Harry Potter
Submitted by: gbenson@net66.com
Harry Potter Day. The 4 sixth grade classes in my team planned a day at "Hogwarts school" at the end of last October. Teachers read the first HP book to the classes. Many students read on their own and continued with volumes 2 and 3.
Students wrote in journals, created character maps, used vocabulary to produce poems, invented a new candy (drew a picture and wrote a short paragraph), wrote an essay on "sorcerer's stone" (contributed on 5/6 list last fall), created special "candy cards" (character or prop on one side and written description on the back), created games based on the book. We planned one day of integrated activities where each teacher became one of the book characters with props and costumes.
The principal was Professor Dumbledore. We used the high school decorations from Homecoming- castle theme, and decorated our hall outside the rooms. Our school mascot is an owl, so we had plenty of owl models available to add to the atmosphere. Students were able to wear costumes and attended classes with each teacher.
Professor Snape's class was in a basement lab (complete with fake spider webs) and students created and tested slime. Professor McGonnagal presided over transfiguration class where students "transformed" a potato to something else using scrap fabric, yarn, etc (another contribution from 5/6 last fall).
Another class was puzzles and mazes. The final class was a jeopardy game based on the books, created by the students. We tried human chess in the afternoon and the PE teacher tried modified Quidditch. (the last 2 were not as successful as the others.)
We had pumpkin snacks. We had parent volunteers to assist with snacks and our projects. We sent invitations to board members and administration. Local newspaper and TV visited and interviewed students and teachers. We are planning another for this year. The day was a delight for everyone!