Today's post is a project level 2 students did for the 6th 6 weeks theme Beauty and Aesthetics after students had been exposed to the 3 artists: Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Frida Kahlo in the Museum Gallery Walk (see post here). After the "Museum Visit", students learned about each style in more depth and then did their an interpretation of each style while representing characteristics of themselves.

For Autorretrato, students took a selfie as a modern day self portrait. We talked about how selfies have a message and that Frida's autorretrato's had a message. Students watched this YouTube video on Selfies and wrote down the Spanish name for the one they wanted to do. They took a selfie of that style and wrote its name in Spanish with 3 Spanish hashtags.

For Cubismo, students created a face from magazine clippings that represented various characteristics of themselves. We watched this video and students were reminded that having various angles and points of perspective is exactly what they want as that was what Picasso did! I only showed from 1:50-2:41. For their collage they cut out at least 8 parts to represent their face. For example, they cut out a blue eye to represent their blue eyes and brown hair to represent their brown hair, etc.

For Surrealismo, students used their real face but had images floating around dreamlike that represented things about them (hobbies, favorite food, etc) . I reminded them that it has elements of reality but in a dreamlike way and all images don't necessarily seem to go together. I showed them this video before they started so they could become familiar with the style.

Of course I did add an element of Spanish writing. Since students had just learned the present perfect they had to write sentences what they HAD DONE to represent characteristicss about themselves in their art pieces.

Many students said this was their favorite project of the year! What a great way to finish off the year!

I hadn't meant to take so long to write a post but as always the end of the year gets crazy.

I wanted to share a few things I did the last couple months so today's post I'll focus on an activity I did for our Beauty and Aesthetics theme. In my level 2 class we focused on 3 artists: Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. At a conference I went to this past fall I had gotten the idea of doing a museum walk at an integrating AP themes in lower levels session. I was excited to finally be able to use this idea. I printed off paintings in color from the 3 artists and put them in page protectors and taped around the hallway. My school library had some posters of these artists too so I was able to have some larger pieces. I had 3 paintings per artist. Next to each painting I posted a set of 4 questions and a list of art related adjectives.

The students were told we were going to visit El Museo de Bowie to see great works of art. They numbered their papers 1-9 with 4 spaces between each number and then went out to the hall with their papers and writing utensil and could start in any order. I told them if more than 3 people were at a piece of work to go to a different piece. They examined each piece and aswered questions that got them analyzing the art.

This activity took about 20-25 minutes and as they worked I would walk around asking them simple Spanish questions about each piece and pointing out certain interesting things in the artwork. I also kept them on track by saying about how many they should have every 5 minutes.

All of the other level 2 teachers used this "Museo" for their classes which was great!

The students marked on their paper their favorite 2 pieces of artwork and when we came back to the classroom I asked them about which were the favorite paintings.

This was a great activity to get them up close to the artwork and to introduce them to the theme. The following class we got more in depth about the styles but I will blog about that lesson another day.

Have your own Museo de _________________
                                         (your school name)
Artwork that was in El Museo de Bowie - print out in color and place in sheet protectors and post all up and down hallway. Also great to put on your website for any students who miss the museum visit can still do at home.

Art related adjectives - place next to each piece of art.

Higher Order Art Questions for lower levels created by my department chair, Sr Ruiz (follow him on Twitter @SrRuiz). I took his questions and used four questions per piece of art - see worksheet I created. I cut the questions into strips and placed the questions next to each piece of art.

Click here for lessons for Esperanza Introduction and Chapter 1
Click here for lessons for Esperanza Chapters 2, 3 and 4
Click here for lessons for Esperanza Chapters 5, 6 and 7

Day 7: Review Chapter 1-7, Read Ch 8 & 9

When I had done this lesson, it was the week after Spring Break so with there being a week off since we read Esperanza, I wanted to come back and do a review activity in which the students could review what happened in Chapters 1-7.

PowerPoint for Chapters 8 & 9

(25 min) Jigsaw: In groups of 4, each student is assigned a number. Then tell students to go to the group with all of their numbers. Split into smaller groups if needed. (If 8 students are #1, split into 2 #1 expert groups). If in original group only has 3 members, then when they join back together they will learn the fourth topic from another team. If group of 5, two students are assigned one topic and instructed to work together. Set timer for each of following things and keep students on track and speaking in target language for the short timed portions.

