We've Finished!

We have finally finished reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone! What a great ending! Not only did Harry save the day, but his friends were there to help him. I love how Ron used his Chess skills and Hermione used her logic to get passed those obstacles. They were brilliant! I was also shocked to discover that Professor Quirrell was the one after the Sorcerer's Stone and not Professor Snape! Snape always makes it seem like he is after Harry, when really he was only trying to help him. Lastly, it was so exciting that Gryffindor won the house cup! I think after Harry and Hermione lost so many points for their house, it was nice that they were able to earn the points that helped them win. Way to go Gryffindor! What a great book!

This week, I would like you to do more than just respond to the poll. I would also like you to tell me if you liked the book and a few reasons why or why not. We have spent so much time reading this story and you have all done such a wonderful of answering the weekly blog questions that I would really love to hear what you think overall.

This week's poll question is from L.C. Please write at least 4 perfect sentences responding to his question, and at least 4 sentences about what you thought of the book overall. Good Luck!

I think if Quirrell wasn't going after the Sorcerer's Stone it would have been Professor Sprout. We heard so little about him in the story that there is a chance he could be trying to sneak in and take the Sorcerer's Stone! We do not really know whether Professor Sprout is a helpful person or a sneaky person. I think that he could be a suspect until we do find out more (maybe in another book!).

What do you think?

Please look at the bottom of this page for additional poll questions that you may answer. I was given so many great ideas, I couldn't choose just one!


Miss Romola

Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback

Last week in Harry Potter, we read about Hagrid's new pet. A dragon! He was so excited but everyone else thought he was a little crazy. Who would want a fire breathing dragon as a pet???? Harry and Hermoine were trying to help Hagrid get rid of Norbert, but ended up getting in trouble. Neville and Malfoy got in trouble too! I hope their punishment isn't too bad!

This week's poll question was given by H.N. It's a great one! The first person to write 5 perfect sentences will receive 8 points for their house! Good Luck!

I think if I went to Hogwarts, I would want an owl as my pet. Hedwig is so helpful to Harry! Since owls are used as the post, it would make it very easy for me to stay in touch with my family while I am away from them at school. Also, I think owls are very beautiful and smart creatures. What do you think?

Nicholas Flamel

Harry, Ron and Hermione have finally found out who Nicholas Flamel is! Now that they know, who knows what they will do next! This is important information. Hopefully, they will be able to protect the Sorcerer's Stone now that they know what it is!

This week's blog question comes from R.M. The first person to write 5 perfect sentences will receive 6 extra points for their house. Perfect sentences need to have both perfect grammar and spelling! Don't forget!

I think that Harry will use his cloak to get passed Fluffy, the three headed dog. After seeing him once, I think that he, Ron, and Hermione are going to become more and more curious. Especially since they now know he is protecting the Sorcerer's Stone! I hope that Harry's invisibility cloak will be enough to protect him from Fluffy!

What do you think?

The Invisibility Cloak

Now that Harry has gotten this awesome Christmas present, who knows what he will do! We have already seen that Harry has gone into the restricted section of the library to find out about Nicholas Flamel, and that didn't go so well. Hopefully, he will have more luck later on. Who knows what he will do!

We are also hearing more and more about the house cup. It's so exciting! I hope that Harry's house wins!

This week's blog question is from M.N. It is a very interesting one! The first person to write five complete sentences with perfect spelling and grammar will receive an extra 6 points for their house. Good luck!

I think that Slytherin is going to win the house cup. I would love it if Gryffindor did, but because they Slytherins are so sneaky, they probably have a sneaky way of winning. If they do not, then I think Gryffindor will win. They try so hard! Especially Hermione. She answers so many questions right and works so hard for her house! Go Hermione!

Merry Christmas Harry!

Harry and Ron are spending their holidays at Hogwarts! They are having a wonderful time because most of the other students have gone home to spend time with their families. In what we have just read, we see how Christmas is celebrated in the castle. We also see the awesome gifts that Ron and Harry receive from their friends and family. This is an extra special day for Harry because he has never really received any gifts before. He is very surprised to receive so many gifts on Christmas! He is especially surprised by one very mysterious package...

This week's blog question was created by R.M. She did an excellent job really thinking about the story and what she think might happen. Awesome job making predictions! The first person to respond with five COMPLETE sentences and perfect spelling will receive 8 points for their house! Good Luck!

I think there is no way that Ron will take Harry's invisibility cloak. Ron and Harry are best friends! He would not want to hurt their friendship by taking something that belongs to Harry. I know that I would never ever do that to my best friend! I think Ron and Harry are close enough that Ron knows Harry will share with him and it does not need to be taken.

What do you think?

We're getting close to Christmas!

While we did not have much time to read more Harry Potter over the short week we had, we did find out today that it is getting close to Christmas! I am very excited to find out what it is like at Hogwarts during the holidays! It must be so exciting!

This week's poll question was created by H.N.

I think if I found a bag of Galleons I would try and return it. I think that it would probably be difficult to find the person that it belongs to, but it is their money, not mine. Plus, maybe I will be lucky and get a reward! There are tons of awesome things in the wizarding world to buy, but I know that I need to do the right thing before I spend money on anything. What do you think?

The first person to write 5 sentences in their comment will receive 6 extra points for their house!

