Counseling Connections: uniqueness

Monday, February 13, 2017

Mindset Monday (Giraffes Can't Dance)

I have used the book Giraffes Can't Dance (affiliate link) to teach lessons on problem solving, perseverance, diversity and self-esteem and I recently realized that Giraffes Can't Dance is another great book for teaching mindset and "the power of yet". Apparently I'm not the only one who made this connection as I found a FREE worksheet on TPT, made by The OCD Teacher in Room 112, where students are given the opportunity to reflect on something that they can't do yet and then write about how they can get there. You can find that worksheet for FREE HERE. I also found a packet that costs only $1.00 on TPT, made by Growth-Mindset-In-Action, This packet, which focuses on growth mindset and ability, can be purchased HERE. The Brown Bag Teacher also posted a great lesson on her blog. You can find that lesson HERE. I plan to have my students create a bulletin board called "Giraffe's CAN Dance". I will try to post a picture when it is complete. You can purchase Giraffes Can't Dance HERE.

If you want to use Giraffes Can't Dance for other topic areas you can find some great ideas below:

Connections:

Exploring Diversity with "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Reed-Resources

Problem Solving/Feelings by Kristen-Brooks-Dankovich

Giraffes Can't Dance Reading Response FREEBIE!

Giraffes Can't Dance-A lesson on Kindness

Giraffes Can't Dance: Responsible Behavior, Self-confidence Development, Trustworthiness

Friday, December 9, 2016

Snowflake Bentley (Perseverance)

Snowflake Bentley is a biography about the life of Wilson Bentley, a self-taught scientist who photographed thousands of snowflakes and studied their uniqueness. While other children built forts and pelted snowballs at roosting crows, Willie used an old microscope to look at flowers, raindrops, blades of grass, and snow. Willie's parents bought him a camera that made it possible for him to photograph the snowflakes. His first pictures were failures but mistake by mistake, snowflake by snowflake, Willie worked through every storm. Even though Willie didn't give up, that winter ended and he still wasn't able to accomplish his goal. He finally accomplished his goal the second winter, but he still faced obstacles. Sometimes the snowflakes were broken and he had to wait hours before finding one that was just right. If the shed was warm, the snow would melt. If he twitched a muscle, the snowflake would break. If he didn't work carefully and quickly the snowflakes would evaporate. Willie's work was greatly respected near the end of his life. He came to be known as the world's expert on snow and other scientists raised money to help him publish his book. I have used this book to teach two different lessons. The first lesson is on Diversity and the second is on Perseverance. You can purchase the book HERE.