Monday, December 11, 2006

A Yule Ball Celebration



Meeting, December 14th
6-8pm
at the Winslow's house


Fairness, Treachery, Secrets and Yuletide traditions

As we get ready for our own holiday celebrations, Harry is attending the Yule Ball with his fellow students at Hogwarts! However, he has been neglecting his egg that holds the clue for his next task. If you had an egg that held a clue, what secret might it hold? What would one have to do to get your egg to open? What special method would you use to hold your secrets? Can you think of all the ways the magical community keeps secrets? Do muggles have special means of keeping secrets too?

6:00PM Enjoy the food & treats
6:30PM Discussion - consider things like fairness in the stories, and treachery- those who seem loyal, but are actually plotting against you! Great word for your dictionaries! (Don't forget to bring them!) Can you think of some examples of treachery in the books up to now? What about secrets? What about Traditions? We have Christmas trees at Christmas, wishbones from turkeys and hidden eggs at easter; what does the magical world do that's traditional for them?

See you all there and e-mail your lists, please! Thanks!


Around 7:00 pm we'll take a break and make our own dragonish golden egg!

"Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard." ~Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore page 281, GOF

Monday, November 20, 2006

Places in Harry's World


Cities & Villages: Kent, SS, p. 6; Yorkshire, SS, p. 6; Dundee, SS, p. 6; Bristol, SS, p. 15; London, SS, p. 15, Little Whinging, Surrey, SS, p. 34; Majorca, SS, p. 23; Diagon Alley, shopping district, SS, p. 60ish;

Shops & Businesses: Grunnings, drill manufacturing, SS, p. 1;London Underground, SS, p. 15; Gringotts Bank, SS, p. 63; Apothocary, SS, p. 71; Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions, SS, p. 76; Eyelops Owl Emporium, SS, p. 72; Olivanders, wand shop, SS, p. 81

Homes or Dwellings: #4 Privet Drive, SS, p. 1; Godric's Hollow, SS, p. 12;


Odd destinations: Room 17, Railview Hotel, Cokeworth, SS, p. 42; Cupboard-under-the-stairs, SS, p. ; The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea, SS, p. 51

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Charms, Curses & Spells


Flame Freezing Charm, POA, p. 2
Charm for Reluctant Reversers, POA, - brooms, that is
Wingardium Leviosa, SS, p.171- charm to levitate-float- things
Expecto Patronum-Patronus Charm, POA, p. 237 Guardian against dementors;
Locomotor Mortis, SS, p. 222- leg locker curse
Lumos, COS, p. - Charm to light up the end of a wand like a lightstick
Expelliarmus, COS, p. 190- Disarming charm
Finite Incantatem, COS, p. 192- spell to stop mild charms and curses
Rictusempra, COS, p. 192- tickling charm
Tarantallegra, COS, p. 192- leg jerking, dancing, quickstepping jinx
Serpensortia, COS, p. 194-
Riddikulus, POA, p. 134-135- reduces Boggarts into humorous jokes of themselves
?? Fidelius Charm, POA, p. 205- a very complex, highly advanced charm to secret someone away- to make them unfindable: "the magical concealment of a secret inside a chosen person"
Accio, GOF, p. 68- summoning charm, calls things to a person
Obliviate, COS, p. -memory modifying/erasing curse or charm(???)
Ennervate, GOF, p. 133- reawakening charm- counter curse to "stupify"
Stupefy, GOF, p.129 - stunning spell/ curse
Morsdordre, GOF, p. 128- spell to conjure the Dark Mark
Prior Incantato, GOF, p. 136- spell to force a wand to show its last spell
Deletrius, GOF, p. 136- causes a display of wand magic to vanish
Reparo, GOF, p. 169- repairs things
The Unforgiveable Curses:
Imperio~Imperius Curse: GOF, p. 213- gives the spell caster total control over another person. TOTAL
Crucio~Cruciatus Curse: GOF, p. 214- causes intense pain and suffering to the victim- torture
Avada Kedavra: GOF, p. 215- the killing curse. no counter-curse. no stopping it once it is cast

