I just signed my contract on Friday and am extremely nervous. I want to do a superhero theme in my Resource classroom. I need to do this on the cheap, so I am going to have my brother make some posters for me. I was hoping that some of you guys have some ideas for me. Here are some of the things I have come up with or found on other forums: Create a classroom comic strip (I will have my brother help me with the first one, featuring the teacher frantically losing sleep and trying to get prepared for her students) that the students will help design from actual things that happen in the class. Have students create comic strips about a scene from books we read. On the first day, I want to have a get to know you activity, one of the questions will be: If you were a superhero, what would your name be and why. Spiderman word webs "No villains allowed" sign on door. I want to find some comic books to have in my class library. Any ideas are much appreciated.
Cute! Maybe you could get some old comic books and use the pages as backgrounds to book basket labels, a bulletin board, or something like that. Also, try: http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/ Maybe each kid could make themselves as a superhero and write things like their name, birthplace, greatest strengths (skills) and so on. You could use the site below to make the characters (although the girls are rather anatomically-correct on top ... yikes) and have the kids print those, and put that information (like a baseball card) on the back. http://www.ugo.com/channels/comics/heromachine2/heroMachine2.asp
Our public library's summer reading program for teens is "The League of Extraordinary Readers" based on the book The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Your classroom sign could say "The League of Extraordinary Students".
Although I am not very familiar with the genre/format, you could also look into graphic novels, which are different from comic books and may encourage higher reading. However, I am not sure the level the "average" graphic novel, nor the ability of your resource students. However, it may be a great way to get them to read more. Graphic novels vary in content from superheroes to history, so you may find some fun ones!
Good comics for young readers include Marvel's Essentials series and DC's Showcase Presents. Both are black and white reprints of classic material. Since its drawn from pre-80's sources, its all appropriate. The Marvel Adventures imprint also has some great books. Also, I keep some comics in my room. They helped me teach physics. As examples... The 60's DC guys were ALWAYS trying to teach the kids science. You'd be surprised how much physics and chemistry Flash and Green Lantern have snuck in. You could also check your local comic store for Marvel reprint mags, such as the 70's book Marvel's Greatest Comics. You can get a lot of those kind of books in the quarter bin. Ask the local stores about getting books from the annual Free Comic Book Day, as well. The classroom favorite was Spider-girl! Boys and girls loved having a Spider-hero who was also close to their age and a positive female role-model. I always have one parent who claims that reading comics is junk. I always show them an issue of Fantastic Four, and state that any kid that can read and comprehend sentences like "See you not the scope of my illimitable dominion?" is on the right track. Thank you, Galactus!
You could try calling Fiesta Texas ins San Antonio, that is their whole theme, ask if they have any extras, tell them you're a teacher...Sounds like fun!
My friend did a Superhero theme in his first grade class this year. It was mostly Superman, and they were Mr. L's Super Students. He had a lot of Superman items in his room, from his personal collection I guess. His student's loved it, and so did he. He school required a mascot/slogan for each teacher, and he said "I've got to do something manly!" He even hung a superman flag outside his room! Carson Delosa has some Super Kids Items, that are super cute. You can also check out party supply stores for some decorative items as well! Sounds like fun! Good luck!
Thank you all for the great information. I am really excited about it. I will have to find out who sells comics around here; I live in a small town so I may have to drive, but I will definitely look for a store. I am hoping to get some comics for free off of freecycle.org.
eBay is another excellent source for comics. You can probably find lots of them for a relatively cheap price!
Cool Superhero stuff Hi! I just discovered this site and your posts - I, too, am doing a superheroes theme for my 3rd grade classroom this year. I found really neat bulletin board sets at Northstar Teacher Resources' website - I bought a set for my classroom entryway and put each of my students' names on a star I attached to each 'hero.' They also have desk nameplates and other nametags, etc with the superheroes and also math and parts of speech posters that feature the same superheroes. They are so colorful and cute - not too "primary" like the Carson Dellosa "superkids" set. (That one is really cute, too, but I think too primary for 3rd graders.) Anyway, I can't post the website address yet because I just joined, but if you google search 'North Star Teacher Resources" you will find it. I ordered my stuff a few weeks ago and received my order in 2 days! Good luck and have a great year with your class! I liked the idea posted earlier here about "Mr. L's Super Students" - I think I will use that one for my entry display! Thanks!
Sorry, I haven't checked this thread lately. I live in Pittsburg. It is about an hour from Longview, Tyler, and Texarkana, so I could probably make a special trip to one of those cities. Thanks for all of the help once again.
During my time at SMU getting my education certificate, one of the projects I did was device a superhero thematic unit. That sort of thing is totally fun, I hope you and your kids really enjoy putting it into play. Some suggestions for writing topics: Make up and describe your own superhero; what is your origin story (ie, struck by lightning, bit by a radioactive arachnid, hit in the head by a rock)? What is your secret headquarters like? Who is your archnemesis? Math activities: Fractions with superteams. If 4 of the X-Men get called away to fight the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, what fraction of the team does that represent? If Iron Man lives 1,876 miles away from the Hulk, how far away is that rounded to the nearest ten? Good luck, and Excelsior!!
Super Hero Ideas The Texas PTA Membership theme this year is Super Hero... I loved all the ideas ya'll gave. Thanks! Can't believe you are from Pittsburg. I'm in Longview.
There is an absolutely terrific book out, The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios, which is essentially an introductory physics text but with all examples taken from superheroes and answering questions about their powers. It's quite engaging, and even if a kid didn't understand the math (it's algebra, so high schoolers and even jr. high would get it -- elementary, maybe less so) they would get a lot out of it. The book also mentions some of the reasons the 60's writers were always trying to teach: the comics authority was a self-regulatory body created to avoid governmental oversight of content. To help this along, they noted the educational impact of the comics (along with squeaky-clean morality). Also. . . comics writers got paid by the word. . . There is a video of Kakalios explaining the Spiderman comic "The Death of Gwen Stacy" which draws heavily on the book. It's pretty representative of the way the book reads.
