Harry Potter and Parents (was [HPFGU-OTChatter] harry potter and teachers)

[Ken Kuller]

I've heard some anti-Harry Potter ranting from one co-worker, and found it
all easy to dismiss. OK, so Harry Potter has witches and wizards. So does
the Wizard of Oz.   No, Harry Potter neither teaches nor endorses Wicca ...
it's simply a magic world, in which everything is full of wonder.

My daughter is now entering second grade, and is at an advanced reading
level.  We've been reading Harry Potter together for the last 8 months. We
stop regularly to discuss several things:
* new vocabulary   ("What's a corridor, Dad?")
* comprehension   ("What just happened? How has the situation changed? How
did she react?" etc.)
* ethics   ("Would you tell the truth? What's the right thing to do? Which
thing matters the most? What would you do?" etc.)

In our case, it's been quality time together.  We've also brewed potions
(such as mixing vinegar and baking soda) then discussed the science behind
our fun. We had fun discussing Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean flavors,
pretended to be in front of different types of mirrors, and talking about
pictures that move.

One of my favorite lessons (from book 2) came after Harry entered the book
("Blue skidoo, we can too!" ... "Dad!") where we heard one side of a story,
and later spoke to Aragog and got the other side. This opened up a wonderful
discussion about numerous real-life situations.



-----Original Message-----
From: Richelle Votaw [mailto:rvotaw at i-55.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 13, 2002 9:18 AM
To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [HPFGU-OTChatter] harry potter and teachers



> Hi everyone.
> I have only posted one message before this and that was just a 'hi'
> message.
> I have a question for any teachers out there.
> I am going back to school to receive my teachers certificate.  I am
> considering 4th or 5th grade.  I would love to use Harry Potter in my
> lessons.  I was wondering if any teachers use Harry Potter in their
> classes and if they do:
> - what grade?
> -are there any objections from fellow staff/teachers/parents/students?
> -how do you handle the objections?

Well, I teach first grade, so I can't really use Harry Potter in my class.
However, at least one of the fourth grade teachers at my school has read HP
to her class and they loved it.  We do have one teacher at the school who
objects to Harry Potter though.  My response to objectors would be to ask
them to read it before they criticize it.  In a nice way, of course.  One
thing I really like about HP is that magic doesn't solve everything.  You
can have all the magical power in the world, and it won't do what you
*really* want.  All Harry really wants is to have his parents back.  And all
the magic in the world can't do that.  As long as the children can
distinguish between reality and fantasy, it shouldn't be a problem.

Personally, unless it's high level 3rd graders I'd say 4th grade would be
the lowest grade level to "handle" Harry Potter.  Especially if you go into
books 3 and 4.  It does get rather dark in GoF.  Oh, Scholastic also has
teaching guides for all four HP books.  They come with posters and are
pretty good.  I can't use them, but I do want to buy them for my HP
collection.

As a first grade teacher my kids are a bit clueless, though the movie
helped, I'm sure some of them will have seen that.  We are using magic wands
in reading and such things as that.  Of course, they don't look like HP
magic wands, more like the fairy godmother. :)

Richelle


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