Active Learning

Active Learning


Learning With the Brain


In Mind





Ann Anzalone

ann.anzalone@gmail.com









2

Three Most Important Exercises

Integrating Both Sides of the Brain

The Cross Crawl 2x a day

Sit down. Do 28 puppet movements. (Puppet
movements touch the elbow of the right
arm to the right knee and the elbow of the left arm to the left knee.)


Do 28 crossover movements. (Crossover movements touch the elbow of the
right arm to the left knee and the elbow of the left arm
to the right knee.)



Do 14 puppets


Do 14 crossovers


Do 10 puppets


Do 10 crossovers

The Wayne Cook Posture

Sit down. Fold hands. The thumb of the hand that is on top is the ankle to cross on top.
Extend arms and cross the
arm of the thumb on top over the other arm. Point thumbs
down. Wave at the fingers. Fold hands. Draw hands to chest, like a pretzel. Take ten
deep breathes with the tongue on the roof of the mouth to breathe in, down to breathe out.
Uncross ankles, p
ut fingertips together. Rest hands with finger tips touching on lap.
Take ten more breathes.

Donna Eden,
Energy Medicine
, New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1998.

Thymus Thump

Rapidly, tap chest on both sides of the collar bone at the same time. Res
ets the body’s
balance.

Water

Weight divided by 3 = number of ounces needed daily

# of ounces divided by 8 = number of glasses of water needed daily



Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.



Preliminary research indicated 8
-
10 glasses of water a
day could significantly
ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers; 5 glasses per day decreases
risk of colon cancer by 45%, slashes risk of breast cancer by 79% and decrease
s

bladder cancer by 50%



A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger

fuzzy short
-
term memory, trouble with
basic math and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.



Fruit juice, soft drinks, coffee and tea are all diuretics
—
they fail to provide
neutral pH water because the sugars bind to the water and

are treated as food by
the brain.






Carla Hannaford, Ph.D.
Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head
. Utah:
Great River Books. 2005.


3

GAMES

Teach problem solving skills by teaching students to:



Plan moves by examining many
possibilities



Think about consequences of actions



Plan ahead more than one step at a time



Visualize future moves

and to
Pay attention


ZOOM
:

Students stand in a circle. One person starts the game by looking to his/her
left or right and says, “Zoom.” The

next person says “Zoom” to the person next to
him/her in the same direction. “Zoom” continues until someone puts the brakes on. Any
one in the circle can put the “brakes” on at any time by saying, “Eek!” When “Eek” is
said, “Zoom” has to go around th
e other way.

PEANUT BUTTER POINT
:
Students stand in a circle. One person places his/her
hand flat under his/her chin pointing in either direction and says, “Peanut”. The person
being pointed to, places an arm over his/her head pointing in either directi
on and says,
“Butter”. The person being pointed to, points to anyone in the circle and says, “Point”.
The person being pointed to, places his/her hand flat under his/her chin pointing in either
direction and says, “Peanut”. The game continues. If someo
ne is out, he/she becomes a
heckler for the players still in the circle. The heckler’s job is to distract the other players
so that they also become hecklers. Continue playing until 1or 2 players remain in the
circle.



LITERACY

teach literacy: song, d
ance, play, joking, improvisation, recitation, hear stories, made
-
up


or read aloud; retell
; learn to speak well, increase
vocabulary


through rhetorical practice


Good readers grow out of good reciters

and good speakers.


young people talk themselves into a wholeness; they hear out loud how they feel; without
practice in storytelling inner life never fills out and takes shape; by swapping stories a
person learns he does not have to accept things as the
y are; can conjure up his/her own
world and manipulate it to his/her own liking


fewer children enter the world of orality; it is harder to learn to read because children
haven’t practiced or been taught the art of oral recitation; they learn orality by im
itation
and participation; reading and writing must be learned; practice begins in orality


Literacy is the transformation of speech into a visual act.





Barry Sanders.
A is for Ox Violence, Electronic Media, and the Silencing of the Written Word
.
New
York: Pantheon Books,


1994.


4

SO EACH MAY LEARN

DR. HARVEY SILVER


There isn’t a strong correlation between ability and achievement.


Dr. Harvey Silver

4 A’s

1.




2.







3.



4.

