Increasing Students’ Academics Through the Use of Whole Brain Strategies

The objective of my research was to determine if
whole brain teaching strategies could help increase
students’ academic scores in an urban elementary
classroom. To test this hypothesis, I created a pre/
post assessment cycle design focusing on whole
brain chants and gestures taught during a science
unit on the states of matter. Participants included
20 first grade ELL students at Park Lakes Elementary school. Students took a pretest, were involved in
5 whole brain based lessons and posttest. The lessons
included whole brain strategies like “mirror me”,
“teach, okay”, and other interactive activities. At the
conclusion of the lesson, a posttest was issued. All 20
students earned a passing score as compared to the
low scores on the pretest. Therefore, I concluded that
using whole brain teaching strategies throughout lessons
increase students’ academic scores. My intent
is to continue this technique with future lessons to
improve students’ Florida Standardized assessment.