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For this week’s blog, I wanted to share with you my ideas for books/movies that should be considered as part of a curriculum for Special Education English Classes. Now, as many teachers know, there are plenty of book/movie pairings to show students as part of their lesson plan. However, there are some movies out there that some general education classes will show as part of a book that some sensory friendly/neurodivergent students might balk at.
Now that schools are on summer vacation, this is the perfect time for any aspiring special education teachers or veteran special education teachers to think about what to put in their lesson plans that can both teach the student as well as to pull them into the world that they are studying.
This will be a two part blog and for part one, I will cover numbers 10 through 5. If you have any suggestions that didn’t make it on here, please let me know in the comments section. So, let’s get on with the list, shall we?
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#10: “Matilda” by Roald Dahl
To kick off the list, I wanted to include a story that sends a message about how some special education students are often looked down upon because the adults think they know better than them. “Matilda” is a story about what happens when some parents don’t seem to care about their gifted children just because they have better things to do.
Matilda Wormwood comes to represent that gifted child in our lives. They want to do things that they feel is safe and allow them to spread their creative wings. Her parents, Harry and Zinnia Wormwood, are not very nice people to begin with. Harry runs a car dealership while Zinnia just plays bingo all day and chats on the phone. As for her brother, Michael, he’s in a league of his own.
Then there is also the matter of what happens when we don’t appreciate gifted students on an educational level in the form of the story’s antagonist, Agatha Trunchbull. Trunchbull represents that not all leaders know what they are doing and tend to take their frustrations out on others. But it also shows the student that there are teachers out there in the school that can see the potential the child has. In fact, some teachers will often see themselves in their students and Jennifer Honey, Matilda’s teacher, does see herself in Matilda.
Plus, get ready to laugh a lot because the 1996 film version starring Danny Devito and Mara Wilson is one of the funniest movies I have seen in my life as a whole.
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#9: “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster
For number 9, I wanted to include a story that I never read in school, but has started to gain steam in the classroom in recent years. “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norton Juster sends a message out there that you cannot let boredom into your lives. Some students believe that once you graduate from school, that’s it, you’re done.
The character of Milo is a bored boy who has nothing better to do with his life so an outside power sends him a present in the form of a magic tollbooth that teaches him and the reader the importance of words and numbers as well as punchlines and idioms, something that some neurodivergent or developmentally different students may not understand in real life.
However, the key importance of “The Phantom Tollbooth” is the importance of why we are in school to begin with. We are not only in school to learn things, but also to interact with other students and build friendships and relationships as evident in the characters of Milo, Tock the Watchdog and the Humbug. The book also teaches that it is okay to agree to disagree as demonstrated by the brothers, King Azazz and the Mathemagician.
As for the 1970 version, it starts off in live action before transitioning to animation where there is plenty of brilliant works created by Chuck Jones, yes, the same animator who created Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and all the other Looney Tunes who at the time, was working at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and had created the television adaptation of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” a few years prior.
The film also boasts an impressive voice over cast such as Daws Butler, June Foray, Les Tremayne, Hans Conried and Mel Blanc (the man of a thousand voices) where the center of the film is Butch Patrick (best known as Eddie Munster on “The Munsters”) as Milo.
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#8: “Charlotte’s Web” by EB White
For Number 8, I wanted to start sharing with you books that I read in my educational experience and I wanted to start off with a book that I read in 7th grade Special Education, “Charlotte’s Web” by EB White. This is a book that sends a message that you are not alone in life. Sometimes, you may not realize it that there is a higher power out there who will come to your aid when you need it.
The protagonist, Wilbur, is raised by a young girl named Fern Able as a piglet but when he is sent to her Uncle Homer’s farm, he is told to prepare himself for becoming food on the dinner table. However, thanks to a sagatious spider named Charlotte A. Cavatica, Wilbur is not only saved but becomes a celebrity to the point that he is given the chance to live to a ripe old age.
So what does “Charlotte’s Web” hold for Special Education Students? Well, neurodivergent individuals and special education students usually tend to believe everything they hear to be true either about themselves or others that they know not to be true. It also teaches the importance of building relationships with those who we view as our savior in terms of them believing that we are to be led down a different path than the one we are currently on.
Sadly though, “Charlotte’s Web” also teaches us that no one lasts forever as evident in the climax where Charlotte dies of old age. This, of course, gets the message across on a strong level that death is a part of life and we must face it eventually, but there is also the lesson of legacy as described in Charlotte’s offspring (with three of them staying with Wilbur). If there is a student who is struggling with a family crisis such as the death of loved one, teachers can use this story as an illustration that life goes on, even though it’s hard.