Magical Products


Entertainment Things:
The Daily Prophet- Newspaper
Fillibuster Fireworks ("fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start")
Screaming Yo-Yos
Fanged Frisbees
Everbashing Boomerangs
Dungbombs, POA, p. 278
Nose Biting Teacup
Stink Pellets, POA
Whizzing Worms, POA
Belch Powder, POA
Brooms: Clean Sweeps, SS; Comet 260, POA; Silver Arrow, POA; Nimbus 2000, SS & Nimbus 2001, COS; Firebolt, POA;
Gobstones, POA

School Supplies:
Parchment, Quills, ink, Potion Ingredient kits, Spellotape, Revealer (magical eraser),
Lunascopes, POA
Moving Model of the Galaxy, POA, p. 50



Home products:
Mrs. Skowers All Purpose Magical Mess Remover
Floo Powder
Frog Spawn Soap
Fleetwood's High Finish Handle Polish, POA, -for brooms,
Tail Twig Clippers, POA; for broom care



Medical Supplies:
Skele-Gro
Toothflossing String Mints


Beverages:
Gillywater, POA
Mulled Mead, POA
Cherry Syrup and soda with ice & umbrella, POA
Red Current Rum, POA
Ogden's old Firewhiskey, POA

Food
Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, SS
Hiccup Sweets
Chocolate Frogs, SS
Pumpkin Pasties, SS
Peppermint Creams-"hop like toads in your stomach", POA
Exploding Bon-Bons, POA
Acid Pops, POA
Fizzing Wzbees, POA, p. 197
Droobles Best Blowing Gum, POA, p. 77
Sherbet Balls, POA, P. 197- "levitate you right off the ground"
Fudge Flies, POA, p. 197
Jelly Slugs, POA, p.197
Sugar Quills, POA, p. 197
Chocoballs, POA, p. 197
Nougat, POA, p. 197
Coconut Ice, POA, p. 197
Acid Pops, POA, p. 197
Blood Flavored Lollipops, POA, p. 197 "they must be for vampires" Hermione says



Pet Supplies:
Rat tonic
Owl Treats

Garden Products:
Flesh-Eating Slug repellent

Passwords


Caput Draconis- Gryffindor, SS, p. 130
Fortuna Major-Griffyndor, POA, p.
Wattlebird-Gryffindor, SS
Pigsnout- Gryffindor, SS, p. 156
Scurvy Cur- POA
Oddsbodkins-POA
Flibbertigibbet-POA
Balderdash
-Gryffindor, GOF, p. 191
Lemon drop- Dumbledore's, COS
Pureblood- Slytherin, COS

Potions & Potion Ingredients


Deflating Draft, COS: counter potion to a Swelling Solution
Draught of Living Death, SS, p. 138: with Asphodel, Wormwood
Polyjuice Potion, COS: causes the drinker to take on the appearance of another person: with a bit of fluxweed, Knotgrass, Lacewing Flies, Leeches, Powdered horn of a bicorn, Shredded skin of a boomslang.
Potion to Cure Boils, SS, p. 138:
Shrinking Solution, POA: a dash of leech juice, one rat spleen, skinned shrivelfig, sliced caterpillars, sliced daisy roots
Swelling Solution:


In your potion ingredient cupboards:
Aconite, SS, p.138- same as "wolf sbane" & "monkshood"
Asphodel, powdered root of, SS, p. 138
Bezoars, SS, p. 138
Bicorn, powdered horn of
Boomslang, shredded skin of
Caterpillars, sliced
Crocodile Heart
Dried Nettles, SS, p. 139
Fluxweed
Horned Slugs, SS, p. 139
Knotgrass
Lacewing Flies
Leeches, leech juice
Monkshood, SS, p.138- same as "aconite" & "wolfsbane"
Porcupine Quills, SS, p. 139
Rat spleen,
Snake Fangs, SS
Shrivelfig, skinned
Wormwood -
Wolfsbane, SS, p. 138-same as "aconite" & "monkshood"



