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Friday, August 29, 2014

Brain Break Balloons

My new Brain Break Balloons! bulletin board needs a few more balloons and it will be ready to go next week.  I have 70 minute classes and when students are listening to the target language for 90%+ of the class period, their brains definitely need a break. 

I searched Pinterest and other places on the web for ideas for brain breaks.  Then I wrote the brain break activity on a piece of paper and put it inside the balloon before I blew up the balloon.  I stapled the very end of the balloons to the bulletin board.  When my students need a brain break, I'll choose a student to pop a balloon, and the activity listed on the slip of paper inside the balloon will be our brain break activity.

There are a mixture of activities in the target language (such as listening to a Sr. Wooly song) and other activities that aren't in Spanish.  After all, it is a Brain Break, so maybe a break from the language is the route I should take.   

UPDATEMartina Bex wrote a post about the science behind Brain Breaks PLUS she made a document of a list of brain breaks which you can download, for FREE!, from TPT. 
- Click HERE for Martina's explanation of the science of Brain Breaks.
- Click HERE for Martina's Brain Break ideas document on TPT. (She also has a large collection of lessons, cultural readings, games, and other useful materials at TPT, so check those out also.)

Some of the activities in the balloons are:  
- watch one of Sr. Wooly's videos
- Simón dice (Simon says)
- Stand up, arms outstretched, palms facing outward, move left hand back and forth and move right hand up and down at the same time; then switch;
- Sing "Los Pollitos Dicen" w/out lyrics: http://youtu.be/oTApI_rUZ2E w/ lyrics: http://youtu.be/PVv7pIssaMc 
- Bolsa Fea - 3 words 
- 5 a Day Hula  
- Teacher chooses a photo from this blog post and students work with partner or small group to create the best caption (in TL or English, may depend on level)
- hokey pokey led by student
- jumping jacks
- Akinator app (1 time)
- Athlete Quotes - read one of the quotes on this site and give the students three choices of which person said it
- Write a statement on the board, such as "My favorite dessert is_____"; the teacher reads the statement and fills in the blank then tosses a bean bag to a student and the student says the statement, tosses bag to another student, etc.
- there are others, but I can't think of them now. I guess I'll have to wait until the students break that balloon to add it to the list.

Newest update: Did you see the "Go Find Momo" photos?  Today Meg Villanueva posted THIS LINK on Facebook, or go directly to the site at http://gofindmomo.com/ . If you want to use the TL, ask students to say where the dog is in the TL, ex: on the left (a la izquierda), etc

9 comments:

  1. This is awesome! Do you have a list of the brain break activities that are in each balloon?

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    1. Yes. Check back in a day or two. I'm swamped with canning produce from my garden today. Teaching and a large garden don't mesh well. :-)

      I'll post a list on Sunday or Monday and I'll add it directly on the post instead of in the comments section.

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    2. Thanks for posting some of the activities! I have my balloons and can't wait to do this!

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  2. Great! What other brain breaks did you use?

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    1. Hi Monica - I listed several that are in the balloons, plus check out the link to Martina's list of brain breaks that I added in the update.

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  3. This looks like so much fun! These are some awesome ideas. Thanks for sharing! :)
    Emilie

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  4. I love the alliteration of the B's in brain break ballons, but did anyone come up with a title en español or even spanglish? "pop para una pausa" por ejemplo...

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    1. I've mulled this over in my mind many times. I like your suggestion.

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