(for a list of such books, go to http://www.habits-of-mind.net)..) For example, the
story of The Little Engine That Could (Piper, 1976) is a prime example of
persistenceand would provide an appropriate introduction for kindergarten
and early-grade students. In elementary grades, teachers might read with
the class The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by A. Wolf(Scieszka, 1989)
and then discuss the meaning of empathy. For more mature students, The
Diary of Anne Frank (Goodrich, 1993) could become an object lesson on
managing impulsivityand persistence. Maya Angelou’sI Know Why the
Caged Bird Sings (2002) could be a focus for discussion with secondary
school students on drawing on past knowledge.
Hearing these identifying terms as students are performing one or
more of the habits creates an awareness of their own behavior. This strat-
egy creates a foundation on which an understanding of the Habits of
Mind can later be built.
Assessment. Te a c h e r s w i l l w a n t t o k e e p a n e c d o t a l r e c o r d s a n d c h e c k -
lists to respond to questions such as these:
•Are students attending and participating?- Are students beginning to use the terminology of the Habits of
Mind? - Are students reflecting on their experiences?
- Are students talking about and discussing their feelings and percep-
tions as they reflect on the task? - Are students aware of and analyzing their own and others’ behaviors?
Exploring Meanings of the Habits of Mind
Early in students’ acquaintance with the Habits of Mind, teachers
will want to establish definitions and to explore the meanings of the Habits
of Mind.
Purpose. The purpose of this lesson design is to help students
become familiar with, understand the meanings and purposes of, and be
able to use the language of the Habits of Mind. As a result of these types
of lessons, students should be able to cognitively label the Habits of Mind
they use and to recognize use of the habits by others. Although teachers
will sometimes use this type of lesson to introduce all 16 Habits of Mind,
we can also assume that a lesson may focus on just one or two.
76 Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind