The effect of brain breaks on elementary students' on-task behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to study the effect of various classroom-based brain breaks on elementary students’ on-task behavior. A total of 120 Grade five and Grade six students in a Catholic Lebanese school were assigned according to their sections to two conditions; performing a task without doing a brain break prior to it (control), and performing a task after a brain break (experimental). Moreover, the type of brain break was studied to check which type was the most effective and kept students on task for a longer period of time. A randomized t-test was done and the results showed that students who were given the brain break had a significantly better on-task behavior than students who were not given the brain break. The most effective type of brain break was the game with cross-lateral movements while the intense cardiovascular break was the least effective. Recommendations were made to integrate brain breaks as a part of the lesson plan and curriculum. Future research could be conducted to identify other brain breaks that could enhance the students’ on-task behavior according to their age.