Mindset Lesson PlansGrades 4-6

The Human Brain

Teaching students that intelligence can be “grown” is powerful!

Mindset Lesson PlanGrades 4-6

Lesson 1

Descriptions: Mindset Survey

Time Allotment: 20 minutes

Materials Needed: Class set of survey and scoring guide

Instructions: Administer survey whole class. Do not provide any explanation for survey item. Prior to giving the survey explain the shades of meaning for answer choices from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree” using the example:

EXAMPLE: I enjoy coming to school everyday.

After survey is taken collect, score and save surveys. After a series of lessons have been taught, students will retake the survey. At this time the pre and post surveys will be returned to students so they can see their growth in moving from a fixed mind-set to a growth mind-set.

Note: If you would like more information on this subject the following materials are available:

Mind-Sets and Equitable Education by Carol S. Dweck/Principal Leadership/January 2010

www.brainology.us Mindset: the New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

Mindset Survey

To what extent do you agree or disagree with these statements? THIS IS NOT A TEST.

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

1. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much.

2. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.

3. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.

4. You are a certain kind of person, and there is not much that can be done to really change that.

5. You can always change basic things about the kind of person you are.

6. Music talent can be learned by anyone

7. Only a few people will be truly good at sports – you have to be “born with it.”

8. Math is much easier to learn if you are male or maybe come from a culture who values math.

9. The harder you work at something, the better you will be at it.

10. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change substantially.

11. Trying new things is stressful for me and I avoid it.

12. Some people are good and kind, and some are not – it’s not often that people change.

13. I appreciate when people, parents, coaches, teachers give me feedback about my performance.

14. I often get angry when I get feed back about my performance.

15. All human beings without a brain injury or birth defect are capable of the same amount of learning.

16. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.

17. You can do things differently, but the important parts of who you are can’t really be changed.

18. Human beings are basically good, but sometimes make terrible decisions.

19. An important reason why I do my school work is that I like to learn new things.

20. Truly smart people do not need to try hard.

Name _______________________ Teacher ___________

Mark an X in the appropriate box please.

Question

Strongly Agree

Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

10.11.12.13.14.15.16.17.18.19.20.

SCORING the Quiz

Key1. ability mindset – fixed2. ability mindset –growth3. ability mindset – growth4. personality/character mindset - fixed5. personality/character mindset –

growth

6. ability mindset – growth7. ability mindset – fixed8. ability mindset – fixed9. ability mindset – growth10. personality/character mindset -

growth

11. ability mindset – fixed12. personality/character mindset – fixed13. ability mindset –growth14. ability mindset – fixed15. ability mindset – growth16. ability mindset – fixed

17. personality/character mindset – fixed18. personality/character mindset –

growth19. ability mindset – growth20. ability mindset - fixed

Scoring

Growth Questions1. Strongly agree – 3 points2. Agree – 2 points3. Disagree – 1 points4. Strongly disagree – 0 point

Fixed Questions1. Strongly agree – 0 point2. Agree – 1 points3. Disagree – 2 points4. Strongly disagree – 3 points

Strong Growth Mindset = 60-45 points Growth Mindset with some Fixed ideas = 44-34 pointsFixed Mindset with some Growth ideas= 33-21 pointsStrong Fixed Mindset= 20-0 points

Question

Strongly Agree

Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

1. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points2. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points3. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points4. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points5. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points6. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points7. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points8. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points9. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points

10. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points11. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points12. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points13. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points14. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points15. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points16. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points17. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points18. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points19. 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 points20. 0 points 1 point 2 points 3 points

Mind-Set Lesson PlanGrades 4-6

Lesson 2

Description: This vocabulary lesson is an introduction to Mindset Lesson 3

Time: Allotment: 30 minutes

Materials needed: Vocabulary handout (to be disseminated at end of lesson for students to keep in a Mindset folder)

Vocabulary words: influence, significantly, resilient, deflect, galvanized

Instructions: 1. Teacher will write vocabulary word on board. Have students repeat the word. Teacher gives the definition for the word, and has students use it in a sentence which further explains the definition context. Then students work in pairs to develop another sentence for the word. Repeat process with all vocabulary words.

