A Writing Root for Beegu

Overview and outcomes:

This two-week Writing Root opens with the teacher or other adult, dressed as a police officer or FBI agent, informing the children that an alien is on the loose somewhere in the local vicinity. The officer explains that, due to them being very busy, they would like to recruit the children as police officers to help find out as much as possible about the alien and ultimately catch it. To do that, they must first of all learn as much as they can about aliens, e.g. what they look like, how they move, what they eat, etc. The officer explains that they will be back in three days’ time to find out the information from the children and to tell them what they need to do next to catch the alien.
 Set part of the classroom up as a police station or FBI office. The police station will be used for interviewing key witnesses in stage 1; for the children’s drama in stage 2; and can become the writing role-play area in stage 3. It will need to have detectives’/police hats, interview notebooks, a telephone, pens and pencils, magnifying glasses and an evidence wall (this will be your Working Wall for this unit). Outside, or within the classroom, if necessary, set up a crime scene of a UFO crash. It is important that children can ‘discover’ this scene in the first lesson in order to ask questions and discover information about the scene.

Synopsis of Text:

Beegu is not supposed to be on Earth. She is lost. She is a friendly little creature, but the Earth People don't seem very welcoming at all. However, so far she has only met the BIG ones. The little ones are a different matter.

Text Rationale:

This is a heart-warming tale of an alien ­­­– Beegu ­– who crash lands on earth and finds refuge and friendship with the children in a school playground. The story lends itself to discussions about the importance of welcoming, respecting and including others. Alexis Deacon is a significant, award-winning author and illustrator.

Links and themes:

Aliens, friendship, unusual friendships, inclusion, space 

Date written: March 2013