Igniting Sparks Middle School Instructor Guide by Search Institute

What makes your students light up? Some students love playing soccer, while some students love painting. Other students are most engaged while quietly reading—or solving math problems. As a teacher, you know how motivating it can be for students to discover their “sparks,” those activities and interests that truly engage them to be their best. Discovering those sparks can help students express their personalities and make unique contributions to the world.

b Academic self-efficacy: “I can do it!” b Engagement in learning: “I like doing it!” b Bonding to school: “School is a good place for me!” b Mastery: “It’s important for me to do well in school!”

b Instructions that guide students to create Spark.A.Vision videos about who they hope to be in the world b Lesson plans for students in grades five and six b Lesson plans for students in grades seven and eight b Reproducible materials, available as downloads, so students can explore their interests b Numerous resources including recommendations for best practices, a video discussion guide, and sample letters to send home with students b Research articles related to sparks, the Developmental Assets®, and Tel.A.Vision (the parent software for Spark.A.Vision) Igniting Sparks was developed by a team of researchers and writers at Search Institute® and based on the work of the late Dr. Peter L. Benson. Dr. Benson, former president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, was one of the world’s leading authorities on positive human development. He was the author or editor of more than a dozen books on child and adolescent development and social change.

IGNITING

Sparks Connecting Students’ Interests and Talents to Classroom Success

Instructor Guide IGNITING SPARKS

This instructor guide will help you work with students to explore their sparks, find adult support for developing their interests, and ultimately create a vision of who they want to be in the future. As a result of this spark work, teachers often see student improvement in the following areas:

This guide includes the following information:

Instructor Guide, Grades 5–8

E D U C AT I O N / C u r r i c u l a

Grades 5 through 8

Search Institute

Igniting Sparks Connecting Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Interests and Talents to Classroom Success Se a rch I n s tit u t e

Instructor Guide Grades Five through Eight

Igniting Sparks Connecting Students’ Interests and Talents to Classroom Success Instructor Guide, Grades Five through Eight The following are registered trademarks of Search Institute: Search Institute®, Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth®, and Developmental Assets®. Search Institute Press, Minneapolis, MN Copyright © 2009, 2012 by Search Institute All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced in any manner, mechanical or electronic, without prior permission from the publisher except in brief quotations or summaries in articles or reviews, or as individual activity sheets for educational non-commercial use only. For additional permission, visit Search Institute’s website at www.search-institute .org/permissions and submit a Permissions Request Form. At the time of publication, all facts and figures cited herein are the most current available; all telephone numbers, addresses, and website URLs are accurate and active; all publications, organizations, websites, and other resources exist as described in this book; and all efforts have been made to verify them. The authors and Search Institute make no warranty or guarantee concerning the information and materials given out by organizations or content found at websites that are cited herein, and we are not responsible for any changes that occur after this book’s publication. If you find an error or believe that a resource listed herein is not as described, please contact Client Services at Search Institute. Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of America. Search Institute 615 First Avenue Northeast, Suite 125 Minneapolis, MN 55413 www.search-institute.org 612-376-8955 • 877-240-7251, ext. 1 ISBN-13: 978-1-57482-534-3

Credits Editing: Rebecca Post Book Design: Mighty Media Production Supervisor: Mary Ellen Buscher Library of Congress Cataloging-inPublication Data <CIP copy to come from production coordinator> The educational activity sheets in Igniting Sparks may be copied as needed. For each copy, please respect the following guidelines: • Do not remove, alter, or obscure the Search Institute credit and copyright information on any activity sheet. • Clearly differentiate any material you add for local distribution from material prepared by Search Institute. • Do not alter the Search Institute material in content or meaning.

Contents Introduction

Lesson Plans for Grades Five and Six 7

Lesson Plan 1

Lesson Plan 2

Lesson Plan 3

Lesson Plan 4

Lesson Plan 5

Lesson Plan 6

Lesson Plans for Grades Seven and Eight 41

Lesson Plan 1

Lesson Plan 2

Lesson Plan 3

Lesson Plan 4

Lesson Plan 5

Lesson Plan 6

Going Beyond the Lessons

Resources

Best Practice Tips for Middle School Settings

Links to Inspiring Videos and Websites

Igniting Sparks: Video Discussion Guide

Parent Communication Templates

Research

Insights & Evidence: Finding the Student Spark

What Are the Developmental Assets?