2. After all words are written on the board, teacher uses the procedure ‘Clearing the Board’ vocabulary activity with students to review vocabulary words

3. Do another activity with the words such as: Concentration or Pantomime

Definitions Please review the definitions prior to lesson implementation

1. influence: the way someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks2. significantly: importantly3. resilient: able to become strong, happy, or successful again after a difficult situation

or event4. deflect: to change direction, to turn aside5. galvanized: having shocked someone into taking action to solve a problem or improve a

situation 6. transition: movement, change from one position to another

Engagement Activity: Clearing the BoardA vocabulary word is written on the board. The word is read by the students and discussed (role-play words when possible), students discuss meaning of word, use it in a sentence, share prior know of word, etc. Then the next vocabulary word is written and the same process is repeated. When all of the words have been introduced, the teacher moves to the back of the room and gives clues for one of the words, (“I am thinking of a word that means . . . What word am I thinking of?” The student that answers correctly goes to the board erases the word, and stands in front of the class and gives clues for another word. This process of erasing the words is called “clearing the board.”

Engagement Activity: Concentration Cut out the vocabulary cards and definitions. Randomly write numbers on back of each card. Place the cards on the board face down in numerical order. Have students guess two numbers turn cards over, if they guessed a vocabulary word and the correct definition for that word, they have a match. Keep these cards face up. If they do not guess the correct word with definition, turn those cards back over. Continue until all cards are revealed correctly.

Student Vocabulary Handout

1. influence: the way someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks

2. significantly: importantly

3. resilient: able to become strong, happy, or successful again after a difficult situation or event

4. deflect: to change direction; to turn aside

5. galvanized: having shocked someone into taking action to solve a problem or improve a situation

6. transition: movement, change from one position to another

influence

significantly

resilient

deflect

galvanized

transition the way someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks

importantly

able to become strong,happy, or successful again after a difficult

situation or event

movement, change from one position another

having shocked someone into taking action to solve a problem

or improve a situation

to change direction, to turn aside

Mind-Set Lesson PlanGrades 4-6

Lesson 3

Description: Read and discuss article “Mind-Sets and Equitable Education by Carol S. Dweck

Time Allotment: 30 minutes

Materials Needed: Class set: Mind-Set article, highlighters (optional), post-it notes or half sheet of paper

Instructions: Review vocabulary words Introduce article briefly to students (see intro below). Have students silently read the article and highlight “ahas” or interesting facts.

Introduction: Many people think the brain is a mystery. They don’t know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born smart, average, or dumb – and stays that way for life. But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle – it changes and gets stronger when you use it. And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn. Everyone knows that when you lift weights, your muscles get bigger and you get stronger. And when you stop exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker. That’s why people say, “Use it or lose it!” Most people don’t know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger a lot l muscles do when they exercise.

After students have read the article (see attachment), provide an opportunity for them to discus it using the following discussion prompts:

1. What are your reactions to the article?Engagement Strategy: “Numbered Heads Together”

Numbered Heads Together:Students are placed in groups of four, and then they number off 1-4. Teacher states a question; students discuss answer in groups; they consult one another to make sure everyone can answer the question. Teacher randomly picks a number from 1 to 4; students with that number stand up (or raise their hands). Teacher repeats the question again and students respond (individually or together in a choral response).

2. What will you do differently, based on the information in this article?

Have students write their responses on post-it notes or a half sheet of paper and initial them. Keep student’s responses for later reference

Mind-Set and Equitable Education by Carol S. Dweck

Students perform better in school when they and their teachers believe that intelligence is not fixed, but can be developed.

Teaching students that intelligence can be “grown” is especially powerful for students who belong to typically stereotyped groups.

Growth mind-sets focus on effort and motivate students to overcome challenging work.

In my research, I have identified two sets of beliefs that people can have about students’ intelligence (and that students can have about their own intelligence). They can have a fixed mind-set, in which they believe that intelligence is a static trait: some students are smart and some are not, and that’s that. Or they may have a growth mind-set, in which they believe that intelligence can be developed by various means-for example, through effort and instruction. A growth mind-set doesn’t imply that everyone is the same or that anyone could be Einstein, but it does imply that everyone’s intellectual ability can grow and that even Einstein wasn’t Einstein before he put in years of passionate, relentless effort.

