the curious incident of the dog in the night-time activities · pdf filebook club: grade 12...

BookClub:Grade12

TheCuriousIncidentoftheDogintheNight‐TimebyMarkHaddon

Summary:

MarkHaddon’sTheCuriousIncidentoftheDogintheNight‐Timeisacaptivatingstory

aboutChristopherBoone,anautistic15year‐oldboywhosetsouttoinvestigatethe

suspiciousdeathofhisneighbour’sdog.Thenovel,writteninthefirst‐person

perspectiveofChristopher,givesthereaderinsightintothemindofapersonwith

autism.

ActivityOne:

“Itlookedasifthereweretwoverysmallmicehidinginhisnostrils.”(p.17)

Anintroductoryperformancetojump‐startstudents’reading

LearningOutcomes:

Studentswilllisten,speak,read,writeandviewtoexplorethoughtsideas,feelingsand

experiencesaswellastorespondpersonallyandcriticallytooralandprinttexts.

ContextandRationale:

Inordertopreparestudentsforthisnovelandtoidentifyelementsofthefirst‐person

narrator’scharacterthatmaypresentobstaclestounderstanding,we’lljumprightinby

performingchapter31.Thischapterisheavyondialogueandfullofdetailsabout

Christopherandhismindset,andusessomeBritishvocabularythatstudentswillhaveto

getaccustomedtoreading.ThisactivityalsoallowsstudentstoencounterChristopher

beforeknowing(viathebookcover,forinstance)thatheisautistic.Fromthisactivity,

studentswillhavefirstexperiencedChristopheronhisownterms,withoutinterpretive

labels.Thiswillallowroomforauthenticdiscussionandcomparisoninfollowing

activitiesaboutwhatmakessomeone“normal”.(Nelson7)

GradeandTimeline:

Thisintroductoryactivitycanbeusedatanygradelevel.Studentsareactivelyengaged

withthetextimmediatelythroughperformanceandareremovedfromany

preconceptionsaboutthebook,sincetheydon’tknowwhatbooktheyarereading

from.Thisnovelissuitedtoamorematurelevelofstudentsasitdealswithmore

complexissues.Thereforeitismoreappropriateforgrade11or12students.The

activitywilltakeone60minuteclass.

Materials:

ScriptfromChapter31(enoughcopiesforallstudents)withenlargedmarginsfor

studentstomakenotesin

Whattodo:

Withnointroduction(i.e.don’tsay“Thisisfromthenewnovelwe’llbe

reading”),passoutLesson1script,oneforeachstudent.Askforfour

volunteers,onetoplayChristopher,onetoplayhisfather,onetoplaythe

inspector,andonetoplaythenarrator(i.e.toreadanythingnotinquotes,

includingthefootnote).HavingtwostudentsplayChristopherasnarratorand

Christopherindialoguewilldifferentiatebetweennarrationanddialogueaswell

asallowingmorestudentstoparticipate.

Askallstudentswhowillnotbeperformingtoannotatetheirhandouts(have

extra‐widemarginstoallowforthis).Theyshouldnote:wordsorphrasesthey

don’tknow;expressionsorreactionsthatseematallstrangeorthatdefy

expectation;wordsorphrasesthatarouseastrong(negativeorpositiveorin‐

between)reaction,foranyreason;anyquestionsorthoughtsthatoccurto

them,whetherfromthetextitselfortheperformanceofit.Thesedirections

shouldbeincludedonthetopofthescript.

Bringperformerstocenter(orfront)ofroom.Telltheclassthatthescenebegins

inajailcellthenmovestoaninterrogationroom.Fromthisinformation,have

therestoftheclassdirect(whileperformersremainsilent):howshouldthe

performerbesituated?Whatshouldtheirbodylanguagebe?Whattoneofvoice

shouldtheyuse?Thenlettheperformersactoutthescene.

Aftertheperformance,opendiscussiontoentireclass(performersincluded),

basedonwhattheynotedduringtheperformance.(Foraquitelargeclass,I

mightbreakthemintosmallergroupsfirst,andthenreconvene.)Wheredothey

thinkthisistakingplace?Whatisgoingon?WhoisChristopher?Whathas

happened?And,mostimportantly,how,basedontextualclues,dotheyknow

(orsuppose)thesethings?Andhowdidtheperformersfeel?Whatdidthey

thinkoftheircharacters?Whatwastheeffectofhaving,ineffect,two

Christophers?Perhapsthesequestionscouldbeonaworksheetforthemto

respondtoeitheringroupsorindependentlyaftertheperformanceandbefore

thewhole‐classdiscussion.(Nelson7)

AdditionalConsiderations:

Theeffectivenessofthisactivitywillvarydependingonthenatureofthestudentsinthe

class.Amoreoutgoingclasswillbemorewillingtoparticipateinandaddcreativityto

thepresentationaspect.Foramoreintrovertedclass,allowstudentstimetowriteand

considertheirresponsesfirsteitherinsmallgroupsorindependently,beforeengaging

inwholeclassdiscussion.

