Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What makes the setting of a magical world appealing or interesting? How might an author create a sense of wonder or danger in a fantasy setting?

Teaching Suggestion: To introduce this prompt by drawing on past experiences, consider asking students to brainstorm fantasy narratives with which they are familiar. Students could discuss what makes the worlds from these stories interesting or different from realistic fiction. If they are not familiar with the rest of the Harry Potter series, this could provide an opportunity to introduce the elements of fantasy established in prior novels.

• “Creating A Sense Of Wonder In Fantasy“ - This article discusses the importance of tone in providing for the reader’s sense of wonder in a fantasy series.
• “How to Build a Fictional World“ - This 5-minute TED-Ed video describes the importance of worldbuilding and provides tips for authors on building their own fictional worlds.

2. How has the Harry Potter series impacted reading trends, particularly among young readers? What about this series might have contributed to its widespread appeal? Do you think this trend will continue? Will the Harry Potter series continue to be popular in the future? Why or why not?

Teaching Suggestion: This discussion will help students understand the significance of the series as a whole to readers. The questions might spark a classroom debate, giving students the opportunity to draw evidence for their points from the articles linked below or from similar resources. Students might complete additional independent research to find evidence for their position on the impact made by the series on literacy trends.

• “Potter’s Magic Spell Turns Boys Into Bookworms“ - This article from The Guardian, written in 2005, provides evidence that the Harry Potter series positively impacted literacy trends. Students might compare these ideas on the impact of the series almost 20 years ago to the plans for an upcoming TV series based on the stories, as described in this NPR article.
• “Can Harry Potter Change the World?“ - This opinion piece from The New York Times, written after the conclusion of the series, discusses the broader impact that reading the Harry Potter series had on children.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Recall a time when you had a disagreement or a misunderstanding with a friend. How did you resolve it? What did that experience teach you about maintaining friendships?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt provides an opportunity to introduce the theme Friendship and Teamwork. Harry Potter relies on his friends to help him on his journey, but friendships and loyalties are frequently tested. Discussing how friends overcome their differences may help students understand why Ron comes back to Harry after seemingly abandoning him.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who benefit from strategies with language choices or with organizing their thoughts, consider providing sentence starters or guiding prompts. For example, “The disagreement happened when...,” “I felt...,” “We resolved it by....” For visual learners or those who would benefit from an alternative to traditional writing, students might create a comic strip that depicts their experience.