Fall Saturday SAVY, Week 1, Superhero Psychology: How Heroes and Villains Think and Feel (3rd-4th)
Hello there, parents and friends of the Superhero Psychologists!
Saturday was an exciting day for your children as we kicked off our exploration into the fascinating world of psychology! To break the ice, we started with some fun games, like “two truths and a lie,” which helped the students get to know each other better. It was heartwarming to see them discovering common interests! We also asked the students to create their own superheroes so that we could learn more about their interests and thoughts about the comic book medium. Some heroes included “Ellie Mental”, “Glitch”, and “Helen” (feel free to ask your student what they created!).
Moving into the world of psychology, we asked big questions like whether nature or nurture plays a bigger role in our development. The students amazed us with their insightful answers. We also delved into different areas of psychology, like how we think (cognitive), how we interact (social), and how we grow (developmental). Through experiments and videos, they learned about attention, patience, and social influence.
After lunch, we played Jeopardy, all about comic book facts, characters, and history. Students got the opportunity to learn about what they did know and did not know, as well as (hopefully) learn something new about the comic book medium. This was a challenging activity, as prompts were very specific and niche within the realm of the comic book medium. However, students rose to the challenge and had a fun time playing!
We then discussed who all our favorite superheroes are and why. Students talked about Wonder Woman, Captain America, and many others. We also dove into the different aspects of comic book stories, including the characters, the problem, and the solution. This all led to us concluding the day by starting to plot out and draw students’ very own comic book story! We will be finishing up these stories at the start of next week, and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.
I am so excited to keep working with these fantastic students next week, as we dive even deeper into the connections between psychology and our favorite comic book characters.