Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald

Seniorseminar:

Literature in the English Classroom

Summer term 2007

 

Teaching Prose Fiction:

J. K. Rowling ’ s

„ Harry Potter – the Philosopher ’ s Stone “

(1997)

 

Jeannette Nedoma,

6. Semester

Rebecca Elisabeth Meyer,

Date of submitting:

10/1/2007

 

 

Table of contents 

1  Why do we have to teach literature? 

1.1  Tasks of literature: Cultural Enrichment, Language Enrichment, Personal  Involvement 

1.2  Teaching fiction in school

1.3  Criteria for text selection 

2  The phenomenon „Harry Potter“ 

2.1  Task proposals to teach „Harry Potter“

3  Reading activities 

3.1  Pre-reading activities 

3.2  While-reading activities 

3.3  Post-reading activities 

4  Conclusion about teaching Harry Potter 

5  5. Bibliography 

5.1  Book sources 

5.2  Internet sources 

 

 

1  Why do we have to teach literature?

First of all we have to ask ourselves this question to understand the sense of teaching literature in foreign-language classes. As „the study of certain classic pieces of English literature is considered a sine qua non for the truly educated person“(Carter, Long 1991: 1), it is clear, that it should be part of education.

„The reasons for teaching literature necessarily transcend the particular circumstances, places and contexts, in which literature is taught. Three main reasons for the teaching of literature have been consistently advanced. Each embraces a particular set of learning objectives for the student of literature. These are:  The cultural model1

• The language model2
• The personal growth model3“(Carter, Long 1991: 2)

These three models are not mutually exclusive and therefore should be seen only as tendencies, although they „represent distinct models which are embraced by teachers as reasons or purposes for the teaching of literature and they are related to specific pedagogic practices“(Carter, Long 1991: 2). It is to emphasize that these models are only necessarily abstractions and therefore overlap in reality, e.g. the language and personal growth models.

It is important to mention, that one has to distinguish between the study of literature and the use of literature as a resource.

The first „involves reading literature within an academic, institutionalised setting for purposes of obtaining qualifications in literary studies. It involves a considerable baggage of critical concepts, literary conventions and metalanguage and the requirement is often that students should show an ability to use such terms and concepts in talking and writing about literature. (...) Using literature as a resource suggests a less academic though no less serious approach to the reading of literature. (...) Literature can be a special resource for personal development and growth, an aim being to encourage greater sensitivity and self-awareness and greater understanding of the world around us. “ (Carter, Long 1991: 3) In this term paper the use of literature as a resource is in the foreground because as we will deal with the use of literature in the English classroom, there should be the personal pupils’ development and growth more important than literary terms. This does not mean that we completely exclude the study of literature from teaching it, but it takes up less attention because pupils should know some basic literary terminology to be able to speak and think about and to handle with it, but not to know every single literary term by heart only by definition. That would not be the way, in which pupils would take pleasure in reading literature. Having pleasure in reading literature is only one of the goals of teaching it. Another one is the specific cultural knowledge, which the pupils must get to know by reading literature of the foreign language „(,) da fremdsprachige literarische Texte anhand von anschaulich geschilderten fiktionalen Einzelschicksalen lebensweltliche menschliche Erfahrungen evozieren und aufgrund ihrer ’Erfahrungshaltigkeit’ fremde Lebensweisen, Werte, Normen und Weltsichten vermitteln, erschließt die Beschäftigung mit ihnen den Schülern und Schülerinnen eine andere Kultur“ (Bach, Timm 2003: 150 f.). 

„(...) Literature offers a bountiful and extremely varied body of written material which is ’important’ in the sense that it says something about fundamental human issues, and which is enduring rather than ephemeral. (...) (Furthermore) literature is ’authentic’ material. By that we simply mean that most works of literature are not fashioned for the specific purpose of teaching a language. “(Collie, Slater 1987: 3) Although the last mentioned point seems not to speak for teaching literature, it could be the most important point. At first, pupils will deal in real life more likely with those ’authentic’ texts than with texts specially written for teaching English. Moreover it is more useful to support the feeling for literature than to deal with artificial texts. Nünning and Surkamp report in their essay Text – Literatur – Kultur: Handlungsund produktionsorientierter Literaturunterricht und Fremdverstehen (Bach, Timm 2003: 150) that ’authentic’ literary texts demand more intensive reactions and opinions than most of the artificial texts, which are especially made for the use in school. Those texts are used to introduce new vocabulary and structures and therefore is their content less meaning carrying than the one of real literature. That is the reason why pupils have the problem that they do not feel personally appealed and that they cannot commit their own experiences to the texts in the school books.

Collie and Slater (1987: 4) mention, that there are more reasons why we have to teach literature: „In reading literary texts, students have also to cope with language intended for native speakers and thus they gain additional familiarity with many different linguistic uses, forms and conventions of the written mode: with irony, exposition, argument, narration and so on.“

Under these circumstances it is sad that literature used to be considered as dispensable in the English classroom. Not before the ’modern’ times of teaching set in, literature got more and more importance. This can especially be put down to the changed attitudes towards the status of literary texts and the formation of new learning goals like empathy4, change of the own viewing point5 and the understanding of the foreign6, which are achieved through the treatment of literature. Literary texts are free interpretable because of their poetic vagueness and therefore they challenge the reader to contribute to the construction of sense. Furthermore they activate the reader’s understanding of life and encourage to communicate about it (Bach, Timm 2003: 149 f.):

„Verstehen und Interpretieren ist nicht ein Ablesen der Bedeutungen, sondern beruht auf einer Interaktion, in der der Sinn der Texte erst entsteht. Beim Verstehen und Interpretieren ist somit der Schüler selbst als tätiges, denkendes und fühlendes Subjekt angesprochen.“ (Bredella 1987: 237)

As reading is what we do, when we deal with literary texts, it involves us in „sharing in the world the writer has created. This occurs as a result of the imaginative leaps we make in order to fit the created world with the world we know. [Furthermore reading involves us in] relating the experience of the text to experiences we ourselves have undergone or can imagine ourselves undergoing. This occurs as a result of an active shuttling back and forth between the ’fictional’ world and the ’real’ world. [The reader has to] interpret what the texts might mean. The literary representation of experience is not a direct one; it is frequently indirect. This forces the reader to make connections, to read between the lines, to seek for explanations and meanings. In literary texts such meanings are stated directly“. (Carter, Long 1991: 16)

1.1    Tasks of literature: Cultural Enrichment, Language Enrichment, Personal
  Involvement

Reading and talking about literature can fulfil many tasks and has therefore certain opportunities in comparison to unrealistic speaking reasons. Collie and Slater (1987: 4-6) categorize these tasks in cultural enrichment, language enrichment and personal involvement.

Some learners of the foreign language will probably never stay long in or at least visit the country where the language is spoken. That is why the teacher has to adopt more indirect routes to this form of understanding so that the pupils gain an understanding of the way of life of the country, e.g. radio programmes, films, newspapers and significantly the literary works. Although the ’world’ in novels, short stories and plays are created, they offer nevertheless a full and vivid context in which characters from many social backgrounds can be depicted. This offers the possibility for the readers to discover their thoughts, feelings, customs, possessions. Although it is an imagined world, the reader can get a feel for the codes and preoccupations that structure a real society. (Collie, Slater 1987: 4)

As „literature is perhaps best seen as complement to other materials used to increase the foreign learner’s insight into the country whose language is being learnt“(Collie, Slater 1987: 4), it has to be part of teaching English to support the cultural understanding.

