Equipping Minds to Reach Their Full Potential Carol Brown

Stroop Effect Animals

Cognitive Skill: working memory and attention Challenge: Using the colored and the black and white sets, identify the animals in Set 1 and Set 2 in the same amount of time. Set 1’s written word is the same as the picture. Set 2 will require you to ignore what is written and only look at the picture. You should record your time after each round. * Emphasize the prepositions in the directions: around, under, above, on, beside, and over. “I see myself putting a circle around the brown bear.”

Time / Time / Time
Colored and Black and White Animal Sets
Set 1: Say the animals’ names, reading from left to right.
Set 2: Say the animals’ names, ignoring the words.
Set 1: Read in reverse order, saying the animals’ names.
Set 2: Read in reverse order, saying the animals’ names, while ignoring the words.
When the times of Set 1 and Set 2 match, use Set 2, and alternate between the real name and the wrong name. For example: “penguin, camel, bear, cow, Then, penguin, camel, circle, bird, horse, hump
Animal Set with Directions
Set 1: Place a page protector over the animals. Add 1-2 directions at a time until you can do all 20 steps forwards and backwards. You may need to only add one direction at a time. This may take up to 2-4 weeks to remember all of the steps. Say “I see myself” 1) put a circle around the bear 2) a box around the snake 3) X on the fish 4) triangle around the cat 5) a line under the elephant 6) a line above the turtle 7) smiley face on the penguin’s belly 8) a nest under the bird 9) unicorn on the horse 10) claws on the tiger 11) spider web around spider 12) 3 eggs under the chicken 13) bacon on the pig 14) a tree beside the giraffe 15) a bucket under the cow 16) another hump on the camel 17) lily pad under the frog 18) stinger on the bee 19) tall grass around zebra 20) waves over the crab.
Remove the page protector, look at the symbols, and read them from left to right. Next, use Animal Set Grid and place the symbols in the correct grid. Play tic tac toe with the animals.
Classify the animals. Create sentences. “The big brown bear is walking in the woods.” “The little green fish is swimming in the lake.” Connect to grammar and writing.
Set 1 Read the animal, first letter, symbol Set 2 Read the animal, first letter, symbol, wrong word

Animal Set 1

Animal Set 2

Number and Letter Hunt 1-5

Cognitive Skill: visual processing, working memory, attention Challenges: It is important to complete the entire page. You can use a dry erase marker or linking cubes. You will need 10 linking cubes in 5 different colors. Adaptation: To work on their pincer grip, have students hold a ping pong-sized ball in their hand while picking up the cubes. Use a metronome when reading at 54-60 bpm and gradually increase.

Symbols / Cubes / Times
Numbers and Letters
Read the numbers or letters. Add the metronome.
Find the numbers on each row that are the same.
Circle the 1’s, or place a green linking cube on the 1’s.
Next, circle the 1 /a then “X” the 2/e. Or you can place a green linking cube on the 1/a and blue cube on the 2/e. Start at the top left, and move left to right. You will come to the 2 first, then the 1…. *Do NOT find all of the 1’s first, then all of the 2’s.
Next, circle the 1/a “X” the 2/e, then box the 3/i Or you can place a green cube on the 1/a, a blue cube on the 2/e, and a red cube on the 3/i.
Next, circle the 1/a“X” the 2/e, box the 3/i, then underline the 4/o. Or, you can place a green cube on the 1/a, a blue cube on the 2/e, a red cube on the 3/i and a yellow cube on the 4/o
Next, place a line above the 5/u. Do 1-5.You can place a green cube on the 1/a, a blue cube on the 2/e,a red cube on the 3/i, a yellow cube on the 4/o and a black cube on the 5/u
* Read the numbers/ letters back while they are covered by the cubes.
* Remove the page protector and read back the numbers/letters by looking at the symbols: circle say 1, X say 2, box say 3, underline say 4, and line above say 5.
* Read the color of the cube and then say the number of the next cube. Continue alternating color and number and letter.
Place the symbols on the numbers. Remove the page protector. Say the number, color, and animal. Circle is bear, X is fish, Box is snake, Line above turtle, Line below elephant.
Place the symbols and read number, color, animal, letter, and president.
*Add 1 to each number. (5 is 6, 3 is 4) When fluid, read the numbers by alternating what the first number is (=) and the next number +1. Do this with cubes and without.
* Subtract 1 (5 is 4,1 is ) When fluid, read the numbers by alternating saying what the first number is (=), the next number +1, and the next number –1.
When adding + 2 say, “ If 2 + 1 is 3, then 2 + 2 would be 4.” Look at a number line as well. Read and mark the entire page +2 then remove the page protector and read what number was under the 7 ( 5). Then do +3 and continue the process.
* Read the numbers by alternating saying the first number +2 and the next +3. Do this with the cubes and without.
* Read the numbers by alternating the first number x2, the next x5, then x10. Do this with the cubes and without.