PersonalConnection

Ihavenothadtheopportunitytousethisexactactivitybuthavedonesimilar

performancepiecespreviouslyinagrade11IBEnglishclass.Byactingoutpiecesfrom

playsornovels,studentsareabletoseethestorycometolife,whichdeepenstheir

appreciationforandunderstandingoftheplot,aswellasengagementwiththe

characters.

ActivityTwo:

FoundPoetry

Playingwithwordsasanapproachtotone,voice,andtheme

CurricularGoals

Studentswilllisten,speak,read,write,viewandrepresenttomanageideasand

informationandtoenhancetheclarityandartistryofcommunication.

ContextandRationale:

Atthispoint,studentsshouldhavecompletedreadingthefirst43chapters.(Since

chaptersarelabeledinprimenumbers,thisisreallyonly30pagesorso.)

Inordertopromotestudents’understandingoftherelationshipbetweendiction,

syntax,tone,voice,andtheme,they’llconstructpoemsfromthesentencesthey

decidedwerethemostimportant(see“whattodo”below).Thisactivitywillprime

themtoreadcloselyandwilldemonstratetothemwhysuchattentiontodetailis

importanttounderstandingwhatisgoingoninthisnovel,whosemeaningiscompletely

boundupinChristopher’svoice.(Nelson15)

GradeandTimeline:

Thisactivitycouldbeusedingrades8‐12forvariousnovels.Foundpoetryisagreatway

tomakepoetrymoreaccessibletostudentsandengagetheminwritingtheirown.In

thecontextofthisactivity,itenablesstudentstodiscoverthesignificanceofwordsand

imagesthattheauthorhasusedinthenovel.Theactivityshouldtakeatleastone60

minuteclass,butitcouldbeextendedintofollowingclassesforstudentswhoreally

engagedwithwritingtheirownpoetry.

Materials:

Compilationofemailsthathavebeensenttoyou(enoughcopiesforallstudents)

Whattodo:

Intheclassprecedingthisactivity,havestudentsselectapartner.Students

should,viaanemail,decidebetweenthetwoofthemwhattheythinkarethe5

mostimportantsentencesinthesefirst43chapters.Studentscaninterpret

“important”tomeanwhatevertheywouldlike–mostimportanttotheplot,

mostinterestingsounding,mostcomplicated,moststraightforward,orany

combinationoftheseorotherideas.Theyshouldemailyouandprintoutthe

transcriptoftheirconversationandbringittoclass.Theyshouldalsonotewhat

theirreasoningwaswhenchoosingthesentences.

(Dependingonthegroupofstudentsthiscanbeanindividualhomework

assignmentaswell)

Giveeachstudentaprintoutoftheclasscompilation(whichwillhavebeencut

andpastedfromtheiremailsthenightbefore)ofallthesentencestheychoseas

themostimportantintheirreadingassignmentfortoday.

Askstudentstolookoverthesentencesandspendabout15minuteswriting

fromthemanoriginal,20‐line,titledpoem.Theymayusephrases,ortheymay

useonlysinglewordsinadifferentorderthantheyoriginallyappear,butthey

maynotuseawholesentenceasitexistsinthenovel.Thepoemsdonothave

tobeaboutthenovel.

Spendabout5minutesdiscussingwhatstudents’criteriawereforchoosingthe

mostimportantsentences.Isthereanyconsensusastowhatmakesasentence

important?

Askstudentstoreadtheirpoemsaloudthenaskthemwhattheynoticedabout

eachother’scompositions.Isthereacorrelationbetweenthewordsand

phrasesavailabletothemandhowtheyfelttheycouldusethosewordsand

phrases?Didtheyfindthemselvesawareofthewords’originalcontext?Did

theytrytoaligntheirpoemswiththatcontextorsubvertit?Wouldanyone’s

poemserveasanaccuratedistillationofthereading(chapters1‐43)?Whyor

whynot?Howisthis“paraphrase”ofthenovelunliketheoriginal?What’sleft

out?Whatmightbeenhanced?(Nelson15)

AdditionalConsiderations:

Theactivitywouldworkbestwithstudentswhohavebeenpreviouslyintroducedto

foundpoetry.Perhapstheunitshouldcomeafteraunitonpoetryortakesometimeto

introducetheconceptandprovideexamples.Theactivityalsohelpsstudentsdevelop

anunderstandingofwhatconstitutesanimportantsentence.Thisshouldhelpthemin

theirownacademicwritingwhentheyneedtochooseappropriatequotationstouseas

evidencefortheirarguments.

