Brain Breaks the KMR Way
Brain Breaks the KMR Way
Music to enhance your day
Screen Time in the Classroom
Have you ever noticed the amount of time your students spend engaged with screens each day? In preschool, it doesn't seem like it should be a lot…
I started observing in my own classroom one day, and by noon, I had turned the projector off in shock. As a school leader, I have noticed that most classrooms, even preschool and kindergarten, have at least the projector on all day long. It's how we've come to organize our days and provide visual support for our lessons.
We all know screens, like any tool, come with pros and cons. I am a big proponent of teaching children to actively and productively engage with their technology - in fact, I create technology-based curriculum. However, screens are also the culprit of visual impairments and a reduction in active time spent fully engaged with children.
Part of that is by necessity. Attention spans are shorter, behaviors are more intense, and the expectations for teachers are far beyond what any human could reasonably accomplish. We lean on those screens for necessity, knowing that the children are at least physically moving while they're doing a brain break, and we have a moment to swap our supplies for the next lessons.
What if there was another way? For me, all it takes is The Music Jar and a few extra classroom jobs.
Classroom Jobs During Brain Breaks
Brain breaks typically provide two purposes in early childhood. One is to allow the students to take a break and move. The other is to give the teacher a moment to transition supplies from one lesson to the next.
To allow for a smooth transition without a digital brain break, I use classroom jobs. Student helpers inspect each table and various zones of the classroom after clean up time. Other children take responsibility for putting away tubs. Still others set out new ones. All of this happens as part of our regular routine.
Are there spilled buckets? Yes, at first there are. That's ok! It's all part of the process. I build in extra time at the beginning to account for this. About a month into the year, we've got our routines and jobs set.
This allows me to turn off the screen for a minute (which settles my brain), and we get to share a silly song, dance, or rhythmic rhyme. Even better… I can use the music as a spiral review or quick assessment of who recalls which skills by adapting the way I lead the song. If I notice students are adding "uh" after each letter sound, I can quickly stop and review. (And I don't have to cringe when a video adds "uh" as part of modeling!)
The Music Jar
When I was a preschooler, our class jar of songs was my favorite thing in the world. Every time we had an extra moment, or our bodies needed to wiggle, my teacher would pull out the jar, and one very special student would take out a song. Each one was short, including natural opportunities to review key content, and most importantly, allowed for safe movement.
The jar was nothing fancy - it was a recycled can covered in masking tape and decorated with markers. (It was the 80s!) I still use a recycled can for this, because it brings back the very best memories. Some years, when I have a very creative class, they help me decorate a new jar.
Why?
Active engagement with academic content is key to student learning, and children require repetition to reinforce key concepts.
When we pop on a brain break video, students are moving. When we actively engage with a song, students are reviewing academic content, developing musical skills, fostering math and literacy skills, and they are moving.
Five in the Bed
Consider the ever-popular "Five in the Bed" as a seated brain break.
We're practicing counting back from five, and when we include a visual representation, we're also incorporating the concept of subtraction. Bonus points if we discuss the concept of 0 when the little one wakes up and leaves the bed! (Click link below to download packet for visual representation.)
When students take turns acting it out, they're also engaged in performance and get to practice being active audience members.
Shake, Shake, Shake
If you're looking for a place to start with a large movement, this one is the winner! Limited lyrics and a simple melody make it easy to remember, and the variations are limited only by your imagination. You can grab a copy in the download below.
I introduce it as a large movement activity, and we jump, shake, rock, and dance to the beat.
On day two, I ask the children for their ideas, and we use this as an opportunity to create a t-chart for safe and unsafe dance movements at school. This is a great place to embed some reading and pre-writing skills. With three-year-olds, a child can draw a quick picture to show what safety looks like. Ask your four-year-olds to identify the first sound and how to spell it. (That's what I say instead of "what letter says mmmm." It helps the children to notice the sounds they are spelling.) A child can write the letter on the chart. In kindergarten, try sounding out the whole word!
After we've established our routine, we take the song wherever our mood carries us. Some days, we go on an imaginary adventure, much like the traditional Bear Hunt. We take wintery walks with snowball fights and pretend to play in the water in the summer.
Transitioning with the Song
I always end the song by transitioning to whatever I want to do next. Here are a few examples:
- Sit back down…
- Make a line…
- Find your seat
- Please stand up (if we've been sitting)
- Wash your hands (hands out for hand sanitizer as we transition to snack)
Need More?
Kids' MusicRound incorporates lots of large movement activities into the curriculum, so if you have a music specialist using the Classroom Jamboree curriculum from Kids' MusicRound, you've got access to everything!
Just getting started with us? Grab your free large movement activity pack, and have some fun moving and grooving with your students!
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