This week, three pick-up-and-go Philosophy Circles plans and an Easter-themed Spot and Stripe video, so you can easily inject some philosophical thinking into your pupils’ first week back.
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For Reception, Years 1 & 2: Would it be better to give real eggs at Easter?
Spot and Stripe argue whether it would be better to give real eggs at Easter, instead of chocolate ones. A good way to begin is to ask all children to stand on Spot’s side and come up with as many reasons as they can, and then doing the same for Stripe, before expressing their own opinions. Encourage use of their own Easter experiences as reasons (for either side!).
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For Years 3 & 4: How should we use animals?
An enquiry which invites small groups to create their own ‘Conceptometers’ on the ways in which we use animals, before getting them to nominate the most contentious examples for whole-class discussion. Click here to download Animal Rights
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For Years 5 & 6: When is it OK to laugh at the past?
A dialogue between Horrible Histories actors on the acceptability of making jokes about the past. It’s best performed as a piece of Readers’ Theatre (script in hand). Download the resource here. Click here to download Horrible Histories
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For secondary pupils: Are funds for space exploration better spent on Earth?
A letter from the government asking for student opinions on the future of space exploration provides a stimulus for questions of wealth, responsibility and obligation. Would it be better to use the money spent on space to address some of our problems on Earth? Click here to download the resource.
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Each of these resources come from our Philosophy Circles Packs which contain 39 Spot and Stripe videos and 120 session plans for every subject in the primary curriculum, as well as many that are brilliant for lower-secondary use too. If you’d like to know more about Philosophy Circles and what’s in the full package of resources, go to www.thephilosophyman.com