Elementary Superheroes

The past weekend, students of Grades 3 and 4 took part in an RE Retreat at the Hanifl Centre. Grade 4 teacher Karen Cooke talks about an exciting weekend:

The theme of the grade three and four R.E. retreat this year was "Superhero training camp." We used the concept and ideas about super heroes and specifically the movie 'The Incredibles' as a starting point. The children explored ideas about what makes Jesus Christ a superhero. One group said that Jesus is a superhero because, "He is kind, a healer, a miracle maker, helpful, wise, always uses his power for good, forgiving, creative, cool, obedient, curious, non-violent and respectful to God."

Each group explored the characteristics (flaws included) of different characters and using bible verses and quotes explored what makes us superheroes too. One group came up with, "We are superheroes because we can sing, be kind, forgive, be helpful, loving, caring, imaginative, we ask questions, and we like to learn and enjoy our bodies."

Super heroes have uniforms of course, and so the grade threes and fours tye-dyed Woodstock T-shirts so that they had their own! Super heroes work best in teams and so to end the retreat each child was given a cashmere box into which their fellow group members put comments about why that person was a superhero.

The retreat was fantastic: the students were involved and enthusiastic, and the team of adult assistants truly were the superheroes!