Number Hunt 1-5

2 1 5 4 1 3

3 4 1 2 5 4

1 4 3 5 2 5

3 1 5 4 3 2

1 3 4 5 2 1

3 1 4 2 5 3

2 4 3 2 1 5

4 1 5 4 3 2

Letter and Number Hunt 1-9

Cognitive Skill: visual processing, working memory, attention

Challenges: Use the language and visualize: “I see you circle the 1’s and X the 2’s. What do you see yourself doing?” “I see myself circling the 1’s and putting an X on the 2’s.” Use a metronome when reading the letters/numbers beginning at 54-60 bpm and increase gradually.

Time / Time / Time
Numbers
Read the numbers. Add the metronome.
Circle the numbers in each row that are the same.
Circle the even numbers, and X the odd numbers.
I see you circle the 1’s.
I see you circle the 1’s, then X the 2’s.
I see you circle the 1’s, X the 2’s, then box the 3’s.
I see you circle the 1’s, X the 2’s, box the 3’s, then underline the 4’s.
Continue for numbers 1-4, then place a line above the 5’s.
Do 1-5, then slash the 6’s.
Do 1-6, then place a ( on the left of the 7’s.
Do 1-7, then put parentheses around the 8’s.
Do 1-8, then put a dash through the middle of the 9’s.
Once mastered, remove sheet protector, place on a white surface, and look at the symbols and say the numbers.
Add 1 when reading (7 is 8, 9 is 10) When fluid, read the numbers by alternating saying what the number is (=) and the next number +1. Now try doing this by looking only at the 9 symbols. Look at the number line.
Subtract 1 when reading ( 1 is 0, 8 is 7). When fluid, read the numbers by alternating saying what the number is (=), the next number +1, and the next number –1. Now do this by looking only at the 9 symbols.
Say if 8 + 1 is 9 Then 8 +2 would be. Then if 8 +2 is 10 Then 8 + 3 would be 11 and continue. You would do the entire page +2, remove page protector and say what was beneath. Then + 3 the entire page. Continue until you do +10. Then read +1,+2,+3,+4 +5…..+10.
Repeat this process using multiplication x1, x2,x3, x,4, x 5…..x10
Animals- 1-bear 2-fish 3-snake 4-elephant 5-turtle 6-horse 7-camel 8-spider 9-pig
Read the animal that matches the symbol
Alternate reading the number, animal, number, animal

Number Hunt

A B C D E F G H I J 8 5 9 2 6 7 2 4 1 3 2 9 4 1 5 3 8 7 6 4 9 1 5 7 8 6 4 3 2 3 8 3 1 6 5 4 1 7 2 9 2 7 5 8 7 6 9 1 3 4 7 3 8 4 5 9 2 6 9 1 2 5 4 5 8 3 1 6 7 9 5 4 2 1 9 8 9 7 3 6 2 7 5 4 1 9 3 8 6 8

Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum

Make a List

Cognitive Skill: working memory, attention, long-term memory

Challenges: In 60 seconds, recall various things: animals, food, movies, books, games, etc. The goal is to be able to increase the time and number of items that are recalled. You can choose any list of things that would be in your long-term memory.

