478 Breathing

Learning Target OR Standards & Connections
  • Related SEL Skills: Self awareness, Self management, Emotion Regulation
Essential Outcomes(s) Level(s)
Students will…

  • Learn about & practice mindfulness through taking deep breaths.
  • Identify when they are feeling stressed and practice strategies for managing stress.
  • Recognize how deep breathing can be used to calm and focus the body and mind
 All grades
Activity/Project
  1. In large or small groups, discuss the following: 
    1. 1. What is stress? 
    2. What sorts of things cause stress? 
    3. What happens to our body when we’re stressed? Identify the physical and emotional signs of stress. Take suggestions as to what we can do to calm ourselves. Then ask what we can do anytime and anywhere to feel calm.
  2. Teach students about 4-7-8 breathing
    1. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4. 
    2. Hold your breath for a count of 7.
    3. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of 8.
    4. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.
  3. Have students do 1-2 cycles of 4-7-8 breathing (you may use this image)
  4. Discuss with students how that felt for them.
  5. Students will use Soundtrap to create their own music to go along with their 4-7-8 breathing.
  6. Students will choose the Podcast template
  7. Students will choose a loop and adjust so that it plays for 4 seconds, then a different loop for 7 seconds, and a third loop for 8 seconds.
  8. Students will add the cycle bar for the entire piece to repeat the breathing cycle.
Extended Learning
  1. Students can add fade in/outs to their loops for a smooth transition.
  2. Students can create a calming video on a different app to go along with their 4-7-8 recording

 

The author of this is Serena Robinett, education specialist at Soundtrap. 

Serena Robinett was an educator for New York City DOE before she became an Education Specialist at Soundtrap. She was the Instrument Music Director at a middle school in Queens where her students learned music literacy, music history and participated in various ensembles like modern rock band, symphonic orchestra, and digital music. Serena then taught technology at a K-8 school in Harlem for two years. Her students learned to use technological applications to share their voices and knowledge. They also learned to be digital citizens and computational thinkers. Serena is focused on the importance of cultivating and sharing student voices, building trusting relationships, and creating a culturally responsive classroom. 

The idea for a 4-7-8 breathing Soundtrap lesson came from former education specialist, Audrey O’Clair. Audrey O’Clair is, first and foremost, a community builder. As a former special education teacher, she knows that using every available resource—from edtech to social media to professional learning networks—is the trick to helping individuals succeed.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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