Was George Washington a Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Slytherin? 

In this class we will examine Americans from different periods in history that have had an important impact on our lives today. We will compare their character traits to the character traits commonly associated with each house at Hogwarts from Harry Potter. It is not necessary for the students to have previous Harry Potter knowledge for this class, we will review each of the houses during the class. The main focus of this class is the history and character analysis. 

In each class we will look at two famous Americans and have a discussion about why they are important to our history. Students will begin class by sharing what they already know about the two people. We will discuss the important things that each person accomplished in their life and why they are considered important to American history.

Students will then analyze the actions and accomplishments of each person. We will talk about the different character traits that might be driving the actions exhibited by these people. Students will be encouraged to think about the positive and negative character traits that may be associated with different actions.

Finally, we will look at the four Hogwarts houses and the character traits commonly associated with each house. Students will discuss why they think the figures that we examine belong in a certain house. Students will be guided to use the facts learned in class to form their own opinions about which house the sorting hat would place each person in. There are no right or wrong answers! 

Before we leave class for the day students will have the opportunity to vote for the house they think each person belongs in. The sorting hat will sort our famous American into a house based on the student votes!

This is an ongoing version of my Sorting Hat class. Enrolling in this section allows flexibility to start and end classes at any week. We will meet once a week and discuss two different historical figures that center around a common theme each week. I also teach this class as a traditional, 4 week multi-day class that meets twice a week and covers the same people.

Currently the schedule is,

Wed Aug 10th George Washington and Benedict Arnold
Wed Aug 17th Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton
Wed Aug 24th, Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman
Wed Aug 31st Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks
Wed Sep 7th Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison
Wed Sep 14th Henry Ford and George Washington Carver
Wed Sep 21st, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Wed Sep 27th, Katherine Johnson and Grace Hopper