Suncoast Credit Union

To educate Kindergarten children about the ways that their brain learns and grows. Young children naturally have a growth mindset before entering Kindergarten. A growth mindset is a way of thinking that allows the children to dream and believe that anything is possible and they can achieve anything they set their mind to. Kindergarten expectations have changed significantly over the years, often expecting children to accomplish and process information that is not developmentally appropriate. When a child is confronted with challenging tasks, their growth mindset begins to weaken and they feel like they become limited in who they are and what they can do. Our goal is to teach the children how their brain has the ability to grow knowledge and persevere through difficulty in order to be successful in a given task.

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My Fantastic Elastic "KINDER" Brain

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School:
Laurel Oak Elementary 
Subject:
Language Arts 
Teacher:
Christina Svec 
 
Jennifer Batiato, Andrea Chaney, Lisa Casale, Julie Debar, Cindy Cohen, Susan Feldman, Kari Horsman 
Students Impacted:
150 
Grade:
Date:
August 27, 2017

Investor

Thank you to the following investor for funding this grant.

 

Perna-Rose Foundation for Hope - $391.52

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Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 160

Introducing growth mindset texts into the Kindergarten classrooms at Laurel Oak Elementary school has had an amazing impact on our students.  At this young age they are learning to have a mindset that doesn't give up.  They are problem solvers and challenge each other every day to do their best.  I love when I hear a student say to another student: "That's a fixed mindset...we have a growth mindset in our classroom...you can do it!"  Our students are more excited to tackle new challenges and work well together in group settings.  Each student knows their ideas are valued and everyone has the chance to contribute to the project.  The Kindergarten teachers have had fun coming up with creative lessons that correlate with the stories.  It is hard to fully understand what is going on in the pictures below but each picture contains a specific object lesson that corresponded with the story.  Thank you for funding our grant.  It has truly made a huge difference in the lives of our students.  We are excited to see how this mindset carries them through their educational years.

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Bubble Gum Brain

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Dot Day

 

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Showing Kindness to the World

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What do you do with an idea?

 

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What do you do with a problem?

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What do you do with a chance?

 

Original Grant Overview

Goal

To educate Kindergarten children about the ways that their brain learns and grows. Young children naturally have a growth mindset before entering Kindergarten. A growth mindset is a way of thinking that allows the children to dream and believe that anything is possible and they can achieve anything they set their mind to. Kindergarten expectations have changed significantly over the years, often expecting children to accomplish and process information that is not developmentally appropriate. When a child is confronted with challenging tasks, their growth mindset begins to weaken and they feel like they become limited in who they are and what they can do. Our goal is to teach the children how their brain has the ability to grow knowledge and persevere through difficulty in order to be successful in a given task.  

 

What will be done with my students

To help children understand how their brain works and keep their growth mindset, we will be using a series of books that specifically focuses on reinforcing these key ideas. Our team of teachers will work together to create motivating lesson plans and creative activities that correspond with the theme of the book. The number of books will allow us to reinforce these ideas several times a month throughout the entire school year.

1) The Brain: Your Fantastic Elastic Brain, Bubble Gum Brain, Growth Mindset for Kids: We All Have Brain Power, Making a Splash: Growth Mindset Children’s Book

2) Perseverance: Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bike, Brontorina, The Little Engine that Could, The Tortoise and The Hare

3) Problem Solving: The Most Magnificent Thing, Thanks for the Feedback, I Think, What to do with a Problem?, The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes, Knuffle Bunny, My Truck is Stuck

4) Creativity: Sky Color, The Dot, ish, Beautiful Oops!, What to do with an Idea?

5) Individuality: The OK Book, Finklehopper Frog, Finklehopper Frog Cheers, Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun

6) Positive Thinking: Amazing Grace, You Can Do It Bert, Not Yet, Almost

Many of these books cross over into other growth mindset themes and curricular areas of instruction. All books are aligned with State of Florida Kindergarten Literacy Standards. 

 

Benefits to my students

These books will be used year after year in each of the eight Kindergarten classrooms at Laurel Oak. The number of children impacted this year alone will be 150 students. Nurturing a growth mindset in our Kindergarten classrooms will give our children the tools and skills necessary to accomplish any challenge. They will become problem solvers, encouragers, and champions for themselves and others. They will take ownership of their learning and persevere when faced with new growth opportunities. 

 

Budget Narrative

The prices listed are the retail price for each book. Amazon has many of these books on sale. If this grant is funded quickly, then I will be able to purchase them at a lower price rate. 

 

Items

# Item Cost
1 Sky Color by Peter Reynolds $14.00
2 The Dot by Peter Reynolds $15.00
3 ish by Peter Reynolds $14.00
4 Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman $17.99
5 The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires $16.95
6 The OK Book by Amy Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld $12.99
7 Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka $16.99
8 Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak $18.95
9 Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg $17.58
10 Thanks for the Feedback, I Think by Julia Cook $10.95
11 Making a Splash: A Growth Mindset Children's Book by Carol E. Reiley $25.78
12 What To Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada $16.95
13 What To Do With a Problem? by Kobi Yamada $10.95
14 The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett $16.99
15 You Can Do It Bert! by Ole Konnecke $16.99
16 Finklehopper Frog by Irene Livingston $7.95
17 Finklehopper Frog Cheers by Irene Livingston $8.05
18 Knuffle Bunny by Mo Williams $17.99
19 Brontorina by James Howe $17.20
20 My Truck is Stuck! by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk $16.99
21 The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper $8.99
22 The Tortoise and The Hare by Janet Stevens $7.99
23 Bubble Gum Brain by Julia Cook $9.95
24 Growth Mindset for Kids: We All Have Brain Power by Rich Linville $8.46
25 Not Yet by Liza Cox $16.95
26 Almost by Richard Torrey $17.99
27 Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy $9.95
  Total: $391.52

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Special Thanks to Our Presenting Partners

Suncoast Credit Union