of anything". The purpose is to get the thoughts flowing from their brain, through their fingers, onto the paper.

Developing Writing Fluency: Do your students have great ideas, but struggle to write down those ideas? A writing warm up might help!


Here's a bonus: we have been finding that these booklets are helping the children come up with new ideas for writing!

See here: Writer's Workshop Warm-Up Booklet or explore the image to download the resource (it's a Dollar Deal!)  or design your own booklet!


I've been noticing a difference in their writing fluency!



Developing Writing Fluency: Do your students have great ideas, but struggle to write down those ideas? A writing warm up might help!



Lessons Learned

This is a story I often repeat to parents of my students. It's about my daughter's first ice skating experience. 

Lesson Learned: I had a valuable lesson when I brought my daughter ice skating for the first time. This is a story I share often with parents.

When my daughter was 6 years old, we went ice skating with a couple of friends. My daughter had never skated before, so I was a little nervous about how she'd take to it.  We both laced up our skates, I took her by the hand and we both stepped onto the ice.



She started skating right away! A couple of times she started to lose her balance a little bit, but I was right by her side and helped her find her balance every time.


After a while I noticed something odd: she was no longer trying to keep her balance. That's when I realized I was doing exactly what I frequently advised parents not to do. I was catching her every time she lost her balance! I knew what I had to do.



Of course, I backed off. She fell a few times. She got right back up and skated. By the end of the day, she'd gotten her balance and had a nice rhythm in her skating stride. She was a skater!


It was a nice reminder to parents how we sometimes need to let our children fall. It's definitely not easy, but it's not in the child's best interest to constantly be there to catch them. Sometimes we have to let them fall.


How do we know when to step back and let them fall?

Lesson Learned: I had a valuable lesson when I brought my daughter ice skating for the first time. This is a story I share often with parents.

Martin Luther King Jr. Books, Videos, and Resources

I love teaching my students about Martin Luther King Jr.  

He was an incredible man, and stood for peace!

Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.


Although I'm giving away my age, I remember when he was shot. I was a little too young to understand the impact at the time. (I was far more interested in the boys than the politics of the day.) Today I can't watch his speech without tears rushing down my face.  It disturbs me to think that a peaceful man who worked so hard for non-violence was killed in such a violent way.

Literature is a valuable part of my teaching. I've read many books about Dr. King, and they always keep the children engaged.  He was clearly a powerful man. Here are some good ones: (Each is a link to Amazon.)
                                    
Explore each link to Amazon to learn more about that book!  A video also grabs the attention of the children. Check out this one from Brain Pop.




Or this one from YouTube (Who doesn't love Kid President?):




Although his speech is kind of long for the little ones, this is the last part of that famous speech, and it's worth showing at least part of it to the children. I think the children will understand Dr. King's passion:



Dr.  King taught the world about peace.  Here are some children's books that help with the concept of peace. 


I also recommend this video:

It certainly tells the story of peace that I want children to learn, and I suspect it's the peaceful world Dr. King dreamed of. Plus, the lyrics are right on the screen for the kids to sing along... over and over!

Here's one more video, a song that warms my heart! It goes right along with the teachings of Dr. King, and is something children will understand:

Finally, here's one of my own resources - it's a sorting activity that's sure to get the kids talking! And their conversations defending their opinions are amazing! Plus, there are related writing papers to follow up on those rich conversations! See the image for the activity Just or Unjust?

Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.


You can also get this resource for free by signing up for my emails HERE.

Speaking of activities, I have a couple of MLK activities in this resource: Science and Social Studies Activities for January

Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.


It includes a close read about Dr. King.
Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.

A mapping activity, based on important places in Dr. King's life.

Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.

And making timelines based on Dr. King's life.
Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.

See any of the images above to see Science and Social Studies Printables for January! (There is other fun stuff in there, too!)

I'd love to see your ideas for MLK too!

Martin Luther King Jr. Resources: This great man represented solving conflicts in a peaceful manner. Here are several books and video suggestions to help your students learn about Dr. King.

Writer's Workshop

Have I mentioned I'm a big fan of Writer's Workshop


I've been doing Writer's Workshop in my classroom for more than 30 years, and have seen a great amount of growth in the children's writing skills.
 
Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!

I've been very lucky to have worked with several wonderful mentors who have helped me learn how the Writing Process works, and how to set it up in my classroom. I've watched some fantastic examples of writing conferences and mini lessons. I've used many materials, and have tweeked them to fit my personal style and the levels I teach. I've learned about 6 Traits as well as the Writing Process and have combined it all to fit my needs. 

In case you're not familiar with Writer's Workshop, it's about children writing what is in their hearts. It includes free writing time, conferencing with friends, conferencing with teachers, revising, proofreading, and publishing their written work.

I've been working on some materials to share with you that I've developed for Writer's Workshop in my classroom.


Explore the images below to see my 

Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!


Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!


https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writers-Workshop-Starter-Collection-180055?utm_source=Elementary%20Matters%20Blog&utm_campaign=Writer%27s%20workshop%20Packet

 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writers-Workshop-Starter-Collection-180055?utm_source=Elementary%20Matters%20Blog&utm_campaign=Writer%27s%20workshop%20Packet

Explore the image to see my 
Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!

Explore the image to see my 


Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!

Explore the image to see my very favorite book on Writer's Workshop. (It's an affiliate link to Amazon.)


Looking for more? Try this bundle:

How do you use Writer's Workshop in your classroom?

Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!

 

Writer's Workshop: Help them learn to love writing by writing about what they love!
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