How Do Shorter Lesson Plans Help Children Learn, According to Olympia Della Flora?

On TED Talks Daily, Olympia Della Flora says teachers at her school kept using shorter lesson plans built around a single focus, so children could stay with one thing long enough to engage. They paired that with movement breaks, including a couple of minutes to jump or dance, because a break helped students retain what they had just met. She says difficult experiences at home had become real barriers to learning, and the shorter lessons were one way over them. Academic scores rose, and the climate of the school got calmer for children and for adults.