If you don’t try to proceed by defining fairness, a good alternative is to turn the discussion to fundamental rights. This distinction may be beyond some kids, so pointing it out should be a judgment call. A big one is the disagreement between those who say fairness is giving everyone the same things, and those who say fairness is giving everyone the same opportunities. Another challenge, if you choose to ask about what being fair means, will be finding disagreements about how to define fairness. Here’s an example: it isn’t fair for one soldier to lose their life for the good of the country, but it might not be wrong for the government to send them to battle.

Underlying questions are: how important is fairness for a good society? Does every individual have basic rights, and if so, what are they? Kids will likely have strong intuitions in favor of fairness, so one challenge will be soliciting reservations about fairness and then getting the kids to consider them. Yertle’s treatment of the turtles, who are hungry and in pain, will seem obviously unfair to the kids, which is a chance to get them to talk about fairness and from there, political rights. Seuss’s Yertle the Turtle raises questions about justice, political rights, political authority, and the responsibilities a ruler has to their subjects. Read aloud video by Michael Hattem Guidelines for Philosophical Discussionĭr. Eventually, Mack, the exhausted turtle at the bottom of the stack, burps, and Yertle’s throne and power crumble beneath him. He then sits atop this throne and proclaims that he rules over all that he sees. Yertle orders the turtles to stand on each other’s back to form a tall throne, ignoring the complaints of the turtles at the bottom.

Yertle the turtle is the ambitious king of the pond who decides he wants to expand his kingdom. Questions for Philosophical Discussion » Summary Yertle the Turtle raises questions about justice, political rights, political authority, and the responsibilities a ruler has to their subjects.

Books with yertle the turtle