Elementary Reading/ Writing
Reading/ Writing i
Harry Potter Diorama
Level: Elementary 4 th -5 th Grade
 Read J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone as a class.
 Integrate technology by using Mindomo to brainstorm potential diorama ideas.

Use household/crafts materials to create a shoebox diorama illustrating a major scene, relationship, or theme from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Improve writing and public speaking skills.
Grade 4:

Standard 4.3: Students read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children's literature.
 Standard 4.47: Students use multiple reference material and online information as writing aids.
Grade 5:
 Standard 5.2: Students read and understand gradelevel-appropriate material.
 Standard 5.3: Students read and respond to grade-levelappropriate historically or culturally significant works of literature.
 Standard 5.4 Students discuss and keep a list of ideas for writing. They use graphic organizers. Students write clear, coherent, and focused essays. Students progress through the stages of the writing process and proofread, edit, and revise writing.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Shoeboxes

Glue, tape

Yarn
 Construction paper
 Cardboard
 Markers, crayons
 Tissue paper
 Diorama and student summary rubric handouts
(1/student)
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Elementary Reading/ Writing
1) After each recess (morning and afternoon) teacher spends about 5 minutes reading aloud from J.K.
Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
2) The teacher demonstrates to students how to use
Mindomo tools.
3) At the end of each school day, the students work in groups of four on classroom computers to brainstorm diorama ideas using Mindomo. (Students may make as many topics and subtopics as they like. See attached
Mindomo map for ideas.) Although students work in groups to brainstorm, each student will make their own individual diorama.
4) Once the book is finished (might take 1-2 months to complete), students print off a copy of their Midomo brainstorming map.
5) The class is given one week to complete their dioramas at home. The diorama should include a specific setting and 2 or more characters. Each student receives a shoebox from the teacher. If necessary, students may check out art supplies to use at home. In addition, students are required to write a one page summary on their diorama and why that scene/relationship/theme is important to the plot.
6) On the day the dioramas are due, students display their project on their desk. Each desk is given a number.
7) Students go around to all the desks with a paper and pencil and record which scene/relationships/theme they think is being displayed at that desk number.
8) After students finish looking at their peers’ work, they reveal what their dioramas represented and read their one page summaries aloud to the class.
9) Students mark on their paper whether they correctly identified their peers’ diorama or not. Collect these papers at the end.
 The teacher reviews the identification papers students filled out to help determine the amount of knowledge retained from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Ideally, most scenes should have been identified correctly. If several students misidentified the same diorama, determine whether it’s due to the diorama not meeting the specified requirements, or a lack of remembrance on the part of the peers.

The teacher should review whether students learned
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i
Elementary Reading/ Writing and retained information about Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer’s Stone. Did the dioramas show time, thought, and creativity? Were the illustrations relevant to scenes described in the book?
 Students receive a teacher evaluation on their diorama and summary. As stated, the diorama must incorporate a setting and 2+ characters from the book. The level of effort displayed (not necessarily artistic ability) will figure into the students’ grades. Student summaries must demonstrate an understanding of how J.K.
Rowling’s descriptive characters and vivid imagery contribute to the plot of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s
Stone.
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