Growth Mindset Character Traits Through Literature
Created byEmily Schwintek
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Growth Mindset Character Traits Through Literature

Grade 5English8 days
★★★★★
5.0 (1 rating)
In this 5th-grade English project, students explore growth mindset principles through the analysis of literary characters. They investigate how characters overcome challenges, identify various character traits, and analyze how mindset affects the interpretation of characters' actions. Through portfolio activities, students connect personal mindsets to character interpretation, fostering self-awareness and a deeper understanding of literature and personal growth.
Growth MindsetCharacter TraitsLiterature AnalysisOvercoming ChallengesPersonal ReflectionFixed Mindset
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Inquiry Framework

Question Framework

Driving Question

The overarching question that guides the entire project.How can understanding character traits and growth mindset help us analyze how characters overcome challenges and achieve their goals in stories, and how does our own mindset affect our interpretation of these characters?

Essential Questions

Supporting questions that break down major concepts.
  • How do characters overcome challenges in stories?
  • What are the different character traits?
  • How can a growth mindset help characters achieve their goals?
  • How do our own mindsets affect how we interpret characters' actions?

Standards & Learning Goals

Learning Goals

By the end of this project, students will be able to:
  • Understand and apply growth mindset principles.
  • Identify and analyze character traits in literature.
  • Analyze how characters overcome challenges.
  • Understand how mindset affects interpretation of characters' actions.
  • Connect personal mindset to character interpretation

Entry Events

Events that will be used to introduce the project to students

The Mindset Cliffhanger

The teacher dramatically reads aloud a scene from a popular book but stops abruptly at a pivotal moment where the character faces a major obstacle. Instead of revealing what the character does, the teacher asks students to predict the character's next move, but with a twist: one prediction must be based on a growth mindset and another on a fixed mindset. Students then discuss how each mindset would affect the character's actions and the story's outcome.

The Mindset Mystery Files

Students receive a 'secret file' containing anonymized anecdotes of real-life 5th graders facing challenges (e.g., struggling with a math problem, dealing with peer conflict). In small groups, students analyze the anecdotes, identify the character traits displayed, and rewrite the ending of each story from both a growth and fixed mindset perspective. Groups then share their revised stories and discuss how mindset shifted the outcomes.
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Portfolio Activities

Portfolio Activities

These activities progressively build towards your learning goals, with each submission contributing to the student's final portfolio.
Activity 1

Character Mindset Snapshot

Students will identify and define various character traits, differentiating between fixed and growth mindsets. They will then select a main character from a book they are currently reading to analyze.

Steps

Here is some basic scaffolding to help students complete the activity.
1. Define growth and fixed mindsets.
2. List and define common character traits (e.g., resilient, determined, pessimistic, inflexible).
3. Choose a main character from a book.
4. Create a character trait chart, listing traits that describe the character at the beginning of the story.
5. Write a paragraph explaining the character's initial mindset based on the identified traits.

Final Product

What students will submit as the final product of the activityA character trait chart with examples from the text and a short paragraph describing the character's initial mindset.

Alignment

How this activity aligns with the learning objectives & standardsAddresses the learning goals: Understand and apply growth mindset principles, and Identify and analyze character traits in literature.
Activity 2

The Challenge Response Analysis

Students will analyze how their chosen character responds to a specific challenge in the book, focusing on how the character's mindset influences their actions and the outcome of the situation.

Steps

Here is some basic scaffolding to help students complete the activity.
1. Identify a significant challenge the character faces in the book.
2. Describe the character's actions and reactions to the challenge.
3. Analyze how the character's mindset (identified in Activity 1) influenced their response.
4. Write a paragraph explaining how a different mindset (growth vs. fixed) could have changed the character's actions and the outcome of the challenge.

Final Product

What students will submit as the final product of the activityA written analysis of the character's response to a challenge, comparing and contrasting how a growth or fixed mindset impacted their actions.

Alignment

How this activity aligns with the learning objectives & standardsAddresses the learning goals: Analyze how characters overcome challenges, and Understand how mindset affects interpretation of characters' actions.
Activity 3

Mindset Mirror: Self and Character

Students reflect on their own mindset when facing challenges and compare it to the character's mindset. They will write a reflective piece on how their personal mindset influences their interpretation of the character's actions and decisions.

Steps

Here is some basic scaffolding to help students complete the activity.
1. Reflect on a personal challenge you have faced.
2. Describe your mindset during that challenge (growth or fixed).
3. Compare your mindset to the character's mindset when facing their challenge.
4. Write a reflection piece discussing how your own mindset influences your understanding and interpretation of the character's actions and decisions in the book.

Final Product

What students will submit as the final product of the activityA personal reflection piece comparing the student's own mindset to the character's, and how this affects their interpretation of the character's journey.

Alignment

How this activity aligns with the learning objectives & standardsAddresses the learning goals: Connect personal mindset to character interpretation, and Understand how mindset affects interpretation of characters' actions.
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Rubric & Reflection

Portfolio Rubric

Grading criteria for assessing the overall project portfolio

Growth Mindset Character Analysis Rubric

Category 1

Character Mindset Snapshot

Assesses the student's ability to define mindsets, identify character traits, and describe the initial mindset of a character.
Criterion 1

Mindset Definitions

Accuracy in defining growth and fixed mindsets.

