Muggle version of Platform 9-3/4

PLATFORM 9-3/4 REALLY EXISTS

Here’s a magical picture from the muggle world.

This picture was taken at the real-life King’s Cross station in London, England.

Harry Potter fans will recognize Platform 9-3/4 as the magical spot in the wall Hogwarts students must pass through to reach the Hogwarts Express train that takes them to school.

A cast-iron 9-3/4 sign has been put up on the wall between platforms 9 and 10. And a luggage trolley seems to be halfway in and halfway out of the wall, just as if someone were about to make the jump to the magical world from the muggle one.

There’s often a traffic jam at this spot in King’s Cross station, as tourists and Harry Potter fans stop to take pictures of this wonderful tribute to the series.

The latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I is playing in movie theatres now. Part II will be released this June.

Click here for the official movie website, including the trailer for Part I.

Image: Wikipedia, By SoxFan.

Writing/Discussion Prompt
If you were going to make a monument or a statue celebrating a book, which book would you choose? Which character would you have made into a statue? Is there a certain moment in the story you would want to have on display?

Curriculum Prompt
Does knowing about the Harry Potter series help a reader understand today’s article? How does thinking about what we know already help us when we read something new?

Primary
Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge through brainstorming and/or developing mind maps; ask questions to focus reading and clarify understanding; use visualization to clarify details about such things as homes and clothing of early settlers; use pictures to confirm understanding of printed text) (OME, Reading: 1.3)

Junior
Identify a variety of reading comprehension strategies and use them appropriately before, during, and after reading to understand texts (e.g., activate prior knowledge through asking questions about or discussing a topic; develop mind maps to explore ideas; ask questions to focus reading; use visualization to clarify details of a character, scene, or concept in a text; make predictions about a text based on reasoning and related reading; reread to confirm or clarify meaning) (OME, Reading: 1.3)

Grammar Feature: Hyphen
In today’s article, hyphens are used in two sentences. In both of these sentences the hyphen is used in the forming of compund words. When used this way, the hyphen tells the reader that there is a relationship between the words that make up the compound.

“This picture was taken at the real-life King’s Cross station in London, England.”

“A cast-iron 9-3/4 sign has been put up on the wall between platforms 9 and 10.”

Oxford's Save the Words project

SAVING WORDS FROM "EXTINCTION"

What would you do if someone called you a “snollygoster”? Would you feel flattered or insulted?

“Snollygoster” isn’t a word you hear every day. In fact, almost no one uses it anymore. And that's the problem, according to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary.

They’ve rounded up hundreds of words that are nearly extinct, and they’re asking people to “adopt” them. When you “adopt” a word you promise to try to get it back into popular usage. You pledge that you'll use it as often as possible when you’re talking to people, write it in letters and schoolwork and tell people what your adopted word means.

For instance, if you were to adopt snollygoster, you’d have to let people know that it means, “a smart, but dishonest person.” And one way to use it might be to describe a corrupt politician. You might say, "Boy, that Richard Nixon sure was one wicked snollygoster!"

At Oxford’s Save the Words website, you can see what looks like a quilt of words. As you move your mouse over the words, they call out to you: “Pick me! Pick me!” encouraging you to adopt them. When you find a word that’s interesting to you, you can click on it to get its definition. And if you like it, you can adopt it, pledging to use the word as often as possible.

Save the Words is a fun project, designed by Oxford to get more people talking about language and, presumably, buying more Oxford English Dictionaries. It’s meant to be a fun, and not very serious, website that we can all learn from. And there's no doubt--it will certainly gumfiate* your vocabulary!

*cause to swell.

Writing/Discussion Prompt: Words
Sometimes the meanings of words change. For example “cool” can mean chilly or trendy, and “wicked” can mean evil or fantastic. Can you think of any other words that have two meanings?

Curriculum Prompt
Primary
Using a dictionary is a very important skill. We need dictionaries to help us spell and to explain the meanings of unfamiliar words.

Identify any unfamiliar or challenging words in this article (for instance: corrupt, pledge, presumably) and look up their meaning in a dictionary.

Confirm spellings and word meanings or word choice using several different types of resources (OME, Writing: 3.3).

