Superhero Research Project
Due Date:
This is just an overview. More details on each step are on the following pages.
My
Presentation
Date:
Objective:
You will be researching superheroes and creating your own superhero.
You will put all of your information and creations into a PowerPoint
presentation or Prezi and share this with your teacher through
Googledocs.
Step One:
Complete the “My Unique Superhero” page – 26 creative, interesting skills
an original superhero might have and a rough-draft drawing of him/her. It
is important to come up with original ideas before you begin researching.
Step Two:
Research 3 existing superheroes using 4 total sources (1 must be a book or
magazine article) resource: superherodb.com
Step Three: Complete the “How to Create a Superhero” chart.
Step Four:
Create a visual of your super hero. marvel.com
Step Five:
Make your 7 slide presentation – 1 Introduction slide, 3 superhero
research slides with visuals, 1 slide for your new superhero with visual, 1
slide for your narrative poem, and 1 slide for your Works Cited.
(Bibliography)
Step Six:
Create a Works Cited (Bibliography) page at easybib.com and copy
information into the slide you created for this.
Step Seven: Write a narrative poem about your superhero, and copy it onto the slide
you created for this. Resource:1 rhymezone.com
Step 1:
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My Unique Superhero
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Rough draft visual of your superhero goes here.
20-26 powers, abilities, or things that make your superhero unique. Be sure to include 1 way your
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superhero could turn evil as with Superman’s Red Kryptonite or Spidey’s black suit.
Step 2:
Research Three Existing Superheroes
You will research 3 superheroes of your choice. By looking at other superheroes, you will get
ideas for how you want to develop your own. The information that you obtain about these 3
superheroes must be obtained from 4 sources. You can use internet websites, databases,
magazines, and books, but at least one source must be a book or a magazine article. The
information collected and the sources used will be included in a works cited slide in your
presentation. The database site superherodb.com is a great place to start.
You will need the following information for each superhero:
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Real name
Superhero name
Any other aliases
Birth date and place (if available)
Alignment – is he/she good or bad
Gender
Race – human, alien, etc.
Height
Eye color
Hair color
Occupation (of both true person and superhero persona)
Base – where he/she operates from
Powers or Abilities
Abilities with gadgets or weapons
Character Traits
Known enemies
Who else knows their secret identity?
Picture of hero
Any other interesting information you would like to add
Source information Tracker:
URL __________________________________ URL ____________________________________
URL ___________________________________URL ___________________________________
Book: Title _______________________________ Author _______________________________
Publisher_______________________________ City_____________________ Year__________
Magazine /Journal article from a database: __________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
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Step 3:
How to Create a Superhero
Choose your superhero’s powers.
The powers help to shape the character. Try to
be unique. What type is your hero?
Decide how the character got those powers.
One thing that most superheroes have in
common is that they do not choose the
superhero lifestyle – it chooses them.
Base/Headquarters. Does your hero have a
base or headquarters?
Give your superhero a tragic flaw. By giving
him/her a fatal weakness, you make battles
more interesting.
Choose a gender and build for your superhero.
The superpowers you have chosen will help
you determine the character’s physicality.
Flesh out your character’s superhero
personality. Is he/she aggressive, confident?
Quiet and shy? Backhanded and manipulative?
Brassy and funny? Outrageous and pompous?
Etc. ……..
Flesh out your character’s everyday
personality. Most superheroes have alter-egos
that keep them safe from enemies and help
them navigate the normal human world.
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Determine the community’s relationship to
both the superhero self and the everyday self.
Do people look up to both personalities? Does
anyone know they are really a superhero? Is
your superhero proud or ashamed of his/her
powers?
Name your superhero. Be unique. All of the
traits you have chosen should help to
determine a name.
Design a costume. The costume should be
based on your hero’s super powers. Think
about color; no more than 3 because you do
not want to distract from your hero. The colors
could be symbolic. Will your hero have a cape,
logo, mask, utility belt, or other gadgets?
Trademark. A symbol or logo makes
superheroes more memorable and helps make
their costumes complete. You could also have:
a catchy phrase, trademark pose, trademark
weapon or vehicle.
Will your superhero have a sidekick? Is the
sidekick/team useful or do they make
mistakes? Develop the sidekick the same way
you did your superhero.
Main enemies. Does your superhero have any
main enemies? How did they come to be
enemies?
First adventure. What was the very first
adventure that your superhero experienced?
How did they discover their powers?