As „language enrichment is one benefit often sought through literature“, one can not doubt that extensive reading increases a learner’s receptive vocabulary and facilities transfer to a more active form of  knowledge, although it is controversial whether literature gives learners the kind of vocabulary they really need (Collie, Slater 1987: 4). This means that the language of literary works is not typical of the language of daily life. It is an advantage that literature provides a rich context in which individual lexical or syntactical items are made more memorable. (Collie, Slater 1987: 4-5)

Furthermore „literature can be helpful in the language learning process because of the personal involvement it fosters in readers“(Collie, Slater 1987: 5). It can happen that a learner begins to ’inhabit’ the text, he or she reads, and is drawn into the book. A process starts: „Pinpointing what individual words or phrases may mean becomes less important than pursuing the development of the story. The reader is eager to find out what happens as events unfold; he or she feels close to certain characters and shares their emotional responses. The language becomes ’transparent’.“ (Collie, Slater 1987: 5)

As it is often the case in teaching there are debates about the quantity and with it also about the quality of literature what and how a student has to learn in the English lessons. The question is, if it is better „to have a syllabus in which a broad range of texts is studied or one in which students develop the capacity for reading a more limited number of texts in depth“ (Carter, Long 1991: 4).

„A decision such as whether to adopt an essentially in-breadth or in-depth approach influences both syllabus design and broader curricular objectives. “ (Carter, Long 1991: 5)

A teacher has to consider language difficulty because „access is restricted if students cannot attain a basic level of comprehension and (...) it is better to choose for teaching literary texts which are not too far beyond the students’ normal reading comprehension“. The students need more importantly access on an experiential level, which means, that „students need to be able to identify and identify with the experiences, thoughts and situations which are depicted in the text“(Carter, Long 1991: 5). „They need to be able to discover the kind of pleasure and enjoyment which comes from making the text their own, and interpreting it in relation to their own knowledge of themselves and of the world they inhabit. “ (Carter, Long 1991: 5)

1.2    Teaching fiction in school

Fiction is „literature made up of imaginary events and characters, as novels, short stories, plays etc.: also, such works collectively“(Marckwardt 2004: 262). One can find a more precise definition in the Penguin book of literary terms and criticism:

„A vague and general term for an imaginative work, usually in prose. At any rate, it does not normally cover poetry and drama though both are a form of fiction in that they are moulded and contrived – or feigned. Fiction is now used in general of the novel, the short story, the novella and related genres. “(p. 320)

Nick Bentley reports in his essay on Developing the Canon: Teaching Contemporary British Fiction about the current situation of British Fiction:

“Contemporary British fiction is an area of literary studies that has been developing steadily over the last twenty years or so and most universities now run courses covering the period. And yet it is an area that has its own peculiarities and issues. The very nature of the contemporary means that the range of authors and texts being taught is more fluid than more established areas of literary study and the potential list is continually being added to.“ (Barfield 2007: 27)

It is obvious that not only the genre fiction becomes more and more important, but also British literature itselfthe mixture of both is interesting. Although, as Bentley already stated, this field is not very established, especially because it is so modern. Furthermore, it is a still open area, which means that the development will continue. Bentley proposes a canon of contemporary British fiction (Barfield 2007: 35 f.), which does not include J.K. Rowling at all, but more than half the writers are female. He states: „It is a particular characteristic of contemporary fiction that the gender balance could be said to be more or less even, a fact that probably could not be said of the canonical lists of any other literary period or genre (with the possible exception of the Victorian period.“ (Barfield 2007: 37)

Barfield, who elucidates this topic rather from the point of view of academic teaching at universities, sees the problem in the degree of difficulty:

„ (...) The struggles which often emerge in teaching contemporary fiction question the critical prejudice that it is unworthy of academic attention. But not only intellectually challenging texts are difficult to teach: the category ’difficult’ is in itself unstable, a question of perspective. What one person deems complex may appear straightforward to another – depending on one’s knowledge, reading experience and cultural background. This last problem can be particularly thorny even for those united (or divided) by a common language. “(Barfield 2007: 10)

Furthermore, he demands and therefore asks the teachers to occupy with the genre. There are many challenges to take, if one works with contemporary British fiction, e.g. finding arguments in the text to underline the own opinion is an effort, pursuing independent thoughts and not following the orthodoxies:

„The teaching of contemporary fiction crucially demands scrutiny, not just of the novels, but of our own orthodoxies as teachers, academics and critics. As teachers, academics and critics, we try to teach our students not to make assertions and claims without substantiating them, without showing an awareness of the critical debate around any topic, and to properly locate their own arguments within it.“ (Barfield 2007: 16)

„The curricula choices and critical frameworks in courses on contemporary fiction have become fixed and ’canonical’ incredibly quickly in order to provide justification for the subject. Most obviously, novels are chosen which seem to speak to us as academics in a language we recognise, which seem themselves structured around the subsections of current academic interest and therefore of the curricula – the postcolonial, the queer, the feminist, and so on. Novels are chosen which to reflect back to us our own concerns, which justify them and make them seem self-evident. Our orthodoxies remain unchallenged, and are passed on to students as such via the very novels we ask them to read.“(Barfield 2007: 19)

To this point Philip Tew (2004: 180) gives the following advice for teachers: „It is necessary to discuss key moments in literary and critical texts through the medium of a detailed theoretically informed interpretative analysis, so as to understand some idea of what we can make of the content of such fiction, as well as its many other attributes.“ Furthermore he reports, that he found his students often enthused by taking apart a novel that appeared only a year or so previous to their scrutiny in class.

1.3    Criteria for text selection

There are some criteria for text selection, which make it easier for teachers to decide for or against a text. These must not be understood as a list, which can be ticked with ’right’ or ’wrong’, but rather as, all in all, ’advisable’.

First of all, a text has to be readable and worth to read it. This sounds not really like an unusual demand on it, but there are texts, of course, which are not useful for teaching, because they are badly copied, in bad condition or do not match the foreign language teaching goals. It is obvious, that a reader only makes an effort to think and speak about his/her opinion and his/her reaction towards the text, if it fulfils these two aspects. Furthermore, the topic should be connected with the area of student’s life and experience. In this way, they are able to understand the text from their own point of view. Literary texts have the characteristic to transcend own experience in them. That is the way to present the reader something newthis can be a different point of view or behaviour with the situation. (Jarfe 1997: 36 f.)

Carter and Long (1991: 141f.) make up eleven criteria to select texts for students, which shall be presented at this place. To work with this list, it is important, that the teacher knows, what s/he wants to achieve, to put it in other words, what his/her aim is.

1.General availability of the printed text.

2.The texts provide a representative selection of the literature as a whole.

3.Familiar/ established/ ’canonical’ text vs. unfamiliar/ not-widely known text

4.Selection restricted by syllabus or examining body vs. free selection of whatever the teacher decides is appropriate

5.Related to the country or culture of the reader vs. unrelated to the culture of the reader: requiring background knowledge of an English speaking country.

