Finding the hero in the young student1.pdf - Kotesol

Superhero and fantasy figures areuseful themes for English Teaching

Everyone has a superhero!• Creating a dialogue and motivating studentsto engage in literacy events.• Stimulating thinkingTaking the child awayfrom the familiar rituals,the family, to a New world• The superhero is their persona, a voice toexpress their feelings and desires.

Preparation for adulthood andhigher language usage•The student can act out at:•A higher thought level than hislanguage can express.•Higher Age related experiences

Children need to feel powerful in the face ofa scary uncontrollable world

Teenage Girls statements onSuperheroes•That’s when you see their passion,when they fight!•It’s their passion that makes thempowerful.•I’m them when I’m reading aboutthem, so I’m powerful. (Gerard Jones)Killing monsters why children need fantasy superheroes and make believe.

Personal Power•Teenagers can gain a feeling of personalpower from fighting as the superheroduring play and reading with characteridentification.

The need for discussion and“acting out”• Adults can be afraid of violence and arereluctant to talk about it.• Children act out their feelings and fears ofviolence in fantasy play.• Learn impulse control andDealing with aggressiveemotions

Dealing with Inner Anger•Playing with rage is a valuable wayto reduce its power!•Acting out and discussing theviolence leads us into the positionof becoming “good” people.

The “dark” and the “light”•Children must learn to deal with thedark and the light in themselves.

Parents as heroes•Children can learn and accept thatparents, once God like heroes, are amix of good and bad like everyone else.

Constructive Intervention andDiscussion is Essential!•It is essential that the teacher andpeers discuss the imaginative play . Itis through the discussion that thestudent learns about himself, hisemotions and develops a strong senseof “self”.

Making it feel safer•When children are afraid they have toplay with the event until they feel safer•Children in schools after 9/11 wanted toact out, read and write about theevents till they felt safe.

The super hero and fantasy/•A child chooses a particular movie orgame because his unique story has ledhim there.

Used to Teach Social Themes• Respect for others• Respect for laws• Helping others• Which superhero/fantasy character is badand which good?• Are people all good and all bad?• What makes people “good” what makesthem “bad”?

Don’t Impose Heroes!•Let them teach you about theirheroes-•Promotes dialogue•Chance for critical intervention•Literacy events.

Elementary Children andsuperheroes-cuddly cute!

Choose a Superhero thatrepresents you.• Answer the following questions.• What is it about this super hero that attracts you?• What are the dark sides of the hero’s character?• What are his “good” sides?• How does he remind you of you?• How does he remind you of what you would like to be?• Does he or she do anything that makes you feeluncomfortable?• What is your super hero’s vulnerability?

In groups of 3• Make a new super hero family.• 1) You need to give a name for each member.• 2)And decide on: what they wear?• 3)What is their super power?• 4)What is their vulnerability?• 5)How do they get on with the other familymembers?

Invent a Villain !• Who will your superhero have to fight?• 1) What has made your super hero bad?• 2)Does he/she have any good side?• 3)What skills does he/she have?• 4)What is his/her personality like, habits?• 5)What does he/she look like?• 6)What is his vulnerability?

Using the story board•1)Draw a cartoon story using yoursuperhero family as the maincharacters.•2)Add captions to the characters and adescription at the bottom of eachpicture.•(you do not need to be great artistsstick people are okay)

Comic StripStory board

Story Boards

The Super Hero Project !• The Supers are back! This project allows students the chance to guessat the powers of certain superheroes, report on a superhero from theircountry and then create a superhero of their choice. They will describethe superhero (his or her powers and characteristics,) where they live,what they like, don't like, weaknesses, secret identities, etc. The targetlanguage for this activity is:• can - for ability• have - for description• language for introduction• 3rd person singular• advanced - comparative, superlative and past tense narratives• Time: The project can be done quickly in a single lesson or spread outas small parts over 3 or 4 lessons. It also depends on how far you wishto go with the project. I choose to spread it out and give students timeto process the information and make changes.

Example of Super Hero Project work byKorean Students age 11/12Name: His name is SSuckso.Personality: He is funny, brave, cleverand kind.Super powers: He can shoot tornadowhen he coughs.He can shoot lightening.He can become invisible.He can’t die.His fingernails are boomerangs.He can freeze things when he blows.He can change the weapons.He can clone himself.He has a Ssuckso 2 (lion).Weakness: He doesn’t have a neck.He has many nosebleeds.He is short.Likes: He likes to smirk.He likes to Jay-Woo’s friend.

Cheongdeok Elementary School,Seoul, South KoreaTeacher: JackieHer name is sky girl.She can fly.She can change the weather.She can run in the sky.She can freeze things and shoot lasers.She can talk to anything.She can become invisible. Also, she canbecome anything.Her weaknesses are she can’t shrink.She can’t breathe underwater, too.She likes boys.She likes her super powers.She likes her parents, too.She likes her pet. Her pet is a wingedsnake.She is tall. She is pretty. She has longhair. And she has big eyes.

Lesson Ideas• If your principle was a superhero what would he/shewear?• Make a mind map of what his her life would be like asa super hero?• Superhero Scavenger hunt- Students take onsuperhero identities. You hide villains around theschool or classroom, create clues and get your studentsin pairs or groups to attempt to find the villains.• Superhero Research- using see , think, wonder.Students work out questions about what they want toknow about super heroes and try and answer them.

Other Tasks!• Make a superhero snack!• Superhero board games-operation iron manSpiderman memory game• Superhero readers• Superhero Immersion Science/Maths books

ClassroomManagement - SuperHero Elementary Students• 1)make one child the class superhero every day. Theidentity must be kept secret.•• 2)the student must try hard all day and be helpful toeveryone in the class and the teacher.•• 3)at the end of the day the children try and guess theidentity of the superhero. If the superhero has beenwell behaved the teacher names the hero, if not hemust try again tomorrow.