113

Telâ&#x20AC;˘Aâ&#x20AC;˘Vision

115

Introduction With all the new technology—the Internet, smart phones, texting, e-mail, social media—you would think modern relationships would be closer, that we’d all know more about each other’s unique personalities, interests, and passions. Educators, of course, know that technology cannot replace a student’s need for genuine concern and understanding. Search Institute research shows that only 35 percent of young people say they feel connected with caring adults at school who know them and their interests well. Students report that adults in their schools, congregations, and youth organizations don’t know them either. Unfortunately, in this age of more “connection,” our young people can feel more disconnected than ever, especially from caring adults. It doesn’t have to be this way. As a teacher, you already know the value of building positive relationships with your students. This relationship-building effort also applies to parents, mentors, and neighbors. By initiating meaningful conversations with young people, we can help students discover their “sparks”—the activities and interests that truly engage their passion to be their best. Search Institute has long pioneered research and programming directed at improving the relationships between children and adults. The late Peter Benson wrote that “relationships are the oxygen for human development.” He and his research colleagues identified the building blocks that help children succeed. Those building blocks were named the Developmental Assets®, and researchers have found that the more assets students have, the more likely they are to act in positive ways, like helping others, succeeding in school, and showing leadership skills. More information about the Development Assets and sparks can also be found in the research section of this manual on page 99.

Finding a Spark A student’s spark is what he or she is really passionate about, an activity that unleashes his or her energy and joy. Discovering that spark can help a student express his or her personality and make a unique contribution to the world. Each of us has at least one spark. For most of us, our spark is revealed or discovered over time, through many opportunities and experiences, and we often need caring adults to help us see and develop it. Take a look at the following list of the top ten spark categories named by American teenagers ages 12–17. (The percentages add up to more than 100 percent because teens, on average, report 1.4 sparks.) • Creative arts (painting, writing, dance, music, acting), 54 percent • Athletics, 25 percent

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• Learning a subject matter (like science or history), 18 percent • Reading, 11 percent • Helping, serving, volunteering, 10 percent • Being a leader, 10 percent • Caring or advocating for animals, or protecting endangered species, 8 percent • Living in a specific way (with joy, caring, tolerance, compassion), 7 percent • Nature, ecology, environment, 6 percent • Spirituality or religion, 2 percent

Why Do Sparks Matter? When young people know and develop a spark, with the support of several adults, they present a strong picture of health and well-being. Research shows that students who have opportunities to identify and nurture their sparks: • Have higher grades in school • Have better school attendance • Are more likely to be socially competent • Are more likely to be physically healthy • Are more likely to volunteer to help other people • Are more likely to care about the environment • Are more likely to have a sense of purpose • Are less likely to experience depression • Are less likely to engage in acts of violence National surveys found that 48 percent of young people knew their spark, but only 37 percent could both name a spark and claim the adult support they need to develop it.

Getting Started Three simple steps can help you start your spark work with a young person. First, spend time discreetly looking for clues to your students’ sparks. Because you are an educator, you already have a sense of what your students enjoy. Nevertheless, try looking at your students with fresh eyes. As you look at each student, ask yourself: When does this student seem the happiest? While doing independent work or while doing group work? When is this student most absorbed in an activity? Which subjects seem to most engage this student? After you have observed and begun to notice more about your students’ interests, passions, and how they spend their time, you can start a spark conversation. What you are after is having talks that help them discover their own abilities and possibilities, talks that empower them to try new things and take next steps.

