The Brain is Like a Muscle

Learning Goals: Determine central ideas of the text and analyze its development Summarize the key supporting details and ideas

Warm up – T/P/S * Yes, I think the brain is like a muscle and the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. OR * You are born with being however smart or dumb you are and that’s the way it is. ~ Write down what you agree with and why.

Strategies Complete this sentence and provide an example > The central idea of a paragraph is… the point of the passage, minus all the details. It's the big picture - the Solar System vs. the planets. When you summarize, you need to … include the why, what, when, where and how. R a t e y o u r s e l v e s

Main Idea Often the reader can find the main idea just by looking at the title. For example, a passage titled: “Why Students Should Have Less Homework” will include reasons for that idea.

What’s the Point? Read this short paragraph: Engineers create wealth for society. So, tennis is a game and the resources of the earth are scarce. Have you gone mad? Thus the only solution is to educate the public on being socially responsible. Engineers create wealth for society. So, tennis is a game and the resources of the earth are scarce. Have you gone mad? Thus the only solution is to educate the public on being socially responsible. DID THIS MAKE SENSE?????

OF COURSE NOT!!! It didn’t have a MAIN IDEA! We would go crazy if texts were written like this all the time. It was difficult to understand because it was made of different ideas that did not link. There was no common thread. The good news is that normal passages have main ideas!

Main Idea Main Idea - is like the heart of the text or a paragraph. It is the controlling idea. All the other supporting details in the text or within a paragraph should tell us more about the main idea. ma

Ask Yourself…. WHO or WHAT is this passage about?”

Answer: What is a summary? A summary is a shortened passage, which retains the main points of the original. It is a fairly brief restatement --- in your own words --- of the contents of a passage. Note: you simply report back what the writer has said, without making value judgments. Summary Song - LYdTDY&feature=related

Try it out! These songs have been reduced to their main idea and written into summaries. Can you figure out the name of the songs based on their descriptions?? 1) A confused Northern gent goes into town and sticks a feather in his cap but calls it macaroni. The crowd reminds him to mind the music if he expects the girls to be dandy. Yankee Doodle 2) If you are feeling particularly good, you should clap your hands, stomp your feet, or partake in some other form of physical activity. IF YOU’RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT 3) A farmer’s pet dog has a five-letter name that is fairly easy to spell. BINGO 4) Undaunted by the weather, a very small arachnid made several attempts to climb a drainpipe. THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER 5) A farmer owned a number of animals. All of them made distinctive noises. OLD MACDONALD

PRACTICE - Partner Read Take turns reading paragraphs on the first page to your partner from the “You Can Grow Your Intelligence” Highlight what you think are the twelve most important words that convey the main idea, and write a one-sentence summary on the page.

Partner Read, cont… Continue reading the 2 nd page while highlighting and summarizing. What does the article make you wonder about? Reminder: good readers ask questions when they read.

Partner Read, cont… Change partners and do the same thing with page three. Reminder: good readers see pictures in their mind when they read. Then, demonstrate the reading skill of visualizing and draw what you are seeing in your mind.

Partner Read, cont… With the same partner, read the last page, repeating the same highlighting and summarizing steps, and them demonstrate the “evaluating” reading strategy by writing whether you agree or disagree with what the article says and why. Reminder: good readers evaluate when they read.

Short Film & Respond Neurons and How They Work: ******************************* Brief response : (using ABC strategy: A nswer the question, B ack it up with a quote, and make a c omment or c onnection) Do you believe that intelligence is fixed or can grow? Why?

Extension: What is mindset “the view that you adopt for yourself” (Dweck, 2006, p. 6) Two essential mindsets: Fixed- “Believing that your qualities are carved in stone” (p. 6) Growth- “…Belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts….” (p. 7) FIXED MINDSET Intelligence & ability are fixed at birth A “natural” doesn’t have to work hard Mistakes are failure GROWTH MINDSET Intelligence & ability can improve Effort is satisfying/ fun Mistakes are an opportunity to learn Note: you may have different mindsets in different domains of your life.

 The brain is like a muscle that gets stronger and works better the more it is exercised.  Too often students believe the brain is static, leading them to think talent and giftedness are permanent, unchanging personal attributes that automatically bring later success.  Every time you work hard, stretch yourself and learn something new your brain forms new connections and over time you actually become smarter.

Once you have a Growth Mindset how do you use it to get smarter? T/P/S

Steps to Developing a Growth Mindset Step #1: Learn, learn, learn Step #2 Realize hard work is key Step #3 Face setbacks

MINDSET STEP #1: LEARN, LEARN, LEARN Fixed Mindset- “ The main thing I want to show in college is to show others how good I am.” Growth Mindset- LEARN, LEARN, LEARN “ It is much more important for me to learn than to get good grades.”

 A fixed mindset predicted students’ failure to recover from an initial poor grade  A growth mindset predicted successful recovery.

MINDSET STEP #2: REALIZE HARD WORK IS KEY Fixed Mindset: Learning should come naturally “When I have to work really hard in a subject, I don’t feel very smart” Growth Mindset: Putting a lot of effort into learning and working hard is key “The harder I have to work at something, the more effort I put into something, the better I’ll be at it”

Mindset Step #3: Face setbacks Fixed Mindset: Hide mistakes and conceal deficiencies, retreat, blame others, act superior. “ I’d spend less time on this subject from now on; I would try not to take this subject ever again; I would try to cheat on the next test.” Growth Mindset: Capitalize on mistakes and confront deficiencies. “I would work harder in class from now on; I would spend more time studying for the test.”

Which praise would promote GROWTH mindset? 1.Good Job! I can tell that you put a lot of effort into this! 2.You’re a natural at this, aren’t you? 3.Here’s a challenge that will make you smarter! 4.Well, you did the best you could: I’ll accept it. 5.Let’s look at where you lost point so your can revise your project/paper and resubmit.

Remember To… Focus on effort, struggle, persistence despite setbacks Choose difficult tasks Focus on Strategies Reflect on different strategies that work and don’t work Focus on Learning and improving Seek challenges Work hard

Enabling vs Empowering Enabling Behaviors Keep students happy Protect students from struggles/failures Help students finish assignments/cram for tests Accept/compensate for “turning out” in class Empowering Behaviors Encourage persistance Help students learn from struggles/failures Teach students strategies to be independent Hold students accountable for work and behavior

T/P/S  Provide an example of a time you exhibited one of these mindsets.

Summarizing Strategy: Answer the following by discussing with your partner- How can understanding your mindset increase your level of academic and personal success? RATE YOURSELF again – how well can you determine the main idea and summarize reading material? 1,2,3,4