Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to apply basic arithmetic skills to solve magical problems inspired by Harry Potter.

Materials and Prep

Materials needed: Pencil, paper, Harry Potter books or movies (optional)

Prep: Familiarity with basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication

Activities

1. Magical Math Problems: Create magical word problems inspired by Harry Potter that involve addition, subtraction, and multiplication. For example, "If Harry caught 5 golden snitches and Hermione found 3 more, how many does Harry have in total?"

2. Potion Making: Use basic addition and subtraction to solve potion-making problems. For example, "If Snape had 10 bottles of potion and used 3, how many bottles are left?"

3. Quidditch Scoreboard: Practice addition and subtraction by keeping score for a Quidditch match. For example, "If Gryffindor scored 50 points and Slytherin scored 30, how many more points does Gryffindor have?"

Second Grade Talking Points

• "In Harry Potter, characters use math to solve magical problems. Let's use our math skills to solve magical problems too!"
• "Just like Harry and his friends, we can use addition to find the total of different magical items."
• "Subtraction helps us figure out how much is left after using magical objects, like potions or spell ingredients."
• "We can also use multiplication to help us with repeated magical tasks, like counting the number of magical creatures."