Description
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain Activities for Upper Elementary:
These literature unit activities for Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak has a digital distance learning option in Google Slides. Please refer to the final seven pages of the file for the link and instructions.
Are you teaching your students about growth mindset? Your Fantastic Elastic Brain by JoAnn Deak is a perfect segue for teaching your students the power of growth mindset. Conceptually, these ideas are perfect for any level, but this literature unit was created with 3rd-6th graders in mind.
I recommend starting the school year (or your growth mindset instruction) with material that teaches students about the brain. This provides students with a solid foundation for building subsequent growth mindset instruction.
Infused with reflections, challenges (including a STEM challenge for creating slingshots using rubber bands), and opportunities to identify and clarify growth mindset vs fixed mindset, your students are sure to learn and have a great deal of fun!
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain activities include:
- Brainstorming ways to use elastics
- Comparing and contrasting using a Venn diagram
- Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset
- Prompts for student reflections
- A rubber band challenge
- Identifying parts of the brain and their purpose
- Fantastic Elastic Brain bookmarks (in full color and black and white)
- Slingshot STEM challenge
- Growth Mindset Posters (5 posters in full color and in black and white)
- Answer Keys where deemed appropriate
NOTE: THIS INCLUDES A DIGITAL DISTANCE LEARNING OPTION!
This product includes a digital option (as well as the no prep printable option). The instructions for utilizing the digital portion appear at the end of the packet.
This file contains 37 pages + Google Slides™.
Joelle V –
Used as part of morning meeting to lead into the character education trait: grit.
Joelle V –
Used as part of morning meeting to lead into the character education trait: grit.
Rachel McIntosh –
Thank you!
Rachel McIntosh –
Thank you!
Mary Hillard –
Looking forward to using this with my 5/6 ELA students. I wish it was editable as I found a typo (pg. 7 under Fixed Mindset).
Mary Hillard –
Looking forward to using this with my 5/6 ELA students. I wish it was editable as I found a typo (pg. 7 under Fixed Mindset).
Arlene Armstrong –
I’m excited to use this with my class.
Arlene Armstrong –
I’m excited to use this with my class.
Angie T –
GREAT resource! Had to keep an eye on the rubber bands though! 🙂
Angie T –
GREAT resource! Had to keep an eye on the rubber bands though! 🙂
Carol T –
Well done but some materials too advanced for third graders
Carol T –
Well done but some materials too advanced for third graders
Brenda L –
I used this book with my students when the Science teacher did her unit on the body systems. It was a great tie in and the students remembered more. They still refer back to the book at times in class.
Brenda L –
I used this book with my students when the Science teacher did her unit on the body systems. It was a great tie in and the students remembered more. They still refer back to the book at times in class.
Lindsay C –
Great Resource
Lindsay C –
Great Resource
Charlotte S –
Can’t wait to use this!
Charlotte S –
Can’t wait to use this!
Rebecca W –
Really fun to use to get kids thinking about their “I can” or “I can’t” mindset.
Rebecca W –
Really fun to use to get kids thinking about their “I can” or “I can’t” mindset.
Rhonda W –
I’m not seeing how this is a literature unit, but it is a great resource for growth mindset lessons. It has a lot of great thought/discussion-provoking activities. I’m using it about 2 days per week for about 20 minutes per day, and I am only a couple activities into with the students, but we are loving it!
Rhonda W –
I’m not seeing how this is a literature unit, but it is a great resource for growth mindset lessons. It has a lot of great thought/discussion-provoking activities. I’m using it about 2 days per week for about 20 minutes per day, and I am only a couple activities into with the students, but we are loving it!
Jacqueline H –
Great product to accompany read aloud.
Jacqueline H –
Great product to accompany read aloud.
Sarah H –
Brought some academic foundation to a topic that can become fluffy
Sarah H –
Brought some academic foundation to a topic that can become fluffy
kris E –
Thanks for creating these! Great activities!
kris E –
Thanks for creating these! Great activities!
melanie W –
great
melanie W –
great
Karen L –
Some good ideas to use alongside the text.
Karen L –
Some good ideas to use alongside the text.
Elizabeth Y –
Excited to use this
Elizabeth Y –
Excited to use this
Katelyn B –
Awesome package to go with the book.
Katelyn B –
Awesome package to go with the book.
Mercedes Escriba –
Great!
Mercedes Escriba –
Great!
Ms Blais All Stars –
Not quite what I expected, but a good little resource. A bit overpriced for what you get, as many of the activities you can do with the paper/are on pinterest.
Ms Blais All Stars –
Not quite what I expected, but a good little resource. A bit overpriced for what you get, as many of the activities you can do with the paper/are on pinterest.
Christopher M –
Good resource.
Christopher M –
Good resource.
Kalee S –
This had a lot of great activities that I could use alongside the book. Thank you!
Nicole C –
Great activities
Daphne M –
Thanks for providing a motivating useful resource that students enjoyed.
Allison K –
This was a great resource! It went along with the book wonderfully and was a great way for me to assess student understanding.
Chelsea G –
We use Fantastic Elastic Brain at the beginning of every school year.
Whitney B –
Great resource on a topic that can be hard to find info on.
Ms Pea the LRT –
I used this with a grade 6 class. They were engaged but we did notice the colours did not line up with the colours in the book.
Michelle M –
Thank you for some fun activities for older students to go along with the younger set,
Daniele S –
This is a wonderful ressource that works really well with the book. I would have loved to see an answer key as some of the answers were a bit ambiguous. My students struggled to fill the Venn diagram about how a brain is like an elastic band. It would have been nice to have an answer key to help guide them.
Stephanie E –
I love to start the year with this read aloud and activity.
Meghan LaForce Stack –
I loved using this resource with my students to introduce some Mindfulness work for the school year. It gave the kids a sense of how their mind is not just about knowledge but about how we can change our reactions to situations.
Chantel McClarnen –
This was great to go with the book.
Dorothy J –
Awesome growth mindset activity!
Renee T –
Easy to implement activities to help introduce the concept of growth mindset. Hands on activity with elastic bands provided students with a great opportunity to collaborate at the beginning of the school year.
Bales Blockbusters –
Great for online group.
Heather Alexis –
Great compliment to the book! My students enjoyed being able to express their learning on paper after being online for so long. The variety sparked their brains!
Delsa T –
Awesome
Sarah K –
Great practice for my special education kiddos!!
dawn C –
Great resource! Very engaging!
Kaitlyn H –
The kids really enjoyed it!
Tiffany J –
This was a hit, even in 5th grade! My students were able to think about what they wanted to grow in and I was able to challenge them to not give up since their brain is always stretching!
Bailey Lawrence –
Perfect!
Elkine Irwin –
Thank you!
Sally H –
Easy to use and print out. Kids enjoyed them during independent learning!