Authentic Lessons for 21st Century Learning

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What's Mindset Got to Do With It?

Nicole Harris, Lindsay Hawkins | Published: September 23rd, 2025 by K20 Center

Summary

This interactive inquiry-based lesson focuses on how our mindset impacts how we engage and approach different situations throughout life. Students will reflect on their own mindset and current beliefs that affect growth and fixed mindset. Students will develop a plan to foster a growth mindset.

Essential Questions

  • How can our thoughts and beliefs about failure affect our success in school and life?

Learning Objectives

  • Students will reflect on their own mindset and current beliefs that affect a growth mindset.

  • Students will develop a plan to foster a growth mindset.

Snapshot

Engage

Students reflect upon a personal challenge within school or life and how their beliefs impacted their approach to that experience.

Explore

Student pairs sort statements into two categories: Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset.

Explain

Students watch mindset video(s) and apply their new knowledge to revisit the card sort.

Extend

Students articulate their understanding of the two types of mindsets and construct real-life examples for both using the Frayer Model.

Evaluate

Students evaluate their own mindset and how they can develop their growth mindset in a variety of situations.

Materials List

Preparation

Before you facilitate this lesson, prepare all materials and review all attached or linked resources. Print, cut, and organize the student Growth and Fixed Mindset Card Sort and print the Card Sort Placemat. To reuse these items, consider labeling card sort sets and laminating all reusable materials. Additionally, watch the videos linked in the Explain part of the lesson to confirm they are still active and are appropriate for your students. You may choose to only use one specific video, use a couple of videos, or have students Jigsaw the videos which would allow for a deep discussion with a variety of examples and non-examples of a growth mindset.

Engage

15 Minute(s)

Explain to students that they will participate in a modified version of the instructional strategy Think-Pair-Share. Tell students that they will first think, then write their responses down, and then pair and share out their responses with a partner.

Move to slide 3. Pose the first three questions to students, allowing them time to reflect upon each question and then record their response before moving on to the next question in the set. Once all students have a response recorded, they use the next 3-5 minutes to share their responses with their partners.

  1. Think of a time in your life when you worked really hard at something (maybe it was something challenging or difficult).

  2. Why did you spend so much time or put so much effort working on it?

  3. How did you "grow" from that experience? What did you learn?

Next, display slide 4 and have students discuss the last two questions as a whole group. The questions on the slide are purposefully formatted to appear with a click. Click once to make the first question appear: “Based on what you and your partner discussed, can you grow when dealing with situations that are challenging or that you don’t like or enjoy?” Allow students to briefly share a few thoughts and examples.

Then click again to make the second question appear: “What would happen if you approached all situations that you do not like or find challenging with the same mindset or attitude?” Allow students to reflect and then share a few responses.

Keep in mind, we are not formalizing or defining terms for a Growth or Fixed Mindset yet. That will occur naturally later in the lesson.

Wrap up this portion of the lesson by reviewing the essential question and lesson objectives on slides 5 and 6. 

Explore

30 Minute(s)

Now that your students have had an opportunity to reflect on a specific time when they worked hard and how those situations impacted their attitudes or mindsets, allow them to explore some mindset statements. These statements demonstrate both a fixed and a growth mindset. 

Place students into small groups and pass out the attached Growth and Fixed Mindset Card Sort Cards and Card Sort Placemat to each group. This Card Sort activity has a variety of statements that demonstrate both fixed and growth mindsets. The goal for your students right now is to explore the different statements with a partner and see if they can determine which type of mindset they are reading about.

Display slide 7 to introduce this activity. Students need to have a basic understanding of the terms “Growth” and “Fixed” on the Card Sort Placemat. Ask students what those two words might mean in this context. If they are unsure, ask them what the root ‘grow’ and ‘fixed’ mean to them. Furthermore, ask how they would describe those words or what examples might they provide to a younger child.

The bottom half of the slide is arranged to provide an example of what it looks like to categorize their cards. Four different boxes will appear on click to arrange into two categories. Click four times to show students a visual example of what their card sort will look like.

This activity sets the stage for student inquiry about both growth and fixed mindsets. Students should not worry about right or wrong answers when sorting these statements. They will revisit the Card Sort later on in the lesson and are allowed to adjust the placement of any statement.

After students have completed the card sort activity, display slide 8 and place students into two groups. Pass out the attached Frayer Model handout to each student

Have one group watch the two following videos: 

Have the other group watch the following two videos: 

Have students use their Frayer Model handout as a note sheet while they watch the assigned video(s). They should record definitions, characteristics, examples, and non-examples on the document. 

