Angela Shuang Liang

Lesson Title: Developing a Growth Mindset with Mindset

Timing: 100 minutes x 2 days

Target Audience: Grade 7

Learning Goals:
Students will be able to
Identify their own mindset
Explain the benefits of having a growth mindset
Use metacognitive strategies (i.e. self-talk) to maintain a growth mindset
Prior Knowledge: Summarizing, letter writing
Materials: coloured paper, graphic organizer (5), note-taking sheet (6), Mindset: The New Psychology of
Success, devices
Day 1
Introduction (5)
Use Poll Everywhere to get students responses to the following true/false questions to assess whether
they have a fixed or growth mindset:
1. You can learn new things but you cant change how intelligent you are. (fixed)
a. True
b. False
2. People with natural talent dont have to try hard. (fixed)
3. You can always change how intelligent you are by your actions. (growth)
4. People who start out the smartest usually end up the smartest. (fixed)
5. No matter what kind of person you are, you can always change a great deal. (growth)
Direct Instruction (15)
Share read The Mindsets by Carol Dweck. Discuss how brain research has affected beliefs about
learning, and watch this video on neuroplasticity (2:03).
For each survey question, students think/pair/share whether it reflects fixed or growth mindset thinking.
For example, number one reflects the fixed mindset and is a false belief because the brain can be
changed through learning.
Assure students that mindset can be changed and is changeable as we go through different situations.
Tell an anecdote about your own mindset (here I told a story about my experience learning to drive).
Reading Jigsaw (40)

Angela Shuang Liang

Split the class into 5 groups (25 students in groups of 5), and number the students in each group from 1
to 5. Each group will read an article or excerpt from Mindset in order to become experts on their
question. After reading and discussing their texts, students regroup with others who have the same
number (i.e. 1s from the purple, blue, green, red, and yellow groups form a new group).
Due to differences in text difficulty and length, ability groups are appropriate here. An effective way of
keeping track of the groups is to either print the texts on coloured paper, or save them as documents
with coloured backgrounds.
Phase 1:
Green Group (High) How does learning change the brain? (Read Learning Rewires the Brain)
Red Group (Mid) What the growth mindset look like? (Read Mindset pages 55-56 The truth about
ability and accomplishment and page 85 Michael Jordan)
Yellow Group (Mid) How does mindset affect school performance? (Read Mindset pages 57-59,
Mindset and School Achievement and The Low-Effort Syndrome)
Blue Group (Mid) How does mindset affect your social relationships? (Read Mindset pages 160-165,
Friendship and Shyness)
Orange Group (Low) How can you change your mindset? (Read Nature of Change and First Steps)
As students read and discuss their group question, they highlight the text and fill out a graphic organizer
of the talking points they will be sharing in their new group.
Phase 2:
Students take turns sharing the information from their graphic organizers while group members take
notes. (Assess students on reading skills: identifying the main idea, finding supporting details)
Consolidation:
Whole class works together to change the fixed mindset statements from the introduction to growth
mindset statements.

Day 2
Writing Activity
Before writing, students participate in a talk activity to generate ideas. Present the growth mindset selftalk chart from World Language Classroom:

Angela Shuang Liang

Students get into pairs. Student A will roleplay someone with a fixed mindset and Student B will play
someone with a growth mindset. With talk starters (i.e. Im no good at this.), the pair have a
conversation where Student B persuades Student A to see the situation with a growth mindset. The talk
activity can continue until students have switched roles several times and demonstrated understanding
of how and why one should have a growth mindset.
I bombed that test. Im just not good at math.
I give up on this.
She is so smart. Ill never be that smart.
I would try out with you but I know I wont make it.

Writing Task: Respond to a despondent Grade 7 student mired in the fixed mindset.
Its only been a month in Grade 7 and Im feeling overwhelmed. The classes are harder and the other
kids are smarter. In elementary school, I was always good at math. I suck at it now. Mr. Grady hates
me and is a fat, lazy, unfair teacher. The nerds in my class always get it. I hate when people talk about
how easy a test or question is when Im still working on it. How can they get the right answers so
quickly? Im stupid and slow. I dont want anyone to think Im dumb so I try to look bored and cool

Angela Shuang Liang

when I have no idea whats going on. Last week I got a D on a test. I was so embarrassed, I threw the
test away and pretended I lost it. I hate math.
(Assess student responses: understanding of the growth mindset, actionable strategies, voice, and
conventions)
Extension tasks:
Research someone you admire and describe how they were able to become successful.
Reflect on a time when you had a fixed-mindset and how you could overcome it.
Make an infographic about how the brain changes when learning and mastering of a new skill.

Angela Shuang Liang

Find the main idea(s) and supporting details and examples in your text. Rehearse and
share the summary of your reading with your group.
Main Idea(s):

Detail/Example:

Detail/Example:

Detail/Example:

Angela Shuang Liang

Fixed vs. Growth Mindset

Group 1: How does learning change the brain?

Group 2: What does the growth mindset look like?

Group 3: How does mindset affect school performance?

Group 4: How does mindset affect social relationships?

Group 5: How can you change your mindset?