Sunday, February 19, 2017

Those Magic Words

“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, the most inexhaustible form of magic we have, capable both of inflicting injury and remedying it.” ― Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 I love that I have been teaching long enough now to see the Harry Potter books go from popular to dying off, and now, at least in 5-1, there is a huge resurgence. Kids are comparing notes, discussing, and trying to keep up with each other in reading through them. They almost have me wanting to pull mine off the shelf and re-read them along with them. In fact, while I'm waiting for me head to clear, I might just get started.

These kids have all (or mostly, I'm sure) seen the movies. Luckily this hasn't kept them from wanting to read the books. I am personally of the mind that it is much better to see the movie first. If you see a movie first, and you liked it, there is always much more to be learned in the books. If you read the book first, you are always disappointed by what the movie leaves out.

People who read are smarter and more interesting than those who don't. I know that is a sweeping generalization, but I have never once found it to be untrue. It's great to see so many kids in my class with a huge set of text that they are anxious to get into.

That does it. Just writing about it, I've decided to re-read them starting today. This series was an instant classic for a good reason.

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