Junior
When we write we work to figure out which words best explain our ideas. When we get stuck thinking of a suitable word, we can use a thesaurus. A thesaurus helps us to find alternative word choices.

Underline five adjectives in the article and then use a thesaurus to find other words which would also be appropriate.

Confirm spellings and word meanings or word choice using a variety of resources appropriate for the purpose (OME, Writing: 3.3).

Grammar Feature: Contractions
There are contractions throughout the article. Contractions are two words that are put together with an apostrophe. Identify all of the contractions in the article and explain which two words were put together to make the contractions.

Although the word “Oxford’s” has an apostrophe in it, it is not a contraction. What is it?

Ireland facing bankruptcy

A PROUD NATION FORCED TO ASK FOR MONEY

Ireland is a proud, independent nation. Historically, it suffered a long and painful struggle for independence from Britain.

This week, however, Ireland’s government had to admit that it’s going broke. Its banks are close to bankruptcy, nearly 200,000 homeowners may lose their homes and more than 13 per cent of its population is unemployed.

The country will have to borrow money—from Britain and other lenders—to stay afloat.

A team of 12 officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) arrived in Dublin, Ireland last week. They went over the country’s finances to figure out how to get it out of debt.

They decided that many of the countries in Europe would lend Ireland money, to the tune of $110-billion. Ireland will use that money to boost its businesses and kick-start its economy again.

In the meantime, however, having to go cap-in-hand to other countries is something many Irish people will consider shameful. The Irish Prime Minister denies that there is anything to be embarrassed about, but the proud Irish people, who would prefer to stand on their own two feet, feel differently.

In an editorial last week, the newspaper The Irish Times said that after having obtained independence from Britain, “we have now surrendered our sovereignty” to European lenders and the IMF.

This crisis may spell the end for the Irish Prime Minister, who faces an election on Nov. 25.

Source: Based on an article by Doug Saunders, The Globe and Mail.

Writing/Discussion Prompt: Metaphors
This article has tons of them: “stay afloat,” “kick-start its economy,” “cap-in-hand, “ “to the tune of $110-billion,” “stand on their own two feet,” “spell the end,” etc. Why are metaphors used by writers? What impact does a metaphor have on its reader?

Curriculum Prompt
Retelling, or summarizing, is a really difficult skill. Here’s an effective way to summarize a news article. Using a highlighter, highlight the five most important facts in the article (make sure that your facts are chosen from the beginning, middle, and end). Next, rewrite the facts you’ve highlighted in your own words.

Junior
Demonstrate understanding of a variety of texts by summarizing important ideas and citing supporting details (OME, Reading: 1.4)

Grammar Feature: “However”
Sentences with the word “however” in the middle must be preceeded and followed by a comma.

“This week, however, Ireland’s government had to admit that it’s going broke.”

“In the meantime, however, having to go cap-in-hand to other countries is something many Irish people will consider shameful.”

A Royal Wedding

QUEEN'S GRANDSON ENGAGED

He’s second in line to the British throne. She works for a children’s party-supplies store. They recently got engaged, and it’s likely that one day he will be King of England and she will be his Queen.

Prince William proposed to “commoner” Catherine Middleton last month when the two were on holiday in Africa. All of Britain is riveted by the attractive, likeable couple.

She’s particularly popular because she isn’t descended from royalty. Her parents are a former flight attendant and a dispatcher, and they now run a mail-order party-supplies business called Party Pieces. She has two younger siblings, Pippa and James.

Diana and Charles pull away from the
cathedral in a horse-drawn carriage
on their wedding day, nearly 30 years ago.

William, of course, has a younger brother, Harry—third in line for the throne. And a famous father, Charles, who is first in line to be King of England should Queen Elizabeth step down.

The couple plans to get married next Spring or Summer. And it won’t be a small affair. The British public will demand a lavish wedding in a huge cathedral with thousands of invited guests and—if past royal weddings are anything to go by—horse-drawn carriages. People in Britain are also hoping the day will be declared a holiday so everyone can have the day off work (or school).

King William and Queen Catherine. It has a nice ring to it. And speaking of rings, Catherine Middleton is now wearing one of the most famous rings in the world—the 18-carat sapphire-and-diamond ring that belonged to William’s late mother, Princess Diana.