• (8 min) In expert groups, students review the chapters they are assigned and create 5 sentences in Spanish (at least 5 word sentences) that best capture what happened in the chapters.  For B DAY FIT write 4 sentence in 6 minutes.
• (12 min) Once finished, students go back to original groups and each share their 5 sentences (set timer 2 min, 30 sec per person). Person 1 and 2 draw Ch 5-7 (5 min) and 3 & 4 draw 1-4 (5 min)– 4 drawings each as other members share again what they wrote. For B DAY FIT only have to draw 2 sentences in 3 minutes each group.  

(10 min) Review vocabulary Ch 1-7 – TPR Review – say words and students do the actions, remind students need to know words for next week’s quiz, homework is Quizlet over these words. Have students quiz their partner – set timer one minute for each person to quiz – say a word in Spanish and partner acts it out and says meaning.

(5 min) Write down these important words: el sindicato, la huelga, la frontera, esperanza and Ch 8 and 9 vocab

(15 min) TPR and PQA Ch 8 and 9: lleva (llevar), puede (poder o-ue), para (parar), sigue (seguir e-i), el abogado, está desesperado/a

(15 min) Read Ch 8 – Teacher reads while students do the motions for each vocabulary word (teacher does along with class) and teacher pauses along the way having students answer the Qué pasa en… with a partner, then call on a volunteer to answer for class for stamp. This activity is on my PowerPoint and was taken from Martina Bex's Ch 8 Esquema.

(10 min) Review facts from last week’s quiz about Immigration and Asylum – focus on main causes as well as what asylum is and the challenges for attaining it. They will see Esperanza in her attempt of getting political asylum. Why is she be applying for this? Try to integrate this essential question: ¿Qué deberes tiene el estado? Based on the US offering asylum in these situations, what does this show you about what the US believes are the right of citizens and the obligations of a nation? - have students answer with partner

(10 min) In Pairs: Begin reading Ch 9 together out loud.

Day 8: Chapters 9 & 10

PowerPoint for Chapter 10

(15 min) Warmup: In Pairs: Finish reading Ch 9 with partner. Fill out a four square story map on warmup calendar together. One box: Stressful moments, Another: Hopeful moments, One box: A question  Another box: Something important

(10 min) Review with the This or That PP on Stress or Hope from Martina Bex – show slide and have students say to partner if Causa Esperanza o Causa Estrés with partner – after showing all slides then go back thru and call on volunteer to share answer to class.  

(10 min) Talk with partner about the practice vocabulary questions for quiz

(20 min) Verbal Prediction with partner – what will happen at end of the book? Teacher reads Chapter 10 to class as students follow along and act out as vocabulary appears (last review of vocab before quiz next week!) – teacher acts along if needed. Read Epilogue to class.

(3 min) Descanso Cerebral: Simón Dice – set timer 3 minutes and have a student be the caller for the class, whoever is not out at end of 3 minutes gets a stamp.

(15 min) Show sections from Well Founded Fear which documents the US asylum process – shows the difficulty of being an asylum officer and the difficulty of granting asylum.
Watch Part 1: Start 2:40-4:02 and then 9:08-10:50
Watch Part 2: Glady’s – El Salvador start 3:44-7:32 and then start 8:02-11:25

It was a great novel and the students enjoyed it and enjoyed the comprehensibility of it! I had a student come to me afterward and asked if he could borrow a book to read to his grandmother who is Guatemalan. Wow!

Click here for Introduction and Chapter 1 of Esperanza
Click here for Esperanza Chapters 2, 3 and 4

Day 5: Chapters 4 & 5
(15 min) We didn't quite finish chapter 4 the other day, so we started by finishing Ch 4. I read it outloud to student and they listened they filled out the last scene (estación de autobuses) of Martina Bex's esquema for Ch 4 in sheet protector with a thin dry erase marker. Went over answers for stamps and then I showed pic of Guatemala City to Chiapas, Mexico on my PowerPoint.

Remember my classes are 90 minutes long so for the remainder of class we did the following
(15 min) TPR Vocabulary for Ch 5: llega, gente, le da & for Ch 6: está triste, parece, toma.  Personalized Question and Answer for Ch 5.  Have students use reactions during PQA!!

