TEACH KIDS TO DAYDREAM

“Mental downtime makes people more creative and less anxious”

By: Jessica Lahey

Published: The Atlantic, Oct 16, 2013, http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/10/teach-kids-to-daydream/280615/  

Level of Difficulty: **

VIDEOS TO WATCH AND MAKE NOTES ON IN PREPARATION FOR THE READING TASK

·         The importance of daydreaming http://live.huffingtonpost.com/r/segment/daydreaming-daydreams-daydreaming-good-for-you-daydreaming-healthy/5136237e78c90a6ce000026f

      * What is Daydreaming in Psychology? - Definition & Disorder

       http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-daydreaming-in-psychology-definition-disorder-quiz.html

·         The Interview Doctor the Importance of Daydreaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4ov_8H_eII

QUESTIONS

1.       Which of the statements below would you place at the beginning of the first paragraph?

·         Lack of sleep has physical, psychological and cognitive disadvantages

·         Both kinds of rest, sleeping and daydreaming have numerous advantages

·         Both children’s sleep time and the time they spend daydreaming should be protected.

·         Both kinds of rest sleeping and daydreaming have numerous disadvantages

2.       Television, DVD’s and video games don’t constitute quality downtime because they………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

3.       While daydreaming, the brain turns in on itself/ is cut off from the outside world/ is stimulated by input from everyday life. Select the odd man out.

4.       Why does Singer call daydreaming our default state?

5.       Daydreaming is a complex and beneficial neurological process because it has the following advantages: mark as many as you think appropriate

·         Psychological

·         Cognitive

·         Rational

·         Physical

·         Personal

·         Developmental

·         Neurological

6.       People are completely free while daydreaming because the activity is something where…………………………………………….

7.       The text implies that Lubbock would probably agree with Yang that daydreaming is paramount to……………………………………………………..

8.       What surprising solution to test anxiety and accompanying low grades was discovered by experts?

9.       Telling children to have some mental downtime may not be enough; parents may need to ……………………………………….to foster the habit in their children.

10.   It is implied in the text that activities that require / don’t require concentration cannot be accompanied by daydreaming.

11.   Which sentence in the text best summarizes the advice given to parents?

WRITING TASK

Bring together the information you have gleaned from the videos you have watched and the text to write about the importance of daydreaming and why it should be encouraged.

TEACH KIDS TO DAYDREAM KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES

This is a wonderful little text stressing the importance of daydreaming. It flies in the face of all past notions concerning daydreaming and is deeply refreshing.

1.       The third option

2.       Prevent mental wandering

3.       Is stimulated by input from everyday life

4.       Because it can’t operate when we engage our working memory

5.       Psychological, cognitive, personal, developmental, neurological

6.       They (truly) have autonomy

7.       Learning and emotional wellbeing

8.       Simply giving students a few minutes to think about and write down their thoughts on the test significantly increased test scores  

9.       Model the behavior

10.   Require

11.   Teach your kids how to just be.