As for film versions, there is the 1973 version and the 2006 version. If you want my recommendation, I highly recommend the 1973 version which was produced by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera (the geniuses behind “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons,” and “Scooby Doo!”) and featuring the voices of Debbie Renyolds (Singing in the Rain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), Paul Lynde (Hollywood Squares), Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched!) and Henry Gibson (Boston Legal). Also, the songs are top notch written by the famous Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert with my personal favorites being “There Must Be Something More,” “Chin Up,” “We’ve Got Lots in Common” and “Mother Earth and Father Time.”
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#7: “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” by Robert C. O’Brien
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For #7, I talk about another book I did not read in my time as a student, but it’s something that most special education students should consider reading because it talks about the importance of determination and self-confidence. “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” by Robert C. O’Brien covers the story of Mrs. Frisby, a lionhearted fieldmouse who is desperate to save her family from the plow of a farmer by enlisting the help of a group of rats that escaped from a mental heath institute called NIMH. What this story also brings is the first most exposure to science fiction and why animals are used as experiments for medicines that are created for us, such as the COVID-19 vaccine in recent years.
But the truth about “Mrs. Frisby” lies in its main character. Mrs. Frisby is just a widowed mother who wants to protect her family at all costs. She isn’t looking for fame and fortune, she just wants to survive. In doing so, she learns a lot about her late husband, who was killed by a cat named Dragon. By reading this book, special education students can learn that there are secrets in life that can be uncovered either by accident or by chance. It also shares the theme of being careful what you wish for as evident at the end of the story where the rats destroy their human technology in the hopes of not being captured by humans.
Furthermore, the story also talks about conquering our fears as described in the scene where Mrs. Frisby visits the Great Owl. Sure the owl may seem intimidating, but he represents that just because someone may seem scary, they will be helpful in the end.
For the 1982 version, this is one of the most beautifully animated films in existence and was one of the first produced by former Disney Animator Don Bluth. The cast also features Elizabeth Hartman (A Patch of Blue) as Mrs. Brisby, Dom DeLuise (who would become a good luck charm for Don Bluth) as Jeremy, John Carradine (The Ten Commandments) as the Great Owl, Hermione Baddley (Mary Poppins and The Happiest Millionaire) as Auntie Shrew, Arthur Malet (Mary Poppins and The Black Cauldron) as Mr. Ages, Sir Derek Jacobi (Hamlet and The Crown) as Nicodemus and Peter Strauss (who would name his son after his character in the film) as Justin.
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#6: “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls
For #6, I want to cover a novel that teaches not just covers the importance of a higher power, but also the importance of responsibility such as having a pet or animal companion.
“Where the Red Fern Grows” is about a boy named Billy who dreams of having his own coonskin hounds not just as pets, but also to use to hunt raccoons in hunting competitions. Right from the get-go, Billy learns that he has to work to earn the money for his dogs and it covers the importance of why we have to work in order to make a living and to obtain various financial goals.
In fact, the whole novel is about working to obtain life goals. In the story, Billy’s family want to move somewhere where they can not only live a better life, but also give Billy and his younger sisters a chance to get a decent education. At the same time, Billy also has a life goal to capture the mysterious ghost raccoon but is not afraid to change his life goal as evident in the scene where he decides to spare the ghost raccoon, regardless of what others may think.
But the story also talks about the fact that nothing lives forever as evident when Old Dan is killed by the story’s antagonist, the Mountain Lion and when Little Ann loses her will to live and dies on Old Dan’s Grave. It represents the fact that sometimes certain beings are brought on this Earth for a short time and then they leave because the higher power said so. Still, the higher power understands the bond that was formed on Earth and leaves behind something to acknowledge the bond in the form of the Red Fern at the end of the story.
Much like “Charlotte’s Web,” “Red Fern” is one of those stories that can serve as an introduction to special education students about the importance of responsibility, having goals and knowing that a higher power is looking out for us.
For film versions to show your students, there is the 1974 film version starring James Whitmore (Oklahoma!) and Beverly Garland (My Three Sons) with songs performed by Andy Williams including the title song, “Morning of My Life” or the 2003 version starring Dabney Coleman. If you want my recommendation, I recommend the 1974 version as it’s the version I remember most.
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That will do it for the first part of this blog, join me in the next blog as I cover the top 5 selections of this list.
Catch you all later!!
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