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Finally, find a way to follow through with what you find out. If you have students who love motorcycles, maybe you know a colleague who has been riding motor cycles for years and can somehow bring that interest into your classroom. If you have students who love music, bring a musician into your classroom to engage students in whatever you happen to be studying. As a teacher, you are likely already doing these things; the point is to take your efforts another step. Working with students to discover and develop their sparks can result in numerous benefits for young people. When caring adults put their energy into young people’s sparks, they make a great contribution to their development. Author Peter Benson wrote in his book Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teens, “When young people find their spark and their center, their lives become generous, committed, passionate, purposeful, and responsible.” Surely that is what all educators want for each student. This curriculum includes information on how to use Spark.A.Vision, an innovative Internet-based tool that allows students to create videos about who they hope to be as they grow and develop into young adults. This curriculum also includes classroom posters that can be displayed when you begin to introduce students to the concepts of sparks. The stickers are for younger students as they work through the lessons. Likewise, the wristbands can be handed out to students to remind them to think about their sparks. Each Igniting Sparks kit also includes a copy of Spark Student Motivation by Jolene L. Roehlkepartain. This guide includes 101 activities that help students build relationships with one another, tap into their unique learning style, and recognize their sparks. Most of these activities can be adapted to fit students of any age. After you have completed all the lesson plans, you can bring activities from Spark Student Motivation into your classroom to reinforce students’ unique interests and means of staying motivated.

Going Beyond the Lessons There are many possibilities for continuing, expanding, or deepening your students’ understanding of sparks. Here are just a few ideas: Connect students’ sparks to your curriculum and to your efforts in differentiating instruction. For example, a student whose spark is math could: • Read a biography of a famous mathematician • Study the history of math’s development in Egypt and elsewhere • Use proportions, ratios, and patterns in creating artworks • Seek uses of mathematics in a daily newspaper or a magazine • Explore the use of math in music • Create polls and resulting statistics for the school newspaper or yearbook

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Consider joining with your students in doing each of the activities; you’ll be modeling that people can explore, name, and develop sparks at any time during their lives. Touch back at various times in your classroom on spark exploration and spark guides. Remind students that these can be ongoing activities that help them get the most out of school, out of life, and out of their potential. Have students repeat an activity when they discover or explore different sparks. Work with a school librarian to create a display of biographies and autobiographies that highlight a person’s spark; be sure to cover both common and unusual spark clusters. Offer students the option of bringing home to their parents a Sparks Interview that you or they create, then look for connections between students’ and parents’ sparks. (One student’s parent could become another student’s spark supporter!) Help students bring their positive visions down to earth by guiding them in creating a set of goals to reach and steps on the way. Talk to your colleagues about their sparks. Are there any matches with the sparks of students in your class or classes? Consider having an event in which staff and students gather by spark categories they favor to discover possible great connections, new clubs needed at the school, and so forth. Finally, remind students to frequently watch the Spark.A.Vision videos that they create. Research shows that repetition can “train the brain” and keep students motivated in reaching their goals. This manual includes the following information: • Lesson plans that are appropriate for grades five and six (pages 7–38) • Lesson plans that are appropriate for grades seven and eight (pages 41–75) • Reproducible sheets so each student can begin to document his or her interests, including instructions so students can develop their Spark.A.Vision videos. These handouts are available as downloads at www.search-institute .org/oc/ispark. • A resource section that includes recommendations for best practices, a video discussion guide, and parent communication pieces (see pages 81–96) • A research section about sparks, the Developmental Assets, and Tel.A.Vision (the “parent” software that Spark.A.Vision is based on) (see pages 99–?) In addition, visit www.search-institute.org/sparks to find resources that include online videos for students and parents, reproducible student materials, parent communication templates, and information about Spark.A.Vision.

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Grades Five and Six: Lesson Plan 1

What Is7a7Spark? 7777 777 7 7777777777 777777777777 7777777777 77777 77 O b j7 ec t7 i v e s77777 7777777777 7777777777 7777bb777777 777777777777 7777b777777 777777777777 7777b777777 777777777777 7777777777 M at e r i a l s 77777 77 7777777777 7777777 7777b777777 7777b777777 777777777777 7777b777777 777777777777 7777777777 b 77777 77 b 777 7777777777 7777 7777777777 7777777777 777777777777 7777777777 Before the Lesson 77777 77 7777777777 7777777 7777777777 7777777777 77 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 7 7777777777 7777777777 777777777 Students will learn what sparks are and will:

Understand that every person can have one or more sparks

See that there are many different kinds of sparks and all are good

Recognize that there are clusters of sparks in which sparks are similar

Discover that it is useful to know and find ways to explore their own sparks

You will need the following:

Explorer’s Manual—one per child (see the template beginning on page 12).

