Booktalk Information:

Theme: Individuality- finding your strengths.

“What’s my Superpower” by Aviaq Johnston, illustrated by Tim Mack

Published in 2017

This is a story of a little girl named Nalvana who lives in Nunavut. Nalvana notices that
all of her friends at school seem to have some type of superpower. In gym class one day, she
notices that her friend Davidee has super speed! Another day, Nalvana encounters her friend
Maata “fly” off the swing set and realizes Maata’s superpower must be flying! Time and time
again, Nalvana sees her friends showing their superpowers and she begins to wonder if she’ll
ever find her superpower! Everyone seems to have a superpower except her! As she begins to
question her uniqueness and what makes her special, her mom shows her that her superpower
was right in front of her all along.

The cool thing about this story is that it incorporates many Inuktitut vocabulary words.
There is even a vocabulary list at the back so students can understand what they mean and
how to properly pronounce them. Although this book incorporates Inuktitut vocab and is set in
Nunavut, the themes shown through this story are universal! Everyone has something they are
good at, even if it is hard to realize. Both author and illustrator are Canadian, so it is a great way
to incorporate Canadian literature in the classroom. Themes of determinism, kindness, and
uniqueness run throughout the book.

Excerpt: pages 18-21

“Nalvana kept finding friends who had superpowers whenever she went out to play. When she
went swimming in the spring, she met a boy named Adamie who could hold his breath
underwater longer than anyone else! They were playing games in the water, and Nalvana
wanted to see who could hold their breath the longest. She thought she had been under the
water for minutes, but after she ran out of breath and came up to the surface, Adamie stayed
underwater for much longer. When he finally came up, Nalvana said, “You can hold your breath
for a really long time! That must be your superpower!” “Do you think so?” Adamie said. “I know
so!” Nalvana said. “Cool!” Adamie said. “It’s like I’m half fish!”

“Nalvana was happy for her friends. They had all found the things that they were good at. She
liked to tell them they had superpowers, and she liked to see them smile. They all seemed so
happy to have a special talent. But Nalvana wished she knew what her superpower was.”

“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson

Published in 1999
 This is a story of a high school freshman named Melinda and how she navigates being
an outcast in the overwhelmingly hard-to-fit-in atmosphere that is high school. Melinda had
friends and felt like she somewhat belonged until one night in August she called the cops on a
party due to a sexual assault incident and therefore became the number one enemy of nearly
everyone in her school. Melinda was so traumatized from the assault that she was unable to tell
anyone at all what really happened that night.

Although this is technically a book about trauma, it is so much more than that! It is highly
relatable as it has to do mainly with navigating high school when you do not feel like you belong.
She increasingly becomes more and more isolated, until she practically stops speaking at all.
Only in her art classes with an encouraging teacher, Mr. Freeman, does she find any comfort at
all. Through her art, she is finally able to come to terms with her trauma. Melinda’s voice
throughout the novel is bitterly ironic and written like it truly comes from a high school girl’s
perspective.

When this book was first released, it experienced high amounts of censorship because
of its mature themes. This quote from Laurie Anderson herself really resonated with me: “I’ve
learned that Speak is not just a book about rape… That is why it has resonated so deeply for so
many readers. Today’s teens have to cope with massive amounts of stress and conflict. Way
too many of them understand the pain of not feeling like they can speak up. This book reflects
their experience and offers them hope.”

Another neat feature of this book is that it provides discussion questions for teachers in
the back of the book. These questions explore themes and topics that are found throughout the
story. It also features a question and answer section from the author about why she wrote this
book and why she finds it important to incorporate into classrooms. My favorite feature,
however, is the section about censorship. The author states: “The world is a very scary place. It
is a terrifying place in which to raise children, and in particular, teenagers. It is human nature to
nurture and protect children as they grow into adulthood. But censoring books that deal with
difficult, adolescent issues does not protect anybody. Quite the opposite. It leaves kids in the
darkness and makes them vulnerable.”

