Brain-Friendly Strategies for
the Classroom
By: Amanda Johnson
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.
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.
Relationship Building

Research says:
*
power =

stress
Classroom Application
* “You decide”

* support =
learning
*when teachers empower
students to make their
own learning decisions,
students become
responsible for their
education.
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.
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.
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.

Research says:
Music
*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.
Movement

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
brain’s hemispheres is
necessary for reading and
writing.


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
Encoding

Research says:
* the more knowledgeable one
is of a particular area, the
easier it will be to encode
information.

Classroom Application:
*Retell stories in their
own words.
 oral
 written
*an effective encoding strategy
is elaboration, which can be
done semantically, or through
imagery.
*Peer Editing
*the key to aspect to build
memory is to be able to encode
relevant information and discard
irrelevant information.
*Turn-and-talk
*Encoding can be both voluntary
and involuntary. Involuntary
encoding is more effective.
 apply their knowledge
of writing to evaluate
another’s writing.
 allow the students time
to process what has
been said, or what has
happened so far.
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
Cooperative Learning

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.

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-pairshare
Wait Time

Research says:
*Created
Rowe.
by Mary Budd
*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.)
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?
Resources




Curriculum and Instruction. Florida Center for Reading Research. Retrieved
July 28, 2008 from
http://www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/studentCenterActivities.htm
Conger, Cristen. Can a Person Remember Being Born? How Stuff Works.
Retreived July 28, 2008 from http://health.howstuffworks.com/rememberbirth1.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