The Need To Extend Recess Time

For various reasons, I believe that morning recess needs to be extended because it does not allow students enough time to take care of their basic needs. Some people may disagree because they feel that this will decrease instructional and learning time. However, I believe that a longer recess will allow students time to drink water and go to the bathroom. Also, students will have time to play team sports. Finally, the most important reason is students will have enough time to eat their healthy snacks. Consequently, I will argue that an extended recess benefits students’ learning.

First, students need more time to leave to the bathroom and drink water. In fact, with a short recess, students interrupt the teacher and other students when they leave during recess time. Also, when they do leave during class, they miss the lessons and the teacher’s instructions. For example, a student on my project team left to the bathroom when the teacher was explaining how to do an activity; when he came back, I had to explain everything again to him and we did not have enough time to finish our project. Therefore, if students have a longer recess, they will have adequate time to drink water and go to the bathroom, and not miss the teacher’s instructions.
Second, with a longer recess period, students are able to play team sports. In fact, students will build and develop team skills by playing team sports. In addition, students can relieve stress and energize themselves. For instance, after a long period of work, students get bored and sleepy and they have a difficult time listening and following directions. However, after they have had time to unwind during recess, they are more alert and ready to learn in class. So, to improve student attention in the classroom and build team skills, students need a longer recess to play team sports.

Third, students need more time to eat their nutritious snacks. Actually, when students are hungry, they pay less attention to the teacher’s instructions because they are thinking of food instead. Furthermore, when students get hungry, they begin to fidget and disrupt others. For example, when I am not able to eat my snack during recess and it is time to go to class, the last thing I am thinking about is learning. Therefore, students need more time to eat their snacks during recess so that they can focus more on the class instruction instead of their grumbling stomachs.
Consequently, I believe that a longer recess will benefit students and will improve their learning because they will be able to drink water, go to the bathroom, play sports and eat their snacks. In order to solve this solution, I suggest taking five minutes from lunch and adding them to the morning recess, allowing instructional minutes to remain unchanged. The effect of my solution would be that students would not have the need to leave the room during instructional time and they would be better prepared mentally and physically during class time. For these reasons, I conclude that longer recess will improve student learning.