(15 min) Chapter 5 Silent Reading: Students read chapter 5 alone and answer the 8 questions on warmup calendar. Silent reading 10 minutes, give extension if needed, go over answers. Click here for the Chapter 5 PowerPoint with questions.

(3 min) Descanso Cerebral: Simón Dice

(20 min) Read to class Chapter 5, act out from beginning of Ch 5 to pg 27 (scene on bus) – up front have chairs/desks lined up like a bus, put a scene on screen/board (draw fake windows), on the other side of room draw a house with Alberto standing outside. Teacher is Esperanza, have actors for Lili, Ricardito, a few people for “gente” including one man, and two soldiers. Give actors fake quetzals (Esperanza needs 300 quetzales, rest can have 100). Give actors a copy of story highlighted on their role. Teacher reads story as students and teacher act out.

(15 min) Chapter 5 Word Sort activity by Martina Bex with partner – have the pieces cut up and placed in envelopes. Following instructions are from Martina.

1. Explain to the students that they must split up the words into categories. They must create their own categories for the words, but they may not create categories like “words” or “other”. They must fit every word into a category, and no category should have fewer than three words. (Try to include several words that don’t fit in well with anything else to make the activity more challenging!) They could keep it simple and do “people”, “places”, “things”, “adjectives”, etc., or they could try to be a bit more creative: create one category for each person or event, and put everything that has to do with that person or event in that category. Depending on which text you use, students can come up with some pretty awesome categories!!
2. As they work, walk around the room and ask students to explain to you (in the target language) what their categories are and why the words in it fit into that category. You will find that they come up with some pretty far-fetched and creative explanations to fit certain words together!
3. If a group finishes early, have them create new categories and re-organize the words.
   

Day 6: Chapters 5 & 6

(15 min) Review vocab from Ch 5/6 – múestrenme and then give groups of 3-4 one minute to go round robin and each say a sentence about what has been happened so far using just their vocab notes (no books) and keep going around till minute is up. Give them another minute this time saying you want them say 4-5 word sentences. Call on groups to share with class. Introduce and quickly TPR words for Ch 7: hacia, camina, va, paga

(20 min) Show picture of Presidente Cerezo – they will read about him in Ch 6.  Students take a quiz on cellphones on Socrative about the article about Immigation from Guatemala and Asylum.  When finished, quietly read Ch 6.  Chapter 6 and 7 PowerPoint

(15 min) Once all are finished, have students finish reading Ch 6 with partner and answer the questions from Martina Bex's esquema on warmup calendar (10 questions). Go over for stamps and then collect stamp pages and warmup calendars

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Guerra de Pulgares

(20 min) Teacher gives choice (either  calls on volunteers to read portions of Ch 7 to students as they follow along or teacher read to class) – have them pay attention to the time periods mentioned by looking at Martina Bex's esquema 7 but don’t write anything down. Clarify when needed.

(7 min) Assign each pair one of the 8 times on the cronología detallada –esquema 7 – They discuss the missing details for that time frame and do a Quick Draw (5 min): on a piece of paper draw picture of what is happening. They need to be able to say in Spanish the 5 facts. One is person A and the other B. 

(8 min) Slide the Line: One person is A and another is B. Stand across from one another and A has the paper. Person B slides down one time for a new partner. Persona A explains to this new partner including the 5 facts. This person B learns from that person A about that time period and then teacher tells person B to slide down again. Person B who just learned about it, has to explain. Person A can help by asking the questions on board (¿Qué hace?, ¿Dónde está?  and explain to next person coming. Keep switching back and forth while sliding. Students will have to pay attention since in just minutes is presenting the information.

Day 3: Chapter 2 and intro 3
Today was an 83 minute day. Click here to see what I did Days 1 & 2 (Intro and Chapter 1 of Esperanza)
Many ideas came from Martina Bex's blog so be sure to check there too!

(25 min) TPR Vocabulary for Ch 2: espera, llora, regresa, está contento/a, duerme and recycle/review Ch 1 vocabulary. See Chapter 2 and Intro Ch 3 PowerPoint.

(15 min) Free Reading: Students read Ch 2 on own and complete a four square story map (from Martina Bex) as they read the book. After free reading, have students hold up find 0-5 for comprehension.

