Introduction | Task | Resources | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion
Katie
Clark
L595- Electronic Media for Young Adults
Introduction
Help! They want to ban the Harry
Potter books from the library!
Can you believe it they want to remove all the
Harry Potter titles from the library and ban children from reading them at school? A
group of community members have grouped together to lobby for the removal of
the Harry Potter books from the school libraries. You principal has came
to you for help. He wants to keep the Harry Potter books in the
school. The principal has organized a group of people to support the
Harry Potter books. The community members who want the books removed has
a lot of people on their side so this is going to be a tough fight. The issues
are going to be presented and voted on at the next school board meeting, which
is in two weeks. Let's show these muggles
why Harry should stay. The principal wants you to develop a presentation to
support the Harry Potter books. Let's get busy and do some magic.
Your task is to research the Harry Potter controversy
and develop a presentation that supports keeping the Harry Potter books in the
library. You will group will include a teacher, a librarian, a parent,
and a student. Each of you will look at this situation from your own
perspective and then you will develop your presentation as a group based on
those perspectives.
Books:
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Reichman, Henry. Censorship and Selection, Issues and
Answers for Schools. American Association
of School Administrators,
Websites:
Sites for Everyone:
Ban Harry Potter????
NO!!!- Includes quotes to help support Harry. Check out the
bottom of the page.
Harry Potter: The Censorship Battles- Discuss the feeedom of expresions.
Librarian:
American Library Association-
The Freedom to Read Statement
Look Out, Harry Potter!-- Book Banning Heats Up- An article about from the Education World.
Coping With Challenges- Strategies and tips for coping with book challenges.
Parent:
Is
Harry Potter Harmful to Children?- Parents discuss her experience with
Harry Potter.
Student:
Save Harry Potter-
Young Adult Books- This includes a great deal of information to help
organize your argument.
Teacher:
Don't Give
Us Little Wizards, the Anti-Potter Parents Cry- An article about the
use of Harry in the classroom.
Harry Potter: boon to reading or dangerous warlock? - an article discussing the book-banning of Harry Potter, includes a video clip from CNN & Company.
1. Your first step is to read through the comments that are contained on this page from About.com to get you minds thinking about banning Harry Potter books.
2. Determine who will take on what role:
Teacher- As a teacher you will try to find reasons for Harry Potter related to school instructional purposes? Also look for information to support keeping the available to children in school libraries.
Librarian- As the librarian you will be focusing on the First Amendment, freedom to read.
Parent- As a parent you will be focusing on finding information to support why your children should be allowed to read this book in school and have it available to them. You will also look for information to support the concept that you do not want someone else to tell you children they can not read something.
Student- You will be focusing on why students want Harry Potter to stay in the school library. Find information to support your reasons for keeping Harry Potter books in the library. Look for information to support why these books are so appealing to children.
3. After you have determined who will take on each role then begin your inquiry. Then look at the web sites according to your role. Take notes as you go using the note taking sheet. . Click on the clipboard to get the note taking sheet.
4. Decide on at least 4 main points that support keeping Harry Potter books in the school library. List the reasons and give at least two supports details.
5. Once you have looked at all the site and gathered the information to support Harry. Get back together as a group and discuss what you found. Each group member should share why the Harry Potter books should stay the school.
6. After all have shared they reason, discuss what similarity and differences that there are from your information..
7. Develop a presentation using PowerPoint to support keeping the Harry Potter books in the library.
Make sure you are ready for the presentation. Click on the book to find out what should be in your presentation to make sure that you have a persuasive presentation.
Now that you have gathered all the information and have developed your presentation you are ready for the school board meeting. Make sure you practice your presentation so the audience will be focused on the information being presented. The freedom to read is an essential part of our democracy of this country.
