Goal Setting for the New School Year

My daughter just started eighth grade, and as kids get older, I think it’s important to talk about their goals for the year in terms of learning, friendships, hobbies and more.

This can be done informally at home, or in the classroom. Having goals encourages kids to think in terms of a growth mindset, understanding that they might not be great at a particular skill from the beginning, but with practice they can improve.

The Thinker Builder has a great goals writing activity that kids can use on their own or in the classroom to outline their goals for the school year (or the new year if you want to do this in December or January as well).

It outlines a writing prompt based on an acronym for goals: the guts of the goal, obstacles standing in their way, action steps and looking ahead.

The guts of the goal means a goal statement and noting what success looks like and the time frame involved. Looking ahead is about how they will feel about reaching the goal and what they will do next.

In addition to the worksheet, there’s a whole set of goal setting materials on their Teachers Pay Teachers page, including a goal planning booklet for kids to use to help them set good goals, a 3D block-shaped presentation version (as well as 2D and bulletin board options).

There are also materials to help the students keep each other accountable (in pairs or small groups) to working on their goals. This would be a great way to get kids thinking about goals they can accomplish thorough the year and keeping it on their mind by doing a regular check in with each other (as an adult I could totally use that, too!).

The full collection is 36 pages and it can be used with kids in third through eighth grades.

[Photo: The Thinker Builder]

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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