20 activities to improve executive function and social emotional literacy

Building Happier Learners and Better Thinkers

20+ Proven & Effective Thinking and Self-Regulation Strategies: For Children with Sensory Disorders, Learning Disabilities, Anxiety & ADHD

Lynne Kenney, PsyD www.lynnekenney.com

Improving Skill DeficitsThe Science of How We Think Feel and DoMusical ThinkingThinking InterventionsImproving Challenging Behaviors

Today’s Landscape

Improving Skill Deficits

Let’s Begin with the Developmental World of The Child

LanguageCognitionSocialSensoryTemperamentMotor

•Developmental Delays•Executive Function•Grief•Trauma•Illness•Low blood sugar•Over-stimulation•Boredom•Misunderstanding•Sabotage•Anxiety

MedicationDevelopmental, Behavioral, Learning Interventions

NeurotransmittersExerciseFood/NutritionSleep

Exercise and NutritionBrief Assessment - Brief NeuroPsych, Mindprint Learning, SLP, OT, PTInterventions - ACTIVATE , MC2, EF Coaching, Cogmed, neurofeedback, Bal a Vis XStrategies - Picture schedules, task modification, verbal cueing, visual cueing, feedback

The Data Drives The Intervention

Nourish at the Cellular Level

Nighty Night

Consistent wake and sleep timesSleep routineDark cool roomMorning sunMorning movement

Neuroscience and Behavioral ChangeHow The Brain is BuiltThe Caveman, The Thinker + BootsThe Power of EntrainmentThe Pre-Skills

The Science of How We Think, Feel and Do

Learning is a biological process.It happens in your brain.

The Biology of Learning

Musical Thinking is a cognitive empowerment strategy utilizing music, movement and rhythm that teaches children how they think and learn helping them gain better control over their approach to daily

tasks and activities related to learning and behavior.

Rhythm is biological, material and meaningfulHow to bounce a ballWhen to bounce a ballWhat ball bouncing teaches us

Entrainment: Having a Ball

readingObservationOral-Motor MovementSound productionBabblingSymbolsMatching symbol to phonemesMeaningful communication

The Pre-Skills

mathQuantitySizePatternsSymbolsRepresentationRelationships

Musical Thinking

Musical Thinking

Musical Thinking is a cognitive empowerment strategy utilizing music, movement and rhythm to teach children how they think and learn helping them gain better control over their approach to daily tasks and activities related to learning and behavior.

Movement precedes cognition.Rhythm is a foundational component to perceiving language, reading and math.Deficits in fine and gross motor control, rhythm, and timing have been consistently reported in the literature across several diagnostic groups including ADHD, developmental dyslexia, reading, math and speech-language deficits. Movement paired with increasingly complex cognition is likely to improve executive functions.

Foundational Cognitive Exercise Research

Musical Thinking

“Teaching children HOW they think,

not simply what to think.”

When we make the application of executive functions to learning transparent and easily understood, children gain better control over what was previously mysterious to them, that is, the process of thinking and learning.

Transparency

You are a cognitive scientist (direct instruction)Your brain is musical(patterns, tempo, rhythm, timing) Cognitive-Exercise

The 3 Part Process

The #1 thing we need to do to learn is put things into our brains then take them out again, over and over.

Slow-Mo – We encode in slow notes.Quick Rick – We retrieve in quick notes.

Learning + Memory

Measures of music have an interesting correlation to cognitive processing. In 4/4 time, there are four beats to a measure.Each beat can help children experience a part of a thought, action or piece of educational content. Since we learn by understanding the sequences of content, knowledge or actions, we are able to teach children better executive function skills by associating content or knowledge with each beat.

What’s In a Measure?

Learning (memory, attention, inhibition)SEL (communication, self-awareness,self-compassion)Mastery (confidence, increased motivation, decreased anxiety/stress)

Musical Thinking Outcomes (what’s on your list?)

Notes

The Cognitive ConversationWhat are Executive FunctionsThe THINK CardsThe Attention CycleThe Flashlight TechniqueCognitive Cueing

Thinking Interventions for Better Learning

Teach children HOW their brains work no simply what to learn

How the brain is builtHow we learnYour brain is musicalExecutive functions are cognitive skillsYou have the power to build your cognitive skillsWith music, art, and movement through practice

Organization, planning, approach and time managementAttention (alert, select, sustain) distractibilityCognitive control, shift and flexibilityMemory, input, manipulation, outputProblem solving, decision makingEmotional regulation and modulationImpulse control and managementMotor management planning, pacing, initiation, maintaining, stopping

Executive Function Domains

Challenging and Complicated BehaviorsThe Sensing BrainCo-regulationMantras, Soothing and Self-Regulation

Improving Challenging Behaviors

Be a force multiplier.You have the power to change the trajectory of children’s learning!