One separate copy for each child of take-home page for interviewing someone who knew him or her when he or she was younger Pens/pencils

Sparks posters—display these before students enter the classroom

Sparks wristbands and stickers—hand these out to students as they enter the classroom

Think about the first time you heard about sparks. What did you think about the idea then? Do you have passionate interests or sparks? Now think back to when you were in elementary or middle school. Did you have interests and hobbies that were real passions for you at that time in your life? Did you believe you could be anything you wanted to be, or did you feel as though your possibilities were limited? Be ready for questions from your students about your own experiences. This first lesson aims to engage all students in discovering and exploring their

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sparks and believing in their own ability to take steps toward developing those sparks. You may find it particularly helpful to do the activities along with your students, so that you can share together—as people, not just as teacher and students—your current and potential sparks. Working on sparks with your students will help them see school as a place where they belong, a place where people know their sparks and help to explore and develop them, and a place where learning is fun. For students in grades five and six, the concepts of empowerment and friendship can be very important. In the context of

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sparks, you can think of these concepts in the following ways: • Empowerment: Each of us, no matter what our skills, talents, interests, or backgrounds may be, can honor our uniqueness and take steps to turn our dreams into dreams-come-true—if we start small and start today! • Friendship: It is important to our own success and happiness to surround ourselves with people—both adults and peers—who are supportive of our efforts and who encourage us in exploring and developing our sparks. People who discourage us, put us down, or make fun of our sparks are not being good friends. As your students ramp up their knowledge and skills, a focus on sparks can help them keep their balance and their perspective. Sparks can also help them stay engaged with school at a time when school is becoming more challenging. To aid you in working these lessons into your curriculum, the content of these lessons includes the concept of metaphors (language arts) and explorers (social studies).

Ask: What does it mean when someone is “on fire” or “fired up” about an idea or activity? Or talk about sparklers: Have you seen sparklers or held them on the Fourth of July? They are fiery, beautiful, exciting, fun. They make you smile. They can be a lot like sparks. Give students a chance to draw and color a spark beside the spark definition. Say: When we talk about people having a spark, we mean they have a passion for something. They don’t just like it, they love doing it! It is something they find creative and exciting, something unique about them as individuals, something they can give to the world. There can be many kinds of sparks, and everyone has at least one. Share that when we are just starting to work on a spark or are involved in choosing sparks to try out, we are like explorers going out in the unknown. It can be both exciting and a little scary! So we are going to work together for several lessons to learn about sparks and about becoming sparks explorers. Discuss as a group why sparks and explorers are good metaphors.

Activity 2 ( a p p r o x i m at e ly 4 5 m i n u t e s )

Activity 1 ( a p p r o x i m at e ly 1 5 m i n u t e s )

Say: Today we’re going to begin a new project. (Hand out the Sparks Explorer’s Manuals.) Ask students to put their names on the front of their manuals. Share that the new project will help all the students in the class find their sparks. Talk through the definitions on page 2, having students read them aloud and making sure everyone understands what the three words mean (metaphor, spark, explore). For example, explain how a spark is a metaphor for a person’s real passion.

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Have students turn to page 3 of their manual. Ask a student to read the instructions, and then have students work (alone or in pairs) to read through the list and check off the activities they find interesting. Then divide the class into Sparks Explorer Teams of up to four students per team. Have teams meet together in separate parts of the room. If you have time, you could talk with students about the idea of base camps for explorers who visit unknown territories, and designate base camp areas for the teams.

