I recently saw a great philosophy lesson in Year 1 – the children were discussing the characters’ choices in Jack and the Beanstalk:
Did Jack do anything bad in the story?
Do you think Jack’s mum should have thrown the magic beans out of the window?
Would you have gone up the beanstalk?
I loved the way that the children were listening carefully to each other’s ideas, passing the dialogue using Speaker Chooses, and giving their reasons. Here are some of their thoughts:
I think Jack shouldn’t have climbed up the beanstalk and taken the harp, because stealing is bad.
In my opinion, Jack shouldn’t have gone into the giant’s house in the first place.
He shouldn’t have climbed the beanstalk because he could have got eaten, or he could have fallen down and he could have died!
I disagree – if he went up the beanstalk he could get money and then he could get famous!
She might not have had that much patience, because she’s poor and she might be stressed.
Traditional tales offer lots of opportunities for children to consider and talk about characters’ choices – find out what your class think!
