As educators, we are always on the lookout for innovative ways to inspire a love of reading in our students. Over the past 20 years, my “Reading Boot Camp” program has consistently demonstrated success in improving students’ reading skills. One of the cornerstones of this program is the use of great literature, and there’s no better example than the Harry Potter series.
Why Harry Potter?
Students who need to make the greatest gains in reading often have a limited reading vocabulary and are underexposed to quality literature. Harry Potter provides an excellent solution. By incorporating Harry Potter into core literacy planning and book clubs, we give students access to challenging books, engaging movie clips, and inspirational theme music that can enhance lessons. The characters in Harry Potter have a special appeal for kids who face daily adversity, making the series an enriching and relatable choice.
Building Connections Through Auditory Strengths
(RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE)
Students typically have a stronger auditory or spoken vocabulary due to their exposure to TV and movies. By leveraging these strengths, we can build connections to literary elements in a format that kids love. Watching movie clips and listening to music makes building background knowledge fast, easy, and fun. This method helps students become fluent, excited, and erudite readers. They quickly transition from cinematic elements to literary elements, understanding settings, characters, plot, theme, mood, antagonist, and protagonist more effectively.
A Personal Journey with Scholastic
When Scholastic asked me to write a book about my Reading Boot Camp, I initially created something akin to “Chicken Soup for the Soul” for reading teachers. This project helped me build a relationship with Scholastic, and they later asked me to write a testimonial for their Harry Potter Book Club and series. This testimonial highlighted how Harry Potter can be a powerful tool in literacy programs, making reading fun and accessible for all students.
Food for Thought
Books like Harry Potter, which are at a higher Lexile level, expose students to thousands of new words and various literary, poetic, and plot elements. This exposure is crucial in helping students close the knowledge and word gap that plagues so many today. By engaging with complex texts, students not only improve their vocabulary but also develop a deeper understanding of different literary techniques and storytelling methods.
Conclusion
Incorporating Harry Potter into your literacy program can transform the way students engage with reading. By using the series’ rich content and multimedia resources, we can create an immersive and enjoyable learning experience. If students don’t enjoy reading Harry Potter, we might need to rethink our approach. After all, the magic of Harry Potter lies not just in its story, but in its ability to make reading an adventure.
Students typically have a stronger auditory or spoken vocabulary due to their exposure to TV and movies. By leveraging these strengths, we can build connections to literary elements in a format that kids love. Watching movie clips and listening to music makes building background knowledge fast, easy, and fun. This method helps students become fluent, excited, and erudite readers. They quickly transition from cinematic elements to literary elements, understanding settings, characters, plot, theme, mood, antagonist, and protagonist more effectively.
A Personal Journey with Scholastic
When Scholastic asked me to write a book about my Reading Boot Camp, I initially created something akin to “Chicken Soup for the Soul” for reading teachers. This project helped me build a relationship with Scholastic, and they later asked me to write a testimonial for their Harry Potter Book Club and series. This testimonial highlighted how Harry Potter can be a powerful tool in literacy programs, making reading fun and accessible for all students.
Food for Thought
Books like Harry Potter, which are at a higher Lexile level, expose students to thousands of new words and various literary, poetic, and plot elements. This exposure is crucial in helping students close the knowledge and word gap that plagues so many today. By engaging with complex texts, students not only improve their vocabulary but also develop a deeper understanding of different literary techniques and storytelling methods.
Conclusion
Incorporating Harry Potter into your literacy program can transform the way students engage with reading. By using the series’ rich content and multimedia resources, we can create an immersive and enjoyable learning experience. If students don’t enjoy reading Harry Potter, we might need to rethink our approach. After all, the magic of Harry Potter lies not just in its story, but in its ability to make reading an adventure.
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