This Summer In Review: A Comics Retrospective Presented By Your Students

 

“I retire for what, like, five minutes, and it all goes to shit.” -Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Captain America: Civil War

Summer break is long and short at the same time: long enough for the kids to miss their friends and drive their parents/grandparents/babysitters/siblings nuts, short enough for it to feel, one week into school, as if they’d never left in the first place.

A lot happened in the superhero world in just a few short months. Captain America: Civil War, the comic event Civil War II, Batman: The Killing Joke, Suicide Squad, and of course San Diego Comic-Con. There have been Doctor Strange trailers and Punisher teasers, and both Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo posted great photos from the set of Ragnarok.

mark_ruffalo_twitter_h_2016

{Image is a photograph of Mark Ruffalo on the set of Thor: Ragnarok. He is wearing massive Hulk fists and punching towards the camera.}

What was your class’s favorite comic event of the summer? This week’s lesson plan is an essay that answers this question.

Students will engage in whole group instruction, discussion, peer tutoring, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Notebooks and black pens/pencils for first drafts
  • Red pens for revisions
  • Computers for student use with access to the Internet for research + with Microsoft Word for final drafts

Standards Met:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
  1. Ask the students what important comic-related events happened over the summer. This can include films, comic books, graphic novels, Comic Con panels, and etc. Discuss. This should take five to ten minutes.
  2. Tell the students that they will be researching and writing a one-and-a-half to two-page essay about what they think was the most important comic event of the summer. Tell them again that this can include live action films (such as Civil War, Suicide Squad), animated films (such as the Batman: The Killing Joke adaption), comic books (such as Civil War II), graphic novels, Comic Con panels, and etc.
  3. Have the students raise their hands and remind you of the steps of the writing process (planning/outline, the draft and revision cycle, peer editing, and the requirements of a final copy). This should take five minutes.
  4. Have the students make a plan or outline of their essay on notebook paper. If they need ideas, they may look up comic book news articles on the computer.
  5. For the rest of the class period, have students write their rough draft on notebook paper. Have them double-space so that they will have room for edits.
  6. During the next class period, pair up the students and have them peer edit each other’s papers. Students may use the rest of that class period to work on a final draft of their paper.
  7. A final typed and double-spaced draft of the essay will be due at the beginning of the third class period. Have students volunteer to present their papers to the class, either by summarizing their ideas or reading the essay in its entirety.

What was the most important comic event of your summer? What issues did your class discuss during the essay-writing process? As always, let me know what you thought about this lesson plan in the comments!

Surprise! I’m Still Here!

When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree by the river of truth, and tell the whole world “No, you move.”  -Steve Rogers

It’s been a long few months filled with all kinds of pain and trauma. Yes, I am talking about Captain America: Civil War. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to SuperLessons. I apologize for being MIA. All Cap 3 jokes aside, I’ve had an incredibly busy semester that culminated in my graduation:

IMG_20160507_160851

{Image is a photograph of two graduation caps. The one on the left is my graduation cap. It has Cap’s shield painted on it, encircled by the words “Write like you’re running out of time.” The cap on the right is my fiancee’s graduation cap. It has a teacher’s apple sticker on the top, followed by the words “Going with all the light you can manage try to grab them.”}

I saw Civil War:

civil war faces blurred

{Image is a photograph of my friends and me at the midnight–well, 7 PM–opening night showing of Civil War. All faces but mine and my fiancee’s are blurred to protect privacy. I am holding Cap’s shield.}

And I’m currently spending my morning going on a Twitter rant about the twist at the end of the new Captain America comic (click for spoilers). The Steve Rogers rage is real.

Now what? Well, it’s summer, which means that I get my classroom back! This summer, I’m working with the “bigs” classroom, which this year includes fifteen 4th-8th graders. I’m looking forward to science projects, field trips to the library, and, of course, our annual Superhero Week.

This summer, this blog will be a repository for superhero-related summer activities. There’ll probably be a series of anecdotes about my kids as well.

Happy summer! (Unless you’re Steve Rogers. Sorry, Steve.)

Bullies in the Classroom

tiny steve rogers

{Image is a gif of pre-serum Steve Rogers from Captain America: The First Avenger.}

“I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from.” 

-Steve Rogers, Captain America: The First Avenger

Today’s blog post is not about superheroes. It’s about the absence of them–about the fact that, no matter how fiercely I love my kids, no matter how much I emphasize the values of patience and respect, they won’t always be super kids. Just like I won’t always be a super teacher. Children can be fantastically accepting. They can also be brutally judgmental.

About once a year, my students go through a fit of bullying. They pick on each other all year long, but once a year, they find a target and go after them. I remedy this with an anti-bullying curriculum, the introduction to which I will leave at the end of this post. This curriculum works well with the 2nd-8th grade set.