Excerpt: pages 4-5

“I am Outcast. The kids behind me laugh so loud I know they’re laughing about me. I can’t help
myself. I turn around. It’s Rachel, surrounded by a bunch of kids wearing clothes that most
definitely did not come from the EastSide Mall. Rachel Bruin, my ex-best friend. She stares at
something above my left ear. Words climb up my throat. This was the girl who suffered through
Brownies with me, who taught me how to swim, who understood about my parents, who didn’t
make fun of my bedroom. If there is anyone in the entire galaxy I am dying to tell what really
happened, it’s Rachel. My throat burns. Her eyes meet mine for a second. “I hate you,” she
mouths silently.

Literacy Activity:
Title and reference information of the books (APA)

Title: Speak
APA Format: Anderson, L. (1999). Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
Title: What’s My Superpower
APA Format: Johnson, A. (2017). What’s My Superpower. PLACE: Inhabit Media.

I chose to do my literacy activity about “What’s My Superpower”.

Where you think the book would fit into the prescribed Alberta Program of Studies and
why (grade level and subject(s))

I think that this book would be great for kindergarten-grade 3 or so. In my activity, I am focusing
on the grade 2 English Language Arts Program of Studies.

Which ELA strand(s) it presents

Representing

What the students will be doing with this book (where will it feature in the activity -
before, during, after?)
This activity will take place after reading the book and after a brief class discussion.

The specific GLO and SLO your activity would help achieve
General Learning Outcome 1.1- Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to
explore thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences.
Specific Learning Outcome: Express ideas and develop understanding...
-contribute relevant ideas and information from personal experiences to group language
activities

General Learning Outcome 2.2- Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to
comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print and other media texts.
Specific Learning Outcome: Respond to texts…
-connect situations portrayed in oral, print and other media texts to personal and
classroom experiences

General Learning Outcome 4.2- Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to
enhance the clarity and artistry of communication.
Specific Learning Outcome: Present and share...
-present ideas and information by combining illustrations and written texts

Activity:
 After reading the book as a class, a short discussion about an individual's “superpowers”
or strengths will take place as a whole class. The teacher could encourage students to
brainstorm ideas of different potential strengths/”superpowers” as a class to encourage
individual students to start exploring the possibilities they could use in this assignment. After
discussion takes place, the activity will be explained.

Students are responding to the story by reflecting it to personal experiences. They are
taking the themes of finding their strengths that is shown through the character of Nalvana and
applying it to themselves as individuals. Depending how much time you have for this activity, the
teacher could lead the class in an example based on the character Nalvana. They could lead a
brainstorm on what Nalvana’s strengths/superpowers were in the book. In the book, Nalvana’s
“superpower” was stated as “making people feel good about themselves”. However, she shows
many other strengths throughout the book that students could recognize.

Students will create a drawing of themselves as superheroes. The drawing will be

detailed and include colours and a background. After the drawing is done, students will draw
webs coming from the drawing with words or sentences describing their own personal
strengths/”superpowers”. These things could include anything really, including hobbies they are
good at such as sports or art, character strengths such as being kind or a good friend, or subject
strengths in school such as math or reading. Students must include at least five strengths on
their project.

If students are having a hard time coming up with their personal strengths, which they
might, especially if they struggle with their self-image or growth mindset, you could even put the
students into groups in which their classmates can note each other’s strengths. This way
individuals can build each other up by stating each other’s “superpowers”. This could encourage
students to collaborate and brainstorm ideas for their projects together.

This could be cross-curricular and include both outcomes from English Language Arts as
well as Art. If you’re a grade two homeroom teacher it could be a good way to kill two birds with
one stone, as well as get cute artwork to display on bulletin boards. It also encourages students
to focus on their individual strengths which could encourage positive growth mindset.

3 examples are included of the possibilities for this assignment, however, students
should be encouraged to be creative and unique!

(Pictures used in examples are taken from pinterest)