(12 min) Choose 2 actors – teacher reads the story and plays the mom (Esperanza) while the two play the kids. Provide a copy to the actors with their lines highlighted. (If no volunteers then have ALL students act it out at their seat with a partner – one be Liliana and the other Ricardito and they have to say lines to partner) while teacher reads the narrator portion and acts out mom. This wasn't an issue for my classes! They were excited to see it acted out but just in case. :)

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Juego de Vasos. See my PowerPoint above.

(15 min) Hand out envelopes of the Martina Bex's Ch 2 timeline activity and students assemble the timeline with partner. Raise hand and receive a stamp for finishing.  Martina has it where students cut and glue to the page but I just made a class set and put in envelopes and had them just place on without gluing.

(10 min) TPR vocabulary for Ch 3: está preocupado/a, le responde, tengo miedo, le (me) dice and recycle vocabulary from previous chapters (will be in Ch 3 again). Can do PQA (personalized question & answer with vocab)

It was a successful day! Great novel thanks to Carol Gaab and great activities thanks for Martina Bex!

Day 4: Chapter 3 and 4
Today was a 90 minute period. Chapter 3 has a scene in regards to Huelgas (strikes) and made for a perfect was to work on the essential question in regards to Global Challenges: ¿Qué derechos y deberes tienes como ciudadano?

(15 min) Quickly TPR the new words written and practiced yesterday and go over the PQA if didn’t get to it

(15 min) Teacher reads Ch 3 – clarify and explain pieces of the story that need clarification.

(15 min) Post Reading – students complete esquema for Ch 3 (from Martina Bex)- put worksheet in a page protector and have students complete with thin dry erase marker. They can reread and complete by discussing with partner. Go over answers and give stamps.

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Juego de Vasos – show clip first without cups and having students follow along with hands.

(20 min) Handout worksheet on Huelgas (click here for Ch 3, Huelga and Ch 4 PowerPoint) in a page protector – go over what a huelga is, show example letreros on PP, show first 40 sec clip of Huelga in Guatemala. This is same video showed other day.....but now focusing on what a huelga looks like.
Students go to pg 15 when talks about the huelga and reflect and write 3 things they think the huelga signs might have said using a dry erase marker and writing on paper that is inside page protector (put frases útiles from PP up to help). Call on volunteers to share for stamps.
Ask students: ¿Qué derechos tienes como ciudadano?  Students choose a right they think is experiencing oppression and write what would be on their signs at the huelga on the right front side. After giving time to think and write, have them choose their favorite saying and using the back side of the worksheet (in page protector), have them write the phrase big and draw an image to represent cause.
If time, have students stand up and walk around speaking out about their cause (saying the things from their signs) and holding their paper up. Could have them write one of their sayings big on the back side of sheet protector and hold up that one sign. They try to find people with same cause as theirs and join together as a group. There might be all different causes or people demonstrating for the same rights.

(10 min) TPR & PQA with Ch 4 Vocabulary: corre, quiere, busca, come, escucha (recycle previous Chapter vocabulary)  

(10 min) Read outloud Ch 4 to students – while students listen they fill out Martina Bex's esquema for Ch 4 in sheet protector with a thin dry erase marker. Go slowly so students can number each event as it happens, have them label the places first. Clarify along the way, PQA along the way if needed. Go over answers and give stamps after #1 & #2. Did not get to #3 section of chapter. Will finish next class.

Today was another successful day and got to look big picture at their rights as citizens. After we had our "strike" I asked them "Do you believe citizen's have the right to go on strike?" Of course no right or wrong answer....just wanted to get them thinking about what rights all individuals should have.

First off a huge shout out to Carol Gaab, the author of her amazing book Esperanza and to Martina Bex for her amazing blog full of detailed lesson plans, ideas and worksheets!

This novel takes place during Guatemala’s 36 year war and is a perfect fit for the AP Theme: Desafíos Globales (Global Challenges). At my school, our curriculum is based on the AP Themes for all levels even starting with level 1.

Our essential questions for this 6 week theme of Global Challenges included:

• ¿A qué problemas políticos, sociales y ambientales se enfrentan las sociedades mundiales?
• ¿Cuáles son los orígenes de estos problemas? ¿Cómo pueden solucionarse?
• ¿Qué derechos y deberes tienes como ciudadano?
• ¿Qué derechos y deberes tiene el estado?

When I came across this novel, I thought right away that this would be a perfect way to not only work on reading skills, build vocabulary but also address these essential questions about political and social problems.

