This beautiful book is a great text for thinking about what we value.
Thinking Routine: The 4 Ifs
As you explore the text and become aware of how many man-made items we discard (both blue and other colours) you can begin to raise your student’s awareness of waste. Encourage visible thinking with the following routine…ask your students
- If I take action . . . what might happen?
- If my community takes action . . . what might happen?
- If the world takes action . . . what might happen?
- If I do nothing what might happen?
Explore more thinking routines at https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines#CoreThinkingRoutines
The following video is both entertaining and informative. It will encourage the children to consider single use plastics.
What do you value?
This text will open up the opportunity for students to explore what is of value in their own life. What brings you joy? How important is human interaction in our daily life? How do we work together as a community to care for those that are alone?
You might like to do a deep dive into one local organisation or group that supports people in the community, bringing joy to the lonely and connecting people. Visit the Newcastle Samaritans group and watch the video showing the Christmas lunch they provide. Link: Christmas at Samaritans
Creative Fun with Paint 3D
Ask the children to recreate part of the story using Paint 3D. The examples below are from a Year 1 class.
You might like the children to create a picture for a different bowerbird, like the Great Bowerbird that prefers red to blue! You could use their image as a stimulus to write their own bowerbird adventure.
Comparing Texts
The All New Must Have Orange 430 is another text that highlights our overuse of plastic and how we are creating unnecessary waste. You might enjoy exploring this with your students.
