FREE printable Whole Brain teaching rules to put in picture frames and display in your classroom. Use them to teach students the rules in an active way.
Whole Brain Teaching: Rules That Just Make Sense
Today, I’m sharing how I use and post Whole Brain teaching rules in picture frames for my classroom.
What are Whole Brain Teaching Rules?
Whole Brain Teaching is a style of teaching where instruction seeks to actively engage every learner in activities. The whole brain teaching rules are just one aspect of the teaching method that I will be sharing today.
My favorite part of Whole Brain teaching are the classroom rules and I have been using them in my classroom for a few years now with a lot of success. They are fun to learn, easy to remember with actions, and effective at getting students to remember the rules. Please note that I am using an adapted version of the rules that I prefer for my own classroom needs. Click here to see the original Whole Brain rules.
I start by printing my rules large and in color. I found these super affordable frames at Ikea because they matched my classroom colors. You could find something similar at almost any dollar store. I post my rules in a highly visible location for my students to see and for us to practice each morning. I introduce each rule and we discuss what it means. We also share ways that we can do what the rules are asking.
My Whole Brain Teaching Rules
I teach the Whole Brain actions that go along with each rule and poster.
RULE #1 – Listen when your teacher is talking.
ACTION: Point to your ears. Point to the teacher. Make talking motion with your hands.
RULE #2 – Follow directions quickly.
ACTION: Snap fingers side to side. Move arms back and forth quickly on the word “quickly”
RULE #3 – Respect others, respect yourself, respect your school.
ACTION: Point to the class. Point to yourself. Point to the floor.
RULE #4 – Raise your hand to speak or stand.
ACTION: Raise your hand. Make a talking motion with your hand, then make two fingers into point down like 2 legs.
RULE #5 – Be safe, be kind, be honest.
ACTION: Cross arms across chest. Put hands on heart. Put one hand up and one hand on chest, like you are making a promise.
Note: There are variations on the rules out there. These are the rules that I prefer to use in my classroom.
Tip: I write the actions down on a little cheat sheet for me to remember until the class is fluent with these.
Video Example of Whole Brain Teaching Rules
Check out this amazing video of a veteran teacher and her Kindergarten class using Whole Brain strategies and her students saying the classroom rules with actions. It is amazing how quickly students learn these rules and are able to perform the actions.
Do you know how sometimes it is hard to get everyone to participate in certain activities? Not this! Everyone loves these Whole Brain classroom rules in picture frames.
Students make deeper connections between the meaning of the rules when they are using their brains to perform the actions. You can also easily incorporate reviewing rules into your day at various times. For example, when your class is waiting in line or whenever you need to get your students’ attention.
Whole Brain Teaching Rules Posters
Grab your FREE Whole Brain Classroom Rules posters (my own adapted version) by clicking the image below. I have recently updated these to include a set with a white background (to save some ink). Hope you like them!
I’d love to know…Â Do you use Whole Brain teaching rules in your classroom? What is your favorite?
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Thank you for this! I am new to WBT but I plan to research and implement as much as I can this upcoming school year!
Thank you for this post! Love it!!!
Thank you; the posters are great. Do you know of anyone who has made a booklet for the students with these rules?
I love this idea of acting out the rules. I tried a few this week. We are going to use your poster idea next week. I printed and laminated yours and then decided to make my own with picture clues. Thanks for the inspiration!
Love it! I’m always looking for simple ways to teach rules!
Hey there! I love that you like WBT and are sharing about it! Great blog! However, these are not the WBT Rules. I am a Certified WBT Teacher and I have had a couple people message me asking if the rules changed because they found these. Would you be so kind to update them to be true WBT Rules if they are labeled that way? We would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Hi Heidi! I understand that there is a rule or two that I have changed to reflect my individual needs. I will update the post to reflect that this has been done. Thanks for your input!
I’m a Spanish teacher and I would lilke to translate this rules into Spanish. Can you send me the file so I can edit it?
Hi Carmen! These files are not editable but I didn’t come up with the rules so feel free to create your own!
Hi Carmen! These files are not editable but I didn’t come up with the rules so feel free to create your own!
Hi! I am so excited to try these rules in my kindergarten classroom! As a first year teacher, I have a question. In your classroom, what do the consequences look like for breaking these rules? I want a solid management plan, which I know needs regular, set-in-stone consequences; but in my head, blurting out (breaking rule 4) doesn’t equivocate to disrespecting someone else’s property (breaking rule 3). If you wouldn’t mind sharing some of your ideas for consistent consequences, I would really appreciate it!!!
I can’t find the resource anywhere for this. I have looked on TPT, your site, and my email after subscribing and I can’t find it. Can you please help me with this?
Hi Jaimie! Sometimes emails to school districts get blocked so please check your spam folder and mark us safe. If it’s still not there, email support@proudtobeprimary.com and we will assist you!
Elyse