Younger children are more complicated. After school, I sometimes help watch the younger students. One of the three-year-olds, “Betsy,” was nonverbal when she joined us a little less than two months ago. Today, she came up to me with her coat and said, “Zip my jacket.” Her acquisition of language has been swift and astounding. Honestly? I love all my kids, but Betsy’s special. She comes to me when she’s feeling squealy, spinny, stimmy. We flap our arms together and laugh. I adore her kinetic joy. I’m constantly proud of her strong, high voice, even when she’s using it to yell “MOVE!” at the other kids. Hey, assertiveness is a positive trait.

The kindergarteners have been mocking her voice. They play with her with the express purpose of laughing at her. They mimic her and laugh, and Betsy laughs along. She doesn’t get why they’re laughing. She just thinks they’re having fun.

This infuriates me. Partially because Betsy is so special to me, yes. But partially because some of those kindergarteners are special to me, too. Two of them are the younger siblings of my favorite student (listen, you can have favorites without playing favorites; I think I’ve gotten pretty good at this over the years). They’re bright kids. Sassy, noisy, wild, smart kids. Kids who I love. That makes their bullying more difficult for me to handle.

I told them off for it today, all four of them, that posse of kindergartners laughing at a three-year-old who’s just found her voice. They stopped for a minute as we walked up the stairs from the cafeteria to the restrooms. Then, in the restroom, they started up again. Betsy loves to sing in the restroom: her sweet, garbled song. The girls mimicked her as they stood in line in the hall.

Betsy got to go out to recess with the boys. I kept the kindergarten girls back. How would you feel, I asked, if your friend was making fun of you? I told them off. I had them sit in time-out. I had them apologize.

They’ll do it again. Maybe not as often. But they’ll do it.

Sometimes this superhero teacher feels pretty useless.


Bullying Myths and Facts

Myth: Bullies will go away if you ignore them.
Fact: Bullies WON’T always go away if you ignore them. Sometimes, they’ll take you ignoring them as a sign that you’re okay with them bullying you. The only sure way to get bullies to stop bullying you is to tell an adult so the adult can help keep you safe.

Myth: All bullies have low self-esteem.
Fact: Some bullies do have low self-esteem, but that should not be used as an excuse for their actions. No matter whether a bully has low self-esteem or not, they don’t have the right to bully anyone.

Myth: People might be hurt when they get bullied, but they’ll get over it.
Fact: Not everybody gets over being bullied. Bullying can lead to anxiety—a long-lasting condition where your brain releases chemicals that make you feel scared, even when you’re not in a situation that would normally scare you—or depression—another long-lasting condition where your brain doesn’t release enough chemicals to make you happy, so you feel tired and sad. Some people never get over all the fear caused by bullies. That’s why bullying is so terrible. What happens to you as a kid can affect you for the rest of your life.

Myth: Bullying is just a normal part of growing up.
Fact: A lot of people are bullied while they’re growing up, but bullying shouldn’t be considered normal. Some people say it’s normal because they feel helpless to stop bullies.

Myth: The best way to get rid of a bully is to fight and get even.
Fact: Fighting and getting even doesn’t stop bullies. If you try to hurt your bully on purpose, then you’ve become a bully, too. The best way to stop a bully is to tell an adult you trust what’s going on.

Myth: Bullying is just teasing.
Fact: Some teasing is bullying, but bullying is never just teasing. It’s not the victim’s fault for being upset. It’s the bully’s fault for hurting the other person.

Myth: People who complain about bullies are babies.
Fact: People are not babies for telling on the people who bully them. They are very brave. It’s scary to tell on your bullies. Some bullies say they’ll hurt the people they’re bullying if they tell. It’s always best to tell and get help.

Myth: Telling on a bully is the same as tattling.
Fact: Telling on a bully is not tattling. If an adult doesn’t listen to you because they think you’re just tattling, and the bully keeps bothering you, tell another adult you trust what’s going on. Keep telling adults you trust about the bully until one of the adults helps you.

Myth: Only boys are bullies.
Fact: Both boys and girls can be bullies.

Myth: Some people deserve to be bullied.
Fact: NO ONE deserves to be bullied.


How has your classroom dealt with bullying? Let me know in the comments.

Superhero Mock Elections

shield your vote

Cruz. Rubio. Trump. Fiorina. Carson. O’Malley. Clinton. Sanders–tonight’s a whirlwind of presidential candidates at the Iowa Caucus. But what exactly is a caucus? How does it work? What does it have to do with the real presidential election, anyway?

Today’s lesson plan is a multi-day unit: a mock election with superheroes as candidates. Links to more detailed explanations of terms will be provided as necessary.

Students will engage in lecture, whole group instruction, cooperative learning, hands-on activities, and discussion.

