One of my student’s parents made a request for me to talk more about mindsets with my first grade GT class. I’ve been sending information home to the parents about fixed and growth mindsets, and infusing my own language with “growth mindset” phrases, but I haven’t done any explicit mindset lessons for the K-2 crowd. I went to work hunting for something that might appeal to 6 and 7 year-olds without overwhelming them.
There isn’t much. I’m going to add that to my list of “Books I’m Going to Publish in the Future Because Apparently No One Else Has Thought of Them Yet.”
I did find this gem, Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, by Dr. JoAnn Deak. The illustrations are colorful and cartoonish – appealing to younger students. The book is a bit longish, so you may need to split it up into a couple of sessions. It gives a simple explanation of the basic parts of the brain, but the best pages deal with the elasticity of the brain. There are relatable examples of skills that we learn over time, and the importance of stretching our brain by taking chances and trying hard.
There is a $4.99 app for the book, but I haven’t downloaded it, so I can’t give you a review. It appears to be the book in electronic form with some additional interactive features.
The book was published by Little Pickle Press, which is “dedicated to helping parents and educators cultivate conscious, responsible little people by stimulating explorations of the meaningful topics of their generation through a variety of media, technologies, and techniques.” You can find other books and interesting resources on their site, including a lesson plan to accompany Your Fantastic Elastic Brain.
