Mindset at Great Falls

The importance of developing a growth mindset, as both learners and teachers, has become clear to the members of the Great Falls School community. 

In a fixed mindset individuals believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are fixed traits. They believe we each have a certain amount and that’s that.

In a growth mindset individuals understand that talents and abilities can be developed through effort, teaching and learning, and persistence.

People who have a growth mindset don’t necessarily think everyone is the same, but they do believe each of us can improve at anything if we work at it. 

We will continue to share resources and information around improving mindset to support the great work at Great Falls, as we continue to develop growth mindsets in our students and ourselves! 





Great Falls is such a motivating place to teach and learn.  
Each of the photos on this page can be found in our school~ 

                                      Great

       Online 

                               Resources:

MindShift
Mindset Kit
Mindset Works

What Kids Can Do

 

Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House, 2006.

Ricci, Mary C. Mindsets in the Classroom: Building a Cultureof Success and Student Achievment in Schools.Texas: Prufrock Press, 2013. 

A Year of Great Events

Take Out Your Calendar and 

Prepare for a Year of Great Events!

Celebrate Learning All Year Long!

September 
It's Attendance Awareness Month! http://awareness.attendanceworks.org/
 September 8 is International Literacy Day, marking the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

October
 Global Read Aloud begins in October. Join classrooms all over the world in a shared read aloud experience.
October is also National Bullying Prevention Month. Be kind and appreciate diversity!

November
 November Is Picture Book Month! http://picturebookmonth.com/ Picture books are for every age and often teach us powerful lessons. Read a classic such as The Giving Tree, or Blueberries for Sal, or try a new author like Mo Willems!

December
The Winter Solstice occurs around December 21^st. It is the shortest day of the year. People all over the world participate in festivals and celebrations. Learn more about how different cultures and peoples celebrate.

January
 January 21 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day - The Day of Service encourages citizens to follow King's words: "Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve." Read more at the Martin Luther King, Jr. website

February
 February 13-19 is Random Acts of Kindness Week! Consider celebrating Valentines Day by sharing the gift of a book. http://bookgivingday.com/

 The month of February is Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of African Americans in U.S. history. Learn more at http://www.timeforkids.com/minisite/black-history-month    http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month

The 24th is World Read Aloud Day!    http://www.litworld.org/wrad/

March
 The 2nd of this month is Dr. Seuss' Read Across America Day. http://origin-www.seussville.com/parents/   

On the 14th celebrate mathematics on  Pi Day!      http://www.piday.org/

It's Question Week from March 13-19th!  http://questionweek.com/

April
 It's National Poetry Month. Enjoy reading and writing poetry together!  http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/ 
     And do not forget Earth Day - April 22, 2016. Do something to make earth a greener better world!

May
Celebrate and discover the amazing world of comic books on Free Comic Book Day. Visit a local store on May 2 and receive a free comic book!
May 4th-10th is Children's Book Week! http://www.bookweekonline.com/
May 21 is  World Day for Cultural Diversity.  Do one thing for diversity and inclusion!   http://www.un.org/en/events/culturaldiversityday/

June
June 5 is  World Environment Day.      
                                   What will YOU do to help Green the Blue?

July 
Everyone knows the 4th of July is or Independence Day, celebrate by reading about our American History! 
Did you know that there is a National Lollipop Day? How about National Macaroni Day? Read about these and more http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/famous-july-events.html.

August 
National Aviation Day is observed in the United States on August 19 each year to celebrate the history and development of the aviation. Learn something new about the airplane and the history of flight.

Keep Them ENGAGED!

Keep your child's brain developing over the summer break, especially when it comes to math and reading skills! 

Students need to stay engaged in fun learning activities, and keep their bodies tuned, so their minds stay sharp!   

Every child needs to play outside every day and find fun ways to exercise indoors if the weather keeps them in. Keeping the mind exercised can be a little more challenging, so here are a few ideas to keep children thinking all summer long!