Day 1: Introduction of Guatemalan Civil War
Before beginning the novel, I wanted the students to understand what it was like for the characters in this book. To give them some context, I showed them parts of the documentary Cuando las Montañas Tiemblan and also a part of a documentary by PBS called Guatemalan Soil, Unearthing Evidence of Genocide. We have block scheduling so you will notice my lessons are for a 90 minute period and I see my students every other day.

Click here to see my detailed notes on what I showed, said, skipped, etc.

Day 2: Esperanza Introduction and Chapter 1
The following class I introduced the novel and we began Chapter 1. Again, I want to credit Martina Bex for her lessons and worksheets and you will see I use many of her great ideas. Here is an outline of my lesson plan:

(5 min) New seats, new bathroom passes, grab a novel from the table

(10 min) Introduce Esperanza novel – students read synopsis on back of book, students look at map of Guatemala inside, give a few facts about Guatemala (size, location, etc) on PowerPoint, discuss time period (one slide briefly describing Civil War) 

(5 min) Have students create a vocabulary list for Esperanza. Each chapter we will add vocabulary, all words will be repeated over and over throughout the novel so it is imperative that they be written down and referred to as they will continued to be recycled. By the end of the novel, they should know these words well. 

(15 min) TPR Vocabulary for Chapter 1 mira, le habla, pienso, llama, tiene hambre, agarra

(10 min) Pre Reading: Introduce Chapter 1 – El Teléfono.  Esperanza receives four phone calls: two from her mother and two from a mysterious caller.

PQA recycling words habla, llama, teléfono, put on board and have one partner ask and the other answer, then call on students for stamps

Examples (from Martina Bex’s website) ¿Tú hablas mucho por teléfono?, ¿Quién te llama mucho?, ¿Tus padres hablan mucho por teléfono? ¿Con quién?, ¿Qué haces cuando recibes una llamada de un número desconocido? ¿Respondes?, Hoy en día, ¿es más común hablar por teléfono, por mensajes de texto, o por Facebook?

15 min) During Reading – Teacher reads Chapter 1 to class – change voice to represent different characters, do sounds (respiración, clic, etc.), do some TPR while reading (grabbing phone for agarro, point to head for pienso, hand to stomach for tiene hambre, etc.) as this will reinforce the vocabulary. Pause along the way to ask personalized questions (Ex: ¿Tu mamá es una persona nerviosa? ¿Tu abuela llama a tu mamá mucho?)

(5 min) Descanso Cerebral: Juego de Vasos - see my PowerPoint hyperlink above

(15 min) Post Reading- At the end of the chapter, ask kids to close their eyes and hold up 0-5 fingers for the amount that they understood (0=nothing, 5=everything). Complete the Martin Bex's Chapter 1 Esquema – put worksheet in a page protector and have students complete with thin dry erase marker. They can reread and complete by discussing with partner. Go over answers and give stamps

(10 min) ¿Qué es un sindicato? – Trade Unions – watch the 7 minute video about how dangerous it is in Guatemala even today to be in a unión-Guatemala: In Light of Justice.. Imagine the fear that Alberto and his family would have for him being in a union during the civil war. (Ch 2 Alberto es chofer para el Departamento de Transporte Público y es presidente del sindicato)

Stay tuned for the lessons I do for the rest of the book! So excited about this and so are my fellow Spanish teachers. For many of them this was the first time they had ever done TPR so they were enjoying how well the students were retaining vocabulary.

Have you wanted to find a hands on way to integrate culture while also making a difference in others' lives?
The Pulsera Project does just this! Also it is a great way to discuss Global Challenges and/or Contemporary Life AP theme.s We did this during our Contemporary Life unit focusing on "How do societies and individuals define quality of life? / ¿Cómo definen los individuos y las sociedades su propia calidad de vida?".

I met Colin Patterson and Chris Howell two years ago at the Texas Foreign Language Conference and was so amazed what these two and their team were doing . They founded a non profit organization called The Pulsera Project where they work with schools to run pulsera (colorful handmade bracelets) sales to raise money for educational, environmental and social needs in Nicaragua. They are making a difference in young Nicaraguans lives.

My coworker and I were so excited about it and ran a Pulsera Sale last year through our Spanish Club and Spanish Honor Society and we sold 454 of the handmade bracelets raising $2,270 for the Pulsera Project! At that time this was the most successful Texas Pulsera Sale. 