Materials Needed:

  • Poster board
  • Markers, glitter glue, Elmer’s glue, pens, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, and other art materials that can be used on poster board
  • Printer paper
  • Computers for student use with access to Power Point, Google Image Search, and a printer
  • Computer/Projector
  • Laser pointer (optional; don’t perform Lasik surgery on each other, kids)

Standards Met:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

PART ONE: THE PRIMARY

  1. Ask your students if they have been paying attention to the presidential election. If they say yes, ask them if they paid attention to the Iowa Caucus (did they watch it on Snapchat?). Then ask them if they know what a caucus is.
  2. Define caucus for the students. A caucus is a meeting of members of a political party. In the Iowa Caucus, Iowans meet up at local voting precincts and choose which delegates from their political party will represent them in county conventions. These county conventions vote for delegates for Iowa’s state political party conventions, who choose delegates for presidential nominating conventions.
    1. Tell your students that a primary election is one in which members of each political party choose which candidate they want to run for President. Right now, there are many Republican candidates and more than one Democratic candidate. Once people have voted in primaries across the country, the candidate with the most votes will continue running for President. So, while right now the race is Trump vs. Rubio vs. Cruz VERSUS Clinton vs. Sanders, etc., after the primaries, it’ll be narrowed down to ONE Republican vs. ONE Democrat.
  3. Explain to your students that people put so much importance on the Iowa Caucus because it’s a fairly successful (47%) predictor of who will be in the presidential election. Whichever Republican wins the Caucus has a pretty good chance of going on to run against whichever Democrat wins the Caucus.
  4. Tell the students that as a class, you are going to run a mock primary election using superhero candidates. Tell them that they will be separated into two equivalent groups. (Don’t name these groups Democrats and Republicans. I can see the bloodshed already. Name them the Marvels and the DCs.) Then, within those two groups, three people will run for president in-character as superheroes. They will advertise; they will debate; they will give speeches. They will do everything they can to gain supporters within their own party. Then, in a primary election, people within their party will vote for a candidate to go on to the main election.
    1. It’s important to note to the students that political parties in real life aren’t restricted to only having three candidates for the primary. Point out how many Republican candidates there are. The students are limited to three candidates because otherwise the vote could easily be split. You have a class of 30ish people, not thousands.
  5. Divide the students into Marvels and DCs. Within these groups, YOU pick the three who want to run for office.
  6. Give the candidates time outside of class to think of their superhero personas. Have them come up with a vague outline of their political platforms. These can be real–healthcare, immigration, etc.–or imagined–superhero registration! Batman v. Superman! They should have a small speech (it can be as simple as “Vote Cap. FOR JUSTICE!” Or it can be more involved) and some debate points prepared. They should present their persona and platforms to you at the beginning of the next class.
  7. The next class period should be campaign time. Set up six stations for the students, half for the Marvels and half for the DCs:
    1. Speech area #1 in front of the projector–for candidates with (pre-approved) PowerPoints or images to be displayed behind them
    2. Poster station #1–with poster boards, art supplies, etc. to make banners
    3. Handshake station #1–for candidates to speak with their voters
    4. Speech area #2
    5. Poster station #2
    6. Handshake station #2
  8. Optional step: debates. Debates work well if you have a mature class and moderators. They work even better if you have covered speech and debate in your class before. No matter how immature the current US Presidential candidates act, we need to raise a generation that knows how to behave in a debate.
  9. Remind the students that the next class day will be primary election day!
  10. Primary Election Day. Before class begins, set up two closed-off, private areas where students from each party can fill out their ballots.
  11. When students come into the classroom, have them line up in front of their respective ballot boxes. Display the image at the beginning of this post prominently. Remind them frequently that their ballots are secret. In real life, they cannot take a picture of their ballot! They can, however, post about their favorite candidate just as much as they want.
  12. Once the voting is over, tell the students that their ballots, like many ballots in Iowa, will be hand-counted. This may be done by you or by some volunteers from another class.

PART TWO: THE ELECTION

  1. In the next class, reveal the winners of the primary. Have them both come up and make a quick speech.
  2. Tell the class that for the general election, they may cross party lines. You may vote for the DC candidate even if you’re a registered Marvel voter. In fact, this is encouraged. Listen carefully to each candidate.
  3. Campaign time, part two! Set up your stations again. Allow the students to move freely around the classroom. The candidates can make speeches and shake hands; the voters can make posters, listen, and ask questions.
  4. Optional step: debates.
  5. Remind the students that the next class day will be Election Day.
  6. Election Day: same procedure as Primary Election Day.
  7. Count ballots. Find appropriately-designed celebratory material. Decorate your classroom in those colors/designs before the students come in. Allow for celebration and consolation.
  8. Once the students have recovered from the shock/rage/glee, bring them back together. Tell them that the election process does not always go smoothly. For example:

There are many painful, convoluted aspects of the election process. Your classroom’s version was a streamlined procedure.

