2. Choice of Text: Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of

the Dog in the Night-Time

During the course of the semester, I started picking up random novels that were

mentioned in the seminar. I was not sure which one I would choose for this

portfolio, and initially I had aimed to design lesson plans for two books: The

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and Stargirl by

Jerry Spinelli, simply because they were the ones that I a) enjoyed the most, and

b) considered the most valuable and suitable for students aged 14-15. While I was

designing the first lesson, however, I quickly started to realize that, in order to do

justice to each book, I would have to dedicate at least four lessons to one single

novel. This is why I chose to focus on Mark Haddon’s text only. I picked The

Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time because of several reasons: One, I

believe it is a very quick and also quite easy read, extremely entertaining and

funny. Two, the style in which it is written and the narrative technique both make

this novel a unique piece of literature, providing a special insight into a special

teenager’s life.

I would use it in a 5th grade (14 year-olds) because I feel that both the topic and

language level are appropriate for learners aged fourteen or fifteen.

3. Lessons plans

3.1. Lesson 1: Setting the scene for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-

Time

This first lesson on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will engage

the students in a number of pre-reading activities.

At the beginning of the lesson, I will show the students a picture of the cover or the

book cover itself (or both). I will have them guess what the novel could be about.

We will then listen to an English boy reading out the first chapter of the book.1

Hence, the students will not only train their listening skills, but can also find out

1 http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/curious/.

1

what the story is about and whether they were somehow on the right track with

their own speculations about the novel’s contents. After having discovered what

happens in the first chapter, I will ask the learners to get together in groups of

three or four (depending on the size of the class) to discuss possible solutions to

the question of what will happen next. The purpose of this activity is not only to

spark interest by creating suspense, but also to develop the students’ speaking

skills by arguing and negotiating their versions of the story (there should be one

final version in the end which the whole group can agree on). I will ask a few

groups to present their stories to the class.

I will then hand out copies of the first few chapters (3, 5, 7 and 11) which we will

use to get started with the novel. Usually, I am not a fan of reading out whole

passages of a book in class, but I think short passages are OK because the

students can now check whether their speculations about the content of the story

were right or completely wrong. It also helps to get used to the author’s style and

also serves as a transitional exercise leading up to the next one: Learning about

Asperger (’s) Syndrome, the condition Christopher, the novel’s hero, suffers from. I

will hand out copies of a text about Asperger Syndrome which the students are

asked to read silently. We will then discuss in class what the main points are, and I

will point out to them to keep these in mind when reading the novel.

The next activity is a writing task for which they will have to adapt the theoretical

knowledge they have just gained for a specific purpose: writing a short diary entry

from Christopher’s perspective. It can be about a certain event or a whole day, but

it must somehow revolve around the hero’s disorder. When they are finished, I will

ask some students to read out their texts.

At the end of the lesson, I will hand each student a copy of the novel.2

Finally, I will set the homework, which is a (rather long) reading task: They are

supposed to read the first part of the novel, which is up to page 113, and to jot

down the references to Asperger’s Syndrome. (I have divided up the story into

three parts – part 1 reaching up to the passage on page 113 where Chris finds his

mother’s letters, part 2 until Chris’ escape to London on page 173, and part 3 from

174 till the end.)

2 The books are either to be found in the library or have been purchased by the teacher, who will then collect the money from the students.

2

Time Content Skills Methods Objectives Material

4 minutesIntroduction: Show LL the cover of the book,

make them guess what story is about

SpeakingT shows the cover of the book in order to

raise interest

to develop creativity and activate

imagination, speaking skills

Picture of the book cover or the book

itself

3 minutesLL listen to the first chapter read out by

an English boy3Listening

LL listen and look at the website

to enhance listening skills and spark interest of LL

Website on the internet

12 minutesLL make speculations about what is going to

happen nextSpeaking

LL get together in groups of 3 or 4, make up a story,

report back to class

to voice and negotiate ideas, speaking skills Pen and paper (if LL

wish to make notes)