The Quidditch Season Begins

We have now begun to hear about what it is like for Harry on the quidditch team. practices seem pretty intense! It's pretty amazing also that Harry is the youngest one to play on a Hogwarts team in a very very long time! Since Harry had never heard of quidditch before, he had a lot to learn, and so did we! We found out about the different kinds of balls there were, the quaffle, the bludgers, and the golden snitch; and the different positions! This brings me to our poll question for this week. Please make sure that you write more than one sentence in your response. I will be looking for the first person to write a 5 sentence response, and will reward that house with 7 bonus points!!! So please, really think about what you are going to write.

I think if I were on the quidditch team, I would like to be a chaser. That position seems like to much fun! Not only are you right in the middle of all the action, but you get to score goals! That sounds pretty cool to me! Plus, I think I would be a little too nervous to be a beater. What about you?

Harry can fly!

Well...not really, but he rides a broom really well! We're now seeing the students at Hogwarts get involved in fun activities, and even cause a little bit of mischief at school! It's funny to hear about all of the trouble that Ron and Harry are causing! Poor Hermione! She;s just trying to make sure that Gryffindor keeps all of their points, but she ends up in trouble too! I hope they learn their lesson sometime soon!

This week's poll question was submitted by T.M. and I think it is very interesting. I know that if I saw a 3 headed dog I would run away as fast as I could! That dog sounds really big and scary to me! What do you think you would do?

Harry starts his classes

I am very happy to see that so many of you answered last week's poll question! Unfortunately, there was not one house where everyone responded which means that none of the houses will get 5 extra points. I hope I'll be able to give those points this week!

Now that Harry is at Hogwarts, and has been placed into his house, we are seeing him in his classes. He has some pretty interesting ones! Transfiguration sounds like it will be pretty tough, and I think Harry better watch out in potions! Who knows what Professor Snape will ask him to do!

The poll question for this week was created by M.T. and I think it is an excellent one. This goes back to when Harry was being placed into his house.

I think that the other kids wanted Harry in their house because of his scar. Even though Harry doesn't realize how famous he is, all the other kids have known about him for their entire lives! I think they are amazed to see Harry Potter in school with them, and only want him in their house because he is famous, and his scar made him famous.

What do you think?

The Sorting Hat

I read your comments last week and they were all fantastic! I'm so excited to see the creative responses you have! We have now finally read about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and have begun to hear about the amazing things that happen inside! It's so exciting!

We have been introduced to the sorting hat, who sorts each student into their house. We saw that Harry becomes a Gryffindor! We also found out what houses a lot of the other characters were placed into. Do you remember any?

This week's poll questions is from R.M. I think she came up with an excellent one.

If Harry were to be in a house other than Gryffindor I think it would be Hufflepuff. I think that the students placed in Hufflepuff are very kind. Harry tends to help people out when he can which I also think is kind. He also seems a little shy, which I think might be another quality of a Hufflepuff. What do you think?

How would you feel if you were Harry?

I was SO excited to see how many of you responded to last week's post! Let's keep it up again this week! I would like us to think about what it would be like to be in Harry's shoes. He's just left the only family he's ever known, and while they definitely were not the best, they were still family. How would you feel if it was you?

I think I would feel very lonely. It is very hard to go to a new place knowing absolutely no one! Think about what it was like when you started at a new school. You had no idea what to expect, and I'm sure if you had friends or family to turn to it definitely helped. What do you think?

Harry's finally going to Hogwarts!

We have finally have reached the point in our story where Harry is leaving for Hogwarts! This is so exciting! We are going to begin to see the magical world and all that it involves. Sounds pretty cool to me! I can't wait to hear what all of you think about the story up to this point. Don't forget, you can always write more than the minimum in you blog entry. I would LOVE to hear what you think of the book up to this point, and also about what you think will happen next!

For this week's poll, I think that if I had to go through the barrier at platform 9 and 3/4 I would be more than just scared. I would be TERRIFIED!!! The idea of having to walk straight through a solid wall is totally crazy! I think that Harry is very brave to trust the woman with the red hair when she tells him that is what he has to do. What do you think?

Harry Potter: Week 2

I'm so excited to see how many of you commented on our first Harry Potter post! The first house that had all their members respond was Gryffindor! They will be receiving one point. Don't forget to respond to our blog every week. I love reading your responses! This week, I would like you to try and write at least 3 sentences when you write your comments. Our poll this week is about Hagrid.

I think that Hagrid is full of courage. It was very brave of him to keep sending the letters to Harry, and to come and rescue him from the Dursleys! I hope that Hagrid will continue to help Harry as we read further into our story.

What do you think?

Harry Potter!

We can finally start using our blog!! For our first discussion, I would like to talk about our favorite characters so far. We have read the first three chapters so far, and I would love to hear who your favorite character is as of right now. Please answer our poll and then write at least 4 sentences saying why you chose that character. At the bottom of your response, make sure you write your INITIALS ONLY so I know who the response is from.

My favorite character, as of right now, is Dudley. I love to read about all the crazy things that have happened to him! I also love to not like Dudley because he is so mean. I think he is a very interesting character and can't wait to see what else happens to him in later chapters!

Miss Romola

Now please add your posts!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back 4th graders! This will be a very exciting year, where we will be learning together. It is my first year at Washington School, and I cannot wait to meet you all. We will be beginning the year with some get to know each other activities, along with setting up our classroom and creating goals for our time together. I hope you are as excited to meet me as I am you. I will see you on September 5th!

Miss Romola