Deep Breathing for Relaxation

 

  2020 has been an unpredictable stressful year that feels never ending at times for teachers and students alike. Your students might be expressing feelings of stress and anxiety more than ever this school year. Arguing, daydreaming, frequent trips to the nurse, and tattling could be common behaviors in your classroom right now. Some of these are examples of trauma response behavior and you can do some more reading on those here. Everyone needs extra grace, kindness, and new ways to cope with the stress. One great technique is deep breathing exercises.

  Deep breathing exercises have been shown to help reduce stress and help the body relax. While deep breathing, our bodies elicit a relaxation response which includes lowering heart rate, muscles relaxing, slower breathing, and blood pressure decreasing (Source). Doing this can help students to regain focus and find more peace to get through the day. 

One way to make deep breathing more visual, colorful, and fun for students is to use this stretchy toy. You can introduce this activity by modeling how to do it for the students. Eventually, you can make it apart of your daily routine and have students volunteer to lead the class in the exercise. Many students will be eager to be in charge of the class activity for a bit!

 

Begin the activity, by explaining to the students that you will be doing a deep breathing exercise and you need them to sit comfortably in a flat position. Demonstrate the technique of slowly breathing in through your nose, and slowly exhaling through your mouth.

When you are breathing in, the toy will be closed and sucked in just like your breath. As you are breathing out, expand the toy to represent the air going out. Try to exhale for at least 5 seconds for the best results. Repeat the deep breathing as many times as you feel necessary. 

I would personally do the deep breaths in and out about ten times as it's just long enough to really feel the exercise working without losing their attention. These kind of expandable toy balls can be found at many stores like Walmart, Target, or Hobby Lobby. They are relatively affordable and can even be found on amazon. I have linked one on amazon for you here in case you cannot find one in your stores. 

Intermediate Read Alouds

Read alouds were one of my favorite things we did when I was a student. I remember my teachers reading To Stand On My Own, Charolette's Web, and much more! It seems like every school year, there are less and lesson read alouds for students. However, I have found success in using them with the older grades. These books can function as great mentor texts and expose students to things they normally would not read.

Does every student need a copy?

Nope! I am the only one with a copy of the book that I read aloud while the students are listening. I find that they are more engaged just listening. 

When do you do read alouds?

I set aside a specific amount of a time and use a visual timer. Whether it be five or ten minutes, it is whatever works best for the class. School days are jam packed full of things to do, so I keep myself on track with the timer. 

Ungifted by Gordon Korman

This is a book that I did not know what to think of when I first picked it up! One of my reading professors raved about it so I ended up using it for a project. I have used it for lit circles and read alouds. There are so many great plots and themes to discuss with a class in it! It is about a young trouble maker who accidentally gets sent to a gifted school. He spends his time trying to not stand out, getting to know the students, and finding more adventures.

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordon

I read this one recently and it even had me on the edge of my seat! It is the first book in a popular series where Amy and Dan Cahill are given the option of taking a million dollars or chase 39 clues around the world to reveal their family's secrets. It is a very powerful family, but no one has been able to assemble the clues to find the source of power. This book offers so much practice in foreshadowing, prediction, and analysis!

Horrible Harry in Room 2B by Suzy Kline

This book is most suitable for third and fourth grade in my opinion and it is a fast read. It is so funny and students love it! Harry is a second grade student who loves causing mischief in his classroom and he is always up to something. The book follows Harry and his class through his pranks and adventures. 

Freckle Juice by Judy Bloom

Freckle juice is another fast read that students just adore! Andrew deeply desires to have freckles like Nicky his classmate. He is determined that he would live an easier life if he had freckles too. Another classmate, Sharon, notices how desperate he is acting to get them. So she tells him that she has a recipe for freckle juice, but he must pay her first. This is a great book to talk about things like wanting what you cannot have, a lesson I feel like we have to discuss quite a bit with elementary schoolers.