How it works
The four tests a plan has to pass to last four weeks
Small enough.
Under ten minutes. Anything longer will not happen on a bad day.
Attached to something.
It follows something they already do, so there is nothing to remember.
Nothing to buy.
No kit, nowhere to go, nobody else needed.
Works on a bad day.
They would still do it on a day when they feel like doing nothing at all.
The class writes these four down in lesson three and marks each other’s plans against them.
Students rank six things by how awake each would leave them, then look at what actually happens in the body, the graph, and three published studies, including a trial on 168 students aged 12 to 15. They predict each result before seeing it, learn to take a pulse, and write down a prediction in numbers.
They measure their pulse and focus, do five minutes of movement beside their own chair, then measure both again. There are three options (short bursts, strength, or stretch and breathe) and every step has a seated version on the card. The class result goes on the board in bands rather than names, and onto the graph from lesson one.
First the evidence for why a plan beats one good session, then each student writes a plan card that starts at two minutes and grows to five. The cards pass two tables along and are marked against the four tests, and every plan ends with an if-then sentence for the day it goes wrong.
This series stays on movement, mood and focus. It is not about how sporty anybody is, nobody is ranked, and no number leaves the student’s own sheet. The slides say all of that to the class before anybody measures anything. Movement is never offered as a treatment for mental illness, and the pack has a page of safety checks to go through before the lesson rather than by asking the room on the day.
Get the lesson
Lesson 1 slides
What happens in the body, the graph, three published studies with a predict-the-result activity, how to take a pulse, and the written prediction. About fifty minutes.
Download PPTXLesson 2 slides
Safety, three measurements around five minutes of movement, the class tally, the comparison with the study, and their numbers on the graph. About forty-five minutes.
Download PPTXLesson 3 slides
The evidence for four weeks, the four tests, marking each other’s plans, the if-then sentence, and the honest slide about stopping. About fifty minutes.
Download PDFTeacher resource pack
Fourteen pages in lesson order: the whole series on page one, then each lesson’s guide followed by everything that lesson needs to print. Full references on the last page.
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