Your final day of the adventure, day 7, begins here!

When you wake up, you know today is different.  You are not tired after last night's escapades, and that is amazing!  You are sad that today is your last day.  You also know it isn't going to be like the other days.  As always, you jump out of bed to find your schedule on the table.

It was there, as always,  but it looks very different.  It says:

"Today you are in charge of your own schedule.  Breakfast and Lunch will be at the regular times, but the rest of the day will be your own to prepare a presentation.  You will be presenting at Dinner in the Great Hall tonight at 7:00 sharp, right after dinner."  

"Presentation???"  

In the Great Hall???"  

WHAT??? "   

Magically, the next words appear only after you've expressed your confusion.

Your task is to prepare a PowerPoint presentation.  You may choose from the following  projects and then prepare a presentation to show your project to your classmates and teachers.

Your PowerPoint presentation will have two parts:

• Part one will be a short summary of your week.  You will use one or two  slides in your presentation for each day of your adventure, starting with Saturday.  You will be challenged to find a way to summarize each day in a unique way.  You may use  use pictures and words from your journal., or  in any other way you'd like.  

The second part of your PowerPoint will show ONE of the following:

If you like playing with ideas and words you may.....

• Write an essay in Microsoft Word and link it to your PowerPoint presentation.  Choose one question from The Discussion Page at Scolastic's Website (below) to write about thoughtfully and in depth. (At least two pages, double spaced, font size 12).

  1. The title of each of the chapters provides some clues as to what will occur in each. Do the titles tell the whole truth? How do they reveal some of the more symbolic meaning of the story?

  2. The author has more than a little bit of fun with names in this story. For example, the Professor of Herbology is Professor Sprout, and even the authors of the textbooks Harry must study are puns and riddles. Can you find other examples of this wordplay and show how the names reflect the characteristics of their owners? What about names that are the opposite of what you'd expect? — for example, the huge, terrifying three-headed dog named Fluffy? What effect do you think the author achieves with this name?

  3. Many novels of high fantasy borrow from the traditional stories of fairy tales, myths, and legends. The dog Fluffy which guards the trapdoor at Hogwarts School resembles Cerberus, the three-headed dog which guards the underworld of Greek mythology. What other creatures from traditional tales are paralleled in the story? How does each of these creatures play a pivotal role in advancing the plot?

  4. In Chapter Nine, Harry disobeys a direct order from one of the teachers at the Hogwarts School and takes off on a broom. This infraction is normally cause for expulsion from the school. However, in Harry's case, it brings him the honor of being chosen as the "Seeker" for his Quidditch team. Can you find other instances in the story where Harry's actions lead to quite opposite results from what is expected? To what extent is the book's plot advanced by such surprise turns of events? How much unpredictability would be too much?

  5. Quirrell tells Harry that "There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it" (p. 291). Do you agree with this? Is this the reality of the world? Or if good and evil do exist, what makes them so? Which is more important in the world, power, or good and evil? 

Or, if you like organizing and sorting ideas, words, and pictures you may.....

• Create an encyclopedia of at least 15 Characters, Creatures, or Teachers.  You may NOT copy/past words from ANY source, but you may use ideas you find to write each entry in your own words.    You may copy/paste pictures you find as long as you are sure the website does not prohibit using its images.  You must document all your sources.  Include the encyclopedia in your PowerPoint presentation.

Or, if you like to play with images and art you may.....

• Use your own artistic skills to create a pack of 10 Trading Cards of Characters from the book. You may use your own drawing skills and then scan the results, or you may use the drawing tools in Microsoft Word, or you may use digital photography, or you may even use a combination of those things!  Be sure each card has a picture and a full written  explanation of who the character is and why he/she is important to the story.  Include the Trading Cards in your PowerPoint.

Or, if you like playing with numbers you may......

• Create an Excel Spreadsheet to show Dumbeldore's expenses for running Hogwart's School of Wizardry and Witchcraft for the week you were there.  Include expenses for at least 15 different areas such as food, lodging, kitchen staff, teaching staff, food, heating, electricity, materials, transportation, etc.  Use your imagination and your spreadsheet to make a graph showing expenses.  Link this Excel Spreadsheet and your graph(s) to your PowerPoint Presentation.  

Or, if you like playing with nature, logic, and organizing you may......

• Create a game about the Forbidden Forest.  Include a board with the setting, characters, and creatures.  Also include graphics, tokens, cards, and rules.  You may make your game on poster board and then take pictures of it, all the pieces, cards, etc. using a digital camera so that you can include it all in your PowerPoint presentation.

Or, if you like playing with music you may......

• Compose an original song (at least one minute long)  to go along with one chapter of the story.  You will need to write out both lyrics and music for this song and include them as part of your PowerPoint presentation.   Arrange to video-tape yourself or someone else performing the song to be included as part of your presentation. 

Or, if you like playing sports you may......

• Write an extensive  article for the Hogwart's paper about a Quidditch Game. (At least two pages, double spaced, font size 12).   Include referee calls, rules and infractions, interviews with players, announcer's comments and play - by play commentary.  Include pictures and other important information such as diagrams or graphs of team standings or individual player profiles.  

Or, if you like playing with others and discussing ideas you may.....

• Write a response journal or a series of letters with a partner.  Both your entries and your partner's entries will be included in both PowerPoint presentations through a link, by scanning, or by pasting them into the presentation.  You will need to create individual stationary or journal pages using graphics or drawing tools so that your pages are different visually from your partner's.  Compose at least 5 half-page (double-spaced font size 12) response journal entries or letters each discussing or debating one or several of the following:

  1.  How would the story have been different if Harry had always known he was a wizard and would attend Hogwarts?

  2.  Why wasn't Hagrid protective of Harry when he served detention in the Forbidden Forest because he was caught helping Hagrid's dragon Norbert escape?  Was this true to Hagrid's character?

  3.  Why did Ron sacrifice himself during the chess game on the chamber?  Was it necessary?

  4.  What is revealed about Hermione when she says that friends and bravery are more important than book learning?

  5.  Should the Stone have been destroyed?

  6.  Why didn't Dumbledore vanquish Vodemort forever?  Why is this considered Harry's task and nobody else's?  Is no one else powerful enough or are they honoring Harry's right to avenge his parents' death?  

  7.  How does Harry develop and mature in this book?  Include examples in your writing to each other that show how Harry grows/changes in this book.

  8.  Discuss the theme of love as power in this book.  Compare and discuss Dumbledore's philosophy of spiritual love empowering people with Quirrell's message promoting greed.  

You are happy to see that the library has  some great places you can go to get ideas, pictures, information, and lots of other interesting facts!  Feel free to use the links below to help in your project:

A wide variety of information on Hogwarts, Characters, Spells, Beasts, etc.

  Includes: Character Trivia, Pronunciation Guide (Hear how words are pronounced), and a Glossary.

• Rate your day using this handy rating rubric!  Run off one copy of the following document: Using a pencil or black pen, rate your day.  Don’t forget to thoughtfully write your reflections! Then, save your document in the required location, or print it off, whichever your teacher has indicated, and hand in your rubric.  Don’t forget your name!

The minute you are finished with your presentation, you find yourself back in your bed at the Unicorn in London.  You wonder if it was all a dream...... 

You get up and walk over to the dressing table.  There you find a computer disk.  Upon it are your Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, and photos.  

This is proof you were there!  You were a student at Hogwarts!  This tiny disk is the most terrific souvenir you could have for a week you'll never forget!