Growth Mindset in Action, Linky Party, and Freebie!

Okay, here is a "sharing" blog post for you!

In our first grade classroom, we have focused a lot of our character education time on growth mindset.  I had previously read (on other teacher blogs) that the book, Rosie Revere, Engineer, is great for reinforcing the idea of growth mindset...and boy, were those teachers right!

I wanted to do more than just read and discuss this fabulous book, so I went on a Teachers Pay Teachers hunt and found a fabulous product created by Kirsten Tulsian.  All the activities align nicely with the book.

I created a simple packet cover to stick on the front of the activity sheets because I really wanted the focus to remain on GROWTH MINDSET.  Whenever we come back to this project, it is a reminder to open up the discussion and/or reflection in a way that focuses on how we are keeping a growth mindset throughout the process.  You can pick it up for free by visiting my TPT store.

My favorite part about Kirsten's product is that she includes two S.T.E.M. activities.  Instead of picking one or the other, I gave my students a container with all of the gadgets and gizmos (just like Rosie in the book) for both of the S.T.E.M. projects and instead of specifying a certain product, I just told them their task was to make something that "goes in the air" (again, just like Rosie in the book).

Here are some "in action" photos of my students hard at work.  Just look at that partner collaboration!  :)

Do you have neat ideas for teaching the idea of growth mindset in your classroom?  I would love to hear them!

As a matter of fact, if you have ANY great ideas to share, I would love to hear those, too!  Please consider joining my linky party.

You can read specific details here if you wish, but the general idea behind the linky party is that we share great teaching ideas.  You can include any of the linky party images in your blog post.

Feel free to grab the linky party button below and...

...link up right below!

As always, thanks for stopping by!  :)

The Sunday Scoop AND Forming Groups

I am pretty excited because I just found a new-to-me linky party over at The Teaching Trio!  It is called The Sunday Scoop.

So here my scoop:

Today I wanted to blog about something that almost ANY classroom can do, which is to form groups in fun ways.  We all know the importance of cooperative learning, whether it be partner or small group work.  So why not make it a little more fun for our kiddos when we form those groups?  Here are some ideas that I use:

For the life of me, I cannot find the link to where I found the partner-picking cards pictured above.  If they belong to you, please let me know so that I can give you credit!  But these are the ones we currently use.

I just now found these FREE Disney partner cards!  I will be printing these this week for sure!  Thank you to the Disneyfied Teacher!  (P.S. This is a set for 24 students or less.)

Oo!  Oo!  I just found these ADORABLE and FREE partner-picking cards from The Bad Apple.  Thank you for sharing!  There are enough in here for 42 students or less - and, oh boy, I hope you do not have 42 students!

Okay, here is another way my students find partners or groups:

This is an old picture from when I first bought these goodies on clearance at Wal-Mart last summer, but now I have them in a plastic container in my classroom.  I like using these because the we can easily form partners or even groups of three or four.  The kids simply close their eyes, pick a bracelet from the container, and then find the person or people that have the same color.  TIP - If you teach primary kids, tell them to keep these out of their mouths! Agh!  My little ones are always tempted to eat them, LOL!

We also use simple framed puzzles to form groups.  The ones pictured above are 16-piece puzzles, which obviously do not work.  I found mine at The Dollar Tree and they have 3 pieces, 4 pieces, and 5 pieces.  I have a WHOLE BUNCH of these, so that I can be flexible with my groupings.  Anyway, I put all the puzzle pieces in a bag, the students close their eyes and pick a puzzle piece, then on my cue they find the frame in which their puzzle piece belongs.  Once their puzzle is complete, they know who their groupmates are.  Easy peasy - lemon squeezey!

Here is another strategy that we use often and requires no materials:  Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up.

It is pretty straight-forward.  I say, "Stand up" and my students stand.  I say, "Hand up" and my students put one hand in the air.  I say, "Pair up" and then countdown from 10 to 0.  My students have 10 seconds to find a partner, high-five his/her hand, and sit down together knee-to-knee, eye-to-eye.

I have a Pinterest board called "Collaboration and Cooperative Learning" and I pin similar ideas here.  If you are interested in more ideas, follow my board and check back as I pin new ideas!

How do YOU form partners and groups in your classroom!?

Well, my boys will certainly be waking up any minute, so I better scurry along.  Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by!  :)