KINDer Power! - A Superhero Project (Part. 1)
Hello Friends!
We all know the popular superheroes - Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman... but did you know there are some superheroes right here in our very own kindergarten class?!? Have you ever heard of Super Buddy, Empathy Boy, or Dragon Glitter Diamond?!? Read on to learn all about KINDer Power! - A Superhero Project completed by the students of Room 140 :)
Super Beginnings
Our class has Three Classroom Expectations: Be Kind, Be Safe, and Try Your Best. We noticed at the beginning of the year that although these expectations seem simple enough, they can be challenging at times! These noticing sparked some questions our class had:
What problems do we see in our school community?
How can we work together to solve these problems?
One day, a secret note was taped to our Morning Message board. It gave us clues to search the school, helping us to find superheroes and think about what they do to help others.
After we found all the clues and our famous superheroes, we looked at each one a little more closely. We asked ourselves these questions:
What makes a superhero "super"?
What characteristics do superheroes share?
How do these superheroes solve problems?
We discovered that superheroes definitely have some "powers" such as they are kind, they help others, they work together as a team, they tell the truth, they use special tools, and of course, they can fly! ;)
Examining these famous superheroes more closely made us wonder - can regular people like us share these "powers" too? Could the kindergarteners use some of these "powers" to work together and solve the problems they were noticing around our classroom and school community?
This led us to our Essential Questions for this new Project:
What "superpowers" do I have?
How can I use my "superpowers" to better my school community?
Our class spent some time monitoring and tracking the problems we were noticing inside and outside of our classroom at school. We became social detectives, watching and documenting what challenges students while working and playing together. The class noticed problems such as difficulty sharing materials, staying focused on the carpet, waiting their turn for the slide, trash around our lunch tables, giving up when a task felt too hard, or arguing on the playground.
After looking at our lists of community problems, we noticed some commonalities that could be solved with a handful of "superpowers":
Empathy
Communication
Flexibility
Laser Focus
Patience
Self Control
Grit
Our class spent time learning more deeply about what each "superpower" meant and how it could be used to solve different kinds of problems. We read many books exemplifying these powers and did activities to better understand their meaning. Some of them include Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud, Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willams, When Sophie Gets Angry–Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang, My Mouth Is a Volcano! by Julia Cook, and The Way I Feel by Janan Cain.
We also found some amazing videos to learn more about these "powers". PlayKids on YouTube has made some really catchy songs that will get stuck in your head about these social skills we were now viewing as superpowers! Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood on PBSkids.org also has great clips that taught us about being flexible and working with others.
Once our class had a better understanding of each power and how it could be applied, each student decided which superpower they felt was their strongest and they formed Super Leagues, just like the famous superheroes (think the Justice League, only this would be the Empathy League!). Students then developed a superhero persona centered around their power, complete with a superhero name and costume! **Check back for the Part 2 of this update to learn more about how our class created their superhero costumes!
Superhero Stories
Besides all the read alouds and literacy work we already had completed during the research portion of this project, our class also decided they wanted to create a way to share their superhero personas and powers with the rest of the word - and they decide to write, direct and star in their own recorded superhero stories! In order to make our original video "KINDer Power!" each of the Super Leagues had to write a short story together. To do this, our class studied the 4 main elements of a story: setting, characters, problem and solution.
The kinders then practiced mapping out these story elements for familiar stories we had read many times in class. They learned how to use storyboards to organize their thinking. When the Super Leagues were ready to create their own original superhero stories, their 4th Grade and 7th Grade Buddies helped them come up with some ideas and get them sketched out on paper. Each student worked with their Super League to chose a problem to solved by using their superpower, decide on where the setting (and filming) should take place, who the characters (their classmates) would be, and how they would solve their problem using their KINDer Power!
The students used their storyboards to help them film their scenes with their Super League, and later we reviewed the footage and did voice-overs to pull the film together. After adding some music and doing a final edit, our video "KINDer Power!" was complete!
Here is the cast of each portion of our superhero video "KINDer Power!":
The Empathy League
The Communication League
The Flexibility League
The Laser Focus League
The Patience League
The Self Control League
The Grit League
Check out the next part (Part 2) of this post to learn more about how our class made their amazing superhero costumes from start to finish, as well as how we incorporated math into this project!
With Love,
Ms. Jeanine
