HP related computer classes for elementary school

[Mhochberg at aol.com]

Hi!
 
A few weeks ago I asked for suggestions about activities for elementary  
school students in a computer lab. Since it would be the last day of computer  lab 
classes before the year ended, I wanted to have fun with it. My original  
plan called for me to dress in costume (a visiting professor) and take the  
students to different websites. I did this at two different schools for a  total of 
10 classes.
 
It was a great success, especially at the second school, where I also told  
the students that I would not be returning next year (true) as I would be  
returning to my home school (also true). However, being careful about my  
phrasing, some students thought I meant Hogwarts, not a  school across town.
 
For the first grade students, we went to the Scholastic website. 
_http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/_ (http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/) 
There, we skipped the game section, which did not work well, and spent  most 
of our time with the pronunciation guide.
 
The 2/3 grade classes went to the Bloomsbury site. 
_http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/_ (http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/)  We  looked at cover 
art, especially those from different countries. The students  were fascinated 
by the different looks for Harry and found the clothing  intriguing. We also 
looked at website created by a 5th grade team for the  Thinkquest contest. 
_http://library.thinkquest.org/J001738F/_ (http://library.thinkquest.org/J001738F/) 
 
 
Finally the 4/5 grade classes went to JK own site. 
_http://www.jkrowling.com/_ (http://www.jkrowling.com/)  I wanted  them to see a website that had many 
languages as well as text-only versions.  After a bit of exploring there, we 
went to a website created by high school  students that had many different 
languages. _http://library.thinkquest.org/C006090/index_e.html_ 
(http://library.thinkquest.org/C006090/index_e.html)  This  site was in English, German, Turkish, 
Danish, Polish, French, Russian, Gaelic,  Hungarian, and Latin. Finally, we 
went back to the Pronunciation Guide in the  Scholastic site and began looking 
at the word roots, puns, and derivations.  Several of them were delighted or 
surprised when we looked at the word  "Grimauld."
 
It was a lot of fun, for both me and the students. I am very glad that I  did 
it.
 
---Mary
"Live now, procrastinate  later."



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