8 minutes Reading out chapters 3,5,7,11 in class

ReadingIndividual students

read out chapters and then we discuss

whether speculations were right

to get started with the novel, reading and

speaking skillsPhotocopies of

respective chapters

10 minutesLearning about

Asperger Syndrome ReadingLL read text

individually, then summarize main

points

to provide information on main protagonist’s condition, to expand

vocabulary

Photocopies of text on Asperger Syndrome4

10 minutesStudents are asked to

write a diary entry from Christopher’s

perspective

WritingLL use information on

AS to do a creative writing task

to adapt theoretical knowledge to a

certain needs (for creative writing)

Pen and paper

3 minutes: handing out copies of the novel, T explains homework: reading task (read novel up to p.113), make sure to mark the passages where Chris’ AS symptoms become evident

Lesson Plan 1

3 http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/curious/ 4 See Appendix, p. 19.

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3.2. Lesson 2: Part 1 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

This lesson, centering around while reading activities, will be a particularly

interactive one where the pupils have a chance to discuss several aspects of the

story in detail.

First, I will divide the class into groups of 2 or 3 (depending on the number of

students). They will be asked to do several activities together5, starting with

questions 1 and 2. Question 2 in particular is also some kind of a check-up to see

whether the pupils have read the assigned reading and have taken notes. It also

serves as a means of revising what was said about Asperger Syndrome in the

previous lesson and to detect the signs and symptoms Christopher shows of his

condition. Afterwards, we will compare the possible solutions the students have

come up with, which I will write down on the blackboard to create a kind of

summary of the students’ ideas.

Next, I would like them to design a poster about Christopher to foster a bit of close

reading.6 The students are encouraged to browse through the book and/or their

notes again to find as many details as possible about Christopher’s personality,

his likes and dislikes, etc. We will then put up the posters in the classroom (and

will come back to them in one of the following lessons).

The last activity I have planned for this lesson is for the learners to create a still

pose of the character constellation around Christopher, first sketching it on a piece

of paper and then representing it using fellow students to stand for individual

characters.7 I want each student to do this individually and see at least two or

three possible still poses. I will ask them to hold on to their sketches for later use.

At the end of the lesson, I will assign the homework for the following session: The

first task is to rewrite the incident with the policeman right after Christopher’s

discovery that Wellington was killed. The second task is to read the second part of

the novel (pages 114-173).

5 Cf. Appendix, p.20. 6 Cf. Appendix, p.20, question 3. 7 Cf. Appendix, p.20, question 4.

4

Lesson Plan 2

Time Content Skills Methods Objectives Material

2 minutes Assigning groups

8 minutes Discussing questions 1 & 28

Speaking, writing LL, in groups, negotiate the possible

answers

to get LL “warmed up” and talking, to check

whether LL have read the assigned reading

task

Pen and paper, possibly also the

novel

7 minutes Discussing possible answers in class

Speaking, listening LL and T talk about possible answers

to compare possible solutions to the

questions, at the same time revision of contents of the novel

Blackboard

15 minutes LL are asked to design a poster about

Christopher

Writing, speaking, deriving information

from novel and making use of it for a

creative purpose

LL, in groups, negotiate most

important issues/key terms

to conduct “close-reading”, revision of

first part of novel

Posters and pens (provided by T)

15 minutes LL create a still pose of characters in novel

Speaking(, writing) Each learner creates his individual still pose

to compare students’ notions and concepts

of the novel’s character

constellation

Pen and paper, fellow students

3 minutes: T explains homework: to write an inner monologue from perspective of policeman, and to read pages 114-173 of the novel

8 See Appendix, p. 20 for detailed description of activities and questions.

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3.3. Lesson 3: Part 2 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

At the beginning of the lesson which focuses on some more while reading

activities, I will collect the homework (to write an inner monologue from the

perspective of the policeman) from all students.

The first task in this lesson is to get together in pairs and take a close look at the

first letter from Chris’ mother (p.121), and to spot the mistakes in there. We will

then compare the results and I will write down the solutions on the blackboard.