Recent research has shown that students’ mind-sets have a direct influence on their grades and that teaching students to have a growth mind-set raises their grades and achievement test scores significantly.

I followed several hundred students in New York City during their difficult transition to seventh grade. We measured their mind-sets at the beginning of the school year and monitored their grades over the next two years to see how they had coped with the challenge. Despite their differing mind-sets, students entered seventh grade with similar mathematics achievement, but their grades jumped apart in their first term and continued to diverge over the next two years. The students with the growth mind-set (those who believed that intelligence could be developed) significantly outperformed their classmates who held fixed mind-set. Why did this happen?

Edited article, Mind-Sets and Equitable Education/Principal Leadership/January 2010

Because they believed that their intellect could be developed, students with a growth mind-set focused on learning, believed in effort, and resilient in the face of setbacks. Students with a fixed mind-set, however, worried more about looking smart and not making mistakes, thought that needing to make an effort to learn meant that their intelligence was deficient, and became discouraged or defensive in the face of setbacks because they believe that setbacks reflected limitations in their intelligence. After receiving a poor grade on a test, they said that they would consider cheating on the next test. In other words, their logic was that if you don’t have ability, you have to find another way to succeed. It is no wonder that having a growth mind-set, with its emphasis on grades than having a fixed mind-set, with all of the worries and defenses that deflect students from applying themselves.

On the basis of those findings, we designed a workshop to teach students a growth mind-set. We took a group of seventh grades who were earning declining mathematics grades. Half of them attended eight sessions of a workshop that taught them great study skills. This was the control group. The other half attended eight sessions of a workshop that taught both study skills and training in the growth mind-set. These students learned that their brain was like a muscle: the more they used it, the stronger it became. They also learned that every time they stretched themselves to learn something new, their brain formed new connections and that over time they could become smarter. Students were galvanized by the idea that the growth of their minds was under their own control. Other researchers, too, were finding that teaching a growth mind-set raised achievement test scores, as well as students’ investment in and enjoyment of school.

You can grow your intelligence! Here’s How…

Lifestyle Effort

Brain foods: Nuts, fish, protein, vegetables

Sleep: 8-9 hours per night, every night

School is not a place that judges you. It is a place where people help your brain grow new connections

Working hard to learn new things makes you smarter

Stay engaged in your learning, set goals, reflect on your goals

Edited article, Mind-Sets and Equitable Education/Principal Leadership/January 2010

Mind-Set Lesson Plan

Grades 4-6

Lesson 4

Description This lesson is a power point presentation on Brainology

Time Allotment 30 minutes

Materials needed Power point presentation “Brainology”, What Do You Know Options for set-up: Computer, LCD projector, SMART board, computer lab

*Pathway to obtain power point presentation - Go to the website: florin.pb.works.com

1. On the right side of the page you will see a box with the heading recent activity, Click Mindset link

2. Under Brainology, click lessons heading 3. Click roman numeral 1- Introduction to neuroscience 4. Click under Brainology 12.2.09.unit1.ppt

Make copies of Student Handout, Journal and Mindset survey recording sheet

Procedure Teacher preview slides from power point prior to lesson insert talking points as desired

After lesson students can begin to complete journal when appropriate

Then administer the Mindset survey (from Lesson 1) again, score and share pre andpost results with students

Engagement Strategy: Numbered Heads TogetherStudents number off 1-4, teacher asks a question; students consult one another to make sure everyone can answer the question. Teacher randomly picks a number from 1 to 4; students with that number stand up (or raise their hands). Teacher repeats the question again and students respond (individually or together as a choral response). After the group responds, the other students may agree/disagree using hand signals. Teacher may ask another student to add to the answer if an incomplete response is given.

Name ________________________________________ Date ______________________

1.

_______________________________________

2.

______________________________________

3.

___________________________________

4.

______________________________________

Journal Notes

I grew my intelligence by . . .

I learned that my brain …

Now I eat ______ because …