To the Australian teachers whose school holidays are rapidly approaching their end (*sob*), why not spoil yourself with a ticket to the latest National Theatre Live screening?
To celebrate the end of the holidays, plan to go see the National Theatre Live screenings of the London
theatre adaptation of Mark Haddon's acclaimed novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. One of my personal favourite books, it's a murder-mystery told from the perspective of a young boy with
Asperger's and how he solves the mystery of the neighbour's dead dog. If you haven't read it, I
highly recommend it. It will give you insight into the mind of a student with special needs, as well as being a unique piece of storytelling.
The play has received great reviews, e.g. The Guardian. I am curious to see how they have adapted it. Screenings taking place this weekend, October 5 and 6. See www.ntlive.com/ for more info.
When I was doing my education degree, I wrote an English unit around The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Louis Sachar's amusing There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom and Helen Keller's The Story of My Life. Although I haven't yet had the opportunity to teach the unit, the objective was to promote tolerance and understanding of diversity among Year 9 students. Hopefully I will get the chance to run it in the not-too-distant future. If you have had positive experiences teaching any of these texts, I would love to hear from you!