Exemplary
4 Points

Provides accurate and detailed definitions of both growth and fixed mindsets, demonstrating a comprehensive understanding.

Proficient
3 Points

Provides mostly accurate definitions of growth and fixed mindsets, demonstrating a good understanding.

Developing
2 Points

Provides basic definitions of growth and fixed mindsets but with some inaccuracies or omissions.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to define growth and fixed mindsets, showing limited understanding.

Criterion 2

Character Trait Identification

Ability to identify and list relevant character traits from the text.

Exemplary
4 Points

Identifies and lists a wide range of character traits that accurately describe the character at the beginning of the story, providing clear examples from the text.

Proficient
3 Points

Identifies and lists several relevant character traits that describe the character, providing examples from the text.

Developing
2 Points

Identifies a few character traits, but some may be vague or not well-supported by the text.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to identify appropriate character traits or provide supporting examples from the text.

Criterion 3

Mindset Description

Clarity and insightfulness of the paragraph describing the character's initial mindset.

Exemplary
4 Points

Writes a clear, insightful, and well-supported paragraph that accurately describes the character's initial mindset based on the identified traits.

Proficient
3 Points

Writes a clear paragraph describing the character's initial mindset based on the identified traits.

Developing
2 Points

Writes a paragraph describing the character's initial mindset, but the explanation may lack clarity or strong support.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to write a coherent paragraph describing the character's initial mindset.

Category 2

The Challenge Response Analysis

Evaluates the student's ability to analyze a character's response to a challenge and the influence of mindset on their actions and outcomes.
Criterion 1

Challenge Identification

Identification of a significant challenge faced by the character.

Exemplary
4 Points

Identifies a highly significant and relevant challenge that the character faces in the book, demonstrating a deep understanding of the story's plot.

Proficient
3 Points

Identifies a significant challenge that the character faces in the book.

Developing
2 Points

Identifies a challenge, but it may not be the most significant or relevant to the character's development.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to identify a clear challenge faced by the character.

Criterion 2

Action/Reaction Description

Thoroughness in describing the character's actions and reactions to the challenge.

Exemplary
4 Points

Provides a thorough and detailed description of the character's actions and reactions to the challenge, including nuanced observations.

Proficient
3 Points

Describes the character's actions and reactions to the challenge clearly and completely.

Developing
2 Points

Describes the character's actions and reactions to the challenge, but the description may lack detail.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to describe the character's actions and reactions to the challenge.

Criterion 3

Mindset Influence Analysis

Quality of analysis on how mindset influenced the character's response and potential alternative outcomes.

Exemplary
4 Points

Provides an insightful and well-reasoned analysis of how the character's mindset influenced their response, offering a compelling comparison of how different mindsets could have altered the outcome.

Proficient
3 Points

Analyzes how the character's mindset influenced their response, comparing and contrasting how a growth or fixed mindset impacted their actions.

Developing
2 Points

Attempts to analyze how the character's mindset influenced their response, but the analysis may be superficial or lack clear connections.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to analyze how the character's mindset influenced their response.

Category 3

Mindset Mirror: Self and Character

Focuses on the student's ability to connect their personal mindset to their interpretation of a character's actions and decisions.
Criterion 1

Personal Challenge Reflection

Depth of reflection on a personal challenge and the student's mindset during that challenge.

Exemplary
4 Points

Provides a deep and insightful reflection on a personal challenge, clearly articulating the student's mindset and its impact.

Proficient
3 Points

Reflects on a personal challenge, describing the student's mindset during that challenge.

Developing
2 Points

Attempts to reflect on a personal challenge, but the description of the student's mindset may be vague or incomplete.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to reflect on a personal challenge or describe the student's mindset.

Criterion 2

Mindset Comparison

Effectiveness in comparing personal mindset to the character's mindset.

Exemplary
4 Points

Effectively compares the student's own mindset to the character's, drawing insightful parallels and contrasts.

Proficient
3 Points

Compares the student's own mindset to the character's, identifying similarities and differences.

Developing
2 Points

Attempts to compare the student's own mindset to the character's, but the comparison may be superficial.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to compare the student's own mindset to the character's.

Criterion 3

Interpretation Influence

Insightfulness of the reflection on how personal mindset influences interpretation of the character's journey.

Exemplary
4 Points

Offers profound insights into how the student's personal mindset shapes their understanding and interpretation of the character's actions and decisions, showing sophisticated self-awareness.

Proficient
3 Points

Discusses how the student's own mindset influences their understanding and interpretation of the character's actions and decisions in the book.

Developing
2 Points

Touches upon how the student's own mindset might influence their interpretation, but the reflection lacks depth.

Beginning
1 Points

Struggles to connect personal mindset to the interpretation of the character's journey.

Reflection Prompts

End-of-project reflection questions to get students to think about their learning
Question 1

How has analyzing characters' mindsets and challenges changed your understanding of your own mindset when facing difficulties? Give specific examples.

Text
Required
Question 2

On a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you agree that understanding character traits and mindsets has improved your ability to analyze literature? (1 = Not at all, 5 = Very much)

Scale
Required
Question 3

Which activity (Character Mindset Snapshot, Challenge Response Analysis, Mindset Mirror) was most helpful in understanding the power of mindset? Explain your choice.

Multiple choice
Required
Options
Character Mindset Snapshot
Challenge Response Analysis
Mindset Mirror