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Have teams work together on page 4, taking turns, sharing each person’s spark options and how they fit or don’t fit into ten popular spark clusters. Remind students that our sparks are important parts of who we are and that we need to treat other people’s sparks with respect; that means no teasing or put-downs about what people choose for their own sparks. When they have answered the questions for all team members, ask several teams to share some of the spark options they chose and the spark clusters they found interesting. Ask teams to count up how many spark activities they generated for their chosen clusters. At the end, discuss with students that the reason you’re exploring your sparks is that people who know and work on their sparks and have people to help them with their sparks usually get better grades, like school more, and are less likely to feel sad or to be mean to others. So exploring our sparks can lead to good things for our futures. Assure all that whether they know their sparks or not yet, they can have a spark, and you’ll be exploring possible sparks with them in upcoming lessons.

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Take-Home Assignment Have a student distribute to all class members one of the Exploring My Past take-home sheets for interviewing someone who knew them when they were younger. Explain that this is another way to explore their possible sparks. Sometimes the things we really like or are good at when we are quite small, 3 or 4 or 5 years old, turn out to be sparks for us when we are older. Have students take home the sheets, show them to their parent(s) or guardian(s), and choose someone to interview. If any students do not have someone at home to interview, suggest an extended family member, a sibling, or a school adult as an alternative interviewee. The main thing is to get input from someone else about what positive interests that older person may have observed in the young person, ideally when he or she was younger, but at present or last year if that is more realistic.

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Explorer’s Manual This manual is the property of _____________________________ Sparks Explorer

This handout may be reproduced for educational, noncommercial uses only (with this copyright line). From Igniting Sparks: Connecting Students’ Interests and Talents to Classroom Success, Instructor Guide, Grades Five through Eight. ®, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 800-888-7828, www.search-institute.org. All rights Copyright 2009, 2012 for by Search Institute This handout may be© reproduced educational, noncommercial uses only (with this copyright line). From Igniting Sparks: Connecting Stureserved. dents’ Interests and Talents to Classroom Success, Instructor Guide, Grades Five through Eight. Copyright © 2009, 2012 by Search Institute®, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 800-888-7828, www.search-institute.org. All rights reserved.

Definitions We’re going to use two metaphors to begin to discover what your strongest interests are and what new things you might like to try.

Metaphor (noun) •

A figure of speech in which a word that literally means something physical is used for something else to show a likeness or similarity

•

A symbol

Spark (noun) •

A small burning ember

•

A trace of life or energy

•

A flash of light

•

Something that makes you feel excited

Explore (verb) •

To study, search, or investigate

•

To become familiar with by testing or experimenting

•

To travel over new territory for adventure or discovery

•

To look closely at

We will use the word sparks to mean your strongest, most passionate interests. Why is that a good metaphor?

We will use the word explore to mean looking into new hobbies or interests and figuring out the ones you want to try and work on. Why is that a good metaphor?

Sparks Galore! Everyone has at least one spark. Before explorers set out, they first look around for somewhere interesting to explore. Before you begin to explore a spark, take a few minutes to see what’s out there. The following is a list to help you imagine options to explore. Check the ones that sound interesting, and then answer the questions on the next page. □ Adopt a dog rescued from a puppy mill

□ Teach in an inner-city school or be a principal

□ Start my own business

□ Do scientific experiments with chemicals

□ Ride on the space shuttle □ Learn to do the latest dance steps □ Create a new video game □ Get a bad law changed □ Write the lyrics to a popular song

□ Compete in the national spelling bee □ Be president of something □ Raise money to help feed hungry people □ Compete in the Olympics

□ Read every book written by my favorite author

□ Climb a mountain

□ Build a hideaway in the woods

□ Have a set of maps for the whole world

□ Be captain of a sports team

□ Start lifting weights

□ Edit a fashion magazine

□ Keep a journal for a full year

□ Grow my own fruits and vegetables

□ Do color commentary for a TV soccer match

□ Own a ’57 Chevy with a twotone turquoise finish

□ Volunteer at an elephant sanctuary in Africa

□ Ride a horse on a beach in Costa Rica

□ Have one of my paintings hang in a museum

□ Learn a foreign language

□ Invent a new use for the Internet

□ Travel to all 50 United States

□ Discover a cure for cancer

Spark Clusters 1. Write here in colored pencil four of the spark ideas you checked off on the previous page.

