Not Yet



This week we continued our conversation about the importance of having a growth mindset. We used the book Not Yet by Lisa Cox and Lori Hockem as a springboard that helped us appreciate the process of striving towards a goal and not being defeated by our mistakes. We discussed how the main character showed perseverance, kindness, assertiveness, and a positive mindset. As a class, we were challenged to create a cartoon that showed the process we have all individually gone through when striving to reach a goal. We also used this opportunity to look at how cartoonists can illustrate simple facial expressions to inform the reader about a character's feelings. The students shared many examples of challenges they have overcome, such as learning how to ride a bike, swim in the deep end, play the violin, and knit a scarf. Reminding ourselves that goals take time to achieve and setbacks are inevitable is crucial to embrace our learning and the journey it takes us on.  




  

One of our student's sharing her new hobby and goal to knit a scarf for her Grandmother for Christmas! 


The book The Most Magnificent Thing By Ashley Spires helped us become aware of how our emotions can often get the best of us when we feel angry, frustrated and want to quit. Thankfully the main character has a loving dog that convinces her to take a walk, and she can come back with renewed enthusiasm and manages to make the most magnificent thing after all.     






 "When she had a growth mindset she tried again but when she got mad she couldn't see all of the work she has done and how good it is". - Annie 



"I think that the girl realized that if you keep trying you will eventually get to the point where you start to like it and then if you keep trying and trying and trying things will get better until you feel it is good enough and then you feel good." - Olivia


As a class, we started to discuss what happens when we lose our cool and get angry. We talked about when we are calm, the cortex of our brain, which controls our rational thinking, is connected to our mid-brain, which controls our emotions. When we "flip our lids", there is a disconnect between these two parts of our brain, and our emotions take over. Only when we are calm can we reconnect our brain's rational and emotional functions. We used the visual of our brain as going from a closed fist to holding your four fingers straight up in the air to demonstrate what it means to have “flipped your lid.”   





 

To help transition to a calm state and put our lid back on, we discussed how we could take some big deep breaths, count backwards from 10 or higher, think of things we are grateful for, look at a book, drink some water, go for a walk in the hallway, or find a spot to rest and relax like the couch or the reading chairs. We learned that it is only once we have calmed down that we can discuss, listen, and think about what can be done differently. Lastly, we discussed how helping yourself take responsibility for your actions and learning to work through your problems will help you feel better, stay in control and help you achieve your goals with greater ease and joy. (Below, you will find a helpful video) 






The poem The Homework Machine by Shel Silverstein was another opportunity for us to take a humorous look at what happens when something can go wrong. The students enjoyed the poem and created wonderful imagery to show their understanding before seeing the author's visual representation. As a class, we used the poem to focus on identifying and adhering to punctuation. We learned that without using the necessary commas, periods, exclamation points and question marks, we would not be able to read with expression or understand what we have read. The students highlighted the different punctuation and practiced reading it out loud to each other. They experimented with creating different sentences using the same words to represent a statement, question or exclamation. For example;

field/ there / rabbits / in / are / the 

Statement: There are rabbits in the field.

Question: Are there rabbits in the field?

Exclamation: There are rabbits in the field!

 








          

 


  

 



















Comments

  1. RamsayAdminNovember 30, 2021 at 4:36 AM

    Thank you for sharing all of this learning around well-being with us, Room 8.

    ReplyDelete

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