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6. Stretching Minds with the Harry Potter Books by J. K. Rowland © 2000 Activities by Nancy Polette 

1. QUOTES TO THINK ABOUT: 
   What do they mean?
   "The truth. It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be 
   treated with great caution." 
   "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much 
   to stand up to our friends." 
   "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our 
   abilities." 
   Using pictures from old magazines, illustrate one of the quotes with a college
   
2. CONNECTING THINKING MODES AND CHARACTER.
   The Sorting Hat puts students in dorms according to their thinking strengths. Ravenclaw students are thinkers! Hufflepuff students are doers. Gryffindor students are sensory and Slytherin students are risk takers.
   
3. TOPIC FOCUSING. Guess the answers.
   A. Great Britain is how many miles long?_____ 
   B. Great Britain is how many miles wide?______
   C. How many Kings has Great Britain had since 1707?____ 
   D. How many Queens ?________
   E. Great Britain has ___times as many people s live in Oregon. Read to support or deny your guesses.
   
4. Introduce each Potter book as READERS THEATRE 
   A. Perform a readers theatre using the jacket blurb. What does the play say about the Dursleys? Harry?
   B. Perform one scene as readers theatre. What character flaws are found?
   
5. RANK ORDER
   Rank order first to last choice, the following items your group would most to least like to have.
   A. Invisibility cloak 
   B. Shrinking Potion 
   C. Pepperup Pills to cure any illness 
   D. A flying car
   
6. MAGIC POETRY
   A. Choose one of the magic items Harry encountered at Hogwarts: 
   a broomstick, a magic wand, a cauldron, a mirror that shows the past, a howler letter, whomping willows.
   Write about the item using this pattern.
   They call me_____________________________
   The colors that surround me are______________
   My job is to _____________________________
   My garments are _________________________
   My energy comes from ____________________
   My relatives are __________________________
   I vacation _______________________________
   Without my services _______________________
   
   B. Patterns from the masters.. use to describe characters and/or scenes from the novels.
   Frequently by Emily Dickinson 
   Beautiful Things by Elizabeth Coatsworth
   Who Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Rosetti 
   Hold Fast to Dreams by Langston Hughes
   
7. A Game of Words
   To create new people, places and objects the author must also create new words. Combine two of the words that follow to make a compound word. Tell how this new word would fit at Hogwarts.
   

   bridge	foot	box	mail
   cast	porch	sun	book
   man	water	rain	note
   tooth	fish	cat	pick
   card	worm	potion	apple
   stick	arrow	light	feather

   
   

8. FLEXIBLE THINKING: 
   Re-write the following sentences, keeping the meaning but not using words that contain the letter "A". 
   A. The rain blew hard on the castle walls.
   B. The creature cackled and zoomed backwards
   C.  Harry waved the magic wand.
   
9. WRITING TO INFORM: LEARN MAGIC! 
   Take magic lessons! Free tricks to learn at 
   http://www.conjuror.com/magictricks/free_tricks1.html
   After watching the demonstration of the magic rope trick , write an essay on 
   how to do the magic trick.
   
10. TAKE A RISK!
    See if you qualify as the new Professor of Slimeology. Take the Slimy Quiz.
    
11. Combine illustrations from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg with character names from the Harry Potter books for intriguing story starters.
    at http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/
    
12. DESIGN a Tee Shirt or write a school song for Hogwarts School (see guides for the first three Potter books on this web site) 
    http://www.nancypolette.com/litguides.htm