Mindset Lesson Plans
Grades 4-6
The Human Brain
Teaching students that intelligence
can be “grown” is powerful!
Mindset Lesson Plan
Grades 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 Disagree1.
2.
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5.
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SCORING the Quiz
Key
1. ability mindset – fixed
2. ability mindset –growth
3. ability mindset – growth
4. personality/character mindset - fixed
5. personality/character mindset – growth
6. ability mindset – growth
7. ability mindset – fixed
8. ability mindset – fixed
9. ability mindset – growth
10. personality/character mindset - growth
11. ability mindset – fixed
12. personality/character mindset – fixed
13. ability mindset –growth
14. ability mindset – fixed
15. ability mindset – growth
16. ability mindset – fixed
17. personality/character mindset – fixed
18. personality/character mindset –growth
19. ability mindset – growth
20. ability mindset - fixed
Scoring
Growth Questions
1. Strongly agree – 3 points
2. Agree – 2 points
3. Disagree – 1 points
4. Strongly disagree – 0 point
Fixed Questions
- Strongly agree – 0 point
- Agree – 1 points
- Disagree – 2 points
- Strongly disagree – 3 points
Strong Growth Mindset = 60-45 points
Growth Mindset with some Fixed ideas = 44-34 points
Fixed Mindset with some Growth ideas= 33-21 points
Strong Fixed Mindset= 20-0 points
Question / Strongly Agree / Agree / Disagree / Strongly Disagree1. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
2. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
3. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
4. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
5. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
6. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
7. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
8. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
9. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
10. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
11. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
12. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
13. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
14. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
15. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
16. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
17. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
18. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
19. / 3 points / 2 points / 1 point / 0 points
20. / 0 points / 1 point / 2 points / 3 points
Mind-Set Lesson Plan
Grades 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 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
Engagement Activity: Clearing the Board
A 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 Plan
Grades 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.