 

What did your students think of the mock election? Who won? Who will win the real election? As always, leave your thoughts in the comments.

What (Not?) To Wear: Analyzing Heroes’ Costumes

“Of the people in this room, which one is A – wearing a spangly outfit and B – not of use?” -Tony Stark, The Avengers (2012)

As your students may have already realized in earlier lessons, one of the most important parts of designing a superhero is settling on a costume. The best artists consider multiple elements while creating a costume: practicality, flashiness, and continuity with comics canon, for example. They might also consider cultural elements:

kamala khan

{Image is of Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, a young Pakistani-American woman with dark hair. She is wearing a black mask and a uniform that consists of a blue-and-red top with a yellow lightning bolt on it and a red cape. Her top includes a red turtleneck. She is holding up her fists.}

But even characters whose costumes seem straightforward, such as Iron Man or Captain America, experience evolution.

jack kirby original iron man

{Image is Jack Kirby’s original concept art for Iron Man. Iron Man’s suit is entirely silver. Each piece of the armor is blocky; his helmet is almost square. He looks heavy.}

iron man 1980s

{Image is an Iron Man comic cover from the 1980s. The subtitle reads, “An Iron Man You’ve Never Seen Before!” Iron Man stands in front of glass cases filled with previous Iron Man suits. Iron Man himself is lifting off his helmet. His face is in shadow. His suit is contoured to his muscles, particularly his biceps and abs.}

iron man films

{Image is Iron Man as he appears in the films. His armor is sleek red-and-gold chrome. The armor has distinct pieces that are sleek and seem to be close to his body, but his muscles are not visible.}

Why do heroes wear what they wear? In today’s lesson plan, your students will complete a formal artistic analysis of superhero costumes. Your students will learn the definition of formal analysis and be able to write an essay examining the formal elements of art as they are represented in superhero costumes.

Students will engage in visuals, lecture, discussion, group work, whole group instruction, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Computer
  • Projector
  • Notebooks/writing utensils
  • Various comics from a wide range of time periods so that students can see how certain characters’ costumes change over time

Standards Met:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.2.D Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to manage the complexity of the topic.
  1. Begin class by showing your students the above pictures of Iron Man. If you have more pictures of Iron Man handy, show them. Especially original Iron Man. He’s hilarious. Like the Tin Man’s chubby cousin. This should take five minutes.
  2. Once your students have settled down, ask them why they think the original Iron Man was designed the way he was. Then ask them why you think those specific changes were made to his costume in the 80s and 2000s. What changes did they particularly notice?
  3. Define formal analysis for your students. According to the University of Texas at Austin, “Formal analysis is…an analysis of the forms utilized in the work of art: …color, shape, line, mass, and space. The formal analysis moves beyond simple description in that it connects the elements of the work to the effects they have on the viewer.”
    1. This webpage includes definitions of each of the formal elements, as well as a student-friendly handout about them.
  4. Divide your students into groups. Pull up the Iron Man images on your projector screen again. Have each group analyze these images of Iron Man using their knowledge of formal analysis.
    1. Make sure to remind your students that they have just now learned how to use formal analysis! Encourage them to ask each other for help (NOT to gossip, I see those kids’ minds churning, too) as well as to consult their worksheet.
  5. Bring the class back together. Have each group briefly discuss what formal elements they discovered: color, line, etc.
    1. What effect do those formal elements have on your students? For example, the use of line varies greatly between the original Iron Man and the 1980s Iron Man. What adjectives would your students use to describe these costumes? Comical? Imposing?
    2. If the students struggle, encourage them. Have more examples ready to go over in class. Captain America in the films is a pretty good example of variation in costumes. See today’s opening quote: in Avengers, he’s wearing a skin-tight spangly suit (thanks, Coulson) that’s a lot more similar to his “dancing monkey” chorus outfit in the early scenes of Captain America than it is to his battle uniform in Captain America. By the time we see him in Cap 2, he’s wearing a suit with muted colors (since he’s working in covert ops); even his shield seems dimmer. In Avengers 2, though, his costume seems to have come full circle to his original battle uniform from the first Captain America film.
  6. For homework, your students will write a three-to-four-page formal analysis/compare-contrast essay about superhero costumes. Each student will choose a specific hero. They should have two examples of this hero’s costume, which preferably do not look much alike. They should compare the color, line, space, etc. of these two costumes. In their essay, they should also briefly address the setting and action of the comic their images appear in. Why do your students think that the artist dressed this hero this way at this time? Your students should finish their essay with a paragraph detailing their personal thoughts about both costumes. Which one do they prefer? Why? They should reference formal elements in order to back up their preference.

How did your students handle this lesson? What did they think of the original Iron Man? As always, if you have any ideas, or if you and your class are doing something super, please let me know in the comments!