6.Contemporary/ ’modern’ in terms of literary classification vs. not modern

7.Conceptually (as opposed to linguistically) easy for readers vs. conceptually difficult for readers

8.Lengthy text vs. short text

9.Complete work vs. extract

10.Taught for its own sake without overt connection with other texts vs. part of a series of an author or period, with an implied progression from easy to difficult

11.selected for theme or subject vs. selected for genre or period 

The first two points include the prerequisites, which the literature, with which we deal in school, has to be available for everybody, which means, that the pupils can get the printed version by copying it or by buying it in the bookstore, and that the texts provide a representative selection of the literature as a whole. Only if the last aspect is fulfilled, the work is „teachable“, because the pupils have to gain knowledge, which they can transfer in life. Otherwise it would not be really worth knowing. In our case, „Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“, nowadays, is available mostly everywhere in the bookstores and in the internet. Personally, I think, one day it will belong to the (children’s) classics of the era Postmodernism, because it is also a contemporary ’modern’ novel. As it is British fiction, written by a woman, and is about a young boy and his adventures, it includes a lot of teachable aspects.

Nowadays, the stories of the protagonist Harry Potter and his friends are widely known, but not yet canonical, eventually because they are too modern. The titles of the books, the phenomenon itself as well as the characters are familiar to the majority. The pupils deal with J. K. Rowling, a writer of the present, which could be more interesting than one, whose lifestyle would not be as understandable for young pupils as hers is, because she lives at the same time and therefore under similar conditions, which eventually influenced her. In general, a student needs to know the names of established writers and works in literature – J. K. Rowling’s work „Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” is just exemplary for those well known literary works of the present written by female writers.

The teacher who decides to teach this novel, selects it, because s/he thinks it is appropriate and not because of duty. „Harry Potter“includes requiring background knowledge of an English speaking country and it is therefore unrelated to the (German) culture of the reader. That means that the pupils not only get to know a British novel, but also some e.g. typical sights of Britain. I think of the ancient castle, in which the boarding school for magicians „Hogwarts” is placed. It reminds of the typical old buildings one can see all over Britain. Another example is the one of the school uniforms, which is typical for this country. Of course, there are many more. One can infer that probably every work written by a British writer includes typical national aspects, which slipped in unconsciously, because also in fiction one can find them. As we decided to read it in 10^th grade, it is linguistically easy for readers, because most of the vocabulary is already known and we assumed that the pupils have at least a clue of the plot. That is why the novel is in comparison to other before read texts longer, but can still not assessed as a long text With its 223 pages it is a really short novel. This is also the reason why we think that it is possible to read the complete work, which allows at the same time a survey and a detailed knowledge about this first part of the series, which functions as an entrance to motivate the pupils to find out what happens next and how it ends. This leads to the next point, which includes the teaching extent: It is the only part of the series, which we would taught. It would become boring to teach additional tomes, because the pupils are able to talk and know a lot about this topic after they have been taught „Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“ and because of the greater experimentation, which is possible, if we limit it to that one.

A novel, which is about a young boy, his exciting, but problem-filled life, and his adventures, fulfils both aspects: The one of theme (problems with parents, friendship, school life) and the one of genre (novel, fiction) and period (Postmodernism, present). All in all, based on the criteria for text selection, this book seems to be a good choice to teach it in school.

Teachers do not have to know all these criteria by heart, it is more useful to know the reasons for choosing a literary work as part of teachingin short: straightforward and simple language, interest, appeal and relevance are the most important aspects, which literature to be taught in school has to fulfil.

 

2  The phenomenon „Harry Potter“

As the magazine „Stern“ found out a thin boy with fuzzy hair and repaired glasses caused a  revolution in culture because of his charisma with the result of the beginning of an era, in which children prefer reading as alternative to play computer games. The author of this book, J. K. Rowling, created a world, in which children have special abilities, whereas conventional adults are either clumsy or cruel or even both. The protagonist’s secret power has traditional traits of the genre fairy tale. He handles flying brooms, arts of transformation and magic spells as well as magic drinks. This power can also symbolize the strength of childhood: when it stands for childish fantasy, creativity and humour. (Knobloch 2000: 8)

The adventures of Harry Potter are read and beloved worldwide by million of people, young as well as adult ones. That is one reason why meanwhile the hero Harry Potter became even a brand. It is obvious that „Harry Potter“ is a phenomenon. A phenomenon is something that strikes as unusual. Mainly the facts about the novel are remarkablethe worldwide, huge success of that children’s book series, but not the contents, the way it is presented or the literary quality. The unusual success is most of all shown in the sales figures, which this book attained in short time. This resulted in the sale of licences to publish editions in other countries and languages. Extensive reporting in different media and numerous awards for literature point out the great success. J.K. Rowling received a high amount of literature awards for her work „Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“, for example the ABBY Award of the American Booksellers Association in 1999, the Anne Spencer Lindbergh Price in Children’s Literature 1997/98, the British Book Award for the Children’s Book of the Year 1997, the Carnegie Medal 1997, the FCBG Children’s Book Award 1997, the Nestlé Smarties Book Price 1997, the Children’s Book Award 1999 of the Scottish Arts Council as well as the Guardian Children’s Fiction Award 1997 and many more (Knobloch 2000: 53). One has to assume that these elements of success influence mutually: High numbers of sold products bring about an increased media interest, by which the attention of the members of literature prize jury’s arouse. If a book wins an award of literature, the media will report about that. The result will be public interest and a raising sales figure. All in all, it seems to be a cycle in general. (Knobloch 2000: 48)

In addition, a so-called „Pottermania“ was caused. This is especially shown in queuing up for long time at night, where uproars and hysterics break out, every time a new volume is published.

No one expected such great success of the book. That is the reason why in Great Britain the first edition consisted of only 500 copies. The change came not before the rights to the book were sold to the American publishing company Scholastic, which paid £ 100,000. The next step was the sale of the movie and merchandising rights to Time Warner in 1998. This allowed the media concern to market the brand „Harry Potter“worldwide in areas which have actually little or nothing to do with literature. So you can get nearly everything you want, e.g. calendars, clothes, games, clocks, cups, picture frames and even bed clothes. That is the reason why a lot of terms of „Harry Potter“ are trademarks7 such as  Harry Potter himself, the magic school Hogwarts, Harry’s owl Hedwig, the broomstick Nimbus 2000, the game Quidditch, the giant Hagrid, the name of the house Gryffindor and Dumbledore’s name. (Knobloch 2000: 61f)  In addition, Christopher Little, Joanne Rowling’s agent, could sell licences to publishing houses all over the world, which leads to more than 40 translations.

„Harry Potter“ should be part of teaching literature, because there are already some teaching materials, as for example work sheets, available in the USA as well as in Germany. Most of them can be found in the Internet, in magazines or in books for teaching literature at school. Plenty of reports prove that teachers, often encouraged by campaigns in libraries or book stores, take up the topic „Harry Potter“ in some lesson units or projects. There is for example the opportunity for the pupils to make a so-called „Reading box“, which is actually made of a shoe carton. This includes things, which are mentioned in the book. The pupils collect these on their own and put them in the box. This project, which supports to read more, is finished with the presentation of the contents of the box in class. (Knobloch 2000: 55-57)

Obviously this is just a proposal for lower classes, mainly the primary school, and not useful for the pupils at the age of 16 and 17 as it is the case in this term paper. 

2.1    Task proposals to teach „Harry Potter“

In the following one can see some task proposals for teaching „Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone“. It is not absolutely necessary to do all of them. These tasks are like their chronological arrangement and the duration of teaching just suggestions, which one can take more as a stimulus than as a ’must-teach’.

