Adolescent Development

Recommendation 3—Time

A summary of young adolescent development, including brain research, as it pertains to the California Department of Education's Recommendation on Time.

Note: Following each essay, the Teaching Tips, Parenting Tips, and External Resources demonstrate how to put the developmental-based strategies into action in the classroom and at home.

Time changes for young adolescents

With the onset of puberty, an adolescent’s biological clock shifts one hour or more later than those of adults and children. The biological clock, or circadian rhythm, controls the cycles of some basic functions (for example, sleep, being alert, body temperature, and pulse rate). In the sleep-wake cycle, young adolescents do not begin to feel tired until later, sometimes as late as 11 p.m. That is because the hormone (melatonin) that is released at night to cause people to feel sleepy is delayed in adolescents. The deeper adolescents go into puberty, the longer sleep is delayed.1 A child may go to bed when told to do so by the parent, but then lie awake in bed unable to get to sleep initially. In the morning, the awake-time is also delayed. Research has discovered that the adolescent brain needs nine and a half hours of sleep at night.2 If middle grades students need to be awake between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. to be ready for school and they have not been able to fall asleep until late, they build up a sleep deficit. Parents wonder why their child sleeps until noon on Saturday. There is a lot of sleep to make up! However, the Saturday catch-up does not help students when they need to be alert for an early mathematics class the following Monday.

Because middle grades students are at varying stages of adolescent development, their alertness and readiness to learn in school will vary as well. Teachers must be aware of which students will be alert and ready to learn in the morning and those who will be struggling just to be awake.

Understanding the relevance of information and rehearsing as keys to memory retention

Students in the middle grades are experiencing the most intensive growth period since the first two years of their lives. This tumultuous time is filled with conflicting thoughts, emotions, and needs. Their behavior is inconsistent, vacillating between wanting to hide in a corner and feeling on top of the world. The hormonal changes and growth spurts leave them feeling excited but perplexed and frightened as to what is happening to them. They are fiercely drawn to their peers and would like their parents to go away . . . but no! Stay!

With so much going on in a young adolescent’s world, it is a challenge for middle grades teachers to get their students focused and in a state where they can learn. The brain is picky about what it chooses to learn (store in long-term memory). Priority for long-term memory is given to information that:

Is important for survival.
Triggers emotions.
Is personally interesting (motivating).
Has sense and meaning.3

Grammar, the date the Declaration of Independence was signed, parts of an animal cell, and how to work an algebraic equation generally do not meet the criteria. To make curriculum palatable for the brain, teachers need to take time to explain why this information will be important for their lives, tie the information to emotion, mold the information to make it personally interesting, and relate the information to what is already known and relevant to give it sense and meaning. It is important for teachers to know the social and psychological dynamics of young adolescents so they understand what is important and relevant to their students. Knowing individual interests shines a light on what is motivating a particular student.

Young adolescents need time to go over and over information. Their minds are being flooded with new levels of hormones, and parts of the brain are undergoing major reorganization.4 Young adolescents are generally under stress of managing their social lives by trying to “fit in” and fearful that they might do something embarrassing. They are watching their peers looking and acting more adult-like and wanting the same for themselves. In class, their eyes are on the teacher, but their minds may be a thousand miles away. Sometimes they may not “hear” the information because they are distracted. At other times, they may just need time to rehearse—or repeat—the information to build sense and meaning.

The process of transferring information to long-term memory takes repetition. The longer an item is rehearsed, the greater the probability that retention in long-term memory will occur.5 When new information is presented to students, it is temporarily tagged in the brain, like a barcode. (This is done by the hippocampus using existing neuron connections.) Many rehearsals are necessary in order for the brain to rewire itself and make the information permanent. Every time students rehearse the information, the brain grows a little this way, a little that way, a connection is made here, a connection is broken there. It is a slow process! Eventually, after multiple changes, an optimal set of connections is constructed.6 Research is showing that much of this rewiring process happens during sleep. This could be a reason why rehearsing information before sleep helps to recall the information better the next day.

Teaching tips:

Time changes for young adolescents

Encourage parents to be diligent about making sure their children get the proper amount of sleep at night. Tell them that during sleep the brain works on storing new information into long-term memory.

Remind parents that as their children get deeper into puberty, sleep patterns change. Young adolescents will require more sleep and their sleep cycle moves ahead to a later time (Related Links ).

Give parents a means (Web site or planner) to be able to review your lessons each night whether you have assigned homework or not. Remind parents that the more their children can review new information, the more quickly they will learn it permanently.

Understanding the relevance of information and rehearsing as keys to memory retention

Give illustrations to show students that the knowledge to be learned is worthwhile.

Study how to help students rehearse information in a variety of ways. The wide range of intellectual growth at this age supports the need to take the time to reach each student’s level of understanding.

