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 a range of structured literacy activities including

• Spelling rules ck / dge / drop the e / y as a consonant or vowel
• Sounds of -ed
• Exploring parts of language - adverbs, adjectives, nouns, verbs etc
• Doubling or not when adding -ing, -ed
• Floss rules
• Compound words
• Identifying and naming suffixes
• Identifying and naming prefixes
• Vowel teams
• Root words
• Controlling 'r'
• Diagraphs
• Schwa words
• Ghost diagraphs
• -oo- and -oo- / -au and -ow / 
• Hard and soft c and g
• Common subordinating conjunctions
• And much more!!

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