By

Jaime Reyes,   Travis Elem

Play:

In-Class Physical Activity Breaks — Good For Mind and Body

Topics:

Physical Activity Participation

W.B. Travis has continued to implement physically active classrooms with our Career Technology Education high school by participating in Brain Breaks in the classroom in Pre-K through Fifth. The CTE high school and elementary students physically active and talking about proper nutrition during our school day for the FUTP 60 program. Teachers play Go Noodle and videos that catch the students' attention, and integrates academics with movement education. The high school students implement by leading the movement videos on Monday’s and Tuesday’s. Our goal is to increase movement and activity in the classroom. These movements stimulate brain function and lead to greater concentration. The Brain Break activities also contribute to the FUTP 60 program recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Travis Elementary’s goal is to have our students physically active 60 minutes per day consisting of 45 minutes in P.E. class and the other 15 minutes in the classroom.

What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

The challenge we faced was making sure the videos were appropriate for each grade level and making sure that 21 classrooms had access to the videos via our new school website. The committee also wanted to target academic subjects within the Brain Breaks in the classroom. Our library staff work diligently to link the videos on our school web site which allowed easy access by teachers. Teachers also take the initiative to find other videos that the student might enjoy.

How did students and adults work together as a team?

It has been great having CTE students and adults working together as a team to implement videos in the classroom. Through collaboration from all district stakeholders, we implemented a plan that would benefit both the Travis and and CTE students by being physically active. Team work has made Brain Breaks a daily activity and has given CTE students and our Travis Elementary students the opportunity to be active in and out of the classroom.