Breaking News English

        

1. HARRY POTTER: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Harry Potter. Change partners often. Sit with your first partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

J.K. Rowling / authors / websites / Harry Potter / books / characters / backgrounds / fans / devotedly / digital generation / movie sites / unique / online / reading

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. BOOKS: Which are best for children? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you wrote. Change and share again.

	How important?	Why?
Fantasy books
Encyclopaedia
Non-fiction
Religious books
Books on hobbies
Poetry books

4. THE BOOKS: Students A strongly believe the Harry Potter books are the best children’s books ever; Students B strongly believe they are not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. FICTION: What’s your favourite? Rank these and share your rankings with your partner. Put your favourite at the top. Change partners and share your rankings again.

witches and wizards romance spy stories fantasy

horror science fiction crime comedy

6. FAN: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘fan’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.	J.K. Rowling has announced the eighth Harry Potter book online.	T / F
b.	The new site is officially online from July 1, 2011.	T / F
c.	The new website will include a lot of material not published before.	T / F
d.	The site will have a lot of information on different Harry Potter places.	T / F
e.	The new site is J.K Rowling’s way of thanking her fans.	T / F
f.	Pottermore.com replaces the current official Harry Potter website.	T / F
g.	Fans will create new material on the website with J.K. Rowling.	T / F
h.	A special library will be built made from Harry Potter books.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.	author	a.	secret
2	unveiled	b.	form
3.	sneak	c.	presently
4.	considerable	d.	revealed
5.	locations	e.	greatly
6.	fans	f.	novelist
7.	currently	g.	places
8.	hugely	h.	supporters
9.	interact	i.	great
10.	shape	j.	communicate

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.	author J.K. Rowling has unveiled	a.	Harry Potter website
2	The new site will be officially	b.	preview
3.	the chance of a sneak	c.	with Rowling
4.	a considerable amount of unpublished	d.	back to the fans
5.	a lot of new info on the characters’	e.	the latest addition
6.	I wanted to give something	f.	online from October
7.	that have followed Harry so devotedly	g.	reading experience
8.	There is currently no official	h.	backgrounds
9.	allow fans to interact	i.	material
10.	enjoy a safe, unique online	j.	over the years

 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has (1) ____________ the latest addition to her (2) ____________ successful fictional phenomenon - a website called Pottermore.com. The new site will be (3) ____________ online from October 2011, but people who sign up for it now have the chance of a (4) ____________ preview before then. The official online announcement reads: “Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience          (5) ____________ the reading of the Harry Potter books.” The site will include a considerable (6) ____________ of unpublished material about Harry Potter, that Ms Rowling had to leave out of her books to keep the word (7) ____________ down. The author says there will be a lot of new info on the characters’ backgrounds and on wizardly (8) ____________.		officially count unveiled around locations hugely amount sneak
J.K. Rowling says she is (9) ____________ Pottermore to thank her fans. "I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so (10) ____________ over the years, and to bring the stories to a new (11) ____________ generation,” she said. There is currently no official Harry Potter website, although there are (12) ____________ popular sites run by fans, such as mugglenet.com and the-leaky-cauldron.org, as well as the Warner Brothers movie site. Pottermore will (13) ____________ fans to interact with Rowling and create new content together. She said: "I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to (14) ____________ Pottermore as I have." She added that fans, “will be able to enjoy a safe, (15) ____________ online reading experience (16) ____________ around the books”.		unique devotedly built digital starting allow shape hugely

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has __________________________ to her hugely successful fictional phenomenon - a website called Pottermore.com. The new site will __________________________ from October 2011, but people who sign up for it now have the chance of a sneak preview before then. The official online announcement reads: “Pottermore is a free website __________________________ online experience around the reading of the Harry Potter books.” The site will include __________________________ unpublished material about Harry Potter, that Ms Rowling had to leave out of her books __________________________ down. The author says there will be a lot of new info on the characters’ backgrounds __________________________.

J.K. Rowling says she is starting Pottermore to thank her fans. "I wanted to __________________________ the fans that have followed Harry so __________________________, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation,” she said. There is currently no official Harry Potter website, although there __________________________ run by fans, such as mugglenet.com and the-leaky-cauldron.org, as well as the Warner Brothers movie site. Pottermore will __________________________ with Rowling and create new content together. She said: "I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as __________________________ shape Pottermore as I have." She added that fans, “will be able to enjoy a safe, unique online reading experience __________________________”.

 
 

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘web’ and ‘site’.

web

site

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

author sign reads amount leave locations

thank years digital movie fun built

STUDENT HARRY POTTER SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Harry Potter in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

HARRY POTTER DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the name ‘Harry Potter’?
c)	What do you think of Harry Potter?
d)	Do you think children should be reading about witches, wizards and dark magic?
e)	Why are the Harry Potter books so popular?
f)	What do you think of the idea of Pottermore.com?
g)	Would you like a sneak preview?
h)	Do you think all authors should publish material left out because of the word count?
i)	Who is your favourite Harry Potter character and why?
j)	Which of Harry Potter’s spells would you like to be able to do?

