Teaching growth mindset to students can be so powerful for your classroom environment and your students as individuals. It's something students can apply all year.
Growth mindset is a super easy idea to introduce in morning meetings and with read alouds to have great conversations with students. Here are ways you can exercise growth mindset in your classroom all year.
Growth Mindset Explained
Do you have students who are constantly down on themselves? Students who feel like classwork is just TOO HARD for them, and they'll never get it right? Maybe you have students who shut down when challenged or learn something new?
I'm sure you have one or maybe five students in mind right now. If that's true, a growth mindset is exactly what they need! But, on the other hand, perhaps you don't have any students like this in your classroom, growth mindset is for them too! (Hint: It's for EVERYONE!)
Growth mindset is all about…
- Excersicing your brain like a muscle
- There's magic in mistakes
- Reframing thinking to “I don't know how to do this…YET!”
- Setting Goals
Class Dojo has a great video series on growth mindset that explains it in a very kid-friendly way. I recommend this series for 1st-5th grade. There are a few quick discussion slides at the end of each video to start a conversation around the topic. Even if you don't use Class Dojo, anyone can still access the free series HERE!
Growth Mindset Growing Bundle
Growth Mindset is a great topic to discuss ALL. YEAR. LONG. Included in the bundle are the Growth Mindset Posters that are the perfect reminder that we C A N do hard things, the digital research project that ENGAGES in researching, learning, and reflecting on Growth Mindset, the Growth Mindset Flipbook comes in DIGITAL and PRINTABLE to help practice a Growth Mindset and Growth Mindset Discussion Starters that are GREAT for Morning Meetings or to pair with a read aloud.
Growth Mindset Read Alouds & Flipbook Activity
An easy way to introduce growth mindset is in morning meeting! Morning meetings are the perfect opportunity to discuss “academic supports.” These are topics that aren't necessarily covering your state's standards but definitely support learning them.
You could discuss growth mindset every week. Introduce growth mindset with the short videos or pick a read-aloud where the character shows a growth mindset and do a quick activity. Here are just a few read alouds for growth mindset that I recommend:
- Your Fantastic Elastic Brain: A Growth Mindset Book for Kids to Stretch and Shape Their Brains
- The Brain Is Kind of a Big Deal
- The Thing Lou Couldn't Do
- The Book of Mistakes
- Not Yet
- After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again)
After reading a book or watching a short video about growth mindset, give each student their own digital or printable flipbook. Each flap has a wonderful lesson to learn about growth mindset with coordinating reflection questions. This flipbook may take you a couple of days! But, this will be a perfect way for students to refer to what growth mindset is throughout the year.
Growth Mindset FREEBIE
Another quick activity you can do with your students is creating an anchor chart together, comparing and contrasting a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. Then students can write how they show a growth mindset in an interactive discussion slide. Grab the anchor chart headers and interactive slide below!
Growth Mindset Discussion Starters
Don't have a lot of time to do a whole activity or project? Growth Mindset Discussion Starters are a quick way to have those important conversations around growth mindset without taking too much time.
Use them for:
- Morning Meeting
- Morning Work Quick Write
- Student-led Discussions
- End of the Day “Exit” Ticket
The cards are both digital and printable, so they can be on a grab-and-go ring by your board or can be easily displayed on a screen.
Growth Mindset Digital Project
Once your students are familiar with growth mindset, go even deeper! The Growth Mindset Digital Project is an interactive project that is self-guided by your students. It is jam-packed with videos, articles, responses, and more so that students will be ENGAGED in research, learn, reflect and complete interactive activities all about growth mindset!
This resource is packed FULL of:
- Introduction to growth mindset videos
- Growth mindset songs
- Growth mindset TEDx Talks
- Articles about growth mindset and people who have a growth mindset
- Interactive activities
- Student reflection responses
This project is the perfect activity to do before a big break when students just need something different to stay engaged. It could also be used as a fast finisher option, morning work choice, extension activity, or enrichment opportunity!
Growth Mindset Digital Project
This Growth Mindset Digital Research Project is a great way to implement social emotional learning in your classroom! Students will research, learn, reflect, and complete activities all focused on growth mindset! Students can work individually or in groups.
Make Growth Mindset Part of the Classroom Environment
Make growth mindset part of your everyday classroom environment. Students sometimes need a gentle reminder when it comes to persevering through hard things. One way I like to include this in our everyday is by having a year-round bulletin board display! I know you're thinking…”A bulletin board you put together once a year?!” YEP. #teacherwin
Having a display makes it easy to point and remind students to have a growth mindset if they are facing a learning challenge. It's really sweet when students remind other students of this using the posters as well.
Check out my other post on growth mindset that goes deeper on how I pair the flipbook with a read-aloud HERE!
Pin the image below to revisit this post later!
Great ideas for promoting growth mindset in the classroom. Sometimes it just takes a change in perspective for a student to see success. I look forward to checking out those read aloud suggestions!
Hi Stacy! Isn’t that the truth?! ALL students can find success. I hope you’re having a great year!