It s Magic! Topic: World-wide success of new Harry Potter book Skills/Language: Understanding details, compound adjectives, discussion Level: Intermediate and above For this lesson you will need Copies of the Text Copies of Worksheet A Speaking activity and introduction to text Copies of Worksheet B Reading tasks Copies of Worksheet C Language task compound adjectives Copies of Worksheet D Vocabulary exercise ( book language ) Copies of Worksheet E Follow up writing / discussion Background For more information about the stories which are the basis of this plan, visit the BBC News website:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/entertainment/2002/harry_potter/default.stm There are pictures of readers in different countries buying the new Harry Potter book (open the section In Pictures Harry Potter mania sweeps the globe) Procedure Pre-reading tasks Take a few books in to class and elicit some key vocabulary such as novel, short story, author, cover, chapter Hand out Worksheet A. Students do the questionnaire in pairs or small groups. Use pictures (or perhaps a copy of a Harry Potter book!) to elicit the name of the world-famous fictional character, Harry Potter. In pairs, or small groups, the students brainstorm what they know about Harry Potter. Who is he? Where does he live and what school does he go to? Who are his best friends? What is the new Harry Potter book called? Background information Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the new book by author J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth of a series books telling the adventures of a young boy growing up with magical powers. All the books have been international bestsellers. Following a brief feedback session, introduce the text the new Potter is magic!... BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 1 of 7
Reading Task 1 Refer the students to Task 1 on Worksheet B Ask students to read the summary and answer the question It s Magic! summary A new book describing the latest adventures of Harry Potter, the famous fictional boy wizard, is breaking sales records around the globe. One bookshop in the US said that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was flying off their shelves at a rate of 80 copies a second the day it went on sale! Why is the new Harry Potter book making news headlines? It is selling huge numbers of copies and breaking sales records around the globe. Task 2 - Numbers Give the students the text Students read quickly to answer the numbers task 1,777,000 This is the number of copies sold in one day (publication day) in the UK 21 This is the date in June that the book was published 766 This is the number of pages in the new Potter book 55 This is the number of languages the previous books have been translated into. 200,000,000 This is the number of copies of all Harry Potter books that have been sold in total BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 2 of 7
Task 3 - Comprehension Ask students to read the main article again Ask students to answer the comprehension questions on Worksheet B 1: How many books are there in the Harry Potter series? 5 2: How many languages is the latest Harry Potter book published in? One English 3: Why is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix an important book in France? It is the first book written in English to top best seller lists 4: Give one reason why readers say they like the new Harry Potter book. The plot is full of surprises; it s great to see Harry growing-up; they couldn t put the book down until they d finished reading it 5: In the books, where does Harry catch the train to go to school? platform nine-and-three-quarters at Kings Cross station in London 6: What do wizards like Harry Potter sometimes wear? pointy hats and black capes BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 3 of 7
Language - compound adjectives Aim choose the correct compound adjectives Give the students Worksheet C Introduce the reporter s notebook About the reporter s notebook A reporter writes in a notebook when gathering information for a news story. Not all the information they write will be used in their final report. You re going to look at some sentences from the Harry Potter reporter s notebook. Not all of this information was used in the main news story. This exercise will help you learn more about Harry Potter fever and about news story writing. Ask students to read the Reporter s notebook and explain that there are gaps in this version of the notebook that need to be filled in with compound adjectives Introduce compound adjectives A compound adjective is an adjective which is made up of two parts. There are four examples in the main news story: fastest-selling record-breaking Harry Potter-style page-turning A compound adjective is usually written with a hyphen. The second part of the compound adjective is frequently a present participle e.g. fastest-selling, record-breaking, page-turning or a past participle e.g. long-awaited Compound adjectives are often used in news stories because they convey a lot of information in a very short description eg. Harry Potter-style clothes. Students work in pairs to fill the gaps with the correct compound adjectives BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 4 of 7
Reporter s notebook (with answers) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix looks set to become the fastestselling book in history! J K Rowling s record-breaking book is the fifth in a series about the adventures of the young wizard, Harry Potter. It s been 3 years since the fourth Harry Potter book was published, and when bookshops opened in the UK at midnight on Friday 20 June, children queued excitedly to buy the long-awaited new Potter adventure. In the UK, many children dressed in Harry Potter-style clothes, such as pointy hats and black capes. In London, thousands of school children went to the Albert Hall to hear J K Rowling give a one-off reading of her latest book. The new Harry Potter book reveals which character dies - a much-guarded secret. As many readers finished the book soon after buying it, it s clearly a pageturning read. In the US, first-day sales of Potter 5 quickly rose above 5 million copies. All the Harry Potter books have brightly-coloured covers, and there are different covers for the adult and children s versions. BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 5 of 7
Vocabulary Give students Worksheet D Using the context of the text to help them, ask students to match the words to the definitions. Alternatively, this could be done as a mingle activity. Cut out the words and definitions so each is on its own piece of paper Give each student a word or two. Distribute the definitions around the class. The students then find the definition(s) for their word(s). Feed back to the Board, be sure to check and drill the pronunciation. novel a book which tells a long story about people and events that are not real publication day the first day a book is released for sale best seller lists lists showing which books are selling the highest number of copies launch activities to celebrate a new book first edition a book which is one of the first copies to be printed hype intensive publicity crossover books books that both adults and children enjoy reviews articles in which people give their opinion of something such as a new book plot story main character most important person BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 6 of 7
Follow up Writing Aim Writing a book review Give out Worksheet E Show the students a model book review you should write this, so that the level is a suitable model for your class Students answer the questions on Worksheet E for this model book review Students use the questions to help them plan their book review Students write their book review Students give you their reviews you could read them to the class or display them BBC British Council Lesson plan - It s Magic! Page 7 of 7