Fab Frogs goes Noodling!

I certainly believe in taking breaks but who has time?   I teach 4th grade and we have four days of state testing, a timeline to stick to, and so much to teach...... ain't nobody got time for that!

I sometimes stopped for a quick joke or a stretch break but nothing really fun and engaging until GoNoodle! I know that sounds like an infomercial or something but I promise you its not.  You know me, I am honest with my reviews, I don't sell anything, and I give away the stuff I do make so I promise I am not making this schtuff up!

I went to a workshop where someone mentioned doing brain breaks with her kindergarten class.  She mentioned how she told her kids to stand up and they would do the hokey pokey and other fun chants like that.   Well, I thought it sounded fun but again.... ain't nobody got time for that (in 4th grade)!   

After the holidays my team decided to give a released state test to see how much stamina our kids had. Forget the kids, I couldn't stay still and quiet for 4 hours (that's how long our state test are).   This years class is no different from any other I've had but from some reason it hit me....... we need breaks! 

OK, OK, maybe I am a slow learner but after 10 years of teaching testing grades I realized that my little froggies need a break!   

So what's a girl to do...... yup, I googled brain breaks for big kids.  Long story short (too late for that, right?) I found GoNoodle. My students and I absolutely LOVE GoNoodle!  Who wooda thunk that a free website with all sorts of activities would be the answer to my prayers.  

Okay I may be exaggerating a little, I've never prayed for brain breaks but I have prayed for a shirtless Adam Levine to wake me up every morning with a cup of coffee and a smile.

.....SQUIRREL....

Sorry, back on topic!  I started using GoNoodle in my classroom and haven't stopped!  They have "breaks" to calm a crazy classroom and  also breaks to energize sleepy students.  I registered my class  and we all picked a champ!  Here's a pic of our little guy, cute, huh?

He's a very smart guy!  He shares his words of wisdom every time we log on.  Our champ is growing! Look how big and strong he is now!

There are so many brain breaks to choose from but here are some pics of my class using a few:

I know it sound crazy but my students have been more successful once I started using brain breaks. They can focus more and have even built there stamina and most importantly THEY THINK I AM THE COOLEST TEACHER EVER!!!!!!!!  Hahahaha 

There's so much more to explore.  You NEED to go visit GoNoodle and see what its all about.  I am not sure if it was their intention or not buuutttt this is the best bribery tool eva!!!!!!!!   Want your kids to sit quietly and read? Just promise a brain break!  Want your kids to walk quietly in the hall?  Yup, you guessed it.....bribe with a brain break!  "Yay, every single student did their homework for the entire month!  Let's celebrate with 10 minutes of brain breaks!"     I'm not proud but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!

Click HERE and take two seconds to register your class and come back and let me know what you and your students think!

Here's to "Noodling" my fabulous friends,