Update: They've set a date! William and Catherine will marry on April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey.

Writing/Discussion Prompt
People have been following William's and Catherine’s relationship for many years. They are regularly on the cover of magazines and newspapers and on TV. Do you think it is fair that William’s and Catherine’s lives are available for everyone to see?

People are very interested in not only William’s and Catherine’s lives; they are also fascinated by all celebrities. Why do think we're so interested in celebrities?

Curriculum Prompt
Excellent writing has a strong "voice." Voice is the way someone expresses their personality in their writing. The voice may change if someone is using very simple words or very long, complicated words. A writer can also add expression and voice to their writing through the use of exclamation marks or question marks.

Take a highlighter and highlight the parts of the article where you can “hear” the author’s voice. Are there parts of the article where we can find out what the author is thinking?

Primary
identify some elements of style, including voice, word choice, and different types of sentences, and explain how they help readers understand texts (OME, Reading: 2.4)

Junior
analyze texts and explain how various elements in them contribute to meaning (OME, Reading: 1.7)

Grammar Feature: Adjectives
Adjectives are words that describe a noun (person, place or thing). Identify all the adjectives in the article. As a whole class or in small groups, discuss why adjectives are an important part of writing.

Run someone's life through Control TV

A new Internet TV show lets viewers run someone’s life.

Cameras are pointed at 25-year-old Tristan Couvares, following his every move. Viewers can watch what he does, for 18 hours a day, on the Internet.

The twist is, they can also be able to vote on what he should do next.

The Web show is called “Control TV” and it’s a lot like a movie called The Truman Show, which starred actor Jim Carrey. There are also some “reality TV” shows, like Big Brother, that follow real people through their days. However, this show will be different because it lets viewers make decisions for the person.

The producers say the show is designed to help Couvares make some decisions in his life. The producers make sure the suggestions from viewers are helpful, and not hurtful, to Couvares.

The decisions could be as simple as getting Couvares to eat oatmeal rather than an English muffin for breakfast, or to wear funny clothes when he goes for a job interview.

Viewers can follow the show at Control TV and sign up for cellphone alerts, which lets them decide things for Couvares about 10 to 15 times a day. Voting is for multiple options: A, B or C.

Writing/Discussion Prompt

Reality TV has always been very popular. Game shows, which date back to 1938, were the first examples of reality TV. Today, televisions have lots of reality shows, including like Survivor and Big Brother. Why do you think people like watching reality TV so much? Would you ever go on a reality TV show? Why or why not?

Curriculum Prompt
As you read this article, did you have “flow” in your reading? Were you able to raise and lower your voice as you read in order to highlight and emphasize interesting portions?

Primary
Read appropriate texts at a sufficient rate and with sufficient expression to convey the sense of the text readily to the reader and an audience (OME, Reading: 3.3).

Junior
Read appropriate texts with expression and confidence, adjusting reading strategies and reading rate to match the form and purpose (OME, Reading: 3.3).

Grammar Feature: One sentence paragraph.
Today’s article includes 2 one-sentence paragraphs. When is it okay to use one sentence paragraphs and what is their purpose? The following excerpt from Article Base explains:

“Unlike paragraphs with multiple sentences, a one-sentence paragraph places heavy emphasis on the idea. It is a high-impact tool for telling the reader, "This is very important." Very few ideas require this level of emphasis. Used sparingly, one-sentence paragraphs can be very effective for pointing out critical ideas or keeping the reader mentally focused on the content.”

New discovery about asthma

Everyone knows that you taste with your mouth.

Recently, scientists found out something really surprising. We can also taste bitter tastes with our lungs and airways.

These muscles relax when we taste something bitter.

That’s the opposite of what scientists thought would happen. They thought the muscles would tense up, to “warn us” that the bitter taste was poisonous.

However, when they fed some non-toxic bitter foods to mice and some humans, their airways relaxed and opened wide. Wider, in fact, than any medicine can make them open up.

This is an important discovery for people with asthma. People with asthma have trouble breathing because their airways become tight and narrow. Asthma medicine makes those airways relax and open up.