Attention

Dr. David Walsh




Reactive attention
: connected to the emotional system; involuntary,
hardwired, automatic, instinctive; responds to movement, sudden change and
emotion




Focused attention:

connected to the prefrontal cortex;
needs to be
developed
, helps to develop critical thinking skills, reflection, synthesis, critical
analysis



prefrontal cortex is responsible for thinking ahead, considering consequences,
assessing risks, managing emotional impulses and urges





focuses on one thing at
a time sequentially.



Memory is the key to learning.


Memory is not retention but attention.









Jim Quik

Encode

store



retrieve


remember


Memory scaffolding is built by conversation;


the more elaborate the scaffolding, the more knowledge th
e child has.


The key to language success is conversation.

Language develops with repetition and practice.

Words are the tools of thinking


5

Human Bingo


Directions: Play
cover all
. Find someone who can do each of the following and write
his/her name in the square. You may write one “free” wherever you choose.








Likes to read

several books at a
time

Sings

Likes to do one

thing at a time

Journals

Remembers names

Watches the news

Before going to sleep

Watches movies
more than once

Likes to read only
one book at a time

Remembers faces

Fidgets

Keeps piles on

the desk

Likes video

games

Does yoga

Gardens

Draws

Exercises regularly


6

ARITHMETIC TIME TEST



Directions: Complete the problems as quickly as you can. In the following problems +
means divide, X means subtract,


means add, and
–

means multiply.


4

2 = __________





2

1 = __________


7
-
3 = __________





8+2 = __________


7x2 = _______
___





5
-
4 = __________


6+3 = __________





4

2 = __________


7

3 = __________





6
-
3 = __________


8

4 = __________





9+3 = __________


9x2 = __________





6

2 = __________


7x2 = __________





4
-
2 = __________


8+4 =
__________





10+5= __________


6x3 = __________





12x1 = __________


8
-
2 = __________





6

3 = __________


12+2 = __________





12x2= __________


10

2 = __________





3
-
2 = __________


5x3 = __________





6+3 = __________


4+2
= __________





4x2 = __________


3x 2 = __________





8

2 = __________


7
-

2 = __________





10+2= __________


7+1 = __________





10
-
2 = __________


4x3 = __________





10x2 = __________



10
-
5= __________





6+3 = ________

7

Brain Speed

a key to learning success

Brain speed




is how fast the brain processes what is going on, around and within you



determines attention,
alertness, learning, memory, decision making, problem solving,
mental clarity



determines how efficiently the mind works.



reflects how quickly memories can be recalled, questions answered, problems solved and
decisions made.



the faster your brain process
ing speed, the more focused you are, the more you take in
and learn, the more you remember, the quicker you make sound, split
-
second decisions
and react



the faster you can mentally recite or rehearse long list of items, the better you remember


Play games
like:
Jeopardy, Concentration, Memory, Boggle

(
www.wordS
play.net
)
,
Scrabble
, Set
(set daily puzzle
www.setgame.com
)

Work p
uzzles, word searches, Sudoku


Answer Questions
www.freerice.com


Do mental math.

Memorize poems.

Make ABC lists.

Read

aloud.

Practice Brain Age
games

www.memory
-
improvement
-
tips.com





www.freebrainagegames.com

Speed stack


cup stacking


Exercise Brain Gym Infinity Walk Bal
-
A
-
Vis
-
X


Handwriting affects the ability to read,

spell and comprehend.









Dr. Rosa Hagin 2002





Ability to write fluently connects to the ability to speak fluently.

Writing solidifies thinking and takes reasoning to a higher level.



Kathleen Ricards Hopkins

Te
aching How to Learn in a What
-
to
-
Learn Culture



Language is the key to making connections.

Oral language directs and develops thinking processes.










Vygotsky
Thoughts and Language


Writing is the doing part of thinking.



When writing, one is processing what heard or read.









Bonnie Terry


8

Impact on Student Achievement

Eric Jensen.
Game
-
Changers
. Workshop San Antonio, TX 2013

Put each of these in order from having the

Highest to Lowest

impact on student
achievement.


Mastery learning

Homework

Teacher clarity

Feedback, F/S assessment

Aims & policies of the school

Peer tutoring

Teacher
-
student relationships

Expectations by student






Hattie

Visible Learning for Teachers
. Routlege Pr
ess.
2011
.


Which factor is a far greater predictor of student success than IQ?


