Give Your Brain a Break!

When time is of the essence, taking a break can easily feel like slacking off. However, it is worth remembering, despite our growing to-do lists, that there is quite a bit of research to support the idea that taking regular breaks from mental tasks improves productivity and even creativity. In fact, looking at this from the reverse perspective, not taking breaks can actually decrease productivity and cause an increase level of stress. Just like your muscles, the brain can become fatigued if you exercise it too much without giving it a chance to relax a little!

We’ve made it a priority to give students a reward for their hard work as well as a break during the learning process by integrating fun games into Study Island. To play these games, students have to answer questions in Study Island correctly and only then do they have the opportunity to play GameMode. These games help keep students motivated as they work towards mastering their specific state standards.

What’s more, we recently brainstormed a few ideas for new games for your students, and we’re excited to announce four new Premium Games that will be ready and waiting in Study Island’s Game Mode when you return to school in August! The new games are:

• Bugs Away – Propel your bug across the garden but make sure they land safely on a flower and don’t get lost in the grass
• Raining Numbers – Move quickly and collect the right falling rain drop to answer each  math problem
• Study Island Pizza Company – Fill as many pizza orders in a row as you can before time is up!
• World of Words – Put your vocabulary to the test by building words from a collection of letters!

Why are we calling the new games “Premium”? Well, for these games we’re using more animation technology to add another level of interaction into these games and we’ve also added options for different skills levels into the mix. We’re very excited to hear what our Study Island students think of these new games when they return for the 2014–2015 school year!

In the meantime, we encourage you to take a quick break from your busy day to give yourself a pat on the back for all your hard work. You’ve earned it!

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