Daisy roots, sliced

Friday, November 17, 2006

Lists, Lists & again, Lists

Ж It seemed we needed a seperate page for our Lists. All of our tid bit collecting of passwords, potions and portraits needs a special place to go so we'll keep them here as we read the remainder of the books. {And for those with a zesty heart, some of you will go back and re-check Sorcerer's Stone to insure complete lists! GREAT THANKSGIVING OR CHRISTMAS BREAK PROJECT!} These are lists pulled from the "canon" (a word that means: 'the works of an author; the authoritative information from an author's set of books'...You can add that to your dictionaries! Also, you may want to add one that I use often: e.g. which means, (from the latin language): for example) ...

So, we are making lists of:

Passwords ~(Brendan) All passwords! Gryffindor, Dumbledore's, the Kitchens, Slytherin house, anywhere that secret words (or numbers) are used for entry!
Potions & Potion Ingredients ~(Noelle & Dean)-Dean, your job is to help with the writing down. Don't make Noelle do all thework! Keep in mind that with some potions, we are never told their name. List them anyway by describing what they do.
Charms, Curses & Spells ~(Clare)- this is tougher than it looks; is Waddiwasi a charm or a curse? What about Transfiguration incantations? You and your mom can decide, but if a question comes up, you can check the internet, or better still, bring it to a meeting as a discussion topic! Also, please tell us how to properly do the spell-is it "swish & flick"?; If we know that a spell is a counter-curse to another, please let us know that too, e.g.: Stupify and Enervate.
Characters~(Olivia N.) This list should probably include the students sorted into their year and their houses; and also make notes for characters who are "something", e.g. Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic; Macnair, executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures. And leave space...we may get more info later on people...Remember that Sirius Black started as a motorcycle flying extra, turned into a brutal madman, and then became a good godfather! That's all important stuff, that is...as Ron might say!
Plants ~(Julia) Not just those mentioned in Herbology, but elsewhere, too.
Books & Authors ~(Camille) mentioned anywhere in the stories
Places~(Kathy & Mikaya)This includes towns, villages, shops, destinations, buildings, etc. Any place that has a name that our characters may end up going to or hearing about...Ottery St. Catchpole...an otter is in the weasel family... that's interesting...
Magical World Products ~(Caroline ) Things you could buy in Hogsmead or Diagon Alley
Muggles or Squibs or Half-Bloods~(Bryce)
Things in the Forbidden Forest & Lake ~(Jenna & Denise), this should include other magical animals (creatures) with notes on where they were encountered.
Other interesting lists that someone could do...
Paintings and Portraits in Dumbledore's office, Hogwarts Castle or elsewhere!~ I think we should include mirrors...possibly even magic clocks...
Historic events or historic figures~ as mentioned by Professor Binns or others; Who was this "Grindelwald" character that Dumbledore defeated in 1945? And what about all these goblins we keep hearing about???
Predictions~ We hear about predictions at various times, not just from Professor Trelawney; Even Harry and Ron start making them up...Then there's Bane and Firenze the Centaurs...could these come true, even a little bit, later???And there's Ron suggesting what would happen if Madame Maxime and Hagrid got married... JK Rowling loves to tease us!!!
Wizarding Phrases~ We hear Mr. Weasley say things like, "Merlin's Beard!" when he's amazed, and are there more??? It'd be fun to find out!
Hagrid's cooking~Rock Cakes, Pies with Talons in them, what does he eat???
Ghosts~
Magical Jobs or Careers~Mr. Weasley woks for the ministry, but Olivander became a wand maker, and someone works at Zonkos...What other jobs are out there for witches and wizards to work at to make a living???
Lisa, Do any of these look good? What would you like to do, or do you have your own idea?

["Incantations and Spells", "Books and Authors" are lists that are available on the internet.]

