The Blue BOX

Module

Understanding the World

Unit

The Five Senses

Key Stage Targets

To develop an ever-improving capability to use English

-to converse about feelings, interests, ideas and experiences (I.D. b)

-to participate with others in making choices and decisions for carrying out events (I.D. d)

-to recognize and solve simple problems in given situations, and describe the solutions (K.D. d)

-to give expression to imaginative ideas through oral performative means such as providing simple oral descriptions of a situation and object (E.D.c)

Programme Outline

Five children, Sally, Tim, Anna, Julia and Sam, find a blue box, one metre square, sitting in the middle of nowhere in a forest. They are puzzled by the blue box. What is it?

They each in their own way try to understand what it is. Each child also declares the way that they like to understand things: Sally by reading, Tim by measuring, Anna by drawing and painting, Julia by hearing and making music, and Sam by playing sports and activities. They are initially sceptical of each other’s approach to the problem of understanding the blue box and then pleasantly surprised when each approach to learning creates some results.

In the last scene, the five of them explore the blue box by going inside. Sally sees words and an oversized book. Tim sees a wonderful place to explore numbers and shapes. Anna sees an artist’s studio with paintings and colours to play in. Julia sees some musical instruments such as the harp, the piano and a set of drums to play with. Sam finds that it is a wonderful sports ground, he can play a ball game, go skateboarding and climb the mountain. As the programme ends, the scene returns to the blue box sitting in the forest with another child approaching just as Sally had, calling out to her friends that there is a blue box. At last, she goes into the blue box to explore it too.

Communicative Functions

  1. Ask for and give explanations
  2. Express preferences, ideas and plans
  3. Make simple suggestions
  4. Draw attention to people and things and describe them briefly

Pre-viewing Activities

  1. Motivate the class by asking them to list the activities they find most effective or enjoyable when learning about new things. The activities can be varied and flexible, for example, playing a game, using the internet, visiting a place, performing a drama and reading the newspapers or stories. The objective is to bring out the theme that there are several ways of learning things.
  2. Introduce the programme outline to the class. The programme raises the pupils’ awareness of their strengths and potential. Explain to them that each of them can learn or solve problems in their own way. So it is important for them to identify their strengths and potential as well as develop them. In this way they will enjoy their lives much more.
  3. Ask the pupils to preview the questions in COPYMASTER 1.

Post-viewing Activities

COPYMASTER 1

Part 1
  1. This part is to encourage pupils to express their views after watching the programme. Make it flexible ad motivational. There is no need for the pupils to write the answers down like a writing exercise.
  2. Discuss with the pupils the question and ask for suggestions. List the suggestions for the class to see.
Part 2
  1. Check if they understand the question and then ask one or two pupils for suggestions as demonstration.
  2. Give pupils a few minutes to complete the table.
  3. Invite the pupils to report what they have written. (For ideas on what the children see and do inside the blue box, you can refer to the programme outline)

COPYMASTER 2

Discuss in pairs

  1. Ask the class to recap what each of the five children can see and do inside the blue box. Motivate them to tell the class whether they like the activities inside the blue box.
  2. Arrange the pupils to discuss in pairs the following question: “If you are inside the blue box, what do you want to see and do?”
  3. Ask them to complete COPYMASTER 2 during their discussion.
  4. Invite some pupils to report what their friends and what they themselves want to see and do inside the blue box.

COPYMASTER 1

Part 1

What is the blue box? What do the children think it is?

Example: Anna thinks it is about drawing. She draws the blue box when she wants to understand it.

How about Sally, Tim, Julia and Sam?

Part 2

What do the children see and do inside the blue box?

1. Sally
2. Tim
3. Julia
4. Anna
5. Sam
COPYMASTER 2

Discuss in pairs - A and B

Example: A: “If you are inside the blue box, what do you want to see and do?”

B: “I want to ………….”

Write down your friend’s answers. Then it is your friend’s turn to ask you the question. He/She will also write down your answers.

Things my friend wants to see and do inside the blue box:
a.
b.
c.