Reading scores

Motivation level

Math scores

Attitude

Working memory





Alloway T.
P. & Alloway, R. G. 2010


The new science of skill building is n
___________________
.


The r
ules are

1. Students must buy in to it. Skills must be coherent to the student.

2. Students' brains need error correction

3. Students need skill practice 5
-
10 minutes /day for 8
-
15 weeks

4. Skills must be of increasing difficulty. Greater complexity m
eans better transference.

5. Once they get it right, they still need repetition.

6. Skill building needs to be in all subject areas.



Skill practice:


organizing, study, memory, attention, note taking

Study skills:


reading, skimming for key ideas,
asking Qs, pre
-
reading, summarizing

Memory skills
:


acronyms, loci method, color, association,

Priority skills
:


urgent, important, use of lists, daily checklists, task management




9

High Return A
chiev
ement F
actors




S____________ E___________________




Ho
pe and growth mindset




F_________________




Relationships




T_____________ S_________________




Vocabulary instruction and test scores are correlated with increased gray matter
density.
Lee H. Devlin et al. Anatomical traces of vocabulary acquistion in t
he adolescent
brain.
J Neurosci
, Jan 31:27 (5) 1184
-
9



Changing pre
-
test state with free 10 minute writing activity boosted test scores 5
-
17%

Write how feeling about upcoming test





Ramirez
G and Beilock SL. 2011 Writing about test

worries boost

exam performance in
classroom
Science

Jan 14: 331 6014 211
-
3



Reading with the left index finger underlining the words increases reading speed
25
-
50%. The eyes are attracted to the motion and attention follows. The senses
work together. Sight and tou
ch are connected.
Jim Kw
ik



Faster readers comprehend better because of better focus. Reading one word at a
time starves the brain for focus.



What is the greatest motivator to humans in the workplace?


Recognition for good work

Incentives for
work will done

Management support

Interpersonal support

Clear achievable goals

Making progress


Eric Jensen.
Game
-
Changers
. Workshop San Antonio, TX 2013







10

A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Amen, Daniel, M.D.
Making a Good Brain Great
. NY: Harmony Books
. 2005.


Bradley, Michael.
Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy!

WA: Harbor Press. 2002.


Birkenbihl, Vera.
Memory Optimizer
. MN: Learning Strategies Corp. 2001.


Dennison, Paul E. and Gail E. Dennison.
Brain Gym. Teacher's Edition
. California
:

Edu
-
Kinesthetics Inc. 2010.


Gurian, Michael.
Boys and Girls Learn Differently!

CA: Jossey
-
Bass. 2001.


Hannaford, Carla.
Smart Moves. Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head.

Virginia: Great River Books. 2005.


Jensen, Eric.
Enriching
the Brain How to Maximize Every Learner's Potential
.


Ca: Jossey
-
Bass. 2008.


Jensen, Eric.
Teaching With the Brain In Mind.

Virginia: ASCD. 2005.


Lemov, Doug.
Teach Like A Chamnpion. 49 Techniques That Put Your Students On the


Path to College
. CA: Jossey
-
Bass. 2010.


Melillo, Robert. Dr.
Disconnected Kids
. New York: Penguin Group. 2009.


Masgutova, Svetlana, Ph.D. and Nelly Aknmatova, Ph.D.
Integration of Dynamic

Postural Reflexes Into the Whole Body Movement System.

Poland
: International


Neurokinesiology Institute. 2004.


O’Dell, Nancy PhD. and Patricia Cook PhD.
Stopping ADHD
. New York: Avery


Publishing Group, Inc. 2004.


Restak, Richard. M.D
. Think Smart.

A Neuroscientist's Prescription for Improving Y
our

Brain's Performance.

NY: Riverhead Trade. 2010.


Scheele, Paul R. and Cheryl Hiltibran.
Memory Optimizer Accelerator
. MN: Learning


Strategies Corp. 2004.


Simontacchi, Carol
. The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our


Brains and Harming Our Children
. New York: Tarcher. 2007.


Sousa, Dr. David.
How the Brain Learns to Read
. CA: Corwin Press. 2005.


Sunbeck, Deborah, Ph.D.
Infinity Walk
. California: Jalmar Press. 1996.


Walsh, David. PhD.
Smart Parenting, Smar
ter Kids
. NY: Free Press. 2011.