PLEASE BRING YOUR LISTS -or e-mail!!!!-IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT: This means, please set up your lists in this way or pattern:
The list should be titled with your topic; then - IF AT ALL POSSIBLE- alphabetized in order, your entry, the book it is from, and the page. For example: Topic- Charms, entry- Alohomora, book-SS, page-160. In addition, basic info about your entry is good, so that your entry will look like this, for Charms, Curses & Spells: waddiwasi; a spell to shoot gum out of a door key hole; POA, page 131. Books should be abbreviated to these "acronyms": Sorcerer's Stone=SS; Chamber of Secrets=COS; Prisoner of Azkaban=POA; Goblet of Fire=GOF; Order of the Phoenix=OOTP; Half-Blood Prince=HBP

We will bring our lists to each and every meeting from now on and watch as they get longer and longer and longer. If you have time...go back to Sorcerer's Stone and update your lists!!!!
*Let's bring our lists to the meetings and compare and share!*

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Book Club Refresher

With all of our new members, the restructuring of schedules, and the upcoming chaos of the holidays, I thought it was a good time to revisit the original program for the Potterology Book Club. The mast head image above is from our original flyer and the information below is too. (It seemed to me worth re-reading as we are now half-way through the club's goal of a 15 month review of the complete "canon" of Harry Potter.) :

Potterology is a new club designed with simple goals:
· To spend time with our moms or dads while having fun, digging deep, and reading a lot– (not really recommended for children younger than 6 or 7. {Book 4 and 6 have particularly scary moments}– but this is up to individual parents)
· To provide a book club experience for children and their parents-over a period of about 15 months
· To meet monthly until all six books published thus far have been (re)read: Harry Potter and the-Sorcerer’s Stone (1); -Chamber of Secrets(2);- Prisoner of Azkaban (3);- Goblet of Fire (4);- Order of the Phoenix (5);- Half-Blood Prince (6)
· To provide a forum for discussion of all the characters, author techniques, plot lines, history and lore that J.K. Rowling folds into her novels
· To engage in activities that tie into and enhance the reading experience and the understanding of these wonderfully entertaining stories: such as creating puppet dragons, marauder maps, invisible ink, zany characters, cloaks and wands, or our own self-penned myths & legends, etc

Obligations: Parents (or teams of) will facilitate meetings with prompting questions for discussions, activities and hosting of meetings. Any costs for materials will be shared by all participants. A complete schedule will be drawn up through mutual planning with all participants prior to first meeting. Approx. 200 pages per month will be read.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It occured to me before I started to cut and paste from the old flyer that one of the reasons I was interested in doing the club last winter was that I wanted to have an activity that I shared with my kids. I didn't want just another extracurricular activity that they were invloved in and I was simply the driver and/or audience. We have plenty of those; I wanted to play too. This perspective is still one I turn to each month when readying and reading for the next meeting.

Now that we are half way through the reading, we are getting to the heart of the thing. We have now met most of the big players in the plot, our hero has his flaws, and soon, very soon, we will meet our hero's true arch enemy up close and personal...(not Draco Malfoy, the boy who has been a sort of arch-enemy-in-training to Harry up to now). Things are getting complicated, plots are twisting back on themselves, and fatalities~ death :( ~ will soon occur. Book four is a turning point in the series; what was a set of books introducing us to a young, likable, boy wizard-in-training is fast becoming an epic tale of growing up (called a "coming of age" story) in "dark and difficult times." More than ever, the books are now truly better read with an adult. Not just for comfort when the story becomes scary or sad, but for explanations and comprehension as the plot and characterizations become more complex. Keep in mind, the books we are now reading are some of the most popular books read by high schoolers.

Enough about the club. For more refreshing, scroll or click to the original page here on the blog about book clubbing: Helpful Advice on Book Club Hosting. Please see "Previous Posts" table on the right! In addition, the schedule page has been updated with hosting schedule and info about planning. Please check your rotation! Their have been CHANGES! Thanks!

I am in the proces of typing up all the lists that I have, but I would love it if we could have them typed and e-mailed to me each month for posting. I am sure they would be much easier to cut and paste into the blog than to type from scratch. If at all possible, please help your child type them up, or type them for them. **Check what is on the blog already before typing, to insure no re-typing of portions of the list that are already up on the page! Thanks!



