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[CCBC-Net] Kids reading Harry Potter
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From: jlharter
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 16:22:07 -0500
l
----- Original Message ----- From: "Almagor, Lelac" <LAlmagor at cathedral.org> To: <ccbc-net at ccbc.ad.education.wisc.edu> Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 12:19 PM Subject: [CCBC-Net] Kids reading Harry Potter
>I confess that I don't quite see the problem with younger readers who
> are enjoying the Harry Potter books only because they're hearing them
> read aloud, or who are reading the books and only fuzzily understanding
> them, or who are watching the movies and then reading the books. If they
> are loving story and loving language, is it important to question
> whether they are "really" "reading"?
>
> This post seems to begin by doubting whether children of any age are
> actually reading the books. I'm sure there are some kids who own the
> whole set and have read none -- but my experience in both my current
> (affluent, independent) and previous (inner-city charter) school has
> been that elementary-age children read these books enthusiastically,
> repeatedly, and cover to cover. There's something about their rhythm --
> episodic, repetitive, yet steadily suspenseful -- that welcomes readers
> at a variety of ability levels, and they are great "gateway" reading to
> harder novels!
>
> My fifth graders quote confidently from the entire series (with the
> possible exception of Order of the Phoenix, which was a bit too dense
> for them) and they do mention a childhood nostalgia -- "I loved these
> when I was little!"
>
> (And going back to our previous discussion: Harry Potter has been a
> useful reference point for learning about fascism. They were
> thunderstruck when they began to notice Rowling's deliberate
> allusions...)
>
> Ms. Lelac Almagor
> Grade Five English
> Writing Center
> National Cathedral School for Girls
> www.ncsforgirls.org/lalmagor/
> lalmagor at cathedral.org
> 202-537-2312
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
>
Received on Fri 12 May 2006 04:22:07 PM CDT
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 16:22:07 -0500
l
----- Original Message ----- From: "Almagor, Lelac" <LAlmagor at cathedral.org> To: <ccbc-net at ccbc.ad.education.wisc.edu> Sent: Monday, May 08, 2006 12:19 PM Subject: [CCBC-Net] Kids reading Harry Potter
>I confess that I don't quite see the problem with younger readers who
> are enjoying the Harry Potter books only because they're hearing them
> read aloud, or who are reading the books and only fuzzily understanding
> them, or who are watching the movies and then reading the books. If they
> are loving story and loving language, is it important to question
> whether they are "really" "reading"?
>
> This post seems to begin by doubting whether children of any age are
> actually reading the books. I'm sure there are some kids who own the
> whole set and have read none -- but my experience in both my current
> (affluent, independent) and previous (inner-city charter) school has
> been that elementary-age children read these books enthusiastically,
> repeatedly, and cover to cover. There's something about their rhythm --
> episodic, repetitive, yet steadily suspenseful -- that welcomes readers
> at a variety of ability levels, and they are great "gateway" reading to
> harder novels!
>
> My fifth graders quote confidently from the entire series (with the
> possible exception of Order of the Phoenix, which was a bit too dense
> for them) and they do mention a childhood nostalgia -- "I loved these
> when I was little!"
>
> (And going back to our previous discussion: Harry Potter has been a
> useful reference point for learning about fascism. They were
> thunderstruck when they began to notice Rowling's deliberate
> allusions...)
>
> Ms. Lelac Almagor
> Grade Five English
> Writing Center
> National Cathedral School for Girls
> www.ncsforgirls.org/lalmagor/
> lalmagor at cathedral.org
> 202-537-2312
> _______________________________________________
> CCBC-Net mailing list
> CCBC-Net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
> Visit this link to read archives or to unsubscribe...
> http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/mailman/listinfo/ccbc-net
>
Received on Fri 12 May 2006 04:22:07 PM CDT
