Session: Plan around ‘Dragons and Giants’ (In Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel) making use of ‘The Hokey Kokey’ method (in [concrete], out [abstract], in again [test abstract against concrete) (see Once Upon an If for full explanation): 1) Read story up to “‘Yes, but are we (brave)?’ asked To...

Set-up This session is particularly appropriate for classes who need practise speaking and listening to each other. Draw a fairly fleshed-out character on the board, including features such as hair, fingers and shoes. This is your friend, they are all the things you like in a friend. However, we don't know what they are yet s...

Ever since Socrates, philosophers have tried to define terms clearly and exhaustively. This has resulted in a good deal of rigour and precision. Philosophers often speak of ‘necessary and sufficient conditions’, or, what I call ‘what’s needed and what’s enough’. The problem is: it’s not easy to do. For i...

Nomological Dangler Some poems run out nicely And follow a simple pattern But others, they seem to stick out slightly With a little extra bit to them What sort of poem are you? Are you easy to predict? Or do you like to... Suddenly-do Things that don’t restric Your sideless imagination The random little sparkler That ma...

IS THIS A POEM? This is a session came out of a unit of work on poetry. The class had being doing philosophy for 16 weeks and were doing a unit of poetry in their English classes.  Ever since Socrates, philosophers have tried to define terms clearly and exhaustively. This has resulted in a good deal of rigour and precision. Philosophe...

Thought Adventure no. 20 Equipment needed and preparation: A standard classroom ruler and a less standard, more unique looking item(s). Starting age: 5 years Key concepts / vocabulary: steal, find, borrow, know, intention, property, ownership, permission Subject links: PSHE and all knowledge-based subjects Key controversies: Wh...

The aim of this lesson is for the children to practise their thinking using the topic of friendship. Perhaps most importantly, friendship is an important concept for all young people. They think a lot about who their friends really are and what being a friend means. So this poem works well to get a discussion going that includes everyone, regard...

Session This session will invite the children to devise their own storytelling techniques and will explore the concept of ‘story’ itself. Explain to the children that that they will be given a special task this week: to tell a story to someone else (works well for National Storytelling Week, usually end of January). Explain that t...

The Talking Poem Hello, I’m a poem, A poem that talks to you But a poem that also Talks back A poem that says what it wants to Then says what it thinks you’ll Say back. “What do you mean?” I hear you say out loud. Well, something a little Like that! “Like what?” you shout out (Whether yo...