2. Now look over this list of popular clusters of sparks: • • • • • • • • • •

Doing art, music, or writing Building or making things, or taking things apart Playing sports, dancing, doing karate Helping people or the environment Being outside in nature or taking care of animals Using computers Thinking of ways to start a business or make money Learning, reading, practicing Teaching other people how to do things Leadership (being captain of a team, taking charge of a group)

3. Do any of your chosen spark ideas fit into one of the popular clusters of sparks? Neatly draw an orange or yellow line from the idea to the cluster it fits into. 4. Look at the clusters again and choose the cluster that is most interesting to you right now. What are some the spark activities that would fit in that cluster? Brainstorm with your team as many activities as you can think of.

Congratulations! You’ve begun to explore your sparks! This handout may be reproduced for educational, noncommercial uses only (with this copyright line). From Igniting Sparks: Connecting Students’ Interests and Talents to Classroom Success, Instructor Guide, Grades Five through Eight. ®, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 800-888-7828, www.search-institute.org. All rights Copyright 2009, 2012 for by Search Institute This handout may be© reproduced educational, noncommercial uses only (with this copyright line). From Igniting Sparks: Connecting Stureserved. dents’ Interests and Talents to Classroom Success, Instructor Guide, Grades Five through Eight. Copyright © 2009, 2012 by Search Institute®, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 800-888-7828, www.search-institute.org. All rights reserved.

Thinking about My Sparks For number 1, write the name of a spark. For number 2, write some questions about that spark. For number 3, draw a picture of yourself doing that spark. 1. When I think about my own sparks, I think one of them is or might be:

2. Here is what I want to know about this spark:

3. Here is what it looks like to do this spark:

Explorer Pairs: Spark Interview The spark I learned about was: ______________________________ 1. Is your spark something that makes you physically active or can you do it without moving much?

2. Does your spark use any of your five senses? Which ones? (Touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste.)

3. Do you need to be inside or outdoors for your spark? Or can it be either?

4. Is your spark something that makes a lot of noise or is it a quiet activity?

5. Do you have to wear special clothes? (A uniform, protective gear, an apron, goggles.)

6. How would you describe your spark? (Use adjectives.)

7. Is it in one of the spark clusters we learned about on page 4? If yes, which one?

Explorer Teams: Spark Interview The spark I learned about was: ______________________________ 1. Is your spark something that makes you physically active or can you do it without moving much?

2. Does your spark use any of your five senses? Which ones? (Touch, smell, sight, hearing, taste.)

3. Do you need to be inside or outdoors for your spark? Or can it be either?

4. Is your spark something that makes a lot of noise or is it a quiet activity?

5. Do you have to wear special clothes? (A uniform, protective gear, an apron, goggles.)

6. How would you describe your spark? (Use adjectives.)

7. Is it in one of the spark clusters we learned about on page 4? If yes, which one?

Exploring My Past (An interview with someone who knew me when I was younger.) The person I interviewed was: ______________________________. This person knew me when I was _____ years old. 1. When I was younger, what did I like to do?

2. Where did I like to go?

3. When I was younger, what always made me smile or laugh?

4. When I was younger, what did I want to be when I grew up?

5. When you think about two or three things I loved to do, were they alike in some way? (For instance, were they all related to sports? Were they all quiet activities? Did they all involve me playing with other people?)

6. What else can you tell me about who I was when I was younger?

Spark Guides When explorers go to find out about a place that is unknown to them, sometimes other people already know that place well and help the explorers by serving as their guides. The same is true for sparks explorers. While there can be sparks that are brand new, most sparks have been explored and developed by other people, and those people can help you now. Who are your guides? 1. Who already helps me with my sparks?

2. Who else might help me with my sparks?

3. What do they do that helps?

4. Where could I go to find another adult to be a spark guide?

5. How could I help someone else with his or her spark?

6. Who will I help today?

Exploring My Past Take-home sheet (An interview with someone who knew me when I was younger.) The person I interviewed was: ______________________________. This person knew me when I was _____ years old. 1. When I was younger, what did I like to do?

2. Where did I like to go?

3. When I was younger, what always made me smile or laugh?

4. When I was younger, what did I want to be when I grew up?

6. What else can you tell me about who I was when I was younger?