Build repetition (or rehearsal) of information into lessons so that the knowledge becomes automatic. Repeating information for one or two days does not work; the brain needs many repetitions to build neuronal networks in the brain and store the information in long-term memory. Some ways to repeat the presentation of information may include:

Teacher pronouncing key words.

Students reading the material as homework.

Teacher presenting a slide show.

Students giving oral explanations.

Students creating a graphic organizer.7

Students teaching the lesson to other students.8 Students talking about what they are learning creates sense and meaning, a necessary ingredient for long-term memory. Every time they talk about it, they relearn the material.

Information to be remembered exactly as presented (spelling, poetry, list of battles, multiplication tables) is called rote rehearsal.

Repeat aloud one set of items at a time over and over.9

Information to be remembered that is more complex and requires the learner to make connections and to form associations to gain sense and meaning is called elaborative rehearsal.

Paraphrasing: Students orally restate ideas in their own words.

Selecting and Note Taking: Students review material and decide which portions are critical and important (using teacher’s criteria).

Predicting: After studying the content, students predict what will follow and what questions the teacher might ask about it.

Questioning: After studying the content, students generate questions about it.

Summarizing: Students reflect on and summarize in their heads the important material or skills learned in the lesson. This is often the last and critical stage where students can attach sense and meaning to the new learning.10

Homework is helpful when it is designed to review the lesson. Allowing students to do their homework in class deprives them of needed rehearsal at home. Remember, rehearsing at least an hour before sleep assists in storing new information into memory. Some fun ways for students to review information may include:

Retelling the lesson to a parent where the parent takes notes and sends them back with the student.

Creating a picture book of the new vocabulary words.

Creating flashcards of important points.

Writing questions with which the students could quiz their classmates.

Creating a picture book of photos from magazines or the Internet that explain the lesson.

Rereading the material or chapter to a sibling or parent.

Drawing cartoons of the procedure or story in the lesson.

Making up a song or poem about the lesson.

Parenting tips:

Time changes for young adolescents

Monitor how much sleep your child is actually getting; do not be surprised when your child’s biological clock shifts.

Make sure your young adolescent gets nine or more hours of sleep each night. Adequate sleep is vital to the memory storage process. Information learned during the day is processed for long-term memory during sleep, specifically during rapid eye movement (REM). This connection between sleep and learning makes getting the right amount of sleep each night extremely important for your child. Otherwise, the memory storage process is disturbed and cut short. 11

Even though an adolescent’s sleep cycle shifts to a later time and the need for extra sleep increases, schools generally have very early start times. Begin discussions with your school board about starting school later. There is considerable research proving that students do better in school when school starts later that will support your stand!12

If your child is sleep-deprived, make gradual changes in his or her sleep patterns by 10 minutes per night.

To help your child fall asleep:

Use calming activities that are relaxing mentally and physically: reading books, listening to music, or journaling.

Keep her or his room as dark as possible with heavy shades and eliminate the nightlight. Melatonin, the hormone in the brain that causes drowsiness, is secreted every night when there is complete darkness and is inhibited when there is light. 13

Understanding the relevance of information and rehearsing as keys to memory retention

Review lessons from the school day with your child.

If your child says, “I don’t have any homework,” or “I did it in class,” make that an opportunity to review the homework or the day’s lessons.

Review your child’s lessons no less than one hour before bedtime. This assists in processing the new information into long-term memory. When important information is reviewed before sleep, it is more likely to be remembered the next day during a test. 14

The more your child reviews the lessons, the more the brain has a chance to make long-term storage into memory possible. A great way for your child to review lessons is for him or her to become the teacher and you the student.

Create fun ways for your child to review new information by tying the material to what interests him or her:

Art: Draw pictures that illustrate the information.

Sports: Create a game out of shooting basketballs—for every basket missed, some information must be stated.

Computer: Create a collage of Internet information on the subject.

Games: Create a bingo game using vocabulary words instead of the letter plus number (e.g., B4). If the child has the vocabulary word on his or her card, he or she must give the definition before placing a token on the spot.

Music: Create jingles, songs, or lyrics that go with the lesson’s information.

Reading: Write a short story using facts and vocabulary from the child’s lesson.

Shopping: Turn math problems into strategies of buying and selling their favorite items.

Taking Center Stage – Act II (TCSII)

A Portal for Middle Grades Educators

Adolescent Development

Recommendation 3—Time

Time changes for young adolescents

Understanding the relevance of information and rehearsing as keys to memory retention

Teaching tips:

Time changes for young adolescents

Understanding the relevance of information and rehearsing as keys to memory retention

Parenting tips:

Time changes for young adolescents

Understanding the relevance of information and rehearsing as keys to memory retention

Related Links