8 TEEP NEWS
Harry Potter in a Darkened Room
I
n a darkened room, thirty, top of the
Marion Barnett, Heworth Grange City Learning Centre.
Meanwhile, interactive computer exercises,
range, deep red computers are winking
with electronic blue lights, Harry
Potter theme music playing quietly in the
relevant websites, e.g.
www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/multimedia/
authorreading.htm and other related
activities, such as creating a spell,
background, and thirty children are already
spell-bound as they enter the room.
As the music fades, Crazytalk-animated
faces of Harry Potter, Professor McGonegal,
Hagrid, and Snape in a PowerPoint
presentation ask them if they are ready to
learn how to ride on broomsticks to find
five artefacts from around the world so that
they can rescue Dumbledore. The scene
is set and the children are asked to believe
all they are told in a day of magic. A large
black crow spoke to me in the car park this
morning….”Dumbledore has been captured
by the Master of Voldemort and will never
be seen again!”
Replicas of the ruby ring, the skeleton
icicle, the ice diamond, the dragon gong
and the dream catcher are passed around,
held and examined as dramatic stories of
their powerful magic are told.
“Gaze into the ruby ring and
concentrate…..you will see to the ends of
the earth…..concentrate on what you want
to see and you will be transported in a
pink glow to a place that is close to your
desired destination”
Throughout the day small groups of
adventurers are taken to the green screen
studio where they learn of the technicalities
of chromakeying, then video their journeys
to the Colorado River, the Alps, Antarctica,
the Himalayas and the Grand Canyon.
They add commentaries that describe their
feelings as they fly on broomsticks around
the world. Cloaks of invisibility, witches’
hats and magic wands all add to the
excitement in the studio.
A CD is created so that they can see what
they have done.
video clips
reading aloud,
and using ‘post-it’ notes to prepare
individual and unique examples of similes,
metaphors and alliteration to stick around
the walls, give opportunities for those in
the classroom to explore ways of describing
characters and places and creating
adventures.
The use of a credit card system whereby
credits can be given to reward interesting,
accurate and imaginative work encourages
participation and motivates thinking.
The main purpose of the day is to
stimulate the children’s imagination so that
they can write an imaginative and magical
story about the rescue of Dumbledore.
TEEP NEWS 9
How does this fit in with the TEEP
Learning Cycle?
1. Prepare for learning
• Hook- (Music) Have theme music from
Harry Potter film playing as children
enter classroom. The first slide of the ppt
presentation will be on the white board.
• Use credit cards to encourage good effort
and good behaviour
2. Agree learning outcomes
• To understand that they will be writing
a story
• To demonstrate knowledge of similes,
metaphors, alliteration and some aspects
of grammar
• To demonstrate knowledge of describing
a character, a place, an adventure.
3. Present new information through all the
senses
• Listen to a story about the capture of
Dumbledore
• Watch ppt about the capture
• Use artefacts to embellish story
• Green screen workshop
• Watch film clips of quidditch and forest
scenes
• Use post its to share ideas
4. Construct Activity – the search for
meaning
• Divide class into 5 groups
• Group to search for artefacts in green
screen room, one at a time 30 mins each
• Remainder of class to use Opus exercises
to discover characteristics of friends and
teachers of Harry Potter.
• Opportunities for explanation and
creation of simile, metaphor and
alliteration – noun, adjective, verb
and adverb – Q and A to confirm
understanding
• Pupils will follow a web trail to enhance
knowledge
• Use information sheets at different levels
for differentiation
5. Apply to demonstrate your new
understanding
• In the classroom the children will
demonstrate understanding by:
• Matching characteristics to characters in
computer based exercises
• Creating a new character for an
adventure to rescue Dumbledore
• Creating a new place for their adventure
• Creating a new adventure
• Using adjectives, adverbs, similes,
metaphors, alliteration, synonyms and
onomatopoeia to make their stories more
interesting
In the green screen room the pupils will
demonstrate understanding by:
• Creating a video and a recording of their
experiences with descriptions of their
background film effects, the weather and
their emotions.
6. Step back and reflect on your learning
• Print their stories
• Read each others’ stories
• Choose interesting similes, metaphors
and alliteration from each others stories
• Print and display agreed best examples
on classroom wall
• Give out 1 certificate for most credits and
4 certificates for outstanding effort
Where do visual, audio and kinaesthetic
learners benefit?
Visual - Film clips, computer
exercises, artefacts, video in green
screen room
Audio - Q and A, recording
voices for audio clips, reading
aloud, headphones for listening to
J.K.Rowling on website
Kinaesthetic - green screen room,
artefacts, broomsticks, cloaks of
invisibility, wands
Where do The Underpinning Elements fit
into the planning?
AL: Accelerated learning
– memorable experiences flying on
broomsticks
-immediate feedback
– computer exercises prevent wrong
answers, review of what has been done and
what has been learnt
– credits for using similes, metaphors,
alliterations
TFL: Thinking for learning –
- headings for describing a character, a
place, an adventure
- creating similes, metaphors, alliteration
- using adjectives, adverbs
AFL: Assessment for learning
– marks out of 10 for ability to read aloud
as a class
– feedback and collaboration to reach mark
achieved
CPS: Collaborative learning and problem
solving
- pair and share ideas for video and
recording
– what makes an excellent simile, metaphor,
alliteration
ICT: Wordprocessing, audio, video,
interactive computer exercises, websites,
powerpoint presentation, use of interactive
white board, headphones
And finally,
SEN: Special Educational Needs
- Use of differentiated information sheets
EAL: English as additional language
– visual references for completion of tasks
Cross Curricular:
Citizenship and PSRE (Personal, Social,
Religious Education)
- respecting others, taking turns, classroom
rules.
ICT – as above
A few examples of work produced
by one class of year 6 pupils.
“He had hair that stuck up like a point
on a pencil”
“The cave walls were made of blue clay
and snot green rubber. “
“He was an extremely adventurous boy
and his bright green eyes shimmered in
the jet black night. “
“His blonde hair is as bushy as a
bottle brush”
“Dark Storm, who was very evil,
locked his eyes on the precious glowing
rock. The unusual solid icicle was
very special because it had the power
to glow as brightly as 100 million
candles. The 10 year old boy’s oily
black hair shone like the moon on the
sea and his eyes sparkled as he dreamt
of stealing the delicate crystal.”
“His training shoes began to melt like
chocolate in the microwave. “
“Ruby Red, who was twelve years old,
had very white teeth like a sheet of
thick snow! She had narrow eyebrows
and a chubby nose. She had brown eyes
like chocolate and a pale peachy colour
skin with ten tiny freckles…..and she
was as thin as a twig!”
“With the wind whispering, the sea
cascaded over the mossy rocks as well
as floating back very relaxed. “
“Her top was torn, tatty and tea
stained.”