Activity 1: (15 minutes) GROWTH MINDSET

Review the Pyramid of Happiness anchor chart from the slides. Review the fourth and fifth levels of the pyramid and perform that action (strike a superhero pose and star-jump with arms and legs spread out wide). Make the connection that having a growth mindset helps us learn and grow, and helps us feel good about ourselves and the power we hold. Remind students about the actions associated with each level of the pyramid. Use the slide presentation to have a discussion about having a growth mindset.

Talk about the strategies for having a growth mindset:

• Tell yourself “I can do this!”
• Practice and try again.
• Get help when you need it.
• Remember that you are learning. Learners always try.

Activity 2: (10 minutes) WHEN SOMETHING SEEMS BAD, TURN IT AROUND

Sometimes things go wrong. We may step in a puddle with our new shoes, or drop our cookie on the floor. Maybe our grown-ups promised us we could play at the park, but the park is closed. When something seems bad, it can make us feel sad, angry, or frustrated. Using a growth mindset, we can develop strategies to find a way to make things better when something goes wrong. We can’t always change what is happening, but we can change how we think about it.

Play “When Something Seems Bad, Turn it Around” from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Little Life Lessons. Invite the children to share about a time when something didn’t turn out the way they had hoped. Brainstorm together ways that you could turn each situation around and make something good.

Activity 3: (15 minutes) PERFECT SQUARE

Read Perfect Square, by Michael Hall, or watch the read-aloud video by HarperKids. Highlight how the square makes something new from its broken or wrinkled pieces. Even though it was no longer a square, it found a way to create something new and beautiful out of the pieces.

Create a perfect square portfolio by printing out the Perfect Square Portfolio handout for each child. Have them color the square on the first page, and draw a big smiley face on the square. Then provide the following art supplies to complete the portfolio (one for each day of the week):

• Monday: Construction paper squares, scissors, hole punch, glue. Cut and punch as desired. Glue all pieces to the page.
• Tuesday: Construction paper squares, glue. Tear the squares. Make a picture out of the pieces.
• Wednesday: Construction paper squares, pinking shears or craft scissors with uniquely shaped blades, glue. Cut the paper and make a picture out of the pieces.
• Thursday: Construction paper squares, glue. Crinkle the paper up. Tear it and make a picture out of the pieces.
• Friday: Color the square any way you want. Make it into something else like a house or a boat.

Activity 4: (10 minutes) EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES

Review the slideshow to talk about mistakes and how they are opportunities to grow. Show the pictures of children making mistakes, and have the class decide the best way to fix each mistake and what they can learn from them.

Have the children identify the strategies for overcoming mistakes:

• Recognize it
• Own it
• Fix it
• Learn from it

Activity 5: (10 minutes) THE POWER OF YET

Sometimes we worry that we don’t know how to do something, or we worry that we are not the best at an activity that someone else can do well. Tell the children about something that you are still learning to do, that you cannot do YET. Invite the children to tell of something they want to be able to do, but cannot do it—yet.

Read The Thing That Lou Couldn’t Do, by Ashley Spires, or watch the read-aloud video by Read Aloud Kids Book Time. Have a discussion of what Lou couldn’t do and the strategies she used to avoid doing the thing she couldn’t do. Ask the children to recount how Lou solved her problem.

Have a discussion about how practice, not giving up, and giving things time means that when we can’t do something, it just means that we can’t do it… YET! Being our superstar self means being proud and confident in what we can do, even if we’re not the best at it.