I moved to a new school this year and was so excited to introduce it here. The teachers and students really enjoyed being a part of it and my coworker who is sponsor of Spanish Club was so gracious to have her club take this on and run all funds through their club. We were able to sell 285 bracelets and 4 headbands raising $1,485!

The Pulsera Project offers many free lessons to incorporate into your curriculum that have been created by other teachers. I had the great pleasure of creating a lesson on Nicaragua: Poverty and Solutions. It is a great lesson to get students to reflect on their own spending and quality of life and used the Color the World Video which I believe is so powerful and informative. They also have other lessons for lower and higher levels. They will give you a special link once you sign up to do a sale with them.

Here is the lesson I created:
Teacher Copy of Nicaragua: Poverty and Solutions
Student Handout for Nicaragua: Poverty and Solutions
PowerPoint for lesson Nicaragua: Poverty and Solutions

Running a Pulsera Sale does require you to do a lot of counting each day to make sure you have tracked all the bracelets. I checked out about 30 bracelets at a time to each Spanish teacher so he/she could sell to his/her students. I had to keep track when they turned in money and when they needed more. Also, we had the Spanish club run the sale so the club students checked out about 15 at a time to sell to friends so we also had to keep track of when they turned in money/unsold bracelets. We also set up a table a few times and sold during lunches so it was important to count before and after. Even though it can be a lot of counting on your end, it is well worth it and so neat to see the students proudly wearing their pulseras around school which help the educational, environmental and social needs in Nicaragua.

PowerPoint to show to students for a Spanish Club - to inform them to get them involved to help as a service project and/or fundraiser.

My Instructions that I gave to Spanish club students this year

Blurb I used last year for school announcements (we don't do announcements at my new school so instead we made huge posters with paint and butcher paper and posted around the school):
The Club de Español and the Spanish Honor Society will be selling pulseras, colorful hand-woven bracelets, for $5 from Monday, December 3rd to Friday, December 7th in the cafeteria.  Nicaragua is the 2nd poorest country in the western hemisphere and through pulsera sales almost 100 artisans are empowered though sustainable fair-trade employment, and all proceeds are reinvested to provide scholarships, micro loans, supports a shelter that gets kids off the streets, environmental programs and more in Nicaragua. So visit us in the cafeteria and help make the world a more colorful place!

To get more details about running a Pulsera Project at your school visit www.pulseraproject.com and email them at [email protected]. It is such an empowering experience!

Next week we will begin our new theme Desafíos Globales (Global Challenges) and as part of this I will be introducing the Novel: Esperanza by Carol Gaab as it ties nicely into Political and Social Challenges. I have started to gather resources and will continue to add as I find more so check out my Pinterest boards if interested.
During this upcoming unit we will focus on political, social, health/nutrition, and environmental challenges. I am planning on putting together a mini project where students bring in recyclable/non recyclable materials to create their own works of art in order to portray a message. I will base this on Antonio Berni's work. I'll be posting it in a few weeks once I put it all together. Super excited about this theme!

A few weeks ago I went to a Kagan training on Brain-Friendly Teaching. There were many good structures I learned that can be implemented into the LOTE classroom to get the students to interact with one another. One of the these many things were Brain Breaks. This is my first year teaching at a school with 90 minute periods so the need for Brain Breaks is even more apparent. Since then, I have been more diligent in implementing these (I call them Descansos Cerebrales) and on the hunt for ones that get the students moving around and include a little Spanish but in a fun way.
Click here to see my PowerPoint to see what I have done so far.

My students have been enjoying them and many only take 3 minutes so they really are quick and I do them in the middle of my lesson before transitioning to the next activity.

I just started a Pinterest Board to have a visually appealing one stop of ideas to use in the Spanish class. Click to see my Spanish Brain Breaks Board.

Here is a quote from Kagan and I truly have seen how it recharges the students to keep going!

"A classroom is lagging. It is after lunch or during a lengthy presentation. The teacher has students get up and do a brief tag or challenge game. Students return to their seats more alert and refreshed, ready to process new information. Teachers who do frequent brain breaks not only have a more interesting, fun class — their class achieves at a higher level academically."

Share in the comments any Brain Breaks you have incorporated!