Sunday, November 05, 2006

Bagman, Crouch, & Moody



Our next meeting is this Thursday, November 9th, @ 6pm at the Robasciotti's

Goblet of Fire starts very differently than any of the other books. For starters, we spend the first chapter looking at the story from someone else's perspective- not Harry's. Now, yes, I know we did that with the first chapter of Sorcerer's Stone-but, that was to introduce us to the entire WORLD of Harry, and Harry himself. This time, it's to show us something of our villian; his life, his history, where he is NOW. We left off at our last meeting with a short discussion of Professor Trelawny's prediction at the end of Prisoner of Azkaban:..."the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The dark lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was."

Well, now, the master seems to be back, but why is Harry dreaming about him? And who are those horrible creeps at the Quidditch World Cup who think it's fun to be cruel to muggles? This, and so much more- like our new characters, poker-stiff-Mr. Crouch, lazy and loose, Mr. Bagman, and Mad-Eye Moody, our new paranoid Professor- all for us to talk about this week! Be sure and have a look at the blog's schedule page to check on your reading assignment! See you Thursday!

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Monster Mash





Monsters Monsters Monsters
This Thursday, September 14th, 2006
At the Franco's House
Dinner at 6pm, meeting at 6:30, time to go home at 8:00.

PLEASE BRING YOUR LISTS IN THE FOLLOWING FORMAT: This means, please set up your lists in this way or pattern:

The list should be titled with your topic; then - IF AT ALL POSSIBLE- alphabetized in order, your entry, the book it is from, and the page.
For example: Topic- Charms, entry- Alohomora, book-SS, page-160.
Books should be abbreviated to these "acronyms": Sorcerer's Stone=SS; Chamber of Secrets=COS; Prisoner of Azkaban=POA; Goblet of Fire=GOF; Order of the Phoenix=OOTP; Half-Blood Prince=HBP

During dinner I will be scanning copies of everyone's lists so I can start typing them up for all of us to have. We will bring our lists to each and every meeting from now on and watch as they get longer and longer and longer. If you have time...go back to Sorcerer's Stone and update your lists!!!!

At the meeting this week we will be talking about monsters, omens & superstitions, and fortune telling, plus some other secret things. So, start thinking about Monsters in our world and in Harry's; start scaring yourself with thoughts of bad luck omens (such as BLACK CATS; ye gads, NO! What'll I do with our sweet fur-faced felines???); and also consider the idea of Fortune Telling...I'd love to do a field trip...
We will also discuss the vile Aunt Marge, fears, bad memories and losing at quidditch.

Here in the Franco house our dictionaries are filling up with words like "cur" "insolent" "marauder" and "ridiculous". Please bring your dictionaries and pens! **For Lisa and Brian- if you decide to join Potterology, I have extra dictionaries...so don't worry!**

And by the way, the owl at the top of the page is a scops owl which can fit in the palm of your hand and was the inspiration for Pigwidgeon. Camille created this month's fabulous blog art and if you'd like to see your work on the internet, please submit for upcoming postings- that means give me your best effort of a picture that you think could be an image from an upcoming chapter or book! Thank You!

See you Thursday!


Monday, July 17, 2006

Moonlight Meeting


It's been so long, days have passed, potions spilt, incantations forgotten, and yet...we must spread the word...A Meeting Approaches!
Next Meeting, August 9th, Wednesday-
A FULL MOON NIGHT! Our conclusions concerning Chamber of Secrets!

We had a lot of discussion about Dobby's famous quote, "Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew," and the various forms of magical travel that we have so far been introduced to: Hogwarts Express, brooms, flying motorcycles/cars, floo powder (is it a licensed product with various commercial manufacturers???). We discussed the big theme of prejudice as demonstrated by Malfoy's use of the "M" word...not to be confused with Uncle Vernon's idea of the dreaded "M" word...could the injection and juxtaposition of both of those "M" words in Chamber of Secrets be an intentional thought bomb by J.K. Rowling??? {Juxtaposition: being side by side; in books and stories, two things being near enough together that the reader compares them}