This activity is meant to consolidate (or improve) the students’ spelling skills and

let them have a go at “playing teachers”.

Afterwards, I will ask the students to act out the scene between Mrs. Shears

(Eileen) and Christopher’s father (Ed Boone) when they are having their final

argument (cf. p. 150-152 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

For this activity, I want them to find a partner again and to assign the parts. First,

each couple practices the dialog. When everyone is finished, I will ask a few

couples to act out their little play in front of the class.

What follows is a short analysis of the language used in The Curious Incident of

the Dog in the Night-Time. 9 I will point out which aspects could be explored before

the students get together in groups of 3 or 4. I will then try and pull together the

various suggestions made by the students and comment on the power an author

possesses when writing a story. This activity is meant to give the learners some

ideas of how a piece of literature could be analyzed and what effect a certain kind

of usage of language can have on the readers (e.g. to rouse sympathy or create

confusion). We will also talk about the point of view from which the story is told

and what the effect of this first-person narration is.10

The final activity for this session will be the following: The students are to propose

some ideas of how the story might end (including questions such as “Will

Christopher be reunited with his mother?” and “Will Chris forgive his father?”). In

9 See Appendix, p. 21, question 1. 10 See Appendix, p. 21, question 2.

6

case there are some students who have already finished reading, I will ask those

not to give away the ending.

The homework for the following lesson will be a) to finish the novel, b) to think how

they would create a movie of the book and c) to find the funniest and the saddest

part of the novel, and to explain why11.

11 See Appendix, p. 21 for detailed instructions.

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Lesson Plan 3

Time Content Skills Methods Objectives Material

2 minutes Collecting homework

7 minutesSpotting the

mistakes in Chris’ mom’s first letter

Writing (correct orthography)

LL, in pairs, correct the spelling

mistakes

Training correct orthography

Novel, pen and paper; blackboard

19 minutes Acting out a scene: Mrs. Shears & Ed

Boone

Speaking, acting, listening

LL practice dialogs in pairs, then act

them out in front of the class

LL get a chance to “individualize” the

characters and use their imagination by making up dialogs

15 minutes Analyzing style and narrative technique

Close reading, analyzing literature

LL discuss questions12 in

groups of 3 or 4, T guides the analysis

to get a first insight into how language is

used to create certain effects

Novel, pen and paper, blackboard

(T)

5 minutes Speculations of how the story might end

Speaking Open discussion in class

Fluent speech, creativity

2 minutes Explaining homework13: finish novel, think about movie, funniest and saddest part

12 See Appendix, p. 21, questions 1 and 2. 13 See Appendix, p. 21.

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3.4. Lesson 4: Part 3 of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The overall aim of this lesson is to provide some fun and challenging post-reading

activities.

I want to start this fourth lesson on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-

Time with a still pose. The students are asked to, again, create a still pose of the

character constellation now that they have completed the novel, comparing the

new sketch with the old one (for this purpose, we will come back to the first draft).

Several students will represent their first AND second still poses one after another,

again using fellow students to stand for certain characters. The purpose of this

activity is to make evident the changes that have come about in Christopher’s life,

and to compare students’ notions of these changes.

Next, we will discuss the homework, starting with the funniest and saddest parts

for the students. I want this to be an open-class activity where the pupils get a

chance to argue their choices and discuss what made them pick these particular

scenes.

What follows is a comparison of two amateur videos from YouTube.14 While the

students watch each video, they take notes. After having watched both, we will

briefly discuss what the learners liked and disliked about these movies. I will

encourage them to comment on whether and how these differ from their own ideas

of how to produce the movie (this is where the learners refer to the written

homework). I also announce that, next lesson, we will watch part of the original

movie.

The students then engage in a silent dialog with their neighbor: They are

supposed to recreate the conversation between Mrs. Alexander and Christopher’s

father (Ed Boone) having an argument about Mr. Boone lying to Christopher. After

having arranged who represents whom, one student writes the first statement on a

piece of paper, and then passes it on to their neighbor. In this way, a silent dialog

is created, which is then read out in class.

