Friday, February 26

Today's Content:

• Differentiated Instruction: Growth Mindset
• Tier 1 Priorities: Vocabulary: Word Stems Across Content

Falcon Focus: Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset.  You've noticed the chatter and may be wondering, is this really a thing?  Yes, it is!  Psychologist Carol Dweck has found that there are two mindsets, fixed and growth.  People with a fixed mindset believe that we are born with a specific amount of intelligence and talent; therefore people excel at some things but struggle with others.  Those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence can be developed, and that the learning comes from the effort that leads to success.

So why does this matter for education?  Think about the way your students (sometimes) approach their own learning process.  When a student says, "I never get this," or "Reading/math/art/music/any fill-in-the-blank-topic is just not my thing," they are already setting themselves up to fail.

And it's not just about trying; growth mindset is about trying harder.  Even when we have an innate talent or developed a skill, there's always room for improvement.  So, in a nutshell: if we want our kids to grow their skills, they have to grow their mindset, too.

Promote Growth Mindset Self-Talk!
Display created by Brittany Joyner & Amy White

Want to learn more about Growth Mindset?  Read Carol Dweck's book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, or click here to read more information. 

Falcon Focus: Word Stems Across Content

As we continue to develop vocabulary focus across all of our content areas, everyone is looking for a more powerful form of teaching new words.  Why not try using word stems?

We've seen how 7th grade Reading uses TPR (Total Physical Response) to teach word stems:  

Word Within a Word on the Board (above)
Miss White teaching Word Stems in class (below)

This very specific, targeted vocabulary instruction over the meaning of parts of words can work in any content area.  

Try intentionally teaching your students the meanings of parts of their words.  Below you can see how some different teachers are intentionally using word stems to:

a) breakdown differences between academic vocabulary in TEKs,
b) compare words with related meanings in academic word walls, and 
c) provide students with a tool to determine word meaning on their own. 

Want to know what word stems have already been taught, or what the current word stems are in ELAR?  Just ask me, or your friendly neighborhood Reading teacher; they or I will be happy to share those lists with you.  (Also, I'll be updating the hallway word walls sometime next week.)

If have any questions or would like some help implementing these or other strategies, please let me know.  And remember...

It's a great day to be a Falcon!