PRMS Science: Lesson Plan 5E Template

Teacher: Cone
Date: 10/13/2017
Subject / grade level: Life Science/ 7th Grade
Materials: Growth mindset survey (copies for each student), growth mindset packet, Class Dojo videos, video clips on
mindset, growth/fixed exit slip.

Lesson objective(s): Scientists will be able to describe characteristics of a growth mindset. Given a statement scientist
will be able to distinguish if that statement is more characteristic of a growth mindset or a fixed mindset

Differentiation strategies to meet diverse learner needs: Packets and reading translated into Spanish, subtitles for
videos, in periods 1 and 7 read the article aloud with the class.

ENGAGEMENT
 Describe how the teacher will capture students’ interest.
 What kind of questions should the students ask themselves after the engagement?

Students will take a copy of the mindset survey (see attached document) from the green table folders. Students will
answer the survey questions indicating if they strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree.
The survey is based on student opinions and thoughts bring their own experiences into the lesson.

EXPLORATION
 Describe what hands-on/minds-on activities students will be doing.
 List “big idea” conceptual questions the teacher will use to encourage and/or focus students’ exploration

Students will complete an anticipation guide for a reading about strengthening the brain. Students are given a series of
questions (see attached document) that they will either answer as being a true statement or a false statement. Students
will then read the article. After completion of the reading students will answer the same series of questions to determine if
the reading changed their responses.

EXPLANATION
 Student explanations should precede introduction of terms or explanations by the teacher. What questions or techniques will the teacher use to help
students connect their exploration to the concept under examination?
 List higher order thinking questions which teachers will use to solicit student explanations and help them to justify their explanations.

Students will watch two media clips that explain the concepts connected to a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.
Students will answer 3 questions for the first video clip. Students will turn and talk with their shoulder partners and make a
list of common growth mindset traits and vocabulary terms. A second list will be made for fixed mindset traits and
vocabulary terms. Students will share one thing from each list with the class for Dojo points.

ELABORATION
 Describe how students will develop a more sophisticated understanding of the concept.
 What vocabulary will be introduced and how will it connect to students’ observations?
 How is this knowledge applied in our daily lives?

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Students will watch season one of the Class Dojo Growth Mindset video series. Each clip is 2-3 minutes long. Students
will be given thinking time after each clip. They will summarize the clip in 1-2 complete sentences. Season 2 will be
shown during our next early release day.

EVALUATION
 How will students demonstrate that they have achieved the lesson objective?
 This should be embedded throughout the lesson as well as at the end of the lesson

Students will take a copy of the exit slip (see attached document). Students will complete the questions and place the exit
ticket in the folder they feel matches their level of understanding (1-novice, 2-apprentice, 3-proficeint, 4-distinguished
scientist)

Lesson Documents:
1) Mindset Survey
2) Reading/Media Questions Packet
3) Exit Ticket

Media Links:

Growth Mindset (two truths & a lie activity): http://viewpure.com/ElVUqv0v1EE?start=0&end=0

Praise Study: http://viewpure.com/NWv1VdDeoRY?start=0&end=0
Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: https://ed.ted.com/featured/qrZmOV7R
Class Dojo Growth Mindset: https://ideas.classdojo.com/b/growth-mindset

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Name _____________________________________________________
Mindset survey
Put an X in the appropriate box to determine how strongly you do or do not agree with the following statements.
Strongly Somewhat Somewhat Strongly
Agree Agree Disagree Disagree
Your intelligence is something
very basic about you that you
can’t change very much.
You can learn new things, but
Intelligence

you can’t really change how

intelligent you are.
No matter how much
intelligence you have, you can
always change quite a bit.
You can always substantially
change how intelligent you are.
You are a certain kind of
person, and there is not much
that can be done to really
change that
Personal Qualities

No matter what kind of person

you are, you can always change
substantially
You can do things differently,
but the important parts of who
you are can’t really be changed
You can always change basic
things about the kind of person
you are.

Part 1: Anticipation Guide: Circle T for true and F for false

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The Pre-Reading Guide is your Bellwork… The Post-Reading Guide you do

AFTER we read the article

Pre-Reading Post-reading
T F People are born either smart, average or dumb. T F
T F Your brain can grow and change throughout your life T F
T F The brain is made of billions of nerve cells. T F
T F If you use your brain a lot, it will become stronger. T F
T F It is impossible to train your brain to be a better student. T F
T F The best students are born smart. T F
T F Your brain changes when you practice a new skill. T F
T F If you don’t succeed at a new task, you might as well T F
give up
T F Natural talent is the key to being a good athlete. T F
T F Animals who exercise their brains are better at solving T F
problems and learning new things.

Part 2: Mindset Media Clips

Clip #1: Growth Mindset Video

Two Truths and a Lie- Indicate which statements are true and which one is the lie
(false)

1. Growth mindset means that with effort you can train your brain to get smarter. __________
2. Read, write, or say something important at least 2 times. _________
3. When something is hard you need more effort not less. _________

Clip # 2- Clip #8: Class Dojo Mindset Clips- Summarize the message after watching
each clip. Use complete sentences.