14 Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aJPfS2wPh8&feature=related and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAgQtq7WAw&feature=related for videos.

9

The homework for the following lesson will be to a) describe the novel in one

single sentence, b) to revise the novel as far as characters are concerned (as we

will host a press conference next time) and c) to write a review of the novel.15

15 See Appendix, p. 22 for further details.

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Lesson Plan 4

Time Content Skills Methods Objectives Material

2 minutes Checking homework

15 minutes LL create new still poses

Speaking, (writing)

Students draw sketch, then do a live still pose by choosing fellow

students to stand for characters

to compare students’ notions and concepts

of the novel’s character

constellation, and how it has changed in the course of the novel

First sketch, pen and paper, fellow students

7 minutesLL discuss their

personal “funniest and saddest part of

the novel”

Speaking Open-class discussion

to give students a possibility to speak

about personal reading experience

Notes (homework)

15 minutesWatching and comparing two amateur videos

Listening, Film Analysis

LL watch and take notes, then

discussion in class

to compare film versions

Internet (YouTube), notes (homework)

9 minutes Silent dialog WritingLL engage in silent

dialog with a partnerto foster creative

writing (like a writing workshop)

pen and paper

2 minutes Setting homework16: writing a review of the novel, revising characters Copies of reviews

16 Cf. Appendix, p. 22 for detailed instructions on homework exercise tasks.

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4. Conclusion

This is the place to ask what the students have would have learned after these

four lessons. What was I trying to teach them, or make them aware of? Which

skills were trained?

Generally, I have tried to make the reading and the activities fun and somehow

creative, and this was my top priority. I wanted the students to take in the pleasure

of reading and experience how diversified working with a literary text can be. What

is most important to me is that some kind of “safe environment” is created where

they feel encouraged and welcome to state their own opinions, raise questions or

doubts and bring in their own ideas. It would be an absolute nightmare for me if

my pupils thought they had to learn by heart what I have said about the text

because they feel that they have to reproduce my ideas and interpretation of a

text. I believe that literature can only be taught at school successfully if the teacher

steps back more often than not and lets the students develop their own ideas, and

take pleasure in experimenting with the text. Introducing literary texts to (foreign)

language classes, in my opinion, is much more fun when the teacher

himself/herself is willing to take risks and to leave some space for spontaneous

decisions and ideas which are not all laid out and planned in advance. This is why

I tried to make the lessons as interactional as possible, leaving space for free

thought. I did have a handful of other fun activities in mind such as a press

conference and writing chapter zero; in fact, I could have designed many more

lessons on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time because it is one of

the most multifaceted books I have ever come across. (I am also aware of the fact

that many aspects of the novel were left unmentioned.)

I am afraid that not all of my ideas might actually work out in class or be embraced

whole-heartedly by the students, but I am still looking forward to trying out these

lesson plans some day.

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7. Appendix

13

Activity Worksheet for Lesson 1

Asperger Syndrome 17

Asperger Syndrome or (Asperger's Disorder) is a neurobiological disorder named

for a Viennese pediatrician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which

described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal

intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like

behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. Individuals

with AS can exhibit a variety of characteristics and the disorder can range from

mild to severe. Persons with AS show marked deficiencies in social skills, have

difficulties with transitions or changes and prefer sameness. They often have

obsessive routines and may be preoccupied with a particular subject of interest.

They have a great deal of difficulty reading nonverbal cues (body language) and

very often the individual with AS has difficulty determining proper body space.

Often overly sensitive to sounds, tastes, smells, and sights, the person with AS

may prefer soft clothing, certain foods, and be bothered by sounds or lights no one

else seems to hear or see. Individuals are usually extremely good on rote memory

skills (facts, figures, dates, times etc.) Many excel in maths and science. There is

a range of severity of symptoms within the syndrome: the very mildly affected child

often goes undiagnosed and may just appear odd or eccentric.