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Step 4: Create a Visual of Your Superhero
You will use the Marvel Comic site to create your own superhero with their Superhero Avatar
Creator. Name your superhero, mix and match costumes of all your favorite Marvel characters,
customize face, hair, and other features and then save your work.
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Log on to a computer. If using a lap top, your printer must be set to default at ERE-A121
Go to the Marvel Comics Superhero generator site marvel.com/games/play/31/create_your_own_superhero
Once you are on the site, click Begin.
Look over all of the options they offer and begin to create your own superhero.
o Select your base.
o Type in your superhero’s name at the top.
o Then, move through all of the choices to create your character.
Use the snippet tool to save your finished superhero to your school H: drive. (Snippet tool
instructions will be posted on the agenda when you need them)
Step 5: 7 Slide Presentations
Create your presentation, name it, and share it with your teacher. On your designated day, you
will present your Superhero Research Project to the class. You will show and discuss each slide,
and conclude your presentation with an interpretive reading of your narrative poem.
Slide 1: Intro slide with a title, your name, a visual
Slide 2-4: Existing superhero background info slides with visuals
Slide 5: Your unique superhero with background info and visual
Slide 6: Narrative poem featuring your unique superhero
Slide 7: Works Cited page (see step 6)
Step 6:
Works Cited (Bibliography)
You will create a MLA formatted, Works Cited page with the source information you
saved any website, book, database, magazine or newspaper article that you cited in
your presentation. If you did not use information from a particular source, do not
include it in your Works Cited. We will input our source information at easybib.com or
citationmachine.net to create our MLA style page. If you use a database, be sure to
collect the source information for the correct URL. It is easy to take the URL for the
database by accident if you are not concentrating.
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Step 7:
Write a Narrative Poem based on Your Short Story
We have learned about narrative poems in Springboard. Now, you will write one about a time
your original superhero made an important choice. As you know, your poem’s rhythm and
rhyme scheme are important. Please feel free to seek rhyming assistance with rhymezone.com.
Finally, you will type up your narrative poem and include it in your 7 slide presentation.
Name: ___________________________________Presentation day _________Block __________
Exemplary
Research
and Note
Taking
All research is documented with
accurate, detailed notes from valid
sources.
(15 points)
All three superheroes and unique
superhero notes have been skillfully
transformed into bulleted
sentences.
Content,
Text, and
Lay-out
The content is presented clearly,
concisely, and thoroughly addresses
the research topic with no
unnecessary information crowding
the slide.
(20 points)
The fonts are easy-to-read, and the
background and colors enhance the
readability of text.
The layout is visually pleasing and
professional and includes one or
more visual images.
Narrative
Poem
(25 points)
The poem skillfully blends
organization of a narrative with the
structure of a poem and seamlessly
addresses the concept of choice.
Proficient
Most research is documented with
accurate notes from valid sources.
All three superheroes and unique
superhero notes have been
included but may have been
copied and pasted directly into
presentation.
(15 points)
Citations
(15 points)
Not all superheroes and unique
superhero notes have been
included and those present may
have been copied and pasted.
The fonts and backgrounds are not The text is too small or difficult to
always easy-to-read.
read and the background is
distracting.
The layout is visually pleasing for
the most part and includes one
The layout is cluttered and
visual image.
confusing and the visual image is
too small, fuzzy, or missing.
The poem contains most narrative
elements and adequate use of
poetic devices.
The poem is not written in
narrative structure and/or is
missing poetic devices.
The concept of choice is included.
The concept of choice was not
included.
The text is written with no errors in
grammar, capitalization,
punctuation, or spelling.
The text is clearly written with few
errors.
Grammar errors distract from
readability; no evidence of editing.
All sources are correctly cited using
the proper format. One source is
from a magazine article or book.
All or most sources are cited with a There is no Works Cited slide.
few errors.
Presentation Organized and well-prepared, I
skills
speak loudly, clearly, and act my age
or older while presenting.
I am fairly organized. I speak well
and hold myself together when
presenting.
(10 points)
TOTAL
POINTS
Research is missing and/or
information is irrelevant. Sources
are not valid and/or documented.
The content is mostly clear and
The content is not presented
concise and addresses the research clearly and/or does not address the
topic with some unnecessary
research topic with unnecessary
information crowding the slide.
information crowding the slide.
Poetic devices enhance the larger
ideas presented
Conventions
Emerging
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I am not well prepared and I may
not speak loudly, clearly, and/or act
my age when I present.
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