Superheroes Web Quest: Reading, Writing and Board Game Activities

Students practice their reading and writing skills, as well as learn about different famous superhero stories, and revise the interrogative form.  

I believe superheroes are a great way to motivate students. They are alluring to them, not just because they are endowed with superpowers and fight the crime by killing supervillains, but also because they can relate to them. Superheroes are portrayed in an increasingly humane way in movies. They are super humans because of their super abilities, but they also have their fair share of trauma, bad dreams, fears, anxiety because they see their body changing or because their loved ones are in danger, typically they are victims of events they cannot control. From this standpoint, they are very much alike our teenager students.

These activities are intended as an introductory set of activities to a chapter on superheroes. I wanted to get them to think about what makes superheroes so special and so alluring. 

Students are required to choose a superhero and make some research (a webpage is provided to help) in order to make questions that will later be used in a board game. Initially, I wanted to focus on humans who became superheroes using technology (like Batman or the Green Harrow) but I ultimately allowed some students to work on Hulk or Deadpool. It took them a one-hour lesson to make the 12 questions and answers (depending on the groups, some made less), I then gathered all the questions on a single document and made copies for each group. 

To fit into the STI2D program, I have oriented the chapter as followed:

Cultural entry: Myths and heroes
Question: Why are superheroes such mythical heroes?

Technical knowledge: Technological innovations

Question: How do men manage to enhance their physical abilities to become superheroes?

Here is the worksheet for the web search: 

Superheroes web quest and board game

And a board game template:

Board game template

The follow-up activities are a reflection on superhero stories, as well as the link between superheroes and history:

Analysing superheroes

Superheroes and History (the Example of Captain America): Reading, Writing and Speaking Activities

Cécile Sohier