Lists Lists Lists Lists Lists
Ж As everyone, I'm sure, remembers, we are going to embark on a lengthy list gathering throughout the reading of the remainder of the books. {And for those with a zesty heart, some will go back and re-check Sorcerer's Stone to insure complete lists.} These are lists pulled from the "canon" (a word that means: the works of an author; the authoritative information from an author's set of books...You can add that to your dictionaries!) ...
So, we are making lists of:
Passwords (Caroline); Potions and Potion Ingredients (Noelle and Dean) ; Charms (anybody?); Incantations/Spells (anybody else?); Characters~(Olivia N.); Plants (Caroline and Julia); Books and Authors ~mentioned anywhere in the stories (anyone curious?); Places~towns, villages, shops, destinations, buildings, etc ~(Kathy and Mikaya); Magical World Products ~(Caroline and Camille); Muggles or Squibs in the stories ~(Bryce);Witches or Wizards mentioned throughout the stories-this is different from "characters" who recur with dialogue between each other {Neville, Lavender Brown and Madam Pince are characters, while Doris Crockford and Dedalus Diggle are "Witches and Wizards" mentioned~(Noelle and Dean); ["Incantations and Spells", "Books and Authors" are lists available on the internet...Other interesting lists that someone could do...Historic events as mentioned by Professor Binns or others; Students, their year and their houses; Things in the Forbidden Forest and Lake ~(Kathy and Mikaya??); Portraits in Dumbledore's office or elsewhere.] *Let's bring our lists to the meeting and compare and share!*

Ω Now that we have had a little break from things, it's time to re-gather and get back to what's really important: HARRY.
So our next meeting will be a field trip to Hearst Castle.
Our schedule will be something like this:
2pm: meet to caravan
3pm: arrive at San Simeon in the shadow of La Cuesta Encantada and eat dinner while we talk about Tom Riddle's Diary~ is it time travel? how does it work? Why does Mr. Weasly say "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain?" What else might this admonition (rule) apply to??? and what do we think about Harry's need to sacrifice himself for others~for example, saving Norbert to keep Hagrid out of trouble, and with Quidditch (or maybe it was for Oliver Wood) when the Rogue Bludger was after him. Why does Harry do this?
5: ish: we head out on our tour route through the castle looking for places on A Scavenger Hunt List. I will give out the lists after the meeting and dinner is complete! The list will include Castle locations at Hogwarts that also exist at Hearst Castle; can you identify the Great Hall? the Library? the Gryffindor common room? Can you imagine Harry, Hermione and Ron walking these corridors? Where would the secret passages be?

Between now and then everyone must finish the book, work on their lists and check out of the library (or buy your own copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them). This book was written by JK Rowling as a fund raising effort for Comic Relief Britain. Tucked within its few pages is a treasure-trove of secret tidbits about Harry's world, specifically set up as a mini encyclopedia of the magical creatures that inhabit our world. Read it for fun! Learn where Invisibility Cloaks come from! Summer homework assignment!!!!!

Wednesday, May 03, 2006



Mapping Hogwarts
Its time to try our hands at cartography~ maybe you want to add that word to your dictionaries...
At our last meeting, as a group, we began the long process of mapping Hogwarts.
J. K. Rowling (aka, Jo) has given us lots of details in the book (s) and now its our chance to see how well we imagined the "setting" of Hogwarts compared to what we draw as we read the actual descriptions. Keep in mind that this will be an ongoing project that we can work on throughout the reading of all the books. ***Also, know this : We will make mistakes!...Jo, herself, has said that a few "classrooms have moved around the castle" from book to book. So, if in Sorcerer's Stone Transfiguration, taught by Professor McGonagall, is on the first floor, don't get all upset if it shows up in a later book on another floor...You have been warned! ***You may want to select this part of the blog and print it for easier use!*** At our house, we have been finding it easiest if one of us reads the pages out loud while another person does the drawing.
***The pages in Sorcerer's Stone (SS) to read, squint at, peruse, check-out, scrutinize and decipher ~ for the mapping~ are:
(SS) Pages 111-113; (SS) page 116; (SS) pages 128-130; (SS) page 131; (SS) page 133; (SS) pages 145-146; (SS) page 150; (SS) pages 157-161; (SS) pages 165-166; (SS) pages 173-178; (SS) page 181; (SS) page 206-207; (SS) page 210; (SS) page 225; (SS) page 238; (SS) pages 240-242; (SS) pages 251-252 & 255 (forest); (SS) page 263 (grounds); (SS) page 269 -first floor? for staffroom? it doesn't say exactly, but what do you all think???; (SS) page 273, but really 274 @ top.
Have Fun! We'll share our maps and castle floor plans during the dinner time at our next meeting; let's NOT let mapping interfere in new activities!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Start of Term Feast