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STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	Do you think Pottermore.com is a good way for J.K. Rowling to thank her fans?
c)	Should all authors do things to thank his/her fans?
d)	Who is your favourite author and why?
e)	What’s the best children’s book ever written?
f)	What do you think of the idea of fans creating new content with J.K. Rowling?
g)	Do you like reading online?
h)	Should J.K. Rowling write an eighth Harry Potter book?
i)	Do you think Pottermore is just another way to make lots of money?
j)	What questions would you like to ask J.K. Rowling?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has (1) ____ the latest addition to her hugely successful fictional phenomenon - a website called Pottermore.com. The new site will be officially online from October 2011, but people who sign (2) ____ for it now have the chance of a (3) ____ preview before then. The official online announcement reads: “Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience (4) ____ the reading of the Harry Potter books.” The site will include a (5) ____ amount of unpublished material about Harry Potter, that Ms Rowling had to leave out of her books to keep the word (6) ____ down. The author says there will be a lot of new info on the characters’ backgrounds and on wizardly locations.

J.K. Rowling says she is starting Pottermore to thank her fans. "I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so (7) ____ over the years, and to bring the stories to a new (8) ____ generation,” she said. There is currently no official Harry Potter website, although there are hugely popular sites (9) ____ by fans, such as mugglenet.com and the-leaky-cauldron.org, as well as the Warner Brothers movie site. Pottermore will (10) ____ fans to interact with Rowling and create new content together. She said: "I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to (11) ____ Pottermore as I have." She added that fans, “will be able to enjoy a safe, (12) ____ online reading experience built around the books”.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	unveiled	(b)	unveils	(c)	unveiling	(d)	unveil
2.	(a)	at	(b)	by	(c)	up	(d)	of
3.	(a)	snake	(b)	sneak	(c)	snack	(d)	snuck
4.	(a)	over	(b)	more	(c)	then	(d)	around
5.	(a)	considerate	(b)	considering	(c)	considerable	(d)	consider
6.	(a)	count	(b)	sum	(c)	account	(d)	countless
7.	(a)	devotion	(b)	devote	(c)	devotee	(d)	devotedly
8.	(a)	digitally	(b)	digital	(c)	digit	(d)	digits
9.	(a)	walked	(b)	paced	(c)	run	(d)	strolled
10.	(a)	allow	(b)	follow	(c)	bellow	(d)	wallow
11.	(a)	sharp	(b)	shape	(c)	shave	(d)	shame
12.	(a)	antique	(b)	pique	(c)	clique	(d)	unique

 
 

WRITING

Write about Harry Potter for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

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HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about Pottermore. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. HARRY POTTER: Make a poster about Harry Potter. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. HARRY: Write a magazine article about Harry Potter. Include imaginary interviews with him and with J.K. Rowling.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to Harry Potter. Ask him three questions about being Harry Potter. Give him three suggestions on what might happen in an eighth Harry Potter book. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

 

 
 

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

F

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

T

f.

F

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	author	a.	novelist
2	unveiled	b.	revealed
3.	sneak	c.	secret
4.	considerable	d.	great
5.	locations	e.	places
6.	fans	f.	supporters
7.	currently	g.	presently
8.	hugely	h.	greatly
9.	interact	i.	communicate
10.	shape	j.	form

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	author J.K. Rowling has unveiled	a.	the latest addition
2	The new site will be officially	b.	online from October
3.	the chance of a sneak	c.	preview
4.	a considerable amount of unpublished	d.	material
5.	a lot of new info on the characters’	e.	backgrounds
6.	I wanted to give something	f.	back to the fans
7.	that have followed Harry so devotedly	g.	over the years
8.	There is currently no official	h.	Harry Potter website
9.	allow fans to interact	i.	with Rowling
10.	enjoy a safe, unique online	j.	reading experience

GAP FILL:

J.K. Rowling announces Harry Potter site

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has (1) unveiled the latest addition to her (2) hugely successful fictional phenomenon - a website called Pottermore.com. The new site will be (3) officially online from October 2011, but people who sign up for it now have the chance of a (4) sneak preview before then. The official online announcement reads: “Pottermore is a free website that builds an exciting online experience (5) around the reading of the Harry Potter books.” The site will include a considerable (6) amount of unpublished material about Harry Potter, that Ms Rowling had to leave out of her books to keep the word (7) count down. The author says there will be a lot of new info on the characters’ backgrounds and on wizardly (8) locations.

J.K. Rowling says she is (9) starting Pottermore to thank her fans. "I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so (10) devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new (11) digital generation,” she said. There is currently no official Harry Potter website, although there are (12) hugely popular sites run by fans, such as mugglenet.com and the-leaky-cauldron.org, as well as the Warner Brothers movie site. Pottermore will (13) allow fans to interact with Rowling and create new content together. She said: "I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to (14) shape Pottermore as I have." She added that fans, “will be able to enjoy a safe, (15) unique online reading experience (16) built around the books”.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - a

2 - c

3 - b

4 - d

5 - c

6 - a

7 - d

8 - b

9 - c

10 - a

11 - b

12 - d

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