Key Features:The main areas affected by Asperger Syndrome are:

Social interaction Communication Narrow Interests / Preoccupations Repetitive routines / rituals, inflexibility

17 This handout is a compilation of information found on the following websites: http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/, http://www.maapservices.org/Publications/Rosalyn_Lord_Article.asp , http://www.maapservices.org/Publications/Stephen_Bauer_Article.asp.

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Vocab:

disorder: malfunction, causes a part of the body to stop functioning properly pediatrician: a doctor who studies and treats the diseases of children to exhibit: to showdeficiency: deficit, shortageto be preoccupied with sth.: to frequently think about or do sth.cue: hint, signalto learn sth. by rote: to learn sth. by heart, to learn the exact wording of a sentence/extract

Activity Worksheet for Lesson 2

Get together with your partner(s) and discuss the following questions:

1) Why does Christopher hit the policeman?

2) Name a few of Christopher’s peculiarities to be explained by Asperger’s

Syndrome.

3) Design a poster about Christopher. Make sure you use your notes and/or the

novel in order to get as much information as possible about his personality on the

poster (e.g. his likes and dislikes, his problems,…).

4) Still pose (=Standbild): Draw a picture of how you perceive Christopher in

relation to the characters around him. Whom would you put closest / the furthest

away from him and why? Argue your choice. Then represent your still pose

choosing fellow students to stand for certain characters and position them

according to your opinion of how close/distant they are in relation to Chris!

Homework:

1) Rewrite the scene with the policeman (chapters 11, 17 and 23) from the

latter’s perspective, in the form of an inner monologue. Write between 200-

300 words.

2) Read pages 114-173.

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Activity Worksheet for Lesson 3

Get together with a partner and discuss the following questions (and take notes):

1. What have you noticed about the style of the author? Consider aspects such as

choice of vocabulary, degree of formality/informality (=register), sentence structure

and overall tone.

2. How important is the voice of Christopher as the narrator of this story? How or

would this story be different if it were written by a different character - Ed Boone or

Siobhan, for example? How would the story differ if told by a third person

omniscient voice? What would be lost in such changes, what would be gained?

Homework:

a) Finish reading the novel.

b) Imagine you were a director and decided to make a movie of the book. How

would you go about doing this? Think about aspects such as settings, characters,

background music, and the set-up of scenes (e.g. the beginning, Christopher’s

journey to London, etc.). Be specific and provide detailed descriptions!

c) After you have completed the book, find the funniest and the saddest part of the

novel, and explain why you chose those particular scenes.

Note: Write in full sentences.

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Activity Worksheet for Lesson 4

Homework:

1) If you had to describe the novel in one single sentence, what would it be?

2) Review all the characters from the novel. We will hold a press conference next

time, so make sure you have in-depth knowledge about all the main characters!

3) Write a review of the novel. It might be helpful to read the example reviews to

get started. The review should be between 300-400 words. Make sure you keep

the balance between saying enough and not giving away too much of the story’s

ending! Say where it would be published and be sure to adjust your style and

register according to your target group!

Here are some model reviews. You may read through them to get some ideas for

your own review.

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The Curiously Irresistible Literary Debut of Mark HaddonDave Weich, Powells.com

It's not just the hook, though the hook is peculiar and oddly affecting. "When I was writing," the author allows, "I really thought to myself, Who on Earth is going to want to read about a fifteen-year-old kid with a disability living in Swindon with his father? And I thought, I better make the plot good." The hook—the plot ? is significantly better than good, but it's the irresistible voice of Mark Haddon's young narrator, Christopher Boone, that elevates this literary debut to fantastic heights. It was 7 minutes after midnight. The dog was lying on the grass in the middle of the lawn in front of Mrs. Shears' house. Its eyes were closed. It looked as if it was running on its side, the way dogs run when they think they are chasing a cat in a dream. But the dog was not running or asleep. The dog was dead. There was a garden fork sticking out of the dog.

"This is a murder mystery novel," the boy with Behavioral Problems explains a few pages further on. A fan of Sherlock Holmes stories, Christopher decides to investigate the poodle's murder and turn the story into a book of his own.

