Brief Description
Students discuss what makes the Harry Potter books popular and/or controversial, create a questionnaire to learn why Harry Potter fans find the books fascinating, practice online writing skills by sending e-mail messages to friends who are Harry Potter fans, and write a screenplay based on a selected chapter of a Harry Potter book.
Objectives
Students explore what makes a book popular and/or controversial; create questionnaires; send and receive e-mail messages; and write a screenplay.
Key Concepts
Harry Potter, screenplay, Rowling
Materials Needed
Computers with Internet access
Lesson Plan
- Discuss the Harry Potter books, the reasons the books have become so popular, and the reasons the books are controversial.
- Based on the classroom discussion, have students generate the following questionnaires:
- What makes a book interesting?
- What makes a book popular?
- What makes a book controversial?
- Review rules about quotation marks and conventions for writing dialogue.
- Arrange students in small groups and ask each group to create a screenplay about one chapter in a favorite Potter book.
- Have groups swap and perform one another's work.
Assessment
A panel of student judges will present Harry Potter Awards for best screenplay adaptation.
Brief Description