It is important to mention that we decided to let the pupils read the novel at home before we begin to teach the topic in school. Mostly everybody, which includes not only young people, but also adults, knows Harry Potter and his adventures. That is the reason why we assumed that we do not need an introduction, in which all the basic knowledge about this topic is taught. Furthermore the reading of the whole novel by the pupils has many advantages. At first, the pupils can decide when, where and how much at once they read. There are pupils, who read faster than other ones, who need more time to get the contents. Additionally, the pupils get the whole plot and do not get to know it only step by step. In this way it is avoided to talk over the same topic over and over again, because it occurs numerous times in the book. The pupils can rather suggest topics or chapters, about which they want to talk (more). One disadvantage of this method could be that the pupils do not feel motivated by many unknown vocabulary. Just in the case of pupils with relatively few abilities in English, we would offer a list of unknown vocabulary with English descriptions of the words as support. It can look like this:

1.The Boy Who Lived:

• shudder (a shaking movement you make because you are cold, frightened or disgusted)
• tyke (a small child, especially one who behaves badly)
• bun (a roll of hair worn at the nape of the neck)
• exasperated (extremely annoyed, especially if you cannot do anything to improve the situation)

2.Quidditch:

• referee (the official who controls the game in some sports, such as Quidditch)
• to conjure (to do clever tricks such as making things seem to appear or disappear as if by magic)
• to squint (to look with half-closed eyes as into bright light)

3.The Man With Two Faces:

• stoat (a small animal with a long body and brown fur that, in northern areas,   turns white in winter)
• hoarse (a voice sounding harsh, especially because of a sore throat)

If we need a special excerpt for one task, we would set it as homework to read it once again before the lesson, because the pupil will not remember every single word of the novel and it is never worse to repeat some pages to remember ’petty things’, which are eventually important to understand and interpret the novel. In some cases we would advice the pupils to make notes or to mark important passages, which may underline their argument.

 

First lesson

1.Introduction:
Quiz (www.kidsreads.com/HP07/trivial.asp)

2.If you were a magician for one day what would your supernatural abilities be and what would you do? (about 200 words)

3.Write a short magic spell for at least one situation!

4.Description of the book cover

5.Headline of the book (as Homework)

® Research: Why is it called ’The Philosopher’s Stone’?

® What is the Philosopher’s Stone? (“An imaginary stone thought to have the power of transmuting the baser metals into gold.” Webster’s Student Dictionary; “A solution to

all problems and mysteries” Langenscheidt)

 

Second, third and fourth lesson

1.Web research about the author: J.K. Rowling (biography, personal background, works)

2.Summary: gap filling method ® Although the pupils will have to know most of the plot, they get a survey of the story, to which they can refer back, if they lose something of it.

3.Figure constellation, possibly with showing pictures (different structures are possible: good vs. bad/ teachers vs. pupils/ main vs. minor characters )

® Names of characters on board ® Match the given character traits to the names

1.Find out who of the Hogwart’s staff is the competent office for which subject!

2.Try to describe Harry’s outer appearance! Prove it with passages!

3.As a game the pupils should solve Anagrams in group work: Can you figure out these characters from the Harry Potter novel? E.g. BEN TORR (Norbert), ASK SOCK HORN (Crookshanks), ABALD MUONG (Ludo Bagman), CLEVERE ICE YON (Colin Creevey), GERMAN ROGER HE IN (Hermione Granger), HA REPORT TRY (Harry Potter) etc.

 

Fifth lesson

1.The arrival at Hogwarts ® Describe the setting of the scene (building, characters, e.g.    ghosts)

2.Homework: Write Albus Dumbledore’s letter to the Dursley’s telling them about the child left on their doorsteps! OR

  Picture 3: The Dursley’s: Dudley, uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia

Harry writes an imaginary letter to the Dursley’s after his arrival at Hogwarts! How could a letter look like, write a short one! (In the lesson should be taught how to write a letter)

 

Sixth lesson

14. Task: Hermione knows all about Harry because he is mentioned in several books on Magical History. Write the section that tells about Harry!

15. What life lesson is the reader supposed to learn from the Mirror of Erised?

16. Why do you think does Slytherin house exist if it turns out evil Wizards?

 

Seventh, eighth and ninth lesson

17. Introduction of topics by using mind mapping: e.g. friendship, magic, the Supernatural,   fantasy, family

® E.g. family (Ron vs. Harry): What about your family (sisters/ brothers/ parents)?

® E.g. friendship (Hermione, Harry, Ron): Tell us something about your best friends?

  ((dis-)likes, their traits of character (positive/ negative), how are you connected? Whyare you friends? )

Group play of an imaginary scene about one relevant topic: friendship, magic etc.

® Work out your own dialogue including the character traits of the novel on one of the topics including a special situation!

Tenth, eleventh, twelfth lesson

18.  Reading texts about other topics in group work/ Lectures on (worked out in the lesson):

® E.g. Castles in Medieval Time ( www.yourchildlearns.com/castle_history.htm)

® E.g. Quidditch (Beater, Chaser, Keeper, Seeker), Wizard money (1 galleon= 4,82$,

1 sickle= 28 cents, 1 knut= 1 cent)

(http://www.knolongy.net/%7 Elionheart/Quidditch/Q03.html)

® The results have to be presented in class!

 

Thirteenth, fourteenth lesson

19. Task: To which of these Houses would you belong? Why?

  Picture 4: Draco Malfoy

® E.g. the Houses: Gryffindor („You are daring, you are brave at heart and you will stand up for what is right and good.“), Hufflepuff („You are just, you are loyal and you work very hard.“), Ravenclaw („You are witty and charming. You are always learning sth. new.“) or Slytherin („You are shy like a fox, you are cunning, you know what you want and you will get it.“) ® The Houses should be introduced before the pupils are asked to decide to which House they would (or want to) belong.  This can be made through presentations or through reporting information by the whole class.

20. Find out stereotypes (e.g. good/ bad characters, weak/ b characters)

® e.g. Harry = a stereotype of Cinderella; Hagrid = humongous, gigantic, kind, brave, friendly and a little dumb; Ron = the typical best friend (good guy, intelligent, funny brave, adventurous, but always a little less than Harry

21. Find out the enemies of Harry Potter (especially Voldemort

and Draco Malfoy)! Give reasons!

22.  Eventually set as homework: Note mystic creatures (ghosts,

 living pictures, Hagrid’s wild animals) Draw a picture!

 

Fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth lesson

23. Explain Hagrid’s relation to wild animals (Norbert and Fluffy)

24.  Compare Harry’s life in the Muggle world with his Hogwarts’ life! How does he deal with his two lifestyles? In which one of these worlds would you like to live? Give reasons for your decision! ® The pupils have to themselves in Harry’s position (empathy)

25. Do/ Did you like Harry Potter? Discuss with your neighbour why (not)! Explain your feelings and ideas in a short text (about 150 words)!

26. Write an own review consisting of not more than 10 words! ® It is not as easy for pupils to express themselves in such a direct way, that their review is just a short one.

27.  Ranking list for characters (The character I like the most/ the least, The character I identify with most/ least, etc.) ® The pupils have to think about the reasons why they (dis-)like somebody. This will lead to think about the own values in life.

 

Seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth lesson

28. To conclude the topic: watch the film (Watching the film before discussing the book would anticipate the interpretation and pupil’s own imagination of the novel.)

