Chaos by Simon Cooke is a science fiction narrative that uses humour and an imagined alien world to explore rules, authority, and the value of play. Set on the planet Snood, where games have been banned for thousands of years, the story follows Bryn and her friend Shazz after they are caught breaking the law by playing a simple ball game. Sent to Earth as punishment, they observe — and then take part in — a game of football, discovering cooperation, fairness, and joy rather than the violence and disorder they have been warned about. Through fast-paced dialogue, vivid imagery, and a clever contrast between alien beliefs and human behaviour, the text invites readers to question assumptions about rules, control, and what truly causes conflict. Playful yet thoughtful, the story supports students to think critically about power, evidence, and social norms through an imaginative lens. 

The text is ideal for integrated learning across literacy and social sciences, supporting inquiry into rules and authority, critical thinking, cooperation, and how societies make decisions about behaviour and control.

This pack contains wide range of response activities including:

• A guided reading plan exploring key literacy elements including inference and deduction, language use, making connection and text organisation, along with key questioning to promote emotional intelligence, metacognition and compassionate inquiry. 
• An independent learning contract complete with explainer videos for activity clarity
  
• A wide range of response activities to support developing and embedding key literacy skills including sentence and word work, spelling, and cloze activities. 

Curriculum Phase: Phase 3

Year Level: Year 6

English (NZC Levels 3–4):
reading for meaning and critical thinking, analysing character perspective and dialogue, understanding narrative structure and theme, exploring humour and science fiction conventions, making inferences

Social Sciences – Aotearoa New Zealand Histories:
rules and decision-making, authority and leadership, social organisation, continuity and change, cooperation and conflict

Text type:
Fiction, science fiction, narrative story

Key words include:
science fiction, aliens, Snood, football, games, rules, authority, hierarchy, Great Brain, control, obedience, questioning assumptions, evidence, research, cooperation, teamwork, fairness, conflict, chaos, humour, dialogue, imagination, social norms, decision-making, critical thinking