DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND

Most of my career as a music educator has involved secondary students, but in 2005 I spent a year in a K-4 building, teaching elementary general music. I saw first graders late every afternoon f or 5 0 squirmy minutes. The month of September, when these 6-year olds were adjusting (note: school word) to a full  day of instruction, was an exercise in creative distraction, if not head-banging aggravation. By 1:55 p.m., when they came up the steps to the (trumpet fanfare) Music Cottage—a cottage with rusty avocado green aluminum siding—they were somewhere between agitated and fried.

On the very first day of school, we sat cross-legged in a circle on the floor to do a name-game song. Fun! Action! I even gave them lummi sticks. We had been seated for perhaps 13 seconds before one little kiddo flopped over backwards. It’s hard to lie down with your legs crossed, but first graders can do it, easily. I know, because about ten of them were flat on their backs before I could sing Willoughby, Wallaby Wustin—an elephant sat on Justin.

The schedule was designed by the principal who saw morning as prime time for literacy, and put all the important stuff into the first graders’ scheduled day before palming them off on their art and music teachers. She was right, of course. Kids are freshest early in the day (unless we’re talking HS sophomores at 7:10 a.m.). All people, including teachers in day-long professional development workshops, have an expiration point for attention, involvement and just plain courtesy. What happens when adult learners get bored and restless? We give them a break. And food. Maybe coffee. And a chance to stretch, chat each other up and use their cell phones.

What do we give kids, in their mid-afternoon slump? Social studies worksheets.

The research on recess is irrefutable: kids perform better academically when they get regular breaks, a chance for unstructured play and gross motor activity. Ten minutes of running around yelling turns out to be good for health and good for learning.

Lately, there have been reports of tightly structuring, reducing and even eliminating recess as a staple of elementary school practice. The Center for Public Education recently released an analysis of studies done on recess, cheerily concluding that recess isn’t dead: 88% of schools give first graders daily recess—with an average between 24 and 29 minutes. Still, the Center concedes:

    The pressure on schools to find more instructional time is real, and it seems to be leading many districts to shave minutes from the recess time they provide. In addition, children who attend high-poverty, high-minority, or urban schools are far more likely than their peers in other locations to get no recess at all—a definite “recess gap” that commands our attention.

It’s not just the demand for more time on academic tasks. It’s about adequate supervision, maintaining safe and appealing play sites, and worries about litigation. A lot of what the general public remembers fondly about recess—invigorating games of extreme dodgeball, evidently—comes from a time when teachers did playground duty and there weren’t likely to be drug deals going down on the corner. In the end, a quality recess program costs money, forethought and effort.

Even when research supports physical activity as necessary to refresh concentration and interest, it’s easier to eliminate one or more recess periods. Twenty-five minutes a day seems pretty paltry to me, especially when it’s attached to lunch. Again—an adult training seminar would schedule an hour lunch and at least 30 minutes in break time. And we’re supposed to have some self-control.

I took my first graders outdoors to dance sometimes (and I live in the Land of the Snowsuit)—and their attention span did lengthen appreciably over the course of the year. Still, I wondered how their teachers dealt with the last 45 minutes of the day, without a run-around break. So I asked them. All of their teachers were staging a quasi-recess right after music class, lots of kinesthetic games and time to talk. Teachers were keeping this on the down low, since recess couldn’t be counted as state-required instructional time.

Made me want to start singing:

Willoughby Wallaby Wecess—Politics messed up recess.

Image: Kevin Rosseel/morguefile.com

Comments

[The Science Goddess]

The observation about supervision is keen. In the Title I elementary I was in last year, kids only got a bit of recess (15 minutes) at lunch because it was the only time paras were available to supervise. With tight budgets and struggling kids, unless the teacher was willing to supervise, there was no additional recess during the day due to staffing issues.

[Melissa B.]

I just don't understand the districts that want to get rid of recess. Even my high-schoolers need a break in the middle of the day. For awhile, our administration tried warehousing them during lunch in the cafeteria, which was a prescription--literally--for destruction. Now that they have the option of going outside during lunch, they're much more pleasant in the afternoon! BTW, on a completely different subject, we're Sharing the Caption Love over at my place today. Yup, it's time for the Silly Sunday Sweepstakes--come play along!

[Nancy Flanagan]

Melissa and SG--
You're both right. Older kids need breaks, too. The pushback against recess/break time is really more about money than student achievement, I think. If you "can't afford" regular, well-supervised recess periods, it's easier to blame it on the need for more instructional time. Even if every teacher knows that their kids will be more attentive after a short burst of exercise.

I don't blame teachers who balk at doing recess duty. Many of them fought hard to have their own break, and to have ample qualified people hired to supervise the playground, so they had time to make a call, grab a bottle of water or simply use the facilities.

In the end, it's all about resource allocation. What do we value most?

[Abigail Beal]

Recess is critical for children's health, wellbeing and their success as students. By participating in recess they are building stronger bodies and minds. It is a true disappointment when schools cut recess. Children should also be allowed to play in after school hours -- both active play and games that keep them engaged. The games at http://www.k5stars.com keep kids engaged as they learn the same subjects they would in school.

:) Abigail