® Compare it with the book! Where are the differences? Which character was well/ worse presented? Which of the scenes impressed you the most?

29.  Possible End: To plan an own Quidditch match (forming teams, giving names etc.) ® If there is enough time the pupil organize an own Quidditch match. In that way they get the opportunity to dive in the Wizard world and feel like being one of the characteristics of the novel. Furthermore it is a great experience for pupils to be responsible for the success of this event.

 

3  Reading activities

“Reading includes discovering meaning in print and script, within a social context, through bottom-up and top-down processing and the use of strategies and skills.“ (Gebhard 1996:197)The instruction of reading activities in the English classroom is of prime importance for the comprehension of the meaning of a text. Reading deals with the understanding of written texts like letters, newspaper articles, essays, novels and dialogues. “Lesen wird verstanden als Sinnentnahme aus einem Text geschriebener Sprache. Zu den Texten, die sich originär auf das Lesen beziehen, gehören u.a. Brief, Notiz, Aufsatz, auch die Erzählung […].” (Heuer, Klippel 1990: 91) There are different styles of reading a text or novel according to the intention of the reader for instance skimming, scanning, intensive and extensive activities. “The level of involvement of the reader varies with the reason or purpose of reading.” (Müller-Hartmann, Schocker-von Ditfurth 2004: 87) The teacher has to explain the different working methods to the pupils, so they can improve their abilities.

Skimming means that the reader wants to find out the central idea of the reading matter. “for gist (skimming): readers wish to get the global impression of what the text is abouteither about its main points or its global meaning […].” (Müller-Hartmann, Schocker-von Ditfurth 2004: 87)

Scanning signifies to take a quick look at the text and filter the desired information out of it. “for specific information (scanning): readers search rapidly through a text to find a specific point of information […].” (Müller-Hartmann, Schocker-von Ditfurth 2004: 87)

Intensive reading activities contain the close working with the text. “ for detailed understanding (intensive reading): readers study a text carefully for all of the information it provides […] Intensive reading activities in the classroom often train students in the strategies needed for successful reading which is why texts are usually short.” (Müller-Hartmann, Schocker-von Ditfurth 2004: 87)

“for general understanding (extensive reading): Extensive reading in the classroom has been characterized as follows: it is reading of large quantities of longer texts (short stories, novels, newspaper articles, for example), reading consistently over time on a frequent or regular basis, primarily for pleasure or interest, during class time but also engaging in individual independent reading at home, often of self-selected material (HEDGE 2000:202).

This is “to give the child a sense of achievement and a taste of the pleasure to be derived from this accomplishment” (HEDGE 2000:202).” (Müller-Hartmann, Schocker-von Ditfurth 2004: 87)

Also the Rahmenplan Mecklenburg Vorpommern speaks of the significance of reading activities:

• Entwickeln der Leseerwartung
• schnelles Auffinden und Erfassen ausgewählter inhaltlicher Aspekte (scanning)
• globales Erfassen des Textinhalts (skimming)
• Gezieltes, selbstständiges Auffinden von Informationen (search reading)

Next to the different reading styles, which can be found in school, reading can be subdivided into special phases of reading. The phases of reading consist of three parts:

1)Pre-reading activities include the introduction of the new topic and the motivation of the children, and it is the best for teachers to make the text or book interesting for the children. The teacher has to arouse pupil’s interest when he or she introduces the topic or text. He or she also has to activate the background knowledge. Therefore it is also possible to start the lesson with asking the pupils about the topic (possibly with a brainstorming) and collect all information. It is necessary that the teacher presents the reading intentions to the children. Therefore he has to make the pupils clear why they should read that text. Besides it is important to introduce new vocabulary, grammatically tools and new processes to get through the text. The teacher also has to explain theoretical terms to give a basis to the pupils.

2)While-reading activities mean that the pupils should learn to understand the information of the extract or text. They should learn how to work with literature, which means, that they have to learn how to sift the content (messages, morals, etc.) out of the written text.

3)Post-reading activities include the processing, the consolidation and back-up of the information of the text. To back-up the messages of the story it is useful to practise with the pupils or to let them write summaries and characterizations. 

3.1    Pre-reading activities

The reading of a text has to be prepared carefully, because the so-called pre-reading activities has to be matured as Carter and Long report (1991: 23) „students need to be prepared for reading a literary text. The initial preparation should be as concrete and specific as possible. Teachers should try, where possible, to help students to use their own actual experiences. “

These activities are an important part of long-term planned strategies to motivate the students, in this case as the term includes, to read and reactivate already trained knowledge. The teacher has to make the pupils clear why it is necessary to read a long text or, in this case, a novel. Therefore the teacher should deal with a text that appeals to the pupils.

„Students need to see a point to reading, particularly to reading extended texts. Many school pupils have grown up in a world dominated by television, magazines, comics, and pulp romantic and adventure stories. Those media tend to provide immediate short-term satisfaction, they switch topic or scene rapidly and do not demand sustained concentration; they are invariably of a short time span. Reading literary texts requires hard work from the reader (...) and it requires considerable patience. “ (Carter, Long 1991: 22)

Students not only learn to deal with literature in a foreign language beside the literature of their native language, which they already got to know outside school or in other subjects, but also to spark interest in reading literature. Normally, the pupils raise some questions by the pre-reading activities, which they expect to be answered through the text. If the teacher uses appropriate pre-reading activities, the reading and interpretation of the text is of higher quality. These activities have the task to build a bridge between the pupil’s own experiences and the literary world. This leads to a plurality of different ways of reading within one class, which is the prerequisite to talk about literature, in general. The pupils get aware of the individuality of text perception in conversation. To afford this demand, the reader has to find his personal entrance to the work. That is how the text can work, if it is seen in relation to the reader, on whom it has an effect. For that reason the reader’s experiences has to be aroused and s/he has to be conscious of them to facilitate the relation to the text. Only in that way, it is possible to work with and think about it deeply. Especially pre-reading activities cause the reader to reflect his/ her own specific life experiences. By that process of reflection the reader is emancipated before actually reading the text and s/he is prepared to perceive consciously his/ her own life experiences from another point of view. (Jarfe 1997)

There are an amount of opportunities for the introduction of the topic, which should have the aim to make it motivating and interesting for the pupils. The teacher can show pictures or the book cover. S/he can also start with the description of one character or with one passage of the story. Another possible introduction would be a mind map to one topic included in the text.

The most important thing to pay attention to, is that „pre-reading activities (...) should be coherent as activities and consistent with one another. But they are not contained to be self-contained. Their purpose is to direct attention to a text. “(Carter, Long 1991: 22)

Pre-reading Activities “ Harry Potter and the Philosopher ’ s Stone ” 

The pre-reading phase is important for the motivation and reactivation of already trained knowledge of the pupils. The teacher has to make the pupils clear why it is necessary to read a long text or, in this case, a novel. Therefore the teacher should deal with a text that appeals to the pupils. To make the new topic interesting for the children, the teacher can show pictures or the book cover. S/he can also start with the description of one character or with one passage of the story.

