Detailed description
This ‘Making Mistakes’ writing prompt is an ideal activity for promoting a growth mindset by encouraging students to reflect on how they respond to making mistakes. The writing prompt provides an introductory passage posing a question about the usefulness of mistakes before detailing a real-world example of how one scientist’s mistake led to an amazing discovery and famous invention. Supporting children to see the potential opportunities in their mistakes and taking a positive approach to learning by trial and error is an important part of developing a growth mindset. The passage is followed by a related question prompt and some directions to support students in completing the writing activity.