Variation:

Classifications/Categories: Vertebrates (Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Fish), farm animals, water animals, jungle animals, fruits, vegetables, meat, breakfast cereals, states (southern, western), countries (Europe, Africa, South America), national parks, capitals, explorers, sports teams (NFL, SEC, NBA), tools, weapons, etc. You may do better if you close your eyes to picture the list and also to avoid distractions. Look inside your refrigerator/pantry, close the door, and recall what you see. Picture a map of the United States. Picture what you would find in a grocery store aisle.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4
Category: Animals
Sub Category: Farm Animals
Sub Category: Water Animals
Sub Category: Jungle Animals
Category:
Sub Category:
Sub Category:
Stare Card
Animate (Living)
Inanimate (Non-living)
Vegetation
Have student identify which category
1. piano, guitar, trumpet, violin
2. dolphin, shark, whale, seahorse
3. banana, green bean, onion,

Group Profiles and Means for Pre and Post Training Assessments

Active Control Group / Training Group
Measures / Pre-Test
M (S.E.) / Post-Test
M (S.E.) / Pre-To-Post
P / Pre-Test
M (S.E.) / Post-Test
M (S.E.) / Pre-To-Post
p
Verbal WM / 93.88 (8.55) / 96.00
(10.30) / .2671 / 88.31 (11.94) / 92.19 (11.50) / .0265
Visuospatial WM / 101.31 (15.12) / 100.25 (15.73) / .7480 / 93.69 (15.81) / 98.00
(15.99) / .1495
Verbal Short Term Memory / 94.31 (11.25) / 96.75 (11.43) / .4342 / 89.31 (11.31) / 92.50 (14.76) / .1188
Visuospatial Short Term Memory / 104.50 (19.17) / 101.25 (17.81) / .3542 / 103.13 (14.60) / 104.25 (13.14) / .7224
Reading / 6.156 (2.489) / 6.406 (2.641) / .7508 / 4.131 (0.980) / 5.200 (1.904) / .0399
Vocabulary / 6.988 (2.496) / 7.138 (2.253) / .8411 / 5.044 (1.663) / 5.850 (2.132) / .2336
Language / 6.494 (2.760) / 7.575 (2.460) / .1148 / 4.525 (1.055) / 5.694 (2.575) / .1055
Mechanics / 6.038 (3.096) / 5.444 (1.982) / .4624 / 4.500 (2.260) / 5.631 (3.091) / .1549
Math / 5.094 (1.912) / 5.913 (2.198) / .1256 / 4.275 (0.904) / 4.775 (2.050) / .2521
Computation / 5.581 (1.843) / 6.356 (2.716) / .1679 / 4.556 (1.301) / 4.444 (1.352) / .8181
Science / 6.444 (2.179) / 6.463 (1.810) / .9745 / 4.700 (1.726) / 6.138 (1.810) / .00105
Social Studies / 6.081 (2.196) / 6.925 (2.349) / .2268 / 4.763 (2.852) / 5.713 (2.378) / .2345
Spelling / 5.175 (2.037) / 5.831 (2.178) / .1935 / 4.038 (1.527) / 5.913 (2.459) / .00199
Verbal / 101.25 (10.38) / 104.19
(13.49) / .00937 / 94.56
(10.51) / 108.00
(15.99) / .000112
Non-Verbal / 104.69
(10.62) / 104.19
(13.76) / .7620 / 100.81
(10.17) / 116.00
(10.77) / .0000237
IQ Composite / 103.69
(8.55) / 105.06
(12.35) / .5706 / 97.13
(9.84) / 113.94
(14.08) / .00000288

The Training Group completed 30 hours of Equipping Minds over 7 weeks. There were two students with one mediator. The Active Control group had 30 hours of small group academic support.

Six hours of Professional Development for 20 teachers is $2000 and includes a teacher workbook and training DVD. Contact Carol Brown for details:

Equipping Minds Cognitive Development Curriculum