According to our topic “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” it is quite difficult to introduce the topic effectively with the above-mentioned possibilities, because most pupils already know about the hero Harry and his adventures. Therefore we would start with an internet search in school, where the pupils should collect information about all figures (main characters, teachers, creatures, etc.), places (Muggle world, Wizard world, Hogwarts, etc.), the book title (Why is it called “The Philosopher’s Stone?) and about the author J.K. Rowling (life, etc.). A possible task could be: Try to find out, with the help of the World Wide Web, all important aspects about “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” and about its author J.K. Rowling! Give a short presentation on your topic!

Afterwards the pupils should present their results in front of the class. Here, the aim to strive is to develop the independence of each pupil. They learn how to work with internet sources and exclude important things from unimportant ones. They also learn how to give a presentation in a foreign language. As a result the pupils learn to speak free and in front of others. The end result is that they have the possibility to learn how to improve their eloquence and self-confidence.

This pre-reading activity is possible for the 10^th grade and should clasp two hours at school. It would be best if we have a double lesson to come close to the new topic. But we have to emphasize that we need computers with internet access at school to work effectively with the pupils.

Normally pre-reading phases take longer time but at present Harry Potter is an exception.

Searching for information and working with them is an important part of learning according to the Rahmenplan MecklenburgVorpommern (Informationsrechercheund verarbeitung). Pupils at 10^th grade have to be able to:

• Suchen und Verwenden von zusätzlichen Informationsquellen
• Sammeln und Ordnen von Informationen
• Sichten, Bewerten und kontextgebundenes Aufbereiten von Informationen aus verschiedenen Quellen
• Zusammenfassen gelesener und gehörter Informationen

Giving a presentation in front of the class is of big significance and necessary to train self-confidence of the pupils, this aspect of learning is also mentioned in the Rahmenplan (Präsentation von Arbeitsergebnissen):

• Benutzen von Stichwortzetteln (note-taking)
• Einbeziehen der Zuhörer

The other classmates have to listen carefully, while the pupils present their results, and afterwards, they have to give useful feedback. The pupils have to learn how to give a fair comment to somebody. This activity should improve the selfand social competence of the students including:

• In Projekten gemeinsam arbeiten
• Achtung vor der Arbeit anderer haben
• Die eigene Meinung äußern und dazu stehen
• Die Meinungen/ Ansichten anderer akzeptieren
• Besides working with texts improves the methodical competence:
• Informationen zu einem Thema zusammenstellen
• Den Umgang (Lesarten und Verarbeitung) mit Artikeln und Lektüren erlernen
• Präsentationstechniken anwenden
• Themenhefte, Produkte, Vorträge, Ergebnisse erstellen und präsentieren

The first Double Lessons

Time	Phases of the lesson	LessonProduction	Useful media	Social form
1 min.	greeting	The teacher greets pupils.	-	frontal
10 min.	introduction	The teacher divides the class into four teams. Besides he or she writes the topic and tasks for the teams on the board.	board	frontal
45 min.	preparation	The pupils come together in groups of two. The pupils start working on their tasks with computer and Internet. They note keywords in their files.	computer/ Internetfiles/ dictionaries	working with a partner
30 min.	presentations	Some pupils present their results in front of the class. After each presentation the prevailing pupil gets a feedback from his or her classmates and from the teacher.	files
4 min.	summary	The teacher gives a short summary and proper homework (possibly on the board), e.g. read the first one or two chapters, note new vocabulary and give a short summary.	board	frontal

Only after the internet searches and presentations we would like to work in stages with the pupils. That means they have to read, step by step, one or two chapters at home for each new lesson.

Another start could be a “Harry Potter Quiz”[1] to activate the basic knowledge of all pupils.

This playful access to the new topic should arouse pupil’s interest and they can check how much they know about the hero Harry Potter and his first adventure. In my opinion it is important for the pupils to check their knowledge independently without the appraisal of a teacher. So they can see how much they know and how good they are. Some new English textbooks already contain extra pages, where pupils can check their skills on their own. Next to the self-control that quizzes also jogs pupil’s memory, they have to think carefully about the questions. Besides this task improves their independence in working and they can check their knowledge.

Other accesses to “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” could be:

• If you were a magician for one day what would your supernatural abilities be and what would you do? Write a text (about 200 words)!
• Try to draw up a figure constellation of all characters appearing in the book!

3.2    While-reading activities

While reading a text, it presents itself all tasks, which carefully slow down, intensify or interrupt the reading. Those activities make not only enquiries possible, but they also lead to a deeper look to some single aspects of the book. Besides the treatment of questions regarding the contents, also all forms of visualization connected with the work (e.g. plot, time line, mind maps, pictures etc.), of summarizing, of retelling, of predicting as well as of analyzing (e.g. literary devices) belong to this part of reading activities. (Haß 2006: 152)

It is important to repeat some text passages and to consequently put down the results, which are made in the lesson to secure them as knowledge. According to the group of learners included in the class it could be possible, that some of them have difficulties to remember the names of the characters or their traits of character. Although it is much work for the teacher to visualize every step of knowledge of the literary texts, it is easier for the pupils to make the knowledge structured and understandable. If they once have written down the new aspects, they have a basis on which they can refer back. (Haß 2006: 152)

Furthermore it is advisable to practice vocabulary and to repeat some grammar rules, if the teacher notices that the pupils have demand. (Haß 2006: 152)

All in all, it is to say that while-reading activities on the whole include the work by means of the text passages. The pupils have to tackle the intentions of the book, find out messages and write characterizations, summaries of special chapters and descriptions of places, actions or figures. Before the teacher has a deeper look into a new chapter, s/he should ask, if the pupils understood the contents and new vocabulary. Otherwise they should be able to ask what they did not get and the new vocabulary should be explained by the teacher in English by using examples and/ or English definitions. “It is not just beginners who need lots of vocabulary. All students need to work constantly on building vocabulary, and teachers can show how to do this o their own.” (Gebhard 1996: 209)

The pupils have to read the book, step by step, and simultaneous check all unknown words in a dictionary or try to understand them through the context. “As teachers, we can also teach students how to use a dictionary, with an emphasis on word study […] dictionary study can be a productive way for students to increase their word power.” (Gebhard 1996: 211) Nevertheless, the work with a dictionary is very time-consuming; therefore the pupils have to write down the new vocabulary at home. But the teacher can show techniques to the pupils and s/he can explain the purpose of using a dictionary. A possible task for the pupils could be:

Explain the following words of the chapter “Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback“: nag, moleskin, detention, rubbish! Write down your explanations!

Activities concerning the characters and topics of the novel: 

The while reading activities should include detailed characterizations of the main characters, quality assessments of characters (task: “Whose personality I like most/ least?”), descriptions of the relations between them and others. The pupils have to make notes about ideas, content and meaning (general tasks while reading) for example these note-taking activities:

• Note down the events (while reading) in which Harry Potter does something unauthorized!
• Note down how the different reactions of the persons of the story, as they noticed that they are facing the celebrity Harry Potter!
• Write down all animals, creatures and ghosts that you get to know while reading!

The Rahmenplan Mecklenburg-Vorpommern emphasizes note-taking activities:

• Selbstständiges Anfertigen von Gedächtnishilfen (note-taking)
• Selbstkontrolle

The pupils have to answer questions, they have formulated at the beginning of the while-reading phase as well as others that have arisen through the reading. When the pupils have the task to read one or more chapter(s) in class, they can also form reading groups where the pupils read each paragraph together and one of them summarizes what s/he read. Unknown vocabulary can be also discussed in the reading group.

