Teacher's Lesson Plan Based on Harry Potter Books

Nearly every child who has read J.K. Rowling's books or seen Warner Bros. Harry Potter movies is enthralled with the world of Harry Potter. Homeschoolers, teachers, and parents can use their child's enthusiasm to help make learning fun. I have created a unit study based on the Harry Potter series that includes study in math, English, science, and history. Your children will enjoy going to school at Hogwarts!

Care of Magical Creatures class: In this class the student will choose a magical creature from Harry Potter's world. Magical creatures are found throughout books 1-7 as well as in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them" by Newt Scamander (J.K. Rowling). Students will then use books and/or the Internet to research their creature and write a 1 or 2-page report about the creature. Students will also draw a picture of their creature.

Arithmancy Class: Students can join Hermione in Arithmancy as they work Harry Potter story problems and create a floor plan of any classroom at Hogwarts. Parents can create the story problems at the child's level similar to the following: Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to Zonko's Joke Shop to buy gifts for Fred and George. All together they has $5.35 to spend. The gifts cost $2.79. How much will they have left to spend at Honeydukes?

Floor plan: Students will choose any classroom in Hogwarts and create a floor plan on graph paper. Students can measure a room to help determine the actual measurements they want the classroom to be and then create the scale drawing. They should be sure to include the scale they used. Younger students can instead draw and outside view of Hogwarts or the inside view of a Hogwarts classroom.

Quidditch Practice: In this class, students will work together in teams to create a board game based on one of the Harry Potter books. The only rule is that it must be based on one of the books, not on one of the movies. The rule doesn't apply if the game is about differences between the book and the movie. Children of different ages can work on the game together making this fun assignment easier for homeschool families.

Astronomy class: Students will learn about star charts and complete their own star chart (Sky Chart). Another option is to report about a group of stars such as the Big Dipper or a constellation such as Draco. This report can include mythology related to the constellation, different cultural views of the constellation, and historical references to the constellation. You can get a free software program to draw Sky Charts at Stargazing.net.

Defense Against the Dark Arts Class: Students choose a "Dark Wizard"(villain) from history to report on. Some examples of "Dark Wizards" may include Hitler, Stalin, and Milosevic. Students will write a summary explaining what makes the person they chose a "Dark Wizard". Then students will detail how the "Good Wizards"(heroes) defeated the "Dark Wizard".

Potions Class: In this class students chose a recipe that they have never used. Using the recipe, the student is to make the potion (food) and present it to Professor Snape (parent/teacher). Professor Snape will test the potion and mark it according to O.W.L. standards.