Lesson 5: Superhero

Lesson Plan Part 1: Warm Up & Review

Review all the English from theย Genki Disco Warm Up, Rock, Paper, Scissors, What’s your name?ย and the How are you? song.

 

Lesson Plan Part 2:ย Input with new language & song

Using motivation techniques used at Princeton University, we’re going to to transform your students into super energetic superheroes!

Mime each action as you teach it using theย Words section of the Teacher’s Set.

Play theย mini lesson to learn the song and finally add in superhero poses for the animation in the Teacher’s Set.

See it in action here with my students in Japan:

Or like these amazing students in Italy!

And here is Amy Cuddy explaining why this is such an important skill to teach:

 

Lesson Plan Part 3:ย Output with the class presentation game

This time we do it a little differently with a class presentation that you are going to video. ย  Then you can either share on social media – to impress the parents! – or exchange with other schools around the world. ย This is real communication and the perfect record of everything we’ve learnt so far.

1. Put the students in pairs.

2. Each student practices and then records the following skit:

Hello!

My name is …. + their superhero name

I am a superhero!

I can ….

I can …

I can ….

Choosing 3 different skills from the song.

3. ย They video each others skits!

Check out Kamila’s amazing kids ๐Ÿ™‚

 

Ninja Tip: ย Get the kids to draw a picture of their superhero and hold it up for everyone to see.

Ninja Tip 2: ย If you have your own school, post them on social media one per day, ย everyone will be desperate to see when their video will go live!

Of course it’s not just for kids, ย here are some of my adult students getting the most out of it. Notice how confident they become when taking on the superhero personality, ย and look at the classroom atmosphere I’ve been creating where everyone is supportive of everyone else!

 

And if you’d like a traditional game to go with this, you can’t beat theย Leapfrog game!

Or you can even use it as an end of year project like Virginie’s amazing students in France:

 

Homework

If you have flipped your classroom with the digital Genki homeworkย then set the next lesson “Left & Right” as the homework for next week.

Or if your students have Tik Tok you can tell them to check out andย review today’s lesson here:


I’m a superhero! I can…
======================
by Richard Graham

I’m a superhero! (Superhero!)
I’m a superhero! (Superhero!)
Super, superhero!

I can jump (I can jump)
I can run (I can run)
I can hide (I can hide)
I can cook (I can cook)

I’m a superhero! (Superhero!)
I’m a superhero! (Superhero!)
Super, superhero!

I can stretch (I can stretch)
I can climb (I can climb)
I can swim (I can swim)
I can fly (I can fly)

I’m a superhero! (Superhero!)
I’m a superhero! (Superhero!)
Super, superhero!

 

Bonus VIP Printables

If you have theย Teacher’s Setย you can also download these extra printables

A4 Flashcards
(What’s this?)

Mini Cards
(What’s this?)
Evaluation Workbook
(what’s this?)
Poster

 

 

 

 

A4 Flashcards
(What’s this?)

Mini Cards
(What’s this?)

Printable
Lesson Plan

(What’s this?)

Dice Game
(What’s this?)

Spaghettiย Game
(What’s this?)

Islands Game
(What’s this?)

Snakes & Ladders
(What’s this?)

Dominoes

Stickers

 

 

Readers’ Comments

Students loved it. The chorus was really popular with kids singing “I’m a super hero” well into lunch time. Stuck to basic gestures for the words…most of the kids had a splits contest for the “i can stretch”gesture. It’s really easy (even without flash cards) to teach. Can be used as a TPR style warm up too. SUPER…… – Tokugaz


This song is the best one so far!! In the classrooms it was one of the most successful songs, and in the one most kids sing from beginning to end feeling like superheros!!! They sing the loudest, they move and show amusement. They really believe they are superheros and superheroines.So much energy!!! Everyone is excited when singing it!!! BRAVO!!!
– Terespain


This has proved an amazing song to teach. The boys especially seem to get very involved. I start by asking them to tell me the names of any superheros – Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Fantastic Four, X Men, and the Hulk have all been mentioned. I didn’t use the pictures of the heroes until they had mentioned them. I also ask them to tell me what special powers they have, sort of brainstorming. Some ideas where in English and some in German at this point. I had printed off the black and white pictures and told the children it is such a new song that the pictures are not even in colour yet. I also tell them that they are so lucky as its not on CD yet. I like to make them appreciate what they are getting!!!

I then show each picture in sequence and they guess what the action is. They then say I can… I can… after me. We then think of actions together as a class. I pretend to do the actions like a ‘normal person’ and ask them if a superhero would jump so low or chop so slowly. They of course do everything at triple speed then. There have been different actions in different schools too, very interesting especially with fly. We then go over the vocab and the actions together. For the chorus they have stretched their muscles, thrown houses, flown, jumped etc etc. I do like them to do their own actions for the chorus. Finally the music. We all point to the sky to see Genki man and then begin. They really do sing very loudly and its works well to have spoken the song a couple of times before hand. It is also possible to move around the classroom for some of the actions.