It won’t be enough for people with asthma to simply drink or eat something bitter, however. In order to get a large enough dose, those compounds would need to be inhaled.

So researchers have a lot more work to do on this discovery, to turn it into medicine for people with asthma. However, it’s a good start towards a stronger, more effective medicine.

Curriculum Connection
Do you know anyone who has asthma? Do you know of any non-medicinal remedies that work?

Primary
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).

Junior
Extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6).

Grammar
However. However is a word that is almost either preceeded or followed by a comma. This is because “however” is a word that interupts a sentence. Today's article has two examples of this:

“It won’t be enough for people with asthma to simply drink or eat something bitter, however.”

“However, it’s a good start towards a stronger, more effective medicine.”

Extensions
When eating bitter foods, our airways widen. This is different from what scientists expected. Pretend you are a scientist. Can you think of any reason why someone’s airways would widen when eating these types of foods? If bitter foods don’t make our airways shrink, which types of foods do you think would?

Intelligent billboards

You’re standing in front of a billboard. Suddenly, it changes and the screen displays an advertisement for fruit roll-ups, then one for the new Harry Potter movie, and then one for Monopoly.

It’s almost as if the billboard knows what you like.

In Tokyo, Japan, there is a new kind of billboard, called an “intelligent digital billboard.” It scans your face and clothing, as well as the environment around you, to decide what kind of person you are.

In this case, it has recognized that you’re a young boy or girl with a bit of money to spend on movies and games.

If you were a middle-aged man walking in a rainstorm, you might see an ad for raincoats. If you were a stylish 20-year-old woman, you might see an ad for make-up or dresses.

The billboards were invented by a company called NEC.

A small camera above the screen transforms the image of the person into data, which is then analyzed against the unit’s profiles of about 10,000 real people. Based on your clothing, gender and age, height and whether the person is accompanied by children, it figures out what kind of products you might like.

People can also scan the billboards with their mobile phone to receive restaurant menus or other information from the ads.

The billboards are being tested in Japan now, but will soon be coming to North America.

Curriculum Connection
The camera above the billboard screen analyses your face, your clothes, who is standing with you, and your surroundings. In your opinion, is this enough information to know who you are and what you like? Why or why not?

Primary
express personal opinions about ideas presented in texts (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Junior
make judgments and draw conclusions about the ideas and information in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Grammar
Have your students circle or highlight all of the commas in the article. Discuss how commas are used for the following purposes:

1. in lists - “Suddenly, it changes and the screen displays an advertisement for fruit roll-ups, then one for the new Harry Potter movie, and then one for Monopoly.”

2. for thought interruption – “In Tokyo, Japan, there is a new kind of billboard, called an “intelligent digital billboard.”

3. in numbers – “A small camera above the screen transforms the image of the person into data, which is then analyzed against the unit’s profiles of about 10,000 real people.”

4. to separate a city from a country – “In Tokyo, Japan, there is a new kind of billboard, called an ‘intelligent digital billboard.’”

5. to separate two ideas that are in the same sentence – “The billboards are being tested in Japan now, but will soon be coming to North America.”

Extensions
We are surrounded by advertisements on a daily basis. Record all of the places where you might see advertisements during a regular day.

Advertisements come in different forms: in magazines, on television, in newspapers, on t-shirts and on subways. What types of advertisements are the most effective? What makes them more effective?

Police in Manchester use Twitter

The police in Manchester, UK, work really hard.
Image: Wikimedia Commons, Terry.

UK POLICE FORCE TWITTERS FOR ATTENTION

The police force in Manchester, UK works really hard. In fact, they get hundreds of emergency calls every hour.

Even so, the city councillors wanted to cut the police budget. As many as one in four police workers would be eliminated.

The police realized that the politicians didn't understand how hard the Manchester police force was working. So, for 24 hours, they posted every one of the calls that came through on their emergency line to Twitter. (Twitter is a program on the Internet that lets people know, in 140 words or less, what's happening.)

The police figured that if the public and the politicians could see just how many calls they get, and how hard they work, they would be less likely to cut the police budget.

Some of the calls they get are reports of children running away, abandoned animals or suspicious people. However, some of them are quite humorous. In any case, the police have to take every call seriously and check each one out.

