Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Classroom

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Brain-Friendly Strategies for the Classroom

• By Amanda Johnson

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How do Brain-Friendly Strategies Help Students in
the Classroom?

• Brain-friendly strategies are ways to access the
  brain in the most natural way. Information
  enters the brain in certain ways and by using the
  following strategies, your brain will be pulling
  the information in, not pushing it out. Building
  your teaching around strategies that are most
  compatible with how the brain works will be a
  rewarding experience.

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Hands-On Opportunities

• Research says
• Activates 2 different memory
  systems, which gives students a better chance to
  retain.
• ? semantic memory
• things that we have set out to
  learn and remember
• ? episodic memory episodes of
  everything that has happened to
  us. It is unintentionally
  remembered.

• Classroom Application
• Science
• ? Provides opportunities to build,
  explore, and test thinking
• Reading Phones
• ?incorporates sense of
  sight, sound, and
• touch
• math games
• ? Fun way to engage students in
  activating their memory while they
  interact with their peers and learn from
  their mistakes.

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Relationship Building

• Research says
• power stress
• support learning
• when teachers empower students to make
  their own learning decisions, students become
  responsible for their education.

• Classroom Application
• You decide
• ? When children ask a question, put
  the power in their hands
  to make the decision.
• Exit Slips
• ? Provide the students with an
  opportunity to share their thoughts in a
  private, and safe manner.

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Create Connections

• Research says
• The brain makes the most neural connections
  when it is actively involved in learning.
  Therefore, learning should be multisensory and
  interactive.
• The human brain strives to create connections
  or patterns, so learning should build on prior
  knowledge.

• Classroom Application
• read alouds to build
• background knowledge
• about an upcoming unit.
• guest presenters who interact with
  the children and challenge their basic
  knowledge.
• math games which apply
• the learning children
• have acquired in an
• interactive manner.

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Classroom Environment

• Research says
• The brain changes physiologically as a result
  of experience. 
• The environment in which a brain operates
  determines to a large degree the functioning
  ability of that brain.
• Marion Diamond says that the brain is modified
  by the environment.

• Classroom Application
• -Use color on the walls, and bulletin
  boards.
• -Keep the temperature
• between 67-70 degrees.
• -Include some plants in
• the room.
• -Periodically have students change where they
  sit.
• -Display Coming Attractions so students
  can see the big picture of how the topics fit
  together.

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Music

• Research says
• Sensory integration is a crucial factor
  in children's learning readiness for school
  subjects such as reading, writing, and math.
• Music improves spatial-temporal reasoning, a
  neurological process needed to understand
  mathematics.
• Strengthens synapses in the brain
• ? The sensory and perceptual
  systems
• ? The cognitive system
• ? Planning movements
• ? Feedback and evaluation of
  actions
• ? The motivational and
  hedonic (pleasure) system
• ? Learning memory

• Classroom Application
• Use sound to signal they have two minutes to
  finish up an activity (chimes, train
• whistle).
• During class use music
• ? for transitions
• ? as a timer to create
• positive stress
• ? to teach procedures or information
  they need to remember.
• ? to celebrate successes.

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Movement

• Classroom Application
• Have students vote with
• their feet by moving to a
• particular place in the
• room.
• Do POP for spelling words.
• Morning meeting greeting
• -give out word cards and find a
  partner that matches your card.
  Greet that person.
• Word wall words
• -snap vowels and clap consonants

• Research says
• Students need to move at least once every 20
  minutes.
• Movement releases tension.
• Movement sends oxygen to the brain.
• Movement activities provide opportunities to
  cross the body's midline.
• ? the left and right brain communicate
  across the
• corpus callosum.
• ? the integration of the brains
  hemispheres is necessary for reading and
  writing.

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Encoding

• Research says
• the more knowledgeable one
• is of a particular area, the
• easier it will be to encode
• information.
• an effective encoding strategy
• is elaboration, which can be
• done semantically, or through
• imagery.
• the key to aspect to build memory is to be
  able to encode relevant information and discard
  irrelevant information.
• Encoding can be both voluntary and involuntary.
  Involuntary encoding is more effective.

• Classroom Application
• Retell stories in their own words.
• ? oral
• ? written
• Peer Editing
• ? apply their knowledge of
  writing to evaluate anothers writing.
• Turn-and-talk
• ? allow the students time to
  process what has been said, or what
  has happened so far.

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Recitation

• Research says
• most effective strategy to transfer
  information from short-term to long-term
• Recitation can take
• several forms
• ?thinking about it
• ?saying it out loud
• ?writing it out

• Classroom Application
• word wall words
• ? Rainbow words
• ? POP
• ? magnetic words
• poetry
• ?reread poem, while each table washes
  their hands before lunch
• math facts

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Cooperative Learning

• Classroom Application
• Brainstorming
• Introduce writing poetry by
  having children work in pairs to
  develop a list of ideas about their
  topic.
• After posing a challenging question,
  conduct a think-pair- share

• Research says
• Social collaboration,
• motivation, and authentic
• praise from peers produce
• dopamine.
• -dopamine increases the
• processing of new
• information.
• Metabolic brain activity
• accelerates during active,
• constructive thinking which
• causes information to transmit
• across the left and the right
• side of the brain.

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Wait Time

• Research says
• Created by Mary Budd
• Rowe.
• Information processing involves multiple
  cognitive tasks that take time.
• Students must have uninterrupted periods of time
  to process information
• ? reflect on what has been said,
  observed, or done
• ? consider what their personal
  responses will be.

• Classroom Application
• Wait at least 3 seconds after asking a
  question.
• Teach students that when they know the answer,
  
• they may not raise their
• hand until you give the Go word.
• If students are having difficulty waiting, give
  them a signal they can use that will not distract
  the other students (make eye contact with you,
  blink twice, etc.)

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What am I Planning to Improve Upon?

• Wait time
• Classroom Environment
• Relationship Building
• What will you choose to
• make your classroom a
• brain-friendly environment?

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Resources

• Curriculum and Instruction. Florida Center for
  Reading Research. Retrieved July 28, 2008 from
  http//www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/studentCenterActiv
  ities.htm
• Conger, Cristen. Can a Person Remember Being
  Born? How Stuff Works. Retreived July 28,
  2008 from http//health.howstuffworks.com/remember
  - birth1.htm
• Bell, Annette. (2007). A Model for the Creation
  of a Meaningful Learning Experience. Dialogue
  of Learning. Retrieved July 27, 2008 from
  http//www.dialogueonlearning.tc3.edu/ model/
  environment/introduction-grp.htm
• Weinberger, Norman M. The Music in Our Minds,
  Educational Leadership, Vol. 6, 3 p. 36-40.
  Retrieved July 27, 2008 from http//www.tmea.org/
  027_Magazine/Special_Edition/musicinminds_r.htm