Harry Potter in the classroom

[PamH]

I am a college student writing a paper on the use of Harry Potter in the classroom. Do you feel Harry Potter books should or should not be used in the classroom, why or why not? Also, what part of the country are you from?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Tom Dilerd]

I hate to tell you this, but you are in the wrong forum! This is a Role-Playing Forum. Sorry!

Sincerely,
~ Tom

 

[swordkitty]

yah! ask sumwhere else! (plz)

 

[BubblesRelena]

The first time I heard about Harry Potter was in my eigth grade classroom. Our teacher read it to us (he used voices. LoL), while we were doing in-class work. This was before it became very popular. The school librarian refused to let kids check it out, only teachers. She's a preachers wife and is againts it. I loved it and so far has purchased all the books and movies.

~BubblesRelena

(I live in california btw)

 

[Griffin_T]

I am a college student writing a paper on the use of Harry Potter in the classroom. Do you feel Harry Potter books should or should not be used in the classroom, why or why not? Also, what part of the country are you from?

Thanks for your help.

I'm originally from Michigan, but I've lived in Indiana for the past 8 years. I only mention this because people from Michigan are very different from people in Indiana.

Anywho...

I wouldn't say that Harry Potter SHOULD be taught in schools, but I see no problem with it. Kids love these stories and it gets their creative minds going. There really wasn't any controversy over these books until the Christian Coalition began publishing it's stereotypical slander. The CC has become a bloated corporation that is overstepping the principals in which it was founded.

I've seen teachers divide their classes up into class Houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin) as a means getting the kids to learn to cooperate together and to help with discipline. Good behavior will earn your house points....rule breaking will cause the House to lose points.

Getting them to write about their favorite characters is another good way to help them recall things they read and hear. But yeah. It's definitely a good tool in the classroom. The problem is that you get some kids that are left out because whenever a teacher reads the book in class there are always one or two kids that have to step out and go to the library because their parents don't want them listening to or reading it.

 

[HeatherJay]

I hate to tell you this, but you are in the wrong forum! This is a Role-Playing Forum. Sorry!

Sincerely,
~ Tom

Nope, I think YOU guys are in the wrong forum, lol. This is definitely The Book Club, not the role playing section.


That said, I don't have a problem with teachers reading it to their students or using it in the classroom. I love the books and children definitely seem to be receptive to them. My daughter is in kindergarten and I've noticed her bringing home HP stamps and playing cards and stuff (things they earn as rewards from the "treasure box"). If it opens up a childs mind to reading, I think it's wonderful.

BTW, I'm in Tennessee.

 

[lizardbit]

I had to read it in Grade 9 english. I really see no problem with teaching it in the classroom. Really it is hard enough to get children to read and enjoy it, so at least this way they are reading something they can find entertaining and yet still learn from. It opens their minds and allows them to use their creative juices.

I'm from Ontario Canada btw.

 

[Sors]

I have no problem with Harry Potter being taught in the class room at younger levels. I believe they are excellent stories. I do not believe that they belong in upper level English classes, for the same reason I do not believe that Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton (minus Eaters of the Dead) belongs in upper level English classes. There are simply better works of literature that belong in a class room environment much more than Harry Potter does.

By the way, I live in Lubbock TX.

Sors

 

[sinner/SAVED]

I think any book that captures a child's imagination and brings them to realize that literature can be just as cool as TV, video games, etc. should definately be used in the classroom.

South Georgia.

 

[Cordelia]

I'm in the UK and completely in favour of Harry Potter being used in schools. They're great stories and will get children reading for fun, which is fantastic. As a kid, we were read Roald Dahl stories, which were disturbing at the best of times Harry would have been good, instead!

I do not believe that they belong in upper level English classes, for the same reason I do not believe that Tom Clancy or Michael Crichton (minus Eaters of the Dead) belongs in upper level English classes. There are simply better works of literature that belong in a class room environment much more than Harry Potter does.

Ooh, careful, not everybody will agree on what 'good' literature is! I speak as an older student who thought a lot of so-called 'good' literature in school wasn't very good

 

[indigo tree]

I would say Harry Potter is an idleal book to teach to kids.