PersonalConnections:

Poetryofteninstillsalotoffearamongstudents.Themoreweexposethemtoitin

unassumingways,themorecomfortableandconfidenttheywillbeinreadingand

analyzingmorecomplexforms.Asastudent,IthinkIwouldhavebeenmore

comfortablewithpoetryhaditbeenincorporatedmorefrequentlyintonovelstudy.

Activity3:

“APicture’sWorth…”

ExploringMotionandStillness

CurricularGoals:

Studentswilllisten,speak,read,write,viewandrepresenttocomprehendandrespond

personallyandcriticallytooral,printandothermediatexts.

ContextandRationale:

Priortothisactivity,studentswillhavestudiedfilmandfilmterminologyandhave

watchedclipsfromvariousfilmsthatdiscussautismand/ortheideaofbeing“normal”

oroutcastsinsocietylikeRainManandBeingThereinordertolookforcertain

techniques,discusstheirrhetoricaleffects,begintoseeparallelsbetweenthetextual

featuresandvisualfeaturesoffilms.Inthisactivity,theirpriorknowledgeoffilmsis

appliedtophotographs.ThefocusofthisactivitywillbeonthestillphotosofDiane

ArbusandMaryEllenMark,bothofwhomhavedocumentedpeopletraditionallyonthe

fringesofsociety.Bynowstudentsshouldbemakingconnectionsbetweenearlier

discussionsofpointofviewinwritingandpointofviewinvisualmediaandwillbeable

todiscusswherethese2photographersseemtosituatethemselves.Theissuesof

Christopher’sbookasatextthatincorporateslanguageandpictureswillbebroughtup,

sothatstudentsmaybegintoapprehendandappreciatethisnovelasmorethana

typical“novel.”(Nelson34)

GradeandTimeline:

Thisactivityisrelatedspecificallytothenovelanditssubjectmatter.Duetothemature

content,itisbettersuitedtoagrade11or12class.However,asimilaractivitycanbe

appliedtoothernovelswithlesscomplicatedsubjectmatterandcouldbeusedinlower

grades.Thisactivity,incombinationwiththeprioractivityofwatchingvideos,willmost

likelytake4classes.

Materials:

Slidesofvariousphotographs

Whattodo:

ShowslidesofseveralofArbus’sandMark’sphotographs[followingthisactivity

areseveralrepresentativeimages.FormoreofMaryEllenMark:

http://www.maryellenmark.com]

Holdclassdiscussionofeachphotoasit’sbroughtuponscreen(asaclass),

remindingstudentstocalluptheissuesandvocabularythey’vebeenusingto

talkaboutthenovel,stories,non‐fictionwritings,andfilms.Pertinent

considerations:Arewemeanttoidentifywiththepeopleinthephotos?Howdo

weknowthat?Howarepeopleframed?Whatdoesthatframingleadusto

concludeaboutthem?Aboutthephotographer’sattitudetowardthem?How

wouldthesephotographerssituateChristopher?Hisfather?Hismother?

Siobhan?WouldChristopherlikehowhewasdepictedinthephoto?Would

anyoneelse?HowwouldChristopher’smotherframehim?Howwouldhis

fatherwanthimtostand?Wouldtheyusecolororblackandwhite?Encourage

studentstojotnotesintheirreadinglogsduringdiscussion.(Nelson34)

AdditionalConsiderations:

Inassessingthiseffectivenessofthisactivity,considerthefollowingquestions:

Didstudentsenjoythephotos?Didtheyhaveavarietyofreactionstotheseimagesin

lightofongoingconversationsaboutwhat’s“normal”?Didtheycontinuetomake

connectionsbetweennarrativetechniquesinlanguageandinphotosandfilm?(Nelson

34)Perhapsanextensionofthisactivitycouldbetoactuallyconstructtheirownimages

orfilms.

Photographs:Seenextpage

Resources:

Nelson,E.(2004).NovelUnitPlan.Retrievedfrom http://www.geocities.com/erinlnelson/CuriousDog.doc

Asylum Inmates, 1970-71 (Arbus)

King and Queen of a Senior Citizens Dance, N.Y.C., 1970 (Arbus)

A Jewish giant at home with his parents in the Bronx, N.Y., 1970 (Arbus)

Marina Campa (Batman's Grandmother), Kimberly Crown Circus, Mexico

City, Mexico, 1997 (Mark)

Miami Beach. South Beach, Florida, USA 1979 (Mark)

Leakey, Texas, USA 1991 (Mark)