Imprinting Velcro Moments

Today I'm excited because spring is in the air. I took a long walk after church, I got some weeds pulled, and I laid poolside for a bit, just to soak in some coveted Vitamin D. That whole time, I kept thinking about a conversation I had with Natalie on Thursday. I was telling her about my upcoming workshop with the counselors in Pasadena, how I'm going to start with Biblio-Counseling and then segue into Wellness: What's your plan BE? She asked what we were going to do for the self-care piece, then wanted to know about my plans for the book piece.

I told her I was going to make a few collages by topic, to suggest some books for certain themes, read a story or two, then encourage the counselors in the workshop to design a lesson. That's when she asked me about the velcro. 

The what? 

You know, the velcro. 

What will make it more than just another read-aloud? 

What will make it stick? 

What will bring them back to it? 

And I couldn't get her question off of my mind. So I searched the term Velcro Moments and found a great explanation by Mark Weston, a cyberspace colleague of mine on my Twitter PLN:

Click the explanation to read Mark's post.

So let's take a look at Flight School by Lita Judge

and see how we can epitomize connectivity.

It's one of my favorite growth-mindset titles;

I read it to plant dream big because anything's possible seeds.

But besides the obvious pause to discuss defining moments in the text, how could we velcro this tale so that it takes wing and imprints on their hearts and minds?

Here's my favorite page. 

 How about writing about a time when you "needed a little help with the technical parts." No wait, better yet, how about creating a Help Wanted Public Service Announcement (PSA) to share it in class, during Open House, or online. 

Follow that up by integrating an Art project, say, a Dream Catcher perhaps.

Circle up and talk about what the adage, "Birds of a feather flock together." means. Is that true in Penguin's case?

Want to really imprint those velcro moments? Reflecting on the emotions will help seal the deal. Ask your Flight School learners questions like these:

 How did Penguin feel when he first arrived?

How did Penguin feel when his first flight attempt failed?

How did Penguin feel when put his goggles on the sign?

How did Penguin feel when he boarded his boat to head home? 

How did Penguin feel when his friends called him back?
How did Penguin feel when his friends each gave him one of their feathers? 

How did Penguin feel when he experienced flight for the first time?

How did Penguin feel when he fell back to earth after experiencing flight?

How did Penguin feel when he headed home to get Ostrich?

Use a penguin (or other bird) figurine on a Feelings Parking Spot board to align the feelings Penguin experienced to a time when your learner felt that very same way. Let your student move the figurine to the strategy that helped him/her process and manage that feeling as s/he describes what that experience was like. This will stretch emotional literacy and elevate empathy to seal the deal. 

Click the image for idea source.

Compare and contrast Flight School with one of the other growth-mindset titles above. Use a graphic organizer, like the H-Map, the Venn Diagram, or the Double Bubble to organize ideas and fill in details.

Finally, sing about it.

Teach your students My Mindset; encourage them to work together to add some meaningful movements to complement the lyrics as they sing. 

Want the ukulele chords? G, C, A7, D7.

What's your best strategy for inspiring those velcro moments?