Trailer Techniques

Unless you’ve been shot into space, possessed by Loki, or frozen by Hydra in the past week, you’ve probably already seen the Captain America: Civil War trailer. If you’re me, you’ve seen it so many times that you have it memorized. (“He’s my friend.” “So was I.” Cue continuous pained sobbing.) Bucky remembers Steve stuffing his shoes with newspapers. Tony wants to punch Steve in his perfect teeth. Sam Wilson is worried that he’ll be caught in the crossfire, and STEVE ROGERS CAN HOLD DOWN AN ENTIRE HELICOPTER WITH THE FORCE OF HIS RAGE. Oh, yeah, and Steve and Bucky apparently find the time to practice throwing the shield back and forth like a Frisbee just so they can beat the holy hell out of Iron Man. Fun times all around.

If you’re me, you like watching trailers repetitively for a variety of reasons: spoiler-hunting, character analyzing, or something in between. Trailers are addicting–that’s why they’re such good marketing tools. If a trailer makes you stare at your computer screen while emitting high-pitched shrieks of glee, it’s doing its job.

How do trailers convince us to buy movie tickets half a year in advance? How much of the film’s plot do they reveal anyway? With this week’s lesson plan, your students will analyze trailers for plot, character, and theme, and then compare their analysis to the plot, character, and theme of the film itself. They will also discuss which marketing techniques work on them and which don’t.

Students will engage in visuals, lecture, whole group instruction, discussion, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Computer
  • Projector
  • Computers available for student use, with (monitored) access to YouTube

Standards Met:

  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
  1. Tell the students that they will primarily be watching trailers today. Give them a moment to process this and then calm down. Remind them of the rules for watching films in class (be quiet, pay attention, etc.).
  2. Play the Civil War trailer for the students. Once the trailer is finished, ask them what film techniques they noticed in the trailer. What colors did they notice? Was the trailer dark or light visually? What was the mood of the trailer? What does the film’s plot seem to be from the trailer? Did they notice any spoilers or easter eggs? This discussion should last five to ten minutes.
  3. Tell the students that this trailer analysis is the basis for their large project. In class, they will watch two trailers of their choice, one for a film they have not seen and one for a film they are familiar with. These trailers do not have to be superhero-themed, but they may be, as this is a superhero-themed unit.* They will analyze both trailers as stand-alone pieces of work; they will write a short description of both discussing the visual and plot elements of the trailers. Their short description will conclude with a few sentences describing what they expect the plot arc of the film to be, based on the trailer. Then, for the trailer of the film they have seen, the students will write an additional paragraph discussing what actually occurs in the film. How is it different from the trailer? Is the mood different? Is the plot substantially different from what they see represented in the film? With all of these issues considered, do your students think that this trailer accurately represents the film?
    1. The students will have time to type up this short analysis as homework.
  4. When the students turn in their analyses, have them discuss what they found. Overall, did they find that trailers were true to the films, or did they seem to be false advertising? With what they have discovered in mind, do they think that the Civil War trailer accurately portrays what will occur in the film? What sort of important parts of the film do you think the trailers’ makers purposely left out?
  5. Conclude class by watching another trailer. Or rewatch Civil War. Rewatching Civil War is always an option.

*Here are a bunch of links to superhero film trailers!

What did your students think of the Civil War trailer? What do you think? As always, if you use this lesson plan or any of the others in your classroom, let me know in the comments!

Thanksgiving

  1. I am thankful for this two-day week and five-day weekend. At this point in the semester, this is my face:
    no

    {Image is of me, a blonde-haired white person with wire-rimmed glasses. I am wearing a red sweater and headphones. I am holding a thick textbook over my head and glaring at the camera.}

    But I am still here, alive, mostly healthy, and far more educated than I was at the beginning of the school year. I’ve learned so much from my professors and from my students. I’m getting better at debating and listening productively and respectfully. I’ve learned to blog and to put together a podcast. I’ve learned more about who I am as a person and how strongly I believe in what I believe in. I am incredibly grateful for my education, and I am wonderfully blessed to be able to help educate the kids I work with. They make all this end-of-semester exhaustion worth it.

  2. I am thankful for Captain America and the people who write his comics. Steve Rogers is the standard of morality that I hold myself to. He doesn’t like bullies. He defends what’s right, not just what’s stereotypically “American.” He listens to people carefully, and he befriends people based on how good they are, not based on their culture, race, sexuality, or gender. When written well, he represents not necessarily the US as it is but the US as it should be–fair, just, righteous, and open.

    captain america

    {Image is a scan of a comic cell. Captain America is facing the reader with his right hand outstretched. He is saying: “Well, I say America is nothing! Without its ideals–its commitment to the freedom of all men, America is a piece of trash! A nation is nothing! A flag is a piece of cloth!!”}

  3. I’m thankful for Iron Man, too, even when he’s a jerk. He makes me laugh when I feel like doing anything but laughing.