Once students have watched the assigned videos and completed their notes, ask them to flip over their handout and respond to the following prompt: 

  • What is one takeaway from the videos that you found impactful and insightful? 

Explain

20 Minute(s)

Display slide 9. After watching the videos and recording notes on their Frayer Model, have students return to their small groups from the Explore section. Invite groups  to discuss the videos they watched and what they recorded on their Frayer Model. Their video notes should be similar, but depending upon the videos watched and a student’s prior experience, they may have connected with different characteristics and examples. Ask groups to share their thoughts.

Keeping students in their small groups, move to slide 10. Students should apply their new understanding of growth and fixed mindsets by reviewing the sorted cards. While reviewing the sorted cards, ask students to do two things: (1) move statement cards as needed based on their deeper understanding of growth and fixed mindset and (2) discuss the justification for each placement to determine why it signifies growth or fixed mindset. 

The bottom half of the slide is arranged to provide an example of what it looks like to categorize their cards. Four different boxes will appear on click to arrange into two categories. Click four times to show students a visual example of what their card sort will look like. Walk around observing and listening to the student discussions as they are working.

Once all of the groups have finalized their card sorts, display slide 11 and instruct students to choose one sorted statement that stood out to them. Ask them to record that statement at the bottom of their Frayer Model document, along with why they chose this statement. 

Have student pairs share their selection with the whole group to wrap up that activity.

Extend

15 Minute(s)

Display slide 12 and allow them to choose one of the videos below to watch. While watching the video, ask students to use their Frayer Model to record examples and situations within the speaker’s story that displayed either a growth or a fixed mindset. Additionally, have students consider how the actions and words of others could have impacted the speaker’s mindset. These examples should be recorded on the Frayer Model sheet from earlier under the Example and Non-example titles.

After students watch one of the videos and have identified examples, debrief as a whole class what was recorded and how their stories can inspire us to develop a growth mindset.

Evaluate

25 Minute(s)

Students should now begin to consider how growth and fixed mindsets impact the way they approach situations in their own life. Allowing students to formalize their understanding of a growth mindset, display slide 13 and ask, “What does Growth Mindset mean to you?” and let them think about this question individually. Then ask students the three questions listed below. Ask them to discuss their responses with their group. 

  1. How has your thinking about struggle and failure changed in light of this new information?

  2. How does knowing about a growth mindset change the way you treat yourself when you struggle and fail?

  3. How does believing in a growth mindset change the way you approach a new challenge or something difficult?

After they have discussed with their group, ask students to share a few of their responses with the whole class.

Pass out the attached Student Growth Mindset Goal Activity Sheet to each student.  Have students brainstorm a few situations they approached with a fixed mindset. Once the fixed mindset examples are recorded, have them rephrase and reframe them to construct a growth mindset. Have students create a goal for how they plan to overcome that fixed mindset.

To help guide students through the process, display the questions on slide 14:

  1. THINK of a situation or experience that you approach with a fixed mindset.

  2. WHY does that situation or experience keep you from success or how does it challenge you?

  3. WHAT can you do to approach the situation or experience with a growth mindset?

  4. WHO might help you succeed?

  5. WHAT other strategies could you apply to accomplish this growth mindset?

  6. CREATE a growth mindset goal statement.

Tell students that as they adapt their mindsets and begin to shift from fixed to growth, they can revisit their statements on the Student Growth Mindset Goal Activity Sheet and celebrate their growth. Each time they work to develop their own growth mindset, they should color in one of the wrinkles on the brain. Help students understand that the goal is for them to work throughout the year across all subjects to develop a growth mindset. Developing a growth mindset is a journey. Encourage students to recognize the growth and change within their mindsets and celebrate it. 

Research Rationale

Academic Achievement Through Growth Mindset Interventions: Insights from a National Multisite Study.

This evidence in action brief examines the impact of a growth mindset intervention on low-achieving ninth-grade students' academic achievement. The study found that challenge-seeking behaviors significantly mediated the intervention's impact in medium-achieving schools, highlighting the importance of contextual factors.

Resources

Publisher

K20 Center

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Facilitator Resources

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  • Lesson Slides — What's Mindset Got to do With It_

Learner Handouts

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  • Cart Sort Placemat-What's Mindset Got To Do With It
  • Frayer Model — What's Mindset Got to do With It (1)
  • Growth and Fixed Mindset Card Sort — What's Mindset Got to Do With It
  • Student Growth Mindset Goal Activity Sheet

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