Wednesday December 22, 2004

Pre-Intermediate +

THE ARTICLE

It has been revealed that the sixth installment of the Harry Potter mega-selling series will hit the streets on July 16 next year. Author J.K. Rowling made the announcement a little early – she had intended to break the news on Xmas Day. The book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be published on the same day in Britain, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all. It is rumored that it will be slightly shorter than the last book, but readers are promised a classic account of teenage wizardry. A publishing executive said “J.K. Rowling has written a brilliant story that will dazzle her fans in a marvelous book that takes the series to yet greater heights.”

Potter is huge business. The fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix, sold an incredible five million copies on its first day of publication. J.K. Rowling does seem to have magical powers when it comes to storytelling. All five books have sold 265 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 62 languages, making it a truly global phenomenon. The three Hollywood movies of Harry’s adventures have netted $2.6 billion at the box office, with plans for three more films. Harry has also made J.K. Rowling the richest author ever, and the first writer to make $1 billion from her books. Of the latest, she hopes “you feel that it was worth the wait when you finally read it!”

Fans can already place their orders and be assured they are among the first to receive their books. Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the book to be delivered on July 16, at a huge saving. The official price will be $29.99, but Amazon’s price is $17.99 – 40% off. The book is already No. 1 on bestseller lists. Sales from the last Harry Potter book earned more than most Hollywood movies in its first week of release. Steve Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble, said “We expect this penultimate book in the series to make publishing history once again. We've already collected 500,000 e-mail requests from our customers.” The year 2005 is already set for another round of Pottermania.

POSSIBLE WARM UPS / COOL DOWNS

1. CHAT:  Talk in pairs or groups about books / books written in English / Harry Potter / J.K. Rowling / book pre-orders / Potter movies / Potter paraphernalia …
To make things more dynamic, try telling your students they only have one minute (or 2) on each chat topic before changing topics / partners. Change topic / partner frequently to energize the class.

2. MY FAVE READS: Students write down three of their all-time favorite books. Tell these to their partner and the reasons why they like them.

3. MY COUNTRY: Talk about the most popular literary characters in your country. Perhaps the teacher could have students from the same country give mini-presentations to the class explaining a character.

4. POTTER BRAINSTORM: Brainstorm facts from students about Harry Potter. Students talk together about these facts.

5. POTTER MADNESS: Students pretend they are manufacturers. What ideas can they come up with for Xmas toys and merchandize. They talk in pairs. Teacher asks for ideas and writes them on the board. Students then discuss which will sell. Each student tells the teacher which idea they would buy – this will decide the winning idea

6. 2-MINUTE DEBATES: Students face each other in pairs and engage in the following (for-fun) 2-minute debates. Students A are assigned the first argument, students B the second. Rotate pairs to ensure a lively pace and noise level is kept:
Harry Potter is just for kids. vs. No way man.
Reading about wizards and magic isn’t good for kids. vs They are fantastic stories.
Lord of the Rings is better. vs Potter is best.
The books are better than the movies. vs. The movies are better.
Harry will die at the end. vs. Harry will save the world from evil.
Harry will marry Hermione. vs. Harry will stay single forever.
Magic doesn’t exist. vs. Many people can do magic.
The books are too long. vs. That makes them great.
The books are too difficult to read in English because of the strange vocabulary. vs. They are the same as any other English novel.

PRE-READING IDEAS

1. WORD SEARCH: Students look in their dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … of the words ‘mega’, ‘magic’ and ‘movie’.

2. HEADLINE: Put the article headline on the board for students to talk about / predict /speculate. Pairs / groups formulate and present their own guesses as to the contents of the report.

3. TRUE / FALSE: Students look at the headline and predict whether they believe the following statements are true or false:

(a)  The fifth installment in the Harry Potter series is coming.  T / F
(b)  The new book will be published in every country in the world on the same day.  T / F
(c)  It is rumored that it will be slightly shorter than the last book.  T / F
(d)  Harry Potter is huge business.  T / F
(e)  Harry Potter books have been translated into 62 languages.  T / F
(f)  Harry Potter movies have not done so well at the box office  T / F
(g)  J.K. Rowling is the first billionaire author.  T / F
(h)  This is the very last book in the Harry Potter saga.  T / F

4. SYNONYM MATCH: Students match the following synonyms from the article:

(a)	revealed	enchant
(b)	installment	boss
(c)	rumoured	narrative
(d)	dazzle	part
(e)	huge	records
(f)	storytelling	reported
(g)	phenomenon	disclosed
(h)	assured	enormous
(i)	lists	sensation
(j)	CEO	guaranteed

5. PHRASE MATCH: Students match the following phrases based on the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

(a)	The sixth	streets
(b)	Hit the	powers
(c)	Break the	heights
(d)	publishing	installment
(e)	Take the series to greater	news
(f)	huge	off
(g)	magical	business
(h)	global	order
(i)	Place an	executive
(j)	40%	phenomenon
(k)	make	history

 