    tony

    {Image is a scan of a comic cell. Iron Man is in the center of the cell with his back to the reader. He is saying, “My name is Tony Stark. And Captain America dances in his underwear to the Andrews Sisters.}

  4. I am thankful for my fiancée. She’s the Bucky to my Steve–which, if you know anything about fandom, probably sounds tacky or cheesy or ridiculous. But it’s true. She encourages my writing, even when I’m moaning about how I feel stuck in a rut. She wrestles with me in the snow and reads me the lesson plans she writes for her third graders. She shares every single one of these lesson plans on her social media. She makes me feel safe and smart and listened to. Those aren’t words I historically would have applied to myself. But with her, they’re true.
thanksgiving 1

{Image is a photograph of my fiancée and me from this Halloween. We are standing outside by some orange leaves. She is in costume as the Winter Soldier. I am in costume as Captain America. She is holding Captain America’s shield over our heads to protect us from the rain.}

And I’m thankful for you, person who is reading my blog. Thank you for reading my lesson plans. Thank you for engaging with comics on a meaningful level. Thank you for embracing your geekery and your students’ geekery. Thank you for sharing these plans on social media and for trying them out in the classroom.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Watch the Macy’s Parade and the dog show. Eat until somebody has to roll you out to your car. Curl up with the people you love, whether they’re family by blood or by choice, and let them know that you love them.

Enjoy the break! I’ll be back with your regularly scheduled lesson plans on Monday.

(No word on how coherent said lesson plans will be. The post-turkey coma is rough.)

Not the Winter Soldier: Cosplay, Trick-or-Treating, and Safety

As evidenced by my Halloween post, I cosplay fairly frequently. I don’t hand-sew my costumes like some people do. To be honest, most of my cosplays are thrown together the night before the event I’m dressing up for—or the day of.

{Image is of me cosplaying as Tony Stark for the Iron Man 3 premiere. I am wearing a black Iron Man t-shirt from the boys' section of Target and purple sunglasses I got for free somewhere. I have an arc reactor button pinned to my shirt. My hair is dyed brown, and I've painted a goatee on my face with mascara. All of this outfit was decided on just hours before the movie started.}

{Image is of me cosplaying as Tony Stark for the Iron Man 3 premiere. I am wearing a black Iron Man t-shirt from the boys’ section of Target and purple sunglasses I got for free somewhere. I have an arc reactor button pinned to my shirt. My hair is dyed brown, and I’ve painted a goatee on my face with mascara. All of this outfit was decided on just hours before the movie started.}

I enjoy dressing up. I’m willing to bet that most of your students do too, even the ones who don’t enjoy comics. High schoolers might be older kids, but they’re still kids. Ask who dressed up for Halloween, and I’m sure almost all of your students will raise their hands. Ask who went trick-or-treating, and some hands might go down, but you’ll still have some hulking teenage boys (and tiny teenage girls) with their hands half-raised.

The problem with big kids in costumes isn’t that they don’t deserve to have fun. But adults tend to view these huge costumed people shuffling to their door as a sham, or worse, as a threat. Not me, of course. I trick-or-treated through my freshman year of college, guys; I won’t turn anybody who wants candy way.

What happens when fully-grown adults wander the streets in costume? How about when they do so, and it’s not Halloween? This is the dilemma cosplayers are often faced with. Nobody wants to have to get dressed at the convention center, especially if they’re going to wear a handmade replica costume of, say, Iron Man. Con restrooms can be gross and awkward, and besides, some of the best photo ops happen when you’re in line for big events.

This leads to people wandering the streets as Captain Marvel or Harley Quinn. Not a big deal, right? Sure, cosplayers probably get funny looks (and unfortunately, cat-calls), but they aren’t generally perceived as dangerous.

Until they get ahold of replica weapons.

A man cosplaying as the Winter Soldier was arrested in Canary Wharf the other day because people mistook his replica gun for a real weapon. He was in town for a convention and, therefore, wandering in costume. As someone who spent a good amount of Halloween wrapping their fiancee’s arm in tinfoil, I can only imagine how much effort it would have taken him to apply and remove his extraordinarily realistic-looking metal arm. He probably wasn’t thinking about how he might appear to people who aren’t familiar with the erstwhile Bucky Barnes.

As some people have pointed out, cosplayers are supposed to leave the tips of their replica guns unpainted—usually they’re orange, if the gun is Air Soft. But even with a bright orange tip, from afar, guns look like a threat.

I sort of think the cosplayer’s bright silver metal arm should have been a hint that he was in costume. Not that people don’t have prosthetic arms, but usually they aren’t indestructible metal.

Still, I understand why someone called the police. Gun violence is no joke. It’s better to be prepared, to take action every time a gun might be present, than to let something slip.

