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David Crystal has triumphed again. This is a fascinating book containing hundreds of concise entries on quirky occasions, literary facts and significant events, which could be used to good effect by teachers (English practitioners especially) to stimulate discussion and suggest activities.
In here, for instance, you’ll find explanations of National Clerihew Day (July 10th), Great Poetry Reading Day (April 28th) and We Love Memoirs Day (August 31st). There’s even an Alien Day (April 26th) – perhaps good for a dual English/science activity, where students are tasked with suggesting ways of communicating with aliens?
Also noted is the anniversary of Papua New Guinea gaining its independence (16th September), since the country is home to over 800 languages. Any teachers requiring assembly ideas is bound to benefit from leafing through the book’s informative pages.
This review was first published in Teach Secondary magazine, with minor amendments.
If you're reading this before 8th June 2024, you may be interested to know that I'm running a course called Creative Writing with Constraints at the City Lit Adult Education Institute in London on 8th June. One of the techniques we'll be trying out is rewriting a short story in a completely different style. This proved hugely popular when I did this the last time I taught the course. Find out more by clicking on that link. Hope to see you there!