Part of our Walk this Way series, designed to share The Walking Classroom experiences of teachers and students across the United States, this post provides a glimpse into Amy Schott’s classroom.
We started our walks a little late this year, due to being completely remote and finding ways to get students signed up with The Walking Classroom mobile app. Now that we’ve hit the trail, I can use the app as a way to get my virtual students off their computers and walking!
Starting with Superheroes
To get going, we jumped forward with a Bang! Pow! Zip! with our first official podcast — on superheroes! The Importance of Superheroes in Society (4-#79, Complete-#73) served as a great initial podcast for my students. It really got them pumped up to listen.
The history behind the heroes and their creation “when people lost their sense of hope” due to wars, was a new concept that my students found fascinating. They listened to this podcast on two different days, then took the quiz by way of Google Forms.
Connecting with a Student Favorite
However, as I listened, I realized that the podcast included the two biggest superheroes from my childhood. While Superman and Spiderman still held the top spots in 2011 at the time of this podcast’s recording, since then, I have seen a change in my student’s favorite hero.
The movie Black Panther introduced my students to a major superhero who had skin like their skin. Not only was the movie wonderful, but it highlighted different skin tones and beautiful African-inspired clothing. With this superhero as a student favorite, there was no way I could leave Black Panther out of this lesson!
Supporting Curriculum Goals
I found a great History Channel article explaining the origin of the character. It mentioned Black Panther’s creation in 1966, during the Civil Rights’ Movement. What a perfect fit with the podcast! Since we are also working on quoting accurately from a text, by adding that into a question on my worksheet, it counts as curriculum! My kids have never been so excited about a quoting assignment!
Using the WalkKits or the The Walking Classroom mobile app, I love that The Walking Classroom can act as a stand-alone lesson, an introduction or review, or an amazing jumping off point! This particular lesson gave my students the background they needed to understand more about a beloved character and the importance of his creation. Thank you!
Happy Trails!
Amy Schott
Fifth Grade Teacher
Fox Road Magnet Elementary
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