Attached is a glimse at our special Chanukah activities.  Check out the pictures! 

While the activities may seem like just "fun and games" in reality, each project engages the brain in various areas of cognition, utilizing the whole brain and increasing Executive Function. Whole brain learning is a model of learning where students learn a concept by using both parts of the brain and not the just left or the right brain (Vinukonda, 2018).  

Another benefit of whole brain excercises is the strengthening of Executive Function. Executive Function (EF) refers to important socio-emotional and cognitive skills that are known to be highly correlated with both academic and life success. EF is a blanket term that is considered to include self-regulation, working memory, and planning. Recent studies have shown a relationship between EF and motor control (Gonzelez, Mills, Genee, Li, Piquette, Rosen and Gibbs, 2014).  

The students were introduced to the concept of stengthening their brains through "excercises" and we will continue to incorporate whole brain activities.  

Additionally, when given the opportunity to use their brains in another way, students have shown an aptitude for other "intelligences" and to feel successful, when typical academic learning may be challenging.  One student who struggles to read, was incredibly talented at building the gundrop-toothpick dreidel and was able to help others. Yay! As we discussed in class, every girl is smart, but not always in the way we think of intelligence.

References

Vinukonda, P. S. (2018, July 23). Whole brain learning to enhance your learning experiences. eLearning Industry. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://elearningindustry.com/whole-brain-learning-to-enhance-your-learning-experiences.

Gonzalez, C. L., Mills, K. J., Genee, I., Li, F., Piquette, N., Rosen, N., & Gibb, R. (2014, April 7). Getting the right grasp on executive function. Frontiers in psychology, 5, 285. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00285

https://estherodesign.com/blogs/esther-o-design/16051680-construct-a-dreidel