WHILE READING ACTIVITIES

1. GAP-FILL:  Put the missing words under each paragraph into the gaps.

Harry Potter 6 announced

It has been __________ that the sixth installment of the Harry Potter mega-selling __________ will hit the streets on July 16 next year. Author J.K. Rowling made the announcement a little early – she had intended to __________ the news on Xmas Day. The book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be published on the same day in Britain, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all. It is __________ that it will be slightly shorter than the last book, but readers are promised a classic account of teenage __________. A publishing executive said “J.K. Rowling has written a brilliant story that will dazzle her fans in a marvelous book that takes the series to yet __________ heights.”		break rumored series greater revealed wizardry
Potter is __________ business. The fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix, sold an __________ five million copies on its first day of publication. J.K. Rowling does seem to have __________ powers when it comes to storytelling. All five books have sold 265 million copies worldwide and have been __________ into 62 languages, making it a truly global phenomenon. The three Hollywood movies of Harry’s adventures have __________ $2.6 billion at the box office, with plans for three more films. Harry has also made J.K. Rowling the richest __________ ever, and the first writer to make $1 billion from her books. Of the latest, she hopes “you feel that it was worth the wait when you finally read it!”		magical huge author netted incredible translated
Fans can already __________ their orders and be assured they are among the first to receive their books. Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the book to be __________ on July 16, at a huge __________. The official price will be $29.99, but Amazon’s price is $17.99 – 40% __________. The book is already No. 1 on bestseller lists. Sales from the last Harry Potter book __________ more than most Hollywood movies in its first week of release. Steve Riggio, CEO of Barnes & Noble, said “We expect this penultimate book in the series to make publishing history once again. We've already collected 500,000 e-mail requests from our customers.” The year 2005 is already set for another round of __________.		place off earned delivered saving Pottermania

 

2. TRUE/FALSE:  Students check their answers to the T/F exercise.

3. PHRASE MATCH: Students check their answers to the phrase match exercise.

4. QUESTIONS: Students make notes for questions they would like to ask the class about the article.

5. VOCABULARY:  Students circle any words they do not understand. In groups pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find the meanings.

POST READING IDEAS

1. GAP-FILL: Check the answers to the gap-fill exercise.

2. QUESTIONS:  Students ask the discussion questions they thought of above to their partner / group / class. Pool the questions for all students to share.

3. VOCABULARY: As a class, go over the vocabulary students circled above.

4. STUDENT-GENERATED POTTER SURVEY: Pairs/Groups write down 3 questions based on the article. Conduct their surveys alone. Report back to partners to compare answers. Report to other groups / the whole class. Back in pairs students discuss their findings.

5. POTTER DISCUSSION: Students ask each other the following questions based on the article:

(a)  Which Harry Potter books have you read (if any)?
(b)  What do you think of Harry Potter?
(c)  Have you seen the movies?
(d)  Which are better, the books or the movies?
(e)  Who is your favorite character?
(f)  Which is your favorite book?
(g)  Would you like magical powers?
(h)  What magical powers would you like?
(i)  Would you like to go to Hogwarts?
(j)  Why is Harry Potter such a global phenomenon?
(k)  Do you understand Pottermania?
(l)  Teacher’s additional questions

6. MAGICAL POWERS: Write the following magical powers on the board, and brainstorm others from students. In pairs, students discuss the relative merits of having each power:
- the ability to fly
– the ability to read minds
- a photographic memory
- the ability to change people into animals or insects
– being able to make yourself invisible
- having X-ray vision
- having superhuman strength
- telekinesis - making things move just by thinking about it
- being able to hypnotize people
- others???

7. POTTER QUIZ: If your students are particularly familiar with the Harry Potter books and movies, have different groups write questions for a Potter Quiz. Conduct the quiz in teams.

8. POTTER #7: In pairs / groups, have students come up with the story for the final boo k in the series. Find a partner and recount your version of the final book. Each group could make a presentation and a vote taken on the best story

HOMEWORK

1. VOCAB EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or the Google search field to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information on Harry Potter. Share your findings with your class next lesson.

3. A DAY IN MY LIFE: Imagine you are Harry potter. Write your diary entry for one day in your life.

4. POTTER #7: You are J.K. Rowling. Write a brief synopsis of the final book in the Harry Potter series.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

(a)  The fifth installment in the Harry Potter series is coming.  F
(b)  The new book will be published in every country in the world on the same day.  F
(c)  It is rumored that it will be slightly shorter than the last book.  T
(d)  Harry Potter is huge business.  T
(e)  Harry Potter books have been translated into 62 languages.  T
(f)  Harry Potter movies have not done so well at the box office  F
(g)  J.K. Rowling is the first billionaire author.  T
(h)  This is the very last book in the Harry Potter saga.  F

SYNONYM MATCH:

(a)	revealed	disclosed
(b)	installment	part
(c)	rumoured	reported
(d)	dazzle	enchant
(e)	huge	enormous
(f)	storytelling	narrative
(g)	phenomenon	sensation
(h)	assured	guaranteed
(i)	lists	records
(j)	CEO	boss

PHRASE MATCH:

(a)	the sixth	installment
(b)	hit the	streets
(c)	break the	news
(d)	publishing	executive
(e)	take the series to greater	heights
(f)	huge	business
(g)	magical	powers
(h)	global	phenomenon
(i)	place an	order
(j)	40%	off
(k)	make	history