Hi Biology Buzz friends! Here is something fun I want to share with you that you can try in your class…it’s the Rainbow Brain Squeeze toy from Trainers Warehouse. I love this company for their ice breaker items! The Rainbow Brain is a squeeze stress toy that can be used to reinforce learning concepts in your classes. I like to call this stress toy the “Learning Brain”, because when used in a classroom the right way, you see the magic of students engaged in discussion and eagerly sharing in a class discussion or test review. It can be tossed to a student to answer a question/prompt and then they will toss it to another student so that they may share out.
This squeeze brain toy is fun to throw and safe as it is soft. Students will love the chance to show off their throwing skills in front of classmates, not just what they know. It has a cool rainbow color appearance and is soft and smooth in texture. Being that it is in the shape of a brain makes it perfect for a biology or health classroom. It is perfect for adding sensory stimulation in your class, as it is kind of therapeutic to squeeze. Your kinetic learners will shine in this, as they will love the opportunity to physically participate in your lessons. Many of these types of learners get bored just reading and writing in class, so will especially love the movement and action combined with learning.
I have used this squeeze brain in the classroom setting for years-10 years plus, and each year students love it. I can’t tell you how many times a student asked me if they could have it, or where I go it from. For this reason, I buy a few in the beginning of the school year to put in my classroom reward box.
Should Trainers Warehouse ever be out of these, you can easily substitute it with any soft stress ball in its place. One option is the rainbow ball which also has the same fun, lively colors, just is not in the shape of a brain, but of course ANY squishy, soft ball can be used in place of these. Okay, so you know by now that I really like using it and that students love using it, now let’s get into some ground rules for using it, and some cool ways to incorporate this squeeze ball into your lessons.
Some Ground Rules to go Over with Students Before Using the Learning Brain
Before doing this in any class, it is important to set some ground rules to help ensure the activity goes smoothly. Here they are:
1. Even though it is soft, remind students to gently throw the ball to another student, rather than
peg the student they are throwing it to (Yes, some students have been known to do this).
2. The person holding the brain shares out their answer, then they will throw it to someone else,
so that they may respond to the question or make a comment.
3. Before throwing it to another student, the person with the brain must call the name of the
person they are going to throw it to, so that that person is prepared to catch it.
4 The only one who should be talking is the one holding the brain. The rest of the class is quiet,
and actively listening.
5. Only throw the rainbow brain to a person who is not yelling or calling out, "Me! Me! Me! or
"Over here!". *Students must be silent with hands raised to have a turn to catch it.
*You know your classes. If a class is too rowdy and difficult to manage, then this may not be something you can incorporate into their lessons. You be the judge whether this will work in all your classes.
WAYS TO USE LEARNING BRAIN in YOUR CLASS:
1. Use as a wrap-up activity at the end of a lesson to reinforce key concepts.
2. Use as a warm-up activity at the start of a lesson to review previous class content.
3. Use a test review.
4. Use as an ice breaker or brain break activity.
Reinforce Learning Concepts by Asking Questions
The rainbow brain is excellent for checking for understanding. Simply ask a question, then choose a student to answer it by throwing the brain to them. They will share their answer then toss the brain to someone else to answer the question too, or to answer a new question you give them. If you know a quiz or test is coming soon, you can ask them specific test ready questions.
Reinforce Learning Concepts by Letting Students ask the Question.
Here, the student will ask a question, not the teacher. You could tell them to ask a question, then throw the brain to a student who has their hand up to answer the question. Then that student will ask another question for someone to answer. You, the teacher, will check that the responses are correct before moving on to a new question in this review activity. For example, a student may ask in which phase of mitosis to DNA replication occur? He or she will throw it to another student so that they may respond. Then if the answer is correct, this student will ask a new question.
The ABC’s Extensions for Reinforcing Learning
Have students share in alphabetical order one science or health term that they learned in class that week and see how far they get in the alphabet.as a class. You can have them call out words that have to do with a unit they are studying or make it any biology or health term.
For example, throw the brain to a student and have them give you a science or health term that begins with the letter A, like the word: abiotic factor. Then they will toss it to another students who will call out a term that begins with the letter B, such as biotic factor or bacteria and so worth. You can see which class gets the farthest in the alphabet and share the results with them the next day. You can make it more challenging too by setting a sand timer to set a limit on how long each student has to answer the question or call out a term.
Get to Know Classmates Ice Breaker
This can be used for students to answer fun questions you ask about your students in the beginning of the year, such as share out their name and one thing about themselves they want others to know, or what is their favorite dessert, or which city they were born in.
Welcome Back from a Holiday or Weekend
You may use this after the weekend or a holiday break, to ask students to share what they did on their time off.
Random Call On
To get all students involved, and if you have enough time, you may want to tell the class that they can call on anyone to answer the question, even if they do not have their hand raised…just remind them to still call their name before throwing the learning brain to them. I’ve found that students are more likely to be paying attention and listening to the questions asked when I do this.
Warm-up or Wrap-up
You can use the learning brain at the start of class to recall important concepts from the previous class meeting or at the closing of class to share something they learned in class that day.
Your Visual Learners
Some students you can tell them something and they will often ask, “What did you say?” or “What was the Question? I didn’t hear it”. You teachers know what I am talking about! :) For this reason, you may want to plan your question/s ahead of time and have them written on a big screen or white board for students to be able to both hear and see the question being answered. You may also want to write down the correct answers on the board as they are called out by students during the rainbow brain toss.
Possible Learning Brain Questions in Lessons
1. What are some gifts you give yourself when you choose not to smoke?
2. Name negative effects/consequences caused by smoking.
3. Give me an example of positive peer pressure.
4. Name a nutrient we talked about in class.
5. Name a blood vessel and tell me one thing about it you learned.
6. Share about examples of positive peer pressure.
7. What are some good refusal lines to practice abstinence?
8. What are some ways to build self-esteem.
9. Name a cell organelle and give its function.
10. Name the phases of mitosis in order.
11. Name something you learned about the lesson (specific topic) today.
12. What did you do over your break?
13. How are you feeling today?
14. What have you liked learning most in this class so far?
15. Which lab from this class was one of your favorites and why?
*There are countless questions you can come up with! These were just a few examples for you. Have fun with it, whatever you do!
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