the curious incident of the dog in the night-time activities · pdf filebook club: grade 12...
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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Asylum Inmates, 1970-71 (Arbus)
King and Queen of a Senior Citizens Dance, N.Y.C., 1970 (Arbus)
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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)
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Miami Beach. South Beach, Florida, USA 1979 (Mark)
Leakey, Texas, USA 1991 (Mark)