6th grade has a new problem-based science curriculum and as a result our students are eager and excited for all things science! Project Lead the Way curriculum provides students a lot of opportunities to solve real-world problems that exist today and may exist in the future.
Our class motto is, "Failure IS an option here; if things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."
There are so many good books that I could use to teach growth mindset and perseverance to my 6th grade students. I'd love the opportunity to have these books available for my students. With the help of this grant, I hope to develop lessons using books to help them develop a growth mindset that enables them to persevere as they learn from failure.
My Project
My students are transitioning to the middle school and ready to develop their growth mindset and perseverance in science class. Using these read alouds to begin a dialog about failure as the key to success will enable my students to hear real-life examples of people who persevered to make discoveries and inventions that we take for granted in our daily lives.
Using these books, we will learn about scientists, engineers, and inventors who failed over and over on their journey to success.
Students will be encouraged to persevere in science. These growth mindset stories will give them the confidence they need going forward as I encourage them to persevere and learn from their failures in science.
For example, in the book "Rosie Revere Engineer" Rosie is a young brilliant inventor of gizmos and gadgets who dreams of becoming a great engineer someday. When her great-great-aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter) comes for a visit and mentions her one unfinished goal—to fly—Rosie sets to work building a contraption to make her aunt's dream come true. But when her contraption doesn't fly but rather hovers for a moment and then crashes, Rosie deems the invention a failure. On the contrary, Aunt Rose insists that Rosie's contraption was a raging success. You can only truly fail, she explains, if you quit.
After this read-aloud, students will participate in a goal-setting activity and then reflect on their failures as a journaling activity to enhance their perseverance and growth mindset. Finally, students will have an opportunity to share their goals with their classmates.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Leffler and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
