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   HARRY POTTER

I managed to resist the media spectacle of Harry Potter for a long time - until the fifth book came out.  There, on the 10 o'clock news, were reporters covering the story of the mobs - in costume - lined up at the book stores in town waiting to get their copy of the next book in the Harry Potter series.  I wanted to know what all this frenzy was about, so I decided to read Harry Potter.  After the first book I read the rest in the series.  I watched the first two Harry Potter movies.  And I became a Harry Potter fan.

A unit of study built on the Harry Potter theme would be appropriate for several reasons.  First of all, for the sheer enjoyment of the story and characters.  More than that, Harry Potter has become a global cultural phenomenon, complete with the mass marketing of hundreds of Harry Potter related merchandise.  And finally, the books present a context for examining a wealth of important issues.  While Harry Potter is globally famous and popular, there is also a violent controversy raging around the books, with various groups attempting to censor, or ban, the books, while other groups fight for the right for students to have access to the books.  Social issues from prejudice to civil rights can be an important strand in a Harry Potter unit.

I will be developing a unit framework for the Harry Potter theme.  In the meantime, I have begun gathering the following recommended resources:

Recommended Reading about Harry Potter

Mythology and Legends

The Harry Potter Media Spectacle

 

Recommended Reading about Harry Potter

Harry Potter's World:  Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives (Pedagogy and Popular Culture Series), Edited by Elizabeth E. Heilman, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 2002.

The Hidden Key to Harry Potter - Understanding the Meaning, Genius and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels, by John Granger, Zossima Press, 2002.

J. K. Rowling - Classic Books From the Library of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:  a hardcover boxed set containing Harry Potter's books Quidditch Through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them;  you can read Harry's comments and notes in the margins.  Fun reading!, Scholastic Press, 2001.

 

Harry Potter Resources on the Web

Harry Potter at Scholastic.com - the publisher's web site.

Discussion Guide for Books I-IV - published at Scholastic.com  "Discussion Guide, which features summaries of the Plot, Theme, Conflict, Setting and Characterization, as well as a number of questions designed to encourage conversation, a book list of other titles with similar issues, and a brief biography of the author."

Interdisciplinary Connections for Harry Potter units -  links to resources; articles;  lesson plans; games; activities; worksheets;  and even a Harry Potter Pronunciation Key for those of us who are reading the books aloud!  Also shows the many different covers for the books from around the world.

J. K. Rowling On the Web -  a list of links for official and semi-official Harry Potter sites; Fan sites;  Interviews, Autobiography and Biography for J. K. Rowling;  sites for Teachers; Listservs; excellent information on the Harry Potter International Symposium;  Media (articles and reviews);  Satire;  Opposition;  Activist, Legal and Religious Issues.

J. K. Rowling Teacher Resources -  Author's biographies;  Harry Potter stuff;  Criticism;  Lesson Plans.

kidSpeak - where kids speak up for free speech -  formerly the Muggles for Harry Potter;  fighting censorship.

MuggleNet - Name Origins - Harry Potter and Greek Mythology

The Harry Potter Page at Fact Monster -  quizzes, polls, news stories, cover gallery and more.

What's in a Name? The resource for Harry Potter name etymology.

Harry Potter's Realm of Wizardry -  information about the books, characters and the movies; fan fiction, artwork, games, history and legends, and a Harry Potter Store.

Harry Potter Lexicon - another excellent site with loads of resources and information;  Muggle World; Wizarding World; Pronunciation Key;  Sources of Names. 

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry -  get your letter to attend Hogwarts and your list of supplies, go shopping in Diagon Alley, travel to the school, be sorted by the Sorting Hat, etc.

The Daily Prophet  

Fonts Portal - Harry Potter type fonts you can download and lots of teacher resources.

Harry Potter - Culture and Religion - an excellent resource for newspaper and journal articles written about the Harry Potter phenomenon, including the controversy over Harry Potter books.

Send a Howler or an Owler ! 

Hagrid's Hut

Harry Potter Writing Prompts

 

Mythology and Legends

Classical Mythology -  Information on Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, monsters and creatures, mythological groups.

Mythology Web -  Characters in mythology, myths from around the world, types of mythology, mythology geographically speaking, sources.

Travel to the Roman Empire - Roman emperors, mythology, before and after, references.

Greek Mythology Galore

The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Mythology - Every culture in history has had a belief in the divine and a mythology to explain the world around them.

 

 The Harry Potter Media Spectacle

Media Culture and the Triumph of the Spectacle 

Hogwarts Headaches Plague

 

 

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