Growth Mindset, Art, and Science Activity: Brain Hats

Do you want to create or reinforce a strong growth mindset in your classroom?  Do you want to reach multiple learning styles, including artistic and logical?  Then read on to see how I use brain hats to do all this!

We've been using Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Culture of Success and Student Achievement in Schools by Mary Cay Ricci in our county.

At the beginning of the year, we took a get-to-know-you Growth Mindset survey that let students know if their learning style was more right- or left-brain.

Adding on to the knowledge of the two hemispheres, we recently made "brain hats".   These were inspired by Ellen McHenry's activity. 

These hats have all the parts of the brain labeled and list what activities might be associated with each part.  There are different sizes from which to choose. For our middle-schoolers, we used the large/adult size.  There is an option to use smaller sizes for younger students as well. 

Students labeled, colored, cut, and taped them together.  

This was excellent to use for a Growth Mindset activity because we discussed  how you might have to move outside your comfort zone if you want to strengthen the neural pathways in your brain.  We reviewed what neurons are made of, which we learned about in an activity earlier this year that had us building edible neuron models.

Yes, even middle-schoolers need some growth mindset education.  Actually, this is a crucial age to teach the concepts of neuroscience and grit. This was one of those unique activities that combined art, science, and Growth Mindset all in one. 

What are your favorite Growth Mindset activities?  I'd love to hear about them!