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Fantastic Characters: Analyzing and Creating Superheroes and Villains
|Grades||6 – 8|
|Lesson Plan Type||Standard Lesson|
|Estimated Time||Three 50-minute sessions|
In this lesson, students analyze and discuss familiar superheroes and super-villains to expand their understanding of character types and conventions. Then students consider social issues that confront their everyday reality and respond by incorporating those issues into the creation of their own superheroes or super-villains as well as the settings the superheroes or super-villains operate in.
- Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer: Students use this printout to compare and contrast superheros and super-villains.
Superhero Database: This website provides a comprehensive database of superheroes, villains, super powers, and elements pertaining to superheroes.
"A substantial, expanding body of evidence asserts that using graphic novels and comics in the classroom produces effective learning opportunities over a wide range of subjects and benefits various student populations, from hesitant readers to gifted students" (1). In this lesson, students are encouraged to engage their imaginations while using critical analysis to respond to problems. They discover the excitement of creating their own fictitious character, which opens the door to further conceptualizing-of adventures and settings, conflicts, social concerns, and unique methods of resolution.
Carter, James Bucky, ed. Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel. Urbana, IL: NCTE, 2007. Print.