We then played a miming game using the vocab. The children come out and do an action and the other said. He can jump or She can run etc. depending on if it is Genkiboy or Genkigirl! I then asked some of the older students to do any other actions that are not in the song. Some came and ate like a super hero, drank, read etcย – Flossy
For more advanced classes
I just wanted to share a different way to introduce the song for more advanced groups. I have a private group of 10 children, who I have taught for the last 2 years. For homework today I told the student’s there was a new Superhero. They were very interested. For a listening exercise I told them to find the verbs in the song. They managed all 6/8, pretty good for 10 year olds and of course they loved the song. I then told them they had to draw and create an image for Genkiman for this weeks homework. I did not show them the flashcards. I also said they could write or draw smaller pictures of all his special powers. They had so many questions, can he do this?, can he have a GM on his T- shirt?? and on and on. Of course I told them to use their own ideas and draw exactly what they think he looks like. – Flossy

 


Just had my first try with these cards topic. Though I love this song, I didnยft expect the reaction to be as great as it was. The kids just were bubbling to think about there Superhero, and when I put on the song, their voices were really like heroes and they were laughing all over. – Margit


This song really works well!. I had one special education student who was the cutest superhero ever. The look on her face made my whole day! It is so amazing how GE songs and gestures can perform magic in the classroom.

I used Richard’s bingo idea. Since there are always at least 2 teachers in the classroom, (today there were FIVE!) I paired up the students and gave them 8+1 superhero cards. They put them in a 3 x 3 bingo grid. Students then raised their hands to ask the superheros a question. For example they would ask Mr A., can you swim? If Mr A answered YES, all the pairs could turn that card over. If Mr A. answered NO, they couldn’t turn the card over. Groups tried to see how many BINGOS they could get. I usually wait until all the pairs get at least 1 bingo. It is winner every time I play it. The teachers really had fun with this, one even showing the students how she could fly. Lots of laughs! – Gumby

12 Responses to “Lesson 5: Superhero”

  1. Fawad

    Wow, you make me feel like super hero too. ๐Ÿ˜€
    by the way great lesson and great style of teaching…
    YOU ARE THE GREAT .. Richard… ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Adriana

    ๐ŸŽค I am๐Ÿ’ƒ Mary Poppins/ I can sing and dance/ I’ve got magical umbrellas, ๐Ÿƒโ˜‚ ๐Ÿƒโ˜‚ ๐Ÿƒโ˜‚ Join me in my flight! ๐ŸŽˆ๐ŸŽ†๐ŸŒž

  3. Hana

    I loved this lesson and so did my students! Even the wildest classes were engaged. Instead of drawing superheroes, I printed out blank mask templates and my students colored them, then wore them and presented their superpowers in front of the class. They did a great job and had a blast. Thanks Richard!!

  4. Umm Abdullah

    I’m ecstatic at having found the Genki English website! It’s fantastic. I love the concept, the positivity and the vibe!

    I’m privately-tutoring two wonderful already tri-lingual girls in KSA, and have been using your ideas and songs to make our lessons Genki!

    I personalized this one because they weren’t familiar with the concept of a superhero:

    I am a strong Muslim girl! (with a sweep of the hand around the face to indicate a girl in a headscarf)
    Yeah, it had an extra syllable, but I got it to work.

    Culturally sensitive, both mum and the girls loved it!

  5. Deva Krishnan

    I like your teaching, it’s full of energetic and enthusiastic, it’s motivating and very learning. Thank you very much.

  6. Olha

    I like your ideas. Lots of fun! Thank you for sharing.

  7. Wendy

    This is one of my favorite Genki lessons to teach and has been for years. I am using it in a new class for the first time in awhile and just noticed the poster option and love it! I have a feeling the kids will love it too. Thanks for all you do!

  8. Nargiza

    As Amy Cuddy said “Fake it till you make it!”, thought of “I can do it!” really changes your mind.

  9. Elisa Valentini

    Hi Richard, I have tried this lesson for the first time this morning. It was fantastic. I could see how the music and the movements were motivating for the children. They became instantly energetic! This is really a good lesson! Thank you!

  10. Cristina Maria

    I LOVE YOU, RICHARD!
    MADE MY TEACHING MUCH MORE FUN AND EFFECTIVE

  11. Svetlana

    Hi Richard! I like your teaching und ideas! It`s full of energetic! Lots of fun! Thank you very much!

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