STAN LEE WITH EDPUZZLE

My students at the 3rd year of CSE have been working on unit 3 about superheroes. Along with this centre of interest, I have considered paramount for them to know a short biography of the man who is thought to be the father of the comic books: Stan Lee.

The topic is really appealing and significant for teenagers, as superheroes are part of their childhood and their daily life (video clips, films, merchandising, etc). Concerning the goals, the main aims are that students work with authentic material, learn about a relevant character in the world of superheroes, work autonomously at home using ICT tools and prepare a list of pros and cons about reading superheroes comics or watching superheroes films for a debate in class.

There is a brief pre-stage  to explain the students they are going to work with Edpuzzle through Classroom and they are going to watch a short You Tube video about Stan Lee to answer some questions while watching. They are also told to write a list with three pros and cons of reading comics or watching superheroes films. They will bring their lists to discuss the following day in class. After this post- task, there will be a final show of hands to decide whether comics or films are the best choice.

The students have loved working with Edpuzzle, although they find difficult the high level of the girl talking (so they have to rewatch several times) and they also miss the possibility of watching the whole video without stops before starting to answer the questions. The next I will also provide them with a link from You Tube with the original video in the Classroom task. I think the final debate would have been much more productive if they had been able to work in small groups, but pandemic restrictions come first. In contrast I must say students are now more aware of respecting turn taking and different ideas.

Edpuzzle is a great tool for our students to practice listening with authentic material .I hope you enjoy the activity and find the idea useful for your clasS.

EDPUZZLE: THE LEGACY OF STAN LEE