Also questions and tasks like the following are also useful to expand the pupil′s knowledge and abilities:

Descriptions:

• What are your impressions of Hogwarts School? What about it makes it seem so different in comparison to the Muggle world? Give examples to support your opinion!
• What can you say about the Muggle world in comparison to the Wizard world? Write down your opinion and give text passages!

Characterization:

• Compare Harry′s life in the Muggle world with his Hogwarts′ life! How does he deal with his two lifestyles? What can you say about his character?

With this task pupils should learn how to work effectively with a long text. They should know how to mark text passages, make notes and separate important facts from meaningless ones. With the comparison of Harry‘s two contradictory areas of life the pupils learn how to deal with different “cultures”. The Wizard world can be seen as a playful access to a different country or culture.

• Look at the professors at Hogwarts, including Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall and Quirrell and describe their characters! What does Harry learn from each one? Give ideas from the novel!
• Why are Harry, Ron and Hermione such good friends? Give events from the text to emphasize your ideas? What can you find out about their different character traits and qualities?
• Creative writing: Write about your best friend? What can you say about his/ her qualities? What about your friend do you not like? How did your friendship start? Why are you such good friends, what do you believe?

For that task we would repeat a large number of character traits and qualities and give also unknown ones to the pupils. The model on the board could look like this (also a mind-map is possible):

Positive Qualities	Negative Qualities
honest, brave, hard-working, friendly, light-hearted, l oyal, humble, daring, helpful,…	conceited, naughty, lazy, disagreeable, selfish, messy, bossy,…

This task is also very useful for the pupils because they work on the central topic friendship according to the Rahmenplan: Ich und duwir und die anderen:

Die Bedeutung von Familie und Freunden für das eigene Leben erkennen

Die Welt der anderen versuchen zu verstehen

Die Meinungen/ Ansichten anderer akzeptieren

Die eigene Meinung äußern und dazu stehen 

A possible Double Lesson 

Time	Phases of the lesson	LessonProduction	Useful media	Social form
10 min.	greeting& explanation	The teacher asks the pupils if they understood the first chapters. The pupils have the possibility to ask questions.	book	frontal
15 min.	test	The pupils have to answer questions according to the first two chapters on a cheat of paper given by the teacher.	paper	separate working
10 min.	preparation	The teacher repeats adjectives to describe qualities for a characterization.	board	frontal
40 min.	task: characterization	The pupils write a characterization, e.g. of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger.	workbook	separate working
20 min.	presentation	Some pupils read out loud their characterization in front of the class. The classmates give feedbacks and so the teacher does.	workbook	frontal
5 min.	summary	The teacher gives a short feedback and leads to the homework: “Revise your characterization! “	-	frontal

3.3    Post-reading activities

After finishing reading the book, central aspects of the text should be repeated. It presents itself to change the point of view or to rewrite the text into another genre. Also creative tasks, which mean text productive orientated ones, are suitable for post-reading activities. Discussions, hot chairing, which is actually an artificially played interview including one or more fictitious characters, or a court hearing are popular activities to conclude the topic. Some other proposals would be the writing of poetry, critiques, diary entries and letters to the editor, film scripts, short stories.(Haß 2006: 152)  

„Post-reading activities are designed to integrate:

a)language-based approaches: students are using language for expressive and purposive activities

with  b)  further exploration of theme and character and a developing interpretation of the text

with  c)  further creative involvement with the text through a process of formal  comparison and contrast

with  d)  methodologies which are learner-centred, activity-based and productive of language and which draw on students’ own experiences.“ (Carter, Long 1991: 98)

To conclude the topic, it is possible to watch the movie of Harry Potter. After that the pupils have to compare the movie with the book and answer questions like the following:

• Where are the similarities/ differences?
• Which character was well/ worse presented?
• Which of the scenes impressed you the most?
• What did you like more, the book or the film? Write a comparison (300 words) and give examples to underline your opinion!

Another task or conclusion is the planning and the implementation of a Quidditch match.

The pupils have to form teams and learn the Quidditch rules[2] with the help of the Internet.

Group work:

Find a partner and write an interview (dialogue). One of you is J.K. Rowling and the other pupil is the interviewer! What would you like to know and ask J.K. Rowling? Write down appropriate questions and than practice the interview several times! At least you have to present your results in front of the class!

This task includes a role play in which the pupils have to slip in other persons. “Beim Rollenspiel im Unterricht können „Schüler am eigenen Leibe erfahren, ‚was auf dem Spiel steht‘, wenn man sich ernsthaft mit den Mitschülern und den von ihnen übernommenen Rollen auseinandersetzt“ […]. Ziel ist die Entwicklung der Handlungskompetenz. (Mähler/ Schröder: 1991: 82). The pupils have to think serious about the author J.K. Rowling (“How could she act? / What kind of person could she be? Is she natural or conceited?). They also have to think about the imaginary person who interviews (“What would s/he want to know about J.K. Rowling?”). The partners have to practice to speak fluently and with (Freies Sprechen[3]) or without their notes (Sprechen mit Notizen).

 

4  Conclusion about teaching Harry Potter 

We would teach “Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s Stone“ at school because the popularity of Harry Potter can stimulate the pupils and their reading abilities. At present, Harry Potter is ubiquitous. You can see him on television, in the cinema, in bookstores and advertisements. One can also find a lot of merchandising articles for sale. Most pupils know the adventures of Harry Potter already; therefore the teacher has not much to do to arouse pupils‘ interest. This can be seen as an advantage because the teacher will not need much time for the pre-reading activities. Another advantage is that most pupils like Harry Potter because it is a modern novel. We believe that modern novels are more motivating as stories from other literary epochs. Harry Potter books can have an effect on the reading habits of the children, as well. If they like the first story of him, it is probable that they want to know more about his adventures. So they start to read the sequel of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher‘s Stone“. It is a literary phenomenon and it seems to be unbelievable that Harry Potter was first rejected by some publishing houses.

Besides the stories are easy to read and understand. The children can understand new words from the context. It includes central topics like family, friendship, school and teenager problems. These topics can have an appealing effect on the children‘s reading habits. Also motivating is the imaginary wizard world. It activates the powers of imagination. In addition, teaching Harry Potter at school has a lot of advantages. One can find a great deal of material and many creative tasks like a role play or a Quidditch match; one also can watch the movies with the pupils to conclude the topic.

 

5  Bibliography

5.1    Book sources

Bach, Gerhard; Timm, Johannes-Peter (ed.) (2003): Englischunterricht. Tübingen, Basel: A. Francke Verlag, p. 149-165.

Barfield, Steven et. al. (editor) (2007): Teaching Contemporary British Fiction. Heidelberg:

Universitätsverlag. p. 7-41.

Carter, Ronald and Long, Michael (1991): Teaching Literature. Essex: Longman.

Chairman, Albert (et al.) (2004): The New International Webster’s Student Dictionary. Köln: Karl Müller Verlag.

Collie, Joanne and Slater, Steven (1987): Literature in the Language Classroom. A Resource Book of Ideas and Activities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Cuddon, John Anthony (ed.) (1999): The Penguin Dictionary of LiteraryTerms and Literary Theory. London (u.a): Penguin Books.

Eggleston, John (ed.) (1994): Teaching English as a Foreign Language. London, New York: Routledge Education Books.

Gebhard, Jerry G. (1996): Teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language. Michigan:   University of Michigan.

