Literature and Self-Understanding
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Your Name: Alyson Greig
Grade Level and Content area of focus: Second grade, ELA
Brief Description of Students or Possible Students (all gifted, cluster, regular classroom
with some gifted):
All students could benefit from this lesson regardless of gifted or non-identified status.
Book Used for Lesson (Give all reference information in APA format:
The Magical Yet
DiTerlizzi, A., & Alvarez, L. (2020). The magical yet. First edition. Los Angeles, Disney-
Hyperion.
What is it that you are using the lesson to help students understand? Respond with a
sentence or two.
The Magical Yet encourages a growth mindset using the word yet through universal
experiences, such as riding a bike, but instead of thinking, “I cannot do this,” it encourages kids
to say, “I cannot do this yet.”. The powerful addition of the word yet reminds the reader to use
the growth mindset when they face a challenge or frustration.
Using the sample lesson in the text as your guide, write an overview of the story you
are using and how it relates to the issue you want to help students understand better. This
should be in your words after reading the book you will use in the lesson. This overview
should be no longer than three paragraphs. Type directly into this template:
Literature and Self-Understanding
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In the children's book "The Magical Yet," the author employs the metaphor of "yet" to
impart the concept of growth mindset. The book portrays the importance of internal motivation
and resilience in the face of challenges through a poetic and musical rhyming story
complemented by stunning and imaginative illustrations. The Magical Yet is written in second-
person narrative and follows a girl with dark brown curly hair and a darker complexion; other
characters in the story represent many culturally diverse backgrounds. The story opens with the
main character attempting to ride a bike on a gloomy, rainy day, mirroring the gloomy, frustrated
feelings of the girl. While trying a new trick, the girl falls onto the sidewall and vows never to
ride her bike again. In comes the pink fairy, also known as the Magical Yet. The pink fairy
serves as the protagonist. She then takes over and directs the story toward the values of a growth
mindset and perseverance by identifying previously accomplished skills.
The Magical Yet includes universal situations to teach the importance of never giving up,
doing things over, and remembering that you are capable of amazing things. Readers can relate
to the struggles shown in the book and use the connection to evaluate their own mastery of “yet”.
The message that mistakes are part of learning and are acceptable and expected is a powerful
message for gifted students, especially those who exhibit maladaptive perfectionist tendencies.
Due to the universal struggles presented in this story, students will be able to engage in
meaningful conversation and become more aware of shared struggles and experiences with their
classmates. This is beneficial in gifted education and will help to reduce the shame that can be
associated with not doing something perfectly the first time and encourage a growth mindset.
List at least two themes/key concepts (bulleted):
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● Do not give up when you become frustrated, change your mindset from “I can’t do it” to
“I can’t do it, yet”
● Dealing with frustration is a common occurrence, even in a gifted classroom, and we
should not be embarrassed. Instead, we should see the frustration as an opportunity to
improve ourselves and learn something new.
Give an example of an Introductory Activity (a paragraph sharing what students would
do):
For an introductory activity, I would have kids complete a “think-pair-share” and discuss
a time when they have struggled to learn something new. After each student had a turn sharing
with a partner, I would ask multiple students to share their experiences with the whole group. I
would write the student’s frustrations down on a piece of chart paper to be displayed in the
classroom. After multiple shares, I would pick a frustration to explore further by asking students
to consider what was going through their minds and how the struggle affected them emotionally.
For example, a student’s response could be, “I did not think I would ever learn to ride a bike, and
I was mad”. These statements would be referred back to after reading the book and “magically”
transformed by the “powerful yet”.
Selected passage(s) to be used in the discussion (Use direct quotes and give the page
number from where the quotes are taken. Limit the passages to no more than two of the
most appropriate for your purpose):
“This Yet finds a way, even when you don’t. And, Yet, knows you will, when you think you
won’t” (DiTerlizzi, A., & Alvarez, L., 2020, pp. 14)
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“With the Yet as your guide, along the way, you’ll do all the things you can’t do today”
(DiTerlizzi, A., & Alvarez, L., 2020, pp. 33-34)
Questions for discussion (at least 4- can adapt from the text list or add your own, but one
must be in light of a biblical perspective. For each question, give at least one possible
student response you might expect to encounter):
1. What is the theme of this story?
1. The theme is: do not give up just because something is difficult. Instead, practice
a growth mindset and say, “I cannot do it, yet”.
2. This story discusses things our main character cannot do yet, but can now do. Can you
make a text-to-self connection detailing a time when you could not do something “yet”
but now you can?
1. Sample student response: “I really struggled to learn multiplication, but I kept
trying and did not give up, and now I know my 0, 1, 2, 5, and 10 facts”.
3. If you could write a letter to yourself to be opened when you become frustrated when
trying to learn a new skill, what would you say?
1. I would tell myself that even though it is difficult now and I feel like quitting, I
can change my mindset and understand that I may not be able to do it yet, but if I
keep trying, I can overcome any challenges.
4. Biblical Perspective: How do Philippians 4:13 relate to the Magical Yet?
1. Christ is always with me and supporting me through challenging times. When
things get complicated, I can always turn to Him for guidance.
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Pick a Follow–Up Activity (Write a paragraph sharing what students will do):
After reading the book, I would ask students to use the “magical yet” and turn the
frustrations and struggles listed on the chart paper into growth mindset statements. An example
could be, “I cannot ride a bike yet, but if I keep practicing and getting up when I fall, I will
achieve my goal.” After completing the struggles listed on the chart paper (teacher scaffolded
learning), I would ask the students to pick something challenging to learn or do and write a short
story where a character is learning the same skills but is exhibiting a growth mindset. This
activity will “help them to draw parallels between their experiences and those of the main
characters in the book” (Hebert, 2020, p. 83)
As an educator, how might you continue to monitor the situation and support the students
over time (one paragraph):
Hebert noted that “as a person matures, emotions begin to shape and improve thinking by
directing a person’s attention to significant changes” (Hebert, 2020, p. 38). The ease of
reinforcing the growth mindset strategies from this book will allow students to practice this vital
skill and help to retrain their thinking. Retraining their brains and establishing a common
vocabulary around growth mindsets would be beneficial during the school year. Over time this
would be a powerful lesson to refer back to and practice. The review could be in a whole group
when learning a challenging new skill or on an individual, as-needed, one-on-one basis.
Additionally, a teacher could restate a student’s frustration but add a yet at the end or ask a
student to use the magical yet to rephrase their frustrations into growth mindset statements.
