Lesson Plan: How Much Praise Is Too Much for Kids?
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
- praise |prāz| verb [with object] express warm approval or admiration of: we can’t praise Chris enough—he did a brilliant job.
- dedicate |ˈdedəˌkāt| verb [with object] (often dedicate something to) devote (time, effort, or oneself) to a particular task or purpose: Joan has dedicated her life to animals.
- undermine |ˌəndərˈmīn| verb damage or weaken (someone or something), especially gradually or insidiously: this could undermine years of hard work.
- demonstrate |ˈdemənˌstrāt| verb show or express (a feeling or quality) by one’s actions: she began to demonstrate a new-found confidence.
- anxiety |aNGˈzīədē| noun (plural anxieties) a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome: he felt a surge of anxiety | anxieties about the moral decline of today’s youth.
- motivate |ˈmōdəˌvāt| verb [with object] stimulate (someone’s) interest in or enthusiasm for doing something: I’m going to motivate kids to study civics.
- engage |inˈɡājiNGenˈɡājiNG| verb 1 [with object] occupy, attract, or involve (someone’s interest or attention): he plowed on, trying to outline his plans and engage Sutton’s attention.
- undermine |ˌəndərˈmīn| verb [with object] 2 damage or weaken (someone or something), especially gradually or insidiously: this could undermine years of hard work.
- achievement |əˈCHēvmənt| noun 1 a thing done successfully, typically by effort, courage, or skill: to reach this stage is a great achievement.
- foster |ˈfôstərˈfästər| verb [with object] 1 encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good): the teacher’s task is to foster learning.
Source: New Oxford American Dictionary
Grammar Focus: Word -Recognition
“When presented with a new range of puzzles, children in the second group were far likelier to choose a more challenging problem. Dr. Dweck also found that these children said they enjoyed solving problems more than those in the first group, and the researchers concluded they did so because they had confidence in their abilities.”
Identify The Speakers
- Wendy S. Grolnick, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. “…praise also has a dark side. This is because praising the outcome (It’s beautiful!) or the person (You’re so smart!) encourages the child to focus on those things.”
- Carol S. Dweck Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. Her research showed that children felt pressured to live up to their parents’ praise, and this in turn could lead to panic and anxiety.
- Kyla Haimovitz, Ph.D., a learning engineer at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. “If your child is working on a drawing, for example, you don’t need to comment on every color selection. Wait until the end, when your child shows you the drawing, and then say something like, “Ooh, I see you chose to put the purple next to the brown — that’s so interesting!”
- Patricia Smiley, Ph.D., a professor of psychological science at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif. “One of those values is autonomy, so it’s helpful to praise what your child has control over, such as the choices they made along the way of solving a problem or drawing a picture. This helps keep expectations realistic.”
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