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September 17, 2016

Growth Mindset: The Power of Yet

Growth mindset – a phrase that can easily be coined the education fad of 2015-2016. Although I do like to avoid most fads (bleached hair, suntanning oil, and silly bands were all lost on me), why not take the best from the proverbial education pendulum and allow it to positively impact our classrooms? Recently my 1st grade classroom has morphed into a K/1 combination classroom resulting in HUGE gaps (academically, socially, & emotionally) between my students. Today I’m sharing one of our most powerful community-building lessons we’ve shared since becoming a combined classroom!

Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and the word 'yet' with this read aloud and free graphic organizer.

Intentional Read Alouds

Intentionally chosen read alouds and texts in a classroom have tremendous power. From writing mentor texts, to texts that lend themselves to particular reading strategies, our students need models.

Giraffes Can’t Dance (affiliate link) is one of my favorite read-alouds. It’s a smooth read, include rhymes, and is a perfect platform for launching a conversation about differences in the classroom. The book centers around a Giraffe who can’t dance like all the other jungle animals and is made fun of because of his lack of dancing skills. Gerald is the perfect character for teaching students about growth mindset!

Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and the word 'yet' with this read aloud and free graphic organizer.

Poor Gerald feels absolutely deflated and knows it’s time for him to leave the jungle dance floor. This is the climax of the story and a perfect time to have a stellar classroom conversation about diversity, acceptance, love, and the power of “yet”. I have a tendency to become involved in books, so I always tag this page with a sticky note, so I don’t blow past my stopping point.

Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and the word 'yet' with this read aloud and free graphic organizer.

A Class Brainstorm

This was the place where our first class brainstorm took place – things we can’t do YET. I started sharing with my “Yet” –  “I can’t whistle Yet” and recorded my idea on our class chart with my name underneath. Students had a few minutes to think and then, we took turns share their “yets” with the class. From writing words to doing a backflip, we discovered everyone has something they cannot do YET!

Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and the word 'yet' with this read aloud and free graphic organizer.

Then, we continued reading to discover that Gerald soon finds a dance of his own! His ‘yet’ has become a ‘now’. All it took was practice, confidence in himself, and time!

Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and the word 'yet' with this read aloud and free graphic organizer.

Individual Student Responses

After reading students used this graphic organizer to illustrate and make plans for their “yet”. From school to life, students chose their own ‘yet’ and each one was perfect. We shared them together and then, made a classroom Yet Book that sits on our library display shelf.

Encourage students to realize the power of growth mindset and the word 'yet' with this read aloud and free graphic organizer.

How you do foster ‘yet’ attitudes in your classroom? Do you have any favorite read alouds, activities, or sayings? I would love to hear your ideas!

 

 

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Filed Under: 1st Grade, Back to School, Reading/Literacy, Uncategorized, Writing

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jennifer says

    September 18, 2016 at 2:35 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing about this book! I can’t wait to read it to my students. I just found the animated YouTube video for it.

    Reply
  2. Dana says

    September 18, 2016 at 2:45 pm

    Love your chart and the idea of creating a classroom book with all of the students graphic organizers! What an awesome way to acknowledge each student while allowing them to see what each of their peers is working on getting better at!

    Reply
  3. Cynthia Wilson says

    September 18, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    Absolutely love this and plan to use it. I do a few Growth Mindset lessons with my high needs students during the year. They will love the link between a favorite book and writing/drawing activity. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Stefanie says

      June 27, 2019 at 6:13 pm

      Hi! Wonderful plan!!! Is there a place to download or purchase the 1st sheet shown in the post (things we can’t do… YET) w/ the giraffe in the lower corner?
      As I was reading your post/ideas, my mind was buzzing ♥️
      Thank you!!!
      Stefanie

      Reply
      • Haley London says

        March 23, 2020 at 9:20 pm

        Hey Stefanie! This was actually traced using a SMART board and chart paper.

        Reply
  4. Katie says

    September 18, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    I love teaching growth mindset to my first graders! Love this graphic organizer but it will not open for me. Do you have it in another format or location?! Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      September 18, 2016 at 10:18 pm

      Hi Katie! I’m sorry Dropbox is being finicky. Trying it on another browser should solve the problem. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Rhonda says

    October 3, 2016 at 4:55 pm

    This is a great lesson! Do you have a link for the brainstorming page.? Things we can’t do YET? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 15, 2016 at 3:07 am

      Hi Rhonda! Thanks so much. It’s linked above in the post for you. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Rebecca says

    October 6, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    Is there a way to get all the worksheets you do with this book? Is it in your TPT store? Love it

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 15, 2016 at 3:04 am

      Hi Rebecca! The link is in the post. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Celia says

    October 7, 2016 at 2:34 pm

    I am in love with Yet! Thanks for this!
    ❤️

    Reply
  8. Nerida says

    October 10, 2016 at 8:25 am

    Thank you so much for this post!! I read this book every year as an assessment task and I have never once thought of using it for growth mindset teaching! I have new plans for it next year 🙂

    Teaching Outside of the Box

    Reply
  9. Amanda Purchase says

    November 6, 2016 at 12:47 am

    I just discovered the book “Making a Splash”. I love it for teaching mindset and the power of yet.

    Reply
  10. Sam says

    April 8, 2017 at 9:53 pm

    Hi there,
    Thanks so much for the inspiration. We are looking at Growth Mindsets and this is a perfect lead in to our Goal Setting.
    I can see the link to the organsier but not the chart? Is this available for sale?

    Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 19, 2017 at 4:14 am

      Hey Sam!! I just drew the chart on Anchor Chart paper. Sorry!

      Reply
  11. Kristin says

    January 9, 2018 at 3:20 am

    Thanks for this post! I am currently teaching my K-5 students about Growth Mindset and the Power of Yet has really resonated with them! I incorporated the children’s book, “The Dot” By Peter Reynolds and it has been awesome as well.

    Reply
  12. Kristen says

    October 10, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    Thank you so much for this wonderful lesson and resource. Much love and gratitude for this!

    Reply
  13. Carolyn Whalen says

    July 9, 2019 at 2:35 pm

    Hello, can you tell me where I can find a pdf or a link to your giraffe poster that says things I can’t do “yet”? I have tried all the links but maybe I missed it?

    Reply
    • Haley London says

      March 23, 2020 at 9:17 pm

      Hi Carolyn! This was actually traced using a SMART board and chart paper.

      Reply
  14. Theresa says

    September 6, 2019 at 4:07 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this idea. I have this same book somewhere in my shelf. And I’m planning on finding it, and implementing your idea. I teach second grade and they are a young group of students. What a wonderful plan to implement at the beginning of the year!

    Reply

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My name is Catherine Reed, and I am in my 8th year in elementary life, residing in small-town, Kentucky.  I student taught in 1st grade and never ...

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