Season 1:
Chapter 1: A Secret About the Brain

Chapter 2: The Magic of Mistakes

Chapter 3: The Power of “ Yet”

Chapter 4: The World of Neurons

Chapter 5: Mojo Puts it All Together

Season 2:
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Chapter 1: Katie Discovers the Dip

Chapter 2: Climbing Out of the Dip

Chapter 3: The Big Show

Name: _________________________________________________
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Date: __________
Period: __________________

DIRECTIONS: Read the following article and answer the post-reading questions after reading.

YOU CAN GROW YOUR INTELLIGENCE Winter 2008

1. New Research Shows the Brain Can Be Developed Like a Muscle
Many people think of the brain as 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 either 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. A
person who can't lift 20 pounds when they start exercising can get strong enough to lift 100
pounds after working out for a long time. That's because the muscles become larger and
stronger with exercise. And when you stop exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker.
That's why people say "Use it or lose it!

But most people don't know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain
change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise.

Inside the cortex of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells, called neurons. The nerve cells
have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network. Communication
between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems.

When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get
stronger. The more that you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow.
Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do — like speaking a foreign
language or doing algebra — seem to become easy. The result is a stronger, smarter brain.

2. How Do We Know the Brain Can Grow Stronger?

Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied
animals' brains. They found out that animals who lived in a challenging environment, with
other animals and toys to play with, were different from animals who lived alone in bare
cages.

While the animals who lived alone just ate and slept all the time, the ones who lived with
different toys and other animals were always active. They spent a lot of time figuring out how
to use the toys and how get along with the other animals.

These animals had more connections between the nerve cells in their brains. The connections
were bigger and stronger, too. In fact, their whole brains were about 10% heavier than the
brains of the animals who lived alone without toys.

The animals who were exercising their brains by playing with toys and each other were also
"smarter" — they were better at solving problems and learning new things.

Even old animals got smarter and developed more connections in their brains when they got
the chance to play with new toys and other animals. When scientists put very old animals in

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the cages with younger animals and new toys to explore, their brains grew by about 10%!

3. Children's Brain Growth

Another thing that got scientists thinking about the brain growing and changing was babies.
Everyone knows that babies are born without being able to talk or understand language. But
somehow, almost all babies learn to speak their parents' language in the first few years of
life. How do they do this?

4. The Key to Growing the Brain: Practice?

From the first day they are born, babies are hearing people around them talk — all day, every
day, to the baby and to each other. They have to try to make sense of these strange sounds
and figure out what they mean. In a way, babies are exercising their brains by listening hard.

Later, when they need to tell their parents what they want, they start practicing talking
themselves. At first, they just make goo-goo sounds. Then, words start coming, And by the
time they are three years old, most can say whole sentences almost perfectly.

Once children learn a language, they don't forget it. The child's brain has changed — it has
actually gotten smarter.

This can happen because learning causes permanent changes in the brain. The babies' brain
cells get larger and grow new connections between them. These new, stronger connections
make the child's brain stronger and smarter, just like a weightlifter's big muscles make them
strong.

5. The Real Truth About "Smart" and "Dumb"

No one thinks babies are stupid because they can't talk. They just haven't learned
how to yet. But some people will call a person dumb if they can't solve math
problems, or spell a word right, or read fast — even though all these things are
learned with practice.

At first, no one can read or solve equations. But, with practice, they can learn to do it.
And the more a person learns, the easier it gets to learn new things-because their
brain "muscles" have gotten stronger!

The students everyone thinks are the "smartest" may not have been born any
different from anyone else. But before they started school, they may have started to
practice reading. They had already started to build up their "reading muscles." Then,
in the classroom, everyone said, "That's the smartest student in the class."

They don't realize that the other students could learn to read as well if they exercised
and practiced just as much. Remember, all students have learned to speak at least
one whole language already.

What Can You Do to Get Smarter?

Just like a weightlifter or a basketball player, to be a brain athlete you have to exercise and
practice. By practicing you make your brain stronger. You also learn skills that let you use
your brain in a smarter way-just like a basketball player learns new moves.

But many people miss out on the chance to grow a stronger brain because they think they
can't do it, or that it's too hard. It does take work, just like becoming stronger physically or
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becoming a better ball player does. Sometimes it even hurts! But when you feel yourself get
better and stronger, all the work is worth it!

Name: __________________________________________________ Period: ____ Date: __________________

Mindset Match
Match the characteristics and beliefs with the mindset: fixed or growth that fits.
Write F for fixed or G for growth.
_____ 1. Gives up easily
_____ 2. Believes intelligence can be developed
_____ 3. Learns from criticism
_____ 4. Avoids challenges
_____ 5. Desires the look smart
_____ 6. Sees effort as a sign of low intelligence
_____ 7. Persists despite failures
_____ 8. Asks questions when stuck
_____ 9. Ignores useful negative feedback
_____ 10. Views mistakes as a negative