Super Fail!

Yellow Program by Rebecca Zimmerman

Target Audience 0-2*   3-5* Gr. K-3*  Gr.4-5 * Gr. 6-8*  Gr. 9-10* Gr. 11-12*  Parents* Teachers*

Library
Support literacy, lifelong learning, civic engagement, and cultural awareness
Goal
Other Goal Building a sense of competency in teens in the face of failures big and small
OUTCOMES INDICATORS (how measured)
1. Teens will ● Observe 80% of attendees writing an example of a time they have failed.
understand that ● Observe 80% of attendees raise their hands when asked if they have
everyone fails in failed in a small way.
their lives. ● Observe 60% of attendees raise their hands when asked if they have
failed in a serious fashion.
● When surveyed about the program, observe 30% of teens discussing the
failures of their parents as well as their peers.
2. Teens will ● Observe 80% of attendees writing down a suggestion for what a person
understand could do after they have failed.
strategies of how ● When surveyed after the program, observe 60% of teens naming at least
to address failure. two ways to cope with failure.
3. Teens will ● Observe 80% of attendees creating their own super sigil describing one
recognize their of their personal strengths.
individual strengths ● Observe 50% of parents, teens, and peers helping each other brainstorm
while celebrating ideas for their super sigils.
(instead of
competing with)
the strengths of
others.
DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE, PROGRAM, ACTIVITY
● Set up chairs in a semi-circle facing the projector and the easl.
● Stick or tape four pages of easel paper to walls. Label these pages Who’s Your Favorite
Superhero?, What Superpower Would You Want?, When’s the Last Time You Failed?, and
Ways to Cope with Failure
● Set up a table and snacks outside the circle of chairs and a table to display featured books.
● As the program starts, have the program leader meet parents and teens at the door. Invite
them to come in, mingle, and eat snacks. Ask them to write at least one thing on each of the
pieces of paper around the room using the markers provided.
● Let the other staff member control flow and conversation in the program room.
● Play music in the background. I suggest Supergirl by Krystal Harris, Superman by Five for
Fighting, and Something Just Like This by Coldplay and the Chainsmokers. That should give
you about 12 minutes of mingling before the start of the program.
● Collect the written-on easel papers from the walls and place them on the easel.
● Welcome all attendees to take a seat and join you to talk about superheros.
● Share the results for the group’s favorite superheroes and superpowers.
● Introduce the two superheroes you’re going to talk about: Billy Batson and Miles Morales.
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Yellow Program by Rebecca Zimmerman
● They’re teens who get super powers and set off to use them, but at first, they’re not very good.
● Play YouTube video of clips from Into the Spiderverse (2018) and Shazam (2019) of Miles
and Billy falling, crashing, botching a rescue, etc.
● Ask the attendees to raise their hand if they’ve ever tripped over their toes or caused a crazy
accident.
● If time permits, share failure stories. Make sure to get answers from adults and teens.
● Say that these kinds of failures are usually minor: You apologize, clean up your mess, maybe
recover from embarrassment, and move on with your life. However, sometimes failure can be
a lot more serious.
● Play video clip of Shazam (2019) where Billy abandons his foster-brother.
● Ask a teen to summarize what happened in the video.
● Play video clip of Into the Spiderverse (2018) where Miles leads the villains to the heroes’
hideout.
● Again, ask a teen to summarize what happened.
● Then, ask attendees to raise their hands if they’ve ever failed in a big way.
● Share an example of a big failure you’ve had (Ex. failing an important test)
● Discuss with the attendees what you did and could have done to cope with that failure. (If you
get stuck or have trouble with responses, use the 4th easel sheet to jump-start discussion.)
● Make sure to touch on asking for help (emailed my professor, ask class members to help you
study), assessing your behavior and making changes (deciding not to pull an all-nighter, drink
too much caffeine the night before the test), taking responsibility for your actions, and falling
back on your strengths (learning from the short-answer questions that went really well to help
with essay questions that are more difficult).
● Tell attendees that while we may not be super heroes, we all have things that we are super
good at. These characteristics and strengths can help us get through failures and help others.
● Pass out Super Sigil sheets and invite attendees to write down their favorite strength and tape
it to their shirt.
● Show attendees that you have a selection of books at about characters with superpowers who
overcome failure in all kinds of surprising and exciting ways that they’re welcome to check
out.
● Invite attendees to mingle and grab last minute snacks.
● End the program by thanking attendees and saying that they’re all heroes to someone whether
it’s their little sister or their best friend. They need to remember to be worthy of that power
and all the great things written on their shirts. After all, the library doesn’t have supervillain
insurance!
INPUTS OUTPUTS
1. At least 30 minutes before and after the 1. Number of teens attending
program for set-up and clean-up 2. Number of parents attending
2. At least two library staff members 3. Number of Super Sigil sheets colored and
3. The DVDs Shazam (2019) and Into the Spider taken home
Verse (2018) 4. Amount of snacks eaten
4. A selection of appropriate snacks 5. Number of displayed items checked out
5. A selection of appropriate books such as
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, The
Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan, The Lightning
Thief Graphic Novel, My Hero Academia by
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Yellow Program by Rebecca Zimmerman
Kōhei Horikoshi, and Wonder Woman:
Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
6. Super Sigil coloring sheets (Superman Version
found at http://clipart-
library.com/clipart/8TzKyebGc.htm and
Batman Version at http://clipart-
library.com/clipart/ziXpG8kiB.htm
7. A computer with an internet connection and
speakers
8. A projector and screen
9. A selection of appropriate snacks
10. Two tables
11. Chairs for attendees
12. Lined easel paper and easel
13. A selection of colorful markers
EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES BY INDICATORS
1. 
 
2. 
  
3. 
 
SHARE HOW & WHY
EVALUATION
WITH