Christopher is quite good at puzzles, at math, and at remembering. He is, however, entirely incapable of delineating among the various grades of human emotion on the scale between happy and sad, which makes for a curious, if not altogether perplexing perspective. The narrator may not recognize them, but emotions lurk behind virtually every clue he uncovers. Still, his pitch never varies. Christopher never slips off course. The author's foremost accomplishment, in a book chock full of them, is to deliver a wrenching domestic fiction in such clipped, deductive prose. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is an emotional roller coaster. And as if that's not enough, it's often very funny, too.

"It's hilarious on one page," a member of the Powells.com customer service department commented upon returning the company copy to its shelf in the office, "then two pages later you want to cry."

From http://www.powells.com/authors/haddon.html

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Christopher's WorldThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

byMark Haddon

Published by Doubleday

Review by W. R. Greer

The behaviors and demands of adults are mysterious and confusing to most children. To 15-year old Christopher Boone, the narrator in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, it's completely beyond the realm of his understanding. Christopher is an autistic savant and while he's a whiz at math and science, human emotions are particularly complex for him. As the novel opens, he tells us "I know all of the countries of the world and their capital cities, and every prime number up to 7,057." He finds a neighbor's dog, named Wellington, murdered and decides to write about it. With the help of his teacher, Siobhan, he decides to write a book about his attempt to solve this mystery. It's a search for information that will ultimately upset his carefully constructed world.

Christopher lives alone with his father after his mother died from a heart attack two years earlier. He never got to visit her at the hospital, but this doesn't bother him since he doesn't like strange places or people he doesn't know. If people touch him, he will hit them. If his senses become overloaded or his brain too confused, he will curl up in a ball and groan loudly, perhaps for hours at a time. Becoming angry with him just makes it worse. He hates the colors yellow and brown. His world needs order and precision. He will do math problems in his head for hours just to pass the time or distract him from an unpleasant situation. As he begins his investigation into Wellington's death, he assures us that everything he will tell us is true:

I do not tell lies. Mother used to say that this was because I was a good person. But it is not because I am a good person. It is because I can't tell lies. Mark Haddon, who has worked with autistic children, has created a unique narrator to tell this story. At first glance, an autistic child whose fantasy is to wake one day and find he's the only living person left on earth would seem to be an unlikely narrator. We quickly come to understand Christopher Boone and his understandings and misunderstandings of how the world works. We sympathize with the adults who must suffer his fits and practice extreme patience with the minute details with which he orders his life. Christopher's father is the most patient with him, even if his manner is gruff at times. He quickly forbids Christopher to ask anyone questions about Wellington's death and to promise to let the matter die, which Christopher does, within the specifics of his promise. The questions he's already asked, though, and the people he's already met have put events into motion that will eventually send him on an adventure that will challenge all of his skills to cope with the world that he is especially challenged to understand.

Because Christopher understands even less of the world than most 15-year olds, the result is that seeing the effects of emotions, lies, and intrigue of the adult world through his eyes lets them hit even more powerfully. Since he sees all this in his non-judgmental perspective and only how they affect the careful order in his world, the flaws of the adults are heightened by their disregard for the effect they have on Christopher while also being

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tempered by the fact that his autism has placed incredible stresses on all their lives. Christopher is more than just a different medium for seeing the world. In Mark Haddon's capable hands, he quickly becomes all too real, and while he can be incredibly frustrating, he explains his world in a way that makes perfect sense. When events unfold that threaten his carefully maintained world, his quest to solve the problem is as adventurous and dangerous as any literary character. To Christopher, it's something he just must do.

Christopher Boone makes The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time a delightful and different novel. It provides a different perspective on the flaws and foibles of man, where adults can often act as childish and petulant as the children. While the redemption of love and the bonds of family may be universal themes, Mark Haddon has provided a touching look at how they affect one boy and one family.

When this book was initially released, it received rave reviews. After it had won awards and stayed one of the most popular books on this site, I decided I had finally had to read it. I shouldn't have waited so long. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time should be on everyone's reading list.

From http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/curious_incident_of_the_dog/review/

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