The Effects of Brain Gym® Activities and Traditional Teaching Strategies on Students' Performance in Comprehension in a 4th Grade Classroom

The purpose of this study was to examine the difference between students' scores in comprehension (English Language Arts) tests when they are led in Brain Gym® activities before class instruction and when they are taught using traditional teaching strategies. The sample for this study consisted of 11 males and 9 females. Data were collected by using Pearson Reading Comprehension tests. The students were tested after five days of receiving traditional teaching strategies and again after five days of participating in Brain Gym® activities before class instruction began. Data were analyzed using a paired t-test. The results indicated a significant difference in students' comprehension test scores when taught using Brain Gym® activities over the students' comprehension test scores who were taught using only traditional teaching strategies t(19)= -5.461, P=0.001. However, there was no significant difference between genders on performance. The results suggest that implementing Brain Gym® activities before instruction significantly influences comprehension scores; therefore, teachers are encouraged to use Brain Gym® activities to help improve their students' comprehension scores.