Though this whole situation reminds me of an anecdote Viggo Mortensen tells in the behind-the-scenes clips from Lord of the Rings. He took his prop sword everywhere with him in order to practice his moves. One time, he was wandering the streets half-in costume, swinging his sword. A cop started tailing him. Somehow I think that a police officer working near the set of one of the biggest fantasy films of all time could have assumed that the sleep-deprived sword-wielder was an actor.

I can’t help but to think of the effect this must have had on the cosplayer, who didn’t have the good fortune to be a famous actor working on a film. I’ve been scouring tumblr to see if he has a blog so I can send him encouraging messages. He might have made a stupid mistake, but being arrested like that must have been traumatizing. In all of the photos of his arrest, he’s shielding his face.

{Image is of a police officer leading the cosplayer away. The cosplayer is handcuffed. He is shielding his face with his non-metal hand.}

{Image is of a police officer leading the cosplayer away. The cosplayer is handcuffed. He is shielding his face with his non-metal hand. Image (c) the Daily Mirror.}

Let’s say one of your larger boys, six foot tall—big guy, football player or basketball player—decides to be the Winter Soldier for Halloween. He goes all out for it—his best friends will be Cap, Falcon, and Black Widow, and they’re all designing their own costumes, so builds a metal arm and buys a replica vest. He even borrows Black Widow’s eyeliner to smear on his face as war paint.

As the final touch, he spray paints an Air Soft gun black.

Your big Winter Soldier goes trick-or-treating. Late at night: he’s fifteen or sixteen or seventeen, not a baby. He has his gun. He has his mask.

Somebody calls 9-1-1.

I have questions for your students and for you. What should the man on Canary Wharf have done differently? What are your thoughts/your students’ thoughts on older trick-or-treaters? On guns as part of costumes? On the culture of cosplay in general?

I don’t have the answers to these questions. Just more questions. Sometimes being a geek sucks.

Halloweek!

The leaves outside school are mottled orange and brown. I keep slipping on them as I walk to class. The third graders are writing letters to the Great Pumpkin, and on Saturday, I’ll wrap my fiancee’s arm in tin foil. It’s that time of year again. It’s Halloweek.

In the time-honored tradition of ignoring schoolwork and feeding children enough sugar to make Steve Rogers a diabetic, I’m forgoing the typical lesson plan this week. Instead, I’m bringing you an offering of pictures from my life. I hereby present to you: Me As Various Superheroes, Halloween Edition.

halloween 3

Halloween 2012: Bruce Banner/The Hulk. I was low on time and funds, so I threw on some ripped-up old jeans and a green t-shirt, layered one of my dad’s plaid shirts over it, and put on my Hulk mask and fists. I brought along my Physics textbook for good measure. Also pictured is my friend Norah, a.k.a. Iron Girl.

Not pictured is Halloween 2013. I was in England at the time, and Thor 2 had just come out. I saw it in theatres in costume as Thor. I sewed a red cape out of an old skirt and made Mjolnir with a shoebox that I spray-painted silver. I used the empty spray paint can as the handle and taped it all together. I’ll upload the photo if and when I find it. I wish I had tried to smuggled Mjolnir back through customs. The duct-taped one I have at home can’t compete.

halloween 2

Not Halloween, but still a favorite. This is me as Tony Stark at the Iron Man 3 premiere in May 2013. I have an arc reactor button pinned to my Iron Man t-shirt. I sprayed my hair brown with colored hair spray, slicked my hair back, and drew on a goatee with mascara. I added the sunglasses for good measure.

halloween 4

Halloween 2014: Iron Princess, feat. my fiancee as Tinkerbell. I had seen a post about Tiny Princess Captain America and couldn’t resist adapting the costume for myself. Someone at our friend’s Halloween party asked why we hadn’t had a couple’s costume, or at least matching costumes, and so this year….

halloween 1

Halloween 2015: Captain America (me) and the Winter Soldier (my fiancee). I got so much joy out of wrapping her arm in tinfoil. It was also pretty hilarious to see her be chased around the yard by a horde of tiny Jedi and Sith.

I’m thinking of being the Punisher next year.

Do you have a favorite superhero costume? What are your classroom’s Halloween plans? Tell me all about it (with pictures, if you can find a way) in the comments.

I hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween, and I’ll talk to you again in November.

Captain America and Propaganda: A Four-Day Unit

“Captain America is among the truest of superheroes. He was born out of something very real and immediate. We were on the cusp of entering World War II and he stood as an answer to the fears of many American children.” –John Cassaday

All superheroes have been criticized for being one-dimensional, but Captain America gets the worst rap. His single-minded obsession with justice seems like an obvious choice for a guy prancing around draped in an American flag. In his most recent incarnations, Steve Rogers has felt more well-rounded: When he is asked in the film Captain America: The First Avenger if he wants to kill Nazis, he says, “I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t like bullies. I don’t care where they’re from.”