We gather for our first meeting this Thursday. Dinner, inspired by Harry's first meal at Hogwarts~ a Start-of-Term Feast, if you will~ will be served at 6pm and the official start time for meeting is at 6:30 pm, prompt. Time will fly fast, and an hour and a half isn't much anyway, so discussion and activities will follow a schedule.  This is our first meeting, so expect it to be a bit rough around the edges, but we'll get it moving like a twig trimmed broomstick in no time.

I will be handing out personal blank dictionaries to each child at this meeting and asking them to put any newly learned word(s) from the book into it. SOOOOO, if there have been any words that the kids have asked about, that you may have chatted about, or that you even remember now...or later...we'll enter them in our books. This will be an on-going activity throughout our meetings. Some members will get more into this "word keeping" than others...That's just fine. In our house, the girls asked about "meringues" and "sallow". I asked about "codswallop". Bring a clipboard if you have one- I have a few...


For one area of discussion, I'd like the kids to arrive with two or three adjectives that they feel describe themselves. We're looking for positives like "imaginative". For the younger children, it may be helpful to them if these words are written down. If it was me, I might use the descriptives: "creative", "celebrative" and "hopeful"- I know "celebrative" isn't a word, but I like it better than "joyful". I might also use "slightly mad", "noisy" and "eclectic".

Point of thinking~ Each child should think a little about favorites thus far and why? Favorite scene, quote, character, setting...I'm somewhat disposed, right now, to Ron refurrring to Fluffy with the quote, "If any dog needs exercise, that one does!"

So, the three things to do before Thursday are:
  1. Think of a few words that cropped up in the book that stumped or entertained you and/or the kids. Clipboards???
  2. Have kids come up with positive words that describe themselves- help them be honest and choose good words.
  3. Point of thinking- everyone's favorites so far and why?

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Helpful Advice on Book Club Hosting~or Idle Suggestions and Riff Raff or Bric a Brac or maybe just Chit Chat

Thank you Shel Silverstein for keeping me a bit batty and this artwork. Check out Shel's posthumously published book on spoonerisms, Runny Babbit, a laugh a minute ride!
And now for something completely serious ~ A FEW SUGGESTIONS FOR HOSTS distilled from bookmuse.com and Caroline's somewhat water-logged brain ~ 
  1. Check out some of the links!
  2. Formulate 3-5 questions- minimum- for discussion and/or choose 3-5 passages to discuss.
    Choose open ended questions- not "yes" or "no", but "why does" and "how did", etc...
  3. Dumbledore and Ron (yes, Ron!) tend to be great resources for quotes worthy of discussion.
  4. Topics for discussion are not limited to plot mysteries or intrigues but can and should also include things such as : language-word choice and tone; narrative voice-who is telling us the story & why- what's their deal?; character development- how a character is introduced, matures, unfolds throughout the story; plot development- how, where, and why does it evolve, progress and culminate; author's vision and intent- what is the author's purpose, angle, interest in telling us the tale; mood and setting- Where are we? Why are we there? How does the mood and setting help or hinder the story and our experience?; Background Inspirations for Story-Dig into the "back story" of the story; etc...
  5. Reading- or having a reader- read a passage out loud prior to discussing it- the host child might be perfect for this task.
  6. Do have comfortable seating arranged before guests arrive- circlish spaces near floors work well when children are present-tables and chairs infer class time...for the grown ups, a few chairs would probably be appreciated...
  7. Be aware when prepping for your host time that there exists loads and loads of mis-information out there regarding these- and other- books. Check your resources carefully and question if you're not sure...One very useful site that I visited (www.sparknotes.com) listed J.K. Rowling's first name as Joanna (its "Joanne") and said that Harry was created in her mind when she was a single mother living on welfare. In fact, Harry was "created" during a train ride prior to J.K. Rowling's eldest daughter's birth and nearly five years later the first novel was completed while Rowling was receiving government assistance as a recently divorced single mother who was also working in the teaching field at the time. Our perception affects our understanding.
  8. Sometimes an individual talks too much during group discussions- cornering the market as it were; hosts can re-direct the talking by calling on someone new to participate or prompting with a new question. Other techniques involve suggesting that the group "get back to the focus topic- question- passage, etc" or "So and so has been wanting to put ideas in for a while, let's hear from them". Politeness, perseverance and persistence pay off!