Haß, Frank (ed.) (2006): Fachdidaktik Englisch. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, p. 147-167.

Heuer, Helmut; Klippel, Friederike (1990): Englischmethodik. Problemfelder, Unterrichtswirklichkeit und Handlungsempfehlungen. Berlin: Cornelsen Verlag.

Jarfe, Günther (ed.) (1997): Literaturdidaktikkonkret. Theorie und Praxis des fremdsprachlichen Literaturunterrichts. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag. p. 9-45.

Knobloch, Jörg (2000): Die Zauberwelt der J.K. Rowling. Hintergründe & Facts zu „Harry Potter“. Mühlheim an der Ruhr: Verlag an der Ruhr.

Goring, Paul; Hawthorn, Jeremy; Mitchell, Domhall (2001): Studying Literature. The Essential Companion. London: Arnold.

Mähler; Bettina/ Schröder, Stefan (1991): Kleines Schullexikon. Frankfurt am Main: Cornelson Scriptor.

Marckwardt, Albert (ed.) (2004): The New International Webster’s Student Dictionary. Köln: Bellavista.

Müller-Hartmann, Andreas/ Schocker-von Ditfurth, Marita (2004): Introduction to the English   Language. Stuttgart: Erich Klett Verlag.

Tew, Philip (2004): The Contemporary British Novel. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, p.179-187.

Zollner, Barbara Maria (2002): Mentor Interpretationshilfe zu J. K. Rowling „Harry Potter  and the Philosopher’s Stone“. München: Mentor.

5.2    Internet sources

Picture 1 „Harry Potter and his friends“(accessed on September 28^th):  http://pageperso.aol.fr/audrey8759/images/harry,ron%20et%20hermione..jpg

Picture 2 „Prof. Dumbledore“(accessed on September 28^th):

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Film/Pix/gallery/2004/05/19/dumbledore3.jpg

Picture 3 „The Dursleys“(accessed on September 28^th):

http://www.fabbricantidiuniversi.it/harrypotter/immagini/dursley.jpg

Picture 4„Draco Malfoy“(accessed on September 28^th):

http://www.moviesection.de/v3/img/datenbank/1087501994tom1.jpg

Rahmenplan Englisch. Gymnasium und Integrierte Gesamtschule, Jahrgangsstufen 7-10, Erprobungsfassung 2002, Rostock 2002. Accessed on July 1^st:

Harry Potter Quiz (accessed on July 3^rd):

www.kidsreads.com/HP07/trivial.asp

Quidditch Rules (accessed on July 3^rd):

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1   „Teachers working within such an orientation stress the value of literature in encapsulating the accumulated wisdom, the best that has been thought and felt within a culture. Literature expresses the most significant ideas and sentiments of human beings and teaching literature represents a means by which students can be put in touch with a range of expression (...) over an historical period or periods. Teaching literature within a cultural model enables students to understand and appreciate cultures and ideologies different from their own in time and space (...).“ (Carter, Long 1991: 2) „(It) is normally associated with a more teacher-centred, transmissive pedagogic mode which focuses on the text as a product about which students learn to acquire information.“ (Carter, Long 1991: 8)

2   „It is sometimes argued that a justification for the teaching of literature is its value in promoting language development. (...) Literature can be an instrument for use in connection with the teaching of specific vocabulary or structures or for language manipulation. (...) One of the main reasons for a teacher’s orientation towards a language model for teaching literature is (...) to put students in touch with some of the more subtle and varied creative uses of language. (...) A main impulse of language-centred literature teaching is to help students find ways into a text in a methodical way and for themselves.“ (Carter, Long 1991: 2) „(It) is normally associated with language-based approaches. These aims to be learner-centred and activity-based and to proceed with particular attention to the way language is used. The importance of interpreting relations between linguistic forms and literary meanings and of learning to read between rather than in the lines of the text is paramount.“ (Carter, Long 1991: 8)

3    „One of the main goals (...) is to try to help students to achieve an engagement with the reading of literary texts. This engagement cannot really be measured in terms of passing examinations in literature; the test of the teacher’s success in teaching literature is the extent to which students carry with them beyond the classroom an enjoyment and love for literature which is renewed as they continue to engage with literature throughout their lives. What the teacher will have imparted in such cases is a lasting pleasure in reading and a deep satisfaction in a continuing growth of understanding. (...) To encourage personal growth the teacher has to stimulate and enliven students in the literature class by selecting texts to which students can respond and in which they can participate imaginatively, by promoting the kind of conditions for learning in the classroom which will make the reading of literature a memorable, individual and collective experience and , above all, by enthusiasm for and commitment to the teaching of literature as literature.“ (Carter, Long 1991: 3) „(It) is (...) more student-centred, the overall aim being to motivate the student to read by relating the themes and topics depicted in a literary text to his or her own personal experience. The approach is mainly anti-analytic and does not equate easily with information-based, product-centred teaching.“ (Carter, Long 1991: 8)

4    „The identification of oneself with another and the resulting capacity to feel or experience sensations, emotions, or thoughts similar to those being experienced by the other. [Greek. enin + pathos feeling]“ (Marckwardt 2004: 232)

5    Bach and Timm (2003: 151) report: „Aufgrund des fiktionalen Privilegs der potenziell unbegrenzten Bewusstseinsdarstellung erhalten die Schüler darüber hinaus Einblcik in das, was in den Köpfen anderer Menschen bzw. Figuren vor sich geht, d. h. sie erfahren , was andere denken und fühlen und wie sie die Welt erleben. Diese bei der Lektüre intuitiv vollzogenen Perspektivenwechsel erweitern nicht nur den Wahrnehmungsund Verstehenshorizont der Lernenden, sondern fordern sie bisweilen auch zum Umdenken heraus.“

6    Regarding this point Bach and Timm (2003: 151) report: „Gerade fremdsprachige Literatur bietet Lernenden somit die Möglichkeit, die Andersartigkeit fremder Wirklichkeitsmodelle kennen zu lernen, sich auf fremde Sichtweisen einzulassen und (...) auch über die notwendige Begrenztheit der eigenen Weltsicht zu reflektieren. Im Vergleich zu Sachtexten, die auf eine eher rationale Annäherung an das Fremde abzielen, liegt das Potenzial literarischer Texte dabei darin, dass sie durch die exemplarische Schilderung konkreter Einzelschicksale das Fremde emotional erfahrbar und nachvollziehbar machen. Daher kann die Auseinandersetzung mit literarischen Texten entscheidend zur Ausbildung von Fantasie und zur Erweiterung von Handlungsmöglichkeiten beitragen. Da sie auch in besonderer Weise die Entwicklung eines Sinns für alternative Lebensentwürfe, die Bereitschaft zu Toleranz sowie die Fähigkeit zu Empathie und Perspektivenwechsel und damit das Verstehen von Menschen aus anderen Kulturkreisen fördert, können die Schülerinnen und Schüler auf selbstständiges Handeln in der außerschulischen Lebenswelt vorbereitet werden.“

7    A name, symbol, design, device, or word used by a merchant or manufacturer to identify his product and distinguish from that of the others. (Marckwardt 2004: 781)

[1]    www.kidsreads.com/HP07/trivial.asp

[2]   http://knolongy.net/%7Elionheart/Q03.html

[3]   http://www.bildung-mv.de/data/download/rahmenplaene/rp-englisch-7-10-gym-02.pdf