Yellow hats and Blue hats

Resources

X3 yellow hats made out of sugar paper

X3 blue hats made out of sugar paper

Ball to pass for speaker management

Key controversies:

Should differences be tolerated?  Should you change your beliefs? Should

you stay with people who are similar to you? Should you do whatever you want?

Can you choose who you are?

Outcomes

I can give reasons for my answers using ‘because’. (See opening up in 40 lessons, Appendix 1,)

I can agree or disagree with others. (See speaker management. The if Machine, p22)

Starter – sit children in a circle

Facilitator splits the class into 2 countries Yellowland and Blueland. Get 3 children to sit in middle that belong to Yellow land and 3 chn to sit in middle that belong to blue land (get them to wear the hats!)
Facilitator then asks the children what things Yellow landers and blue landers like, to check understanding and get the children engaged. e.g. children may say ‘’our blue chairs”, “the blue carpet!”, “the yellow board” etc.

Main activity

CT tells the story (please elaborate as you see fit, with story-telling, props and drama) of a Yellow-lander (YL), wearing a yellow hat, who visits blue land, who are all wearing blue hats. (get a child with a yellow hat to stand and move over to the children with blue hats)

Key questions

Class teacher to ask the children: “Should the YL take off her hat?” Chn to discuss in TP and feedback to class (child can only talk if holding the sharing ball) Once discussed ask the following in the same way.
Should the YL stay in blue land?
Should BL tell her to take off her hat?

Nested questions

• If the BL are all sad because of YL’s hat, should she take it off?
• If YL doesn’t want to take it off, should she go home?
• If YL doesn’t want to take it off, should BL let her stay?
• If she swaps hats with a BL does whoever is wearing the yellow hat have to go to yellow land?
• Is she a yellow lander if she is now wearing a blue hat?

Tips to get the controversy going

If the children all say “she should take her hat off!” Try using a response detector E.g. Is Who thinks she should NOT take her hat off?

See 40 Lessons p142 Antithetical response detector (more on response detectors p161)

If they don’t see controversy, relate it to something they have experience of e.g. Reception wear jumpers and polo shirts when they eat lunch in the hall and the rest of the school wear ties, jumpers, shirts and blazers.

Should you be allowed to have lunch with the blazers if you are wearing a jumper?

Thank you to Ana Sekulic of Paxton primary school for help fleshing out the bones of the lesson plan.

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