 

[Griffin_T]

Ooh, careful, not everybody will agree on what 'good' literature is! I speak as an older student who thought a lot of so-called 'good' literature in school wasn't very good

I believe he was speaking of classic literature, which is a category Harry Potter does not fall into. So he's saying stuff like Melville and Charles Dickens should be in upper levels. However, I've heard of an entire college semester class focusing on the Harry Potter books and the themes within the story.

But yeah, in principle, I'd agree that upper levels should be reading the classics. In most cases they'd have read Harry Potter by then anyway.

 

[TheDandyMan]

Yes, I do agree, except that some kids have had it in their minds to go and pursue witchcraft.

And, as I look back, I wish we'd had to read some of Doyle's work in school (I still haven't read one Holmes story...geez...). Same spine-tingling suspense, I suppose, just you get to learn about deductive reasoning, among dozens of other fun things that shape the world around us.

{West Coast}

 

[Cordelia]

I believe he was speaking of classic literature, which is a category Harry Potter does not fall into. So he's saying stuff like Melville and Charles Dickens should be in upper levels. However, I've heard of an entire college semester class focusing on the Harry Potter books and the themes within the story.

But yeah, in principle, I'd agree that upper levels should be reading the classics. In most cases they'd have read Harry Potter by then anyway.

Yeah, I know what he meant Thing is that not all of us think Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy, for example, should be taught to the exclusion of everything else. It's elitist to only teach the classics when so many recent authors should be included in upper levels. Sorry this is off topic.

 

[Andy Broadley]

I would say Harry Potter is an idleal book to teach to kids.

Why not? We had Tolkin and Twain when we were at school. Kids will relate to it, which will encourage them to read more. Needs to be done now though or Potter will bu unfashionable by the time it's brought in.

 

[MetalBlade]

Depends on what grade you are reading to. Harry Potter seems to be more for littler kids, but the recent books suggest a more older audience. I personally have no problem with the books or movies, and I can't see why people get in such a fit about 'em. I see how it ties in with sorcery and whitchcraft, but in no way do these books suggest Occultism or the such. Magic isn't real, and I think even young children know this. It is a piece of fiction.

In any case, these people who gripe about HP, should read Sword of Truth, or the Wheel of Time books. Heck, just even watch the Wizard of Oz!!!!!

I tell ya....some people

 

[Blessed-one]

of course. Do you know how hard it is to write a book that can be read across all ages? though it's only a style, still a pretty hard style to get used to.

but i suppose it just flows for Rowlings..

 

[Griffin_T]

Yes, I do agree, except that some kids have had it in their minds to go and pursue witchcraft. {West Coast}

I remember back in the 80s when Dungeon's & Dragon's was frowned upon because kids were commiting crimes and suicide based on characters they role played. But if you did a study on these kids and their families, I'm sure that most of them were pretty screwed up to begin with. But as I've said in other threads, it is up to the parents to be aware of what their children are reading and what they are learing in school and to follow up with their children on it. Of course it's no wonder some children have trouble telling reality from fantacy when parents encourage their children to believe in a certain jolly character around the holiday season....

 

[E-beth]

I LOVE the HP books, but I am not so sure I would want a teacher assigning it in class or whatever.

I would like to be the one discussing the "magic" of the books with my kid and not a teacher who may not have the same religious principles I have. For example, I would not want the applied learning of the HP unit to include a term paper about HP vs real witchcraft.

I live in Pennslyvania USA

 

[Griffin_T]

I LOVE the HP books, but I am not so sure I would want a teacher assigning it in class or whatever.

I would like to be the one discussing the "magic" of the books with my kid and not a teacher who may not have the same religious principles I have. For example, I would not want the applied learning of the HP unit to include a term paper about HP vs real witchcraft.

I live in Pennslyvania USA

I was a substitute teacher for a year and never knew of any teacher to actually assign the Harry Potter books as you describe. They are usually used during "story time" and the teachers don't usually explain the darker side of the books. They simple read the story. And some will discuss the chapter with the kids, but mostly the books are simply read and left at that. The kids don't even get a copy of the book. The teacher reads it aloud at the front.