Growth Mindset

In this class children will learn about their most useful tools, their brains! They will learn how their brain works and that it is plastic (it can change). We will use hands on activities, songs, and games to learn about the brain. Children will be introduced to what their brain is, where it is, what it does, and how to better use it. Children will learn techniques to help their brain calm down when they are out of control, and will to change their language from "I can't" to "I can't yet." 

Week 1: We will listen to a song about the brain, learn our brain parts using Dr. Siegel's hand brain model, discuss how our limbic system acts as a security guard and works together with our wrinkly prefrontal cortex to make decisions and control emotions. We will make a brain jello mold out of tinfoil and muffin tins.

Week 2: We will explore the different parts of the brain and what they do. We will use our hands to learn that the brain's messages cross over from one side of the brain to the opposite side of the body. 

Week 3: We will make a brain out of air dry clay and learn about brain plasticity. We will learn how the things we choose to do change our brain. We do a scribble drawing to learn how our brain learns, and we will play a practice game to understand how practicing makes us better.

Week 4: We will learn about the power of YET! We will learn how changing the way we think can change the way we learn. We will discuss some things we can do to strengthen our brain. We will play a brain strengthening game!

This is a introduction, there is no background knowledge needed.