Here are some of the emergency calls they posted on Twitter:

• Call 384: Report of man holding baby over bridge. Police immediately attended and it was man carrying dog that doesn't like bridges.
• Call 466: Complaint that builders have turned up to complete work two months late in Bolton.
• Call 749: Call from a member of the public about their car insurance.
• Call 686: Man shouts "you're gorgeous!" to woman.
• Call 1079: Woman reports her horse refuses to come back over bridge.
• Call 1634: Suspicious men carrying a snake, Bolton.
• Call 281: Someone in Salford complains about being woken up.

Curriculum Connection

Websites like Twitter and Facebook are used to send information to a lot of people at once. The police force in Manchester used Twitter to inform the public and the city councilors as to how busy they are. Do you think Twitter was the best way for them to do this? Are there other forms of media that would allow them to send out their message to a large audience in a more effective way?

Primary
describe how different audiences might respond to specific media texts (OME, Media Literacy: 1.4)

Junior
explain why different audiences might respond differently to the same media text (OME, Media Literacy: 1.4)

Grammar Feature
A colon (:) is a punctuation mark that is used before a list or an explanation. Highlight the use of colons in the article and discuss how it helps readers to understand text.

Extension
Do you think police should have to check out every call that comes in? Why or why not? Use information from the article and your own ideas to support your answer.
Look at the list of emergency calls that the police posted on Twitter. Rank the calls in order from most important to least important. In your opinion, which call do you think was the most serious and why?

Check out this guy!

Dr. Anthony Hutchison is a
former gang member who
traded guns for a guitar.

ON NOV. 3, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO CHECK THIS GUY OUT. LITERALLY.

His name is Dr. Anthony Hutchison, and he’s part of the Toronto Public Library’s “human library event.”

Hutchison is one of 60 “human books” you can check out, just like you would a book from the library. The “books” will be signed out for a 30-minute conversation in a quiet area of the library.

All of the human “books” have very striking life experiences, and thus very interesting stories to tell.

The idea behind the human library is to expand our understanding of people, by getting to meet and talk with them about their lives—lives which may be very different from our own. The concept begin in Copenhagen in the early 1990s to combat prejudice. Countries all over the world now hold human libraries and some even have permanent collections.

Dr. Hutchison, for instance, is a former gang member, illiterate and unhappy. Today, he is a doctor who works with at-risk youth.

“At the age of 15, in 1983, I put down my two guns and my gang colours for a guitar,” he says. “The resources to help me put my life back on track mainly came from a local community public library.”

How did he manage that life transformation? You have an opportunity to check him out for 30 minutes on Nov. 3 and find out.

Other human "books" include:

Rosa, a gay teen; journalist Barbara Turnbull and her service dog Bella; anti-poverty activist Michael Creek, who was homeless; Tibetan Buddhist Monk Tenzin Kalsang; and "Raging Granny" Phyllis Creighton.

Five libraries in Toronto will participate in the one-day pilot project:
Toronto Reference Library (Yonge and Bloor)
North York Central Library (North of Yonge and Sheppard)
Bloor Gladstone Branch (Bloor and Dufferin)
Lillian H. Smith Branch (College and Spadina)
Malvern Branch (Sheppard and Neilson)

Curriculum Connection
“Does anything in this story remind you of anything you’ve seen or heard of?”

“What do you think about this library program?”

“What conclusions can you draw from the events or information presented in the text?”

Primary
Express personal opinions about ideas presented in texts (e.g., identify traits they admire in the characters; comment on actions taken by characters (OME, Reading: 1.8).

Junior
Make judgements and draw conclusions about ideas in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Grammar Feature
Bullet point. Bullet points are a text feature designed to help readers gain information quickly and efficiently. With your students, highlight the bullet points and discuss why an author would use bullet points. As well, use metacognitive strategies to illustrate the effectiveness of bullet points.
Extensions
The idea behind the “human book” program is to “expand our understanding of people, by getting to meet and talk with them about their lives—lives which may be very different from our own.” Why do you think it is important to meet and talk with different people? Is there a danger or problem that arises when people stop meeting new people?