READ TOGETHER EVERY DAY!

Play Games: Traditional games keeps young minds sharp and are a lot of fun! Card games such as Blink, Crazy 8s and Go Fish~
Board games such as chess and checkers~ Car games such as Buzz, I Spy and 20 Questions~ are all fun and easy to play.

READ EVERY DAY!

Take a Summer Reading Challenge: Make reading a competitive event. Most children respond well when they set goals and earn rewards. Reading as few as five books will ensure growth in reading skills! This site offers just a few good book lists to help you:

http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/books

Baxter Memorial offers a Summer Reading Challenge  and many other public libraries offer programs that run all summer long with great incentives!

Barnes & Noble Summer Reading and TD Bank Summer Reading programs can also be a great incentive for young readers!

READ TOGETHER EVERY DAY!

Learn with Technology:
Bedtime Math- Fun problems for the whole family!
Wonder of the Day!
Sparklebox- Literacy Resources

READ EVERY DAY!

Enjoy Real Life Experiences Together Have your child help compute the change they will receive when shopping, or plan a road trip completely, including predicting how many miles they will travel. 

Talk Often with your child and point out reading materials 
  wherever possible:  Read menus, magazines and newspapers,
  signs, brochures, maps, guidebooks, smart phones, ipads, etc.

Make Time for Simple Fun!
     The Formula Mom Blog offers some great ideas!  http://formulamom.com/30-things-to-do-with-kids-this-summer/
 

Connecting learning to our everyday lives,
helps our children realize the importance
of math and reading skills.

READ TOGETHER EVERY DAY!

Exposure-Exposure-Exposure

Math ~ Skills for Life 

     

     Children learn a wide range of new math skills every year in school and  teachers help them make connections to real-life situations.  Parents can help children develop solid mathematical understanding by exposing them to math in every day interactions.
 

  Money                             
    What Can Parents Do?
          Give your children a small allowance and let them spend some while saving some as well. Teach them to keep a record of their "income" and "spending" much the way adults do. This will provide important practice with computation skills and will help to develop an understanding of the value of money. 
     Include children when you visit the grocery store or eat at restaurants. Looking at receipts and bills will help them to develop a broader understanding of how money works in every day situations.


Telling Time and 
     Understanding Elapsed Time                       
What Can Parents Do?
      Keep at least one analog clock in your home and teach your children to use it. It is also helpful to use a variety of ways to say time. For example, say, "quarter past ten" instead of "ten-fifteen." Building vocabulary will lead to increased understanding.
     Holding children accountable for their time is important. If you say that they have ten minutes to complete their chore, or a half an hour to finish their homework, set a timer and stick to it. 
     The more we use the language and practice the concepts of time, the more meaningful it will be for our students.



Understanding Measurement 
                              and Conversions
What Can Parents Do?
   Cooking is one of the best ways to help children learn the skills they need to be able to measure and convert units of measure accurately. 
   Building with children, be it bird houses or bookcases, is a fun  way for kids to learn how to use tools and provides meaningful practice of math skills.
    Using cups and gallons, inches and feet can be tricky, and adding the metric system makes it even more so. Exposing children to real life situations that utilize these skills will make for long lasting learning.

Few lessons I cover as a teacher are more dreaded by students and parents alike than teaching how to convert measurement units. Changing between the cups and gallons used in the United States can be tricky enough, let along bringing in the metric system used by other countries. - See more at:

ew lessons I cover as a teacher are more dreaded by students and parents alike than teaching how to convert measurement units. Changing between the cups and gallons used in the United States can be tricky enough, let along bringing in the metric system used by other countries. - See more at:

Great Resources for Families:
http://www.parentfurther.com/resources/enewsletter/saving 
http://artfulparent.com/cooking-kids-35-fun-ideas-recipes 
http://builtbykids.com/
http://www.pbs.org/parents/preschool/tellingtime.html

FUN daily math problems for ALL levels of learning!

http://bedtimemath.org/