Brain Gym

1) Hydrate! 2) Find some personal space 3) Follow along 4) Have fun!

Brain gym is a way to wake up students and get the blood flowing. In the language classroom it can take on a whole new element of learning: TPS or Total Physical Response. TPS was developed by James Asher in the early 1970's and, put very simplistically, involves teachers giving "commands" to students in the target language and students following those commands to both show understanding and connect physically to the meaning of the language.

To adapt brain gym to your language classroom, think about the script you will use with your students. Is there any vocabulary they will need in advance of doing this activity? Is there any portion of your explanation that needs to be in the first language? (The really great thing about brain gym is the answer to this question is probably no!) Have fun!