comic strips with strategies

If you haven't heard about Michelle Garcia Winner and her wonderful series of curriculum about social thinking...get on it, school counselors! She creates such positive, useful activities. One of my favorites is her Superflex curriculum (written with Stephanie Madrigal), especially for teaching strategies to defeat student-identified problem behaviors. Two of my favorite elements are the "Unthinkables," characters that help externalize students' identified behaviors, and the superhero representing proactive, strategic thinking that defeats these Unthinkables. If you click the link to Amazon from the picture to the right, you can see a full description of the curriculum, as well as a long list of detailed reviews.

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I like to use many of the activities in the Superflex book, but found that I was struggling to attach the Superflex strategies to students' individual concerns. I stumbled upon a blank comic book frame, and decided to try out this format. I generated a generic story line on a blank frame for every student to use. {Find the free downloadable comic strip story frame here.} I also used the Superflex CD that comes with the books to print small versions of Superflex and Unthinkable characters so students could cut and paste onto their comic, but you could have students draw the characters by hand, as well.

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Students had already identified an Unthinkable that bothered them. They received a sheet of their chosen Unthinkable and Superflex. Then each student created a problem that comes up for them at school, and made a plan for which Superflex strategy could be used to defeat that Unthinkable. When they finished, I made copies to send with them, their teacher(s), and their parent(s) or guardian(s). 

I believe this activity can enhance students' understanding of the steps in identifying their Unthinkable's suggestions and a Superflex strategy that could work to defeat the Unthinkable. Many students reported that they felt the comic strip helped them to better remember the strategies, and even asked to make more to remember multiple strategies. This activity was in addition to the many activities already included in the curriculum.

So give it a try with your students! And if you do, will you let us know how it goes?