Links for exploring Harry's world

www.sparknotes.com/lit/harrypotter/study.html Essentially this is an on-line Cliff Notes with study guides. Excellent resource for getting to the plot kernel within each book-maintained by Barnes and Noble
www.jkrowling.com/en/thankyou.cfm The lady herself.
www.hp-lexicon.org/index.html The definitive encyclopedic guide to every topic in Harry Potter's world
www.mugglenet.com/ The popular and well organized fan site, full of spell lists, character bios and the like- includes fan dicussion chat rooms and forums that are well moderated- voiolators of rules are banned from the site- effectively!
www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/- Sister web site to Mugglenet- just as good, but different- the founders of the two sites were the only "adults" granted an (invited, actually) interview with Rowling at the release of the sixth book- at her home in Scotland
http://harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk/main/homepage/home.html- Film company web site
www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/ The US publisher's web site full of activities, excellent discussion questions, and occasionally contests
www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/ The British publishers web site
www.teach-nology.com/teachers/child_lit/harry_potter/games/ This site is actually just other links to more teaching topics sites- many of which offer role playing on-line activities, sorting hat via on-line, and educational downloads. Type in "Harry Potter" in the search window and then follow any link that seems to inspire or intrigue you.
www.armoredpenguin.com/wordsearch/ This site allows you to create your own wordsearch puzzles- think themes- motifs- or symbols!!!
www.teach-nology.com/teachers/lesson_plans/literature/harry/- the lesson plans you've been looking for to host your evening of Potterology! Look for age appropriateness, and applicable topics and themes for the book and chapter we're working on at any given time. Excellent help here for the time hindered!
http://www.pottermore.com/ - an interactive website for all things Potter from the author and Sony. In depth exploration of the books.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Introduction to Potterology



Welcome!

Want to know more about the world of Harry Potter? Interested in unraveling the history behind the names of spells? Curious to understand all the plot twists before book seven comes out? Want to see what a book club is all about with your Mom or Dad?
Then this club is for you!


Potterology is a new club designed with simple goals:
· To spend time with our moms or dads while having fun, digging deep, and reading a lot– (not really recommended for children younger than 6 or 7. {Book 4 and 6 have particularly scary moments}– but this is up to individual parents)
· To provide a book club experience for children and their parents-over a period of about 15 months
· To meet monthly until all six books published thus far have been (re)read: Harry Potter and the-Sorcerer’s Stone (1); -Chamber of Secrets(2);- Prisoner of Azkaban (3);- Goblet of Fire (4);- Order of the Phoenix (5);- Half-Blood Prince (6)
· To provide a forum for discussion of all the characters, author techniques, plot lines, history and lore that J.K. Rowling folds into her novels
· To engage in activities that tie into and enhance the reading experience and the understanding of these wonderfully entertaining stories: such as creating puppet dragons, marauder maps, invisible ink, zany characters, cloaks and wands, or our own self-penned myths & legends, etc


Obligations: Parents (or teams of), that are interested, will facilitate meetings with prompting questions for discussions, activities and hosting of meetings. Any costs for materials will be shared by all participants. Minimum 200 pages per month will be read.