Here are the resources I and my colleagues have used to teach students (5th grade – 12th grade or year 6 – year 13) about learning and the brain. They are free to download for personal use by teachers in their classrooms.
(No commercial use permitted, but feel free to share with colleagues!)
We started every year with a single lesson but that lesson developed over time. You might want to have a rolling programme… or combine ideas from all 3 years. You will also need to revisit the material often throughout the year. Each retrieval practice is an opportunity for a mini-whiteboard question about learning and memory. Anything to do with gorillas tends to work well. It’s modelling what we hope they will be doing to help them learn!

Middle school (US), KS3 (UK) resources – the basics
PowerPoint presentation for 10 – 14 year olds.
Notes to go with PowerPoint

Middle school (US), KS3 (UK) resources – the basics + the adolescent brain
PowerPoint presentation for 10 – 14 year olds.
Notes to go with PowerPoint

Middle school (US), KS3 (UK) resources – the basics + a focus on attention
PowerPoint presentation for 10 – 14 year olds.
Notes to go with PowerPoint
High school (US), KS4/KS5 (UK) resources – the basics
PowerPoint presentation for 14-18 year olds.
Notes to go with PowerPoint

High school (US), KS4/KS5 (UK) resources – the basics + the adolescent brain and dopamine (background information here)
PowerPoint presentation for 14-18 year olds.
Notes to go with PowerPoint

High school (US), KS4/KS5 (UK) resources – the basics + focus on attention
PowerPoint presentation for 14-18 year olds.
Notes to go with PowerPoint

AND/OR… show them my video!