(This is, for the record, my favorite superhero quote. I have it, along with Cap’s shield, tattooed on my shoulder.)

But Captain America began as nationalistic propaganda. Obviously he started out as a specifically anti-Nazi character. In more recent years, he’s been pro-American in different ways. The most blatant use of Cap as propaganda within the past fifteen years came just after 9/11.

{Image is a scan of a comic book cover. Captain America's shield takes up most of the page. Faces of various men and women are in the background. Gold script at the top of the page reads,

{Image is a scan of a comic book cover. Captain America’s shield takes up most of the page. Faces of various men and women are in the background. Gold script at the top of the page reads, “Captain America.” Gold print at the bottom of the page reads, “Honor Them.”

Today’s lesson plan is a four-day unit about Captain America and propaganda in the 1940s and early 2000s. The unit’s plan assumes that your classroom runs on block scheduling with 90-minute classes. If you have shorter class periods, you can definitely amend the unit to match your time constraints.

Captain America: The First Avenger (film), dir. Joe Johnston, screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Captain America: Honor Them (#5), John Ney Rieber (writer) and John Cassaday (artist)

Students will engage in lecture, whole group instruction, discussion, and a project.

Materials Needed:

  • Copies of Captain America: Honor Them
  • DVD copy of Captain America: The First Avenger
  • DVD player and projector
  • Poster board
  • Computers for research
  • Markers, glue, and other art supplies

Standards Met:

  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.”
  • “CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.”

DAY ONE

  1. Have the students define propaganda. This should take less than five minutes.
  2. Show the students propaganda from World War II. Compare this to Captain America propaganda of the same time period. Have the students point out similarities and differences. This should take ten to fifteen minutes.

captain america 1

{Image is of an old Captain America comic. It shows Captain America punching Hitler in the face.}

{Image is of an old Captain America comic. It shows Captain America punching Hitler in the face.}

{Image is a World War II propaganda poster. A Nazi soldier is in the foreground with a bayonet pointed at his neck. He is holding his hands up in surrender. A German WWI soldier is in the background, mirroring this position. The text reads,

{Image is a World War II propaganda poster. A Nazi soldier is in the foreground with a bayonet pointed at his neck. He is holding his hands up in surrender. A German WWI soldier is in the background, mirroring this position. The text reads, “We beat ’em before..we’ll beat ’em again!”

{Image is a World War II propaganda poster. A dead soldier lies across a barbed wire fence. The text reads,

{Image is a World War II propaganda poster. A dead soldier lies across a barbed wire fence. The text reads, “You talk of sacrifice…he knew the meaning of sacrifice!”}

{Image is of Rosie the Riveter in her traditional

{Image is of Rosie the Riveter in her traditional “We Can Do It!” pose.}

  1. Begin watching Captain America: The First Avenger. Have the students keep an eye out for any propaganda in the film. For example, how does Steve Rogers react to propaganda? How is he used as propaganda?

DAY TWO

  1. Continue watching Captain America: The First Avenger. (The film is 124 minutes long.)

DAY THREE

  1. Have the students recap Captain America: The First Avenger. What propaganda did they notice? How was that propaganda similar to what they saw of the original comics/the other 1940s propaganda? What did the students think of the film overall? This discussion should take 5-10 minutes.
  2. Remind the students of the events surrounding 9/11. Discuss America’s mood directly after 9/11. What do the students already know? What gaps need to be filled? This discussion should take 5-10 minutes.
  3. Show the students this image of Cap from the Ultimate Comics directly after 9/11, when some Americans were angry with the French for not supporting the War on Terror:
{Image is a scan of a comic. It is a close-up of Captain America's face. He is pointing at the A on his cowl and yelling,

{Image is a scan of a comic. It is a close-up of Captain America’s face. He is pointing at the A on his cowl and yelling, “You think this letter on my head stands for France?”}

  1. Divide the students into groups and give each group a copy of the comic to read. I advise this just because single issues of comics, especially older comics, can be so expensive. Captain America: Honor Them is available on Amazon for $2.97.
  2. Pass out poster boards to each student. Have the students design posters explaining Captain America’s role as propaganda. They can refer to the notes they took on The First Avenger as well as any notes they took on Honor Them. How is Steve affected by propaganda? How is he used as propaganda? How does the effectiveness of this propaganda change over time—is it effective now? Would it have been effective when it was first published? This project may be completed outside of class.

DAY FOUR

  1. Hang up the posters around the classroom. Give the students about ten minutes (can be more or less depending on how the class is acting) to study their classmates’ posters.
  2. Have the students discuss elements of each other’s posters. What seems to be the overall consensus about Captain America and propaganda? What do the students like about Captain America? Do they prefer him as propaganda? What do they think makes comics fun?

As usual, if you use this lesson plan or any of the other lesson plans from this blog, tell me about it in the comments!