Bear Came Along: Activity Pairings

Bear Came Along is a wonderful lead-in to community-building, exploring nature, and embracing the journey. We hope that this book will help you imagine projects that build community, integrate the disciplines, and get students outdoors – whether in school or at home.

See Author Richard T. Morris reads BEAR CAME ALONG
(May 2020, B&N Storytime)

Interacting with the Story​

Set up a miniatures scene for children to play with, including the landscape of the book and the animals of the book.
See image at right.

As they interact with the materials, invite them to retell the story/extend the story/make up their own story. Younger children can dictate their story to the teacher and illustrate the pages. Older students can practice summarizing, writing book reviews, telling a story of an adventure they have had, etc: However the book naturally integrates into your writing curriculum.

Invite children to create something that represents them which they can play with in the miniatures scene.

Older students can be asked to think abstractly: Is there a plant or an animal that can represent one particular strength they bring to the class community? The youngest students might think more concretely about choosing something they can be an expert on, or something they like to do. Think about the materials you feel are most appropriate for your age group: Perhaps they can make this plant/animal/thing out of clay, or Sculpey, or Model Magic. Perhaps you’ll ask them to find a special rock and paint on it. Ask students to share about what they’ve made, and listen to the strengths shared by their peers, as they imagine how they might support one another.

Building a Community of Learners & Addressing Emotions

moodmeter

Construct a homegrown mood meter chart together.

If there is a school-wide social-emotional program in place, this student-generated chart would provide a meaningful segue. This school year contains plenty of “unknowns” for all those involved. 
  • What were some of the feelings of the characters in the book as they embarked in the journey of the unknown together?

  • What are some of the feelings among the students (and teachers) in the class? (This could also turn into a grade-wide/school-wide survey for older students.)

Help students identify personal strengths and interests, and how they contribute to their various communities, including their classroom.

As the characters in Bear Came Along travel downstream, they pick up friends along the way, each of whom contributes in his/her unique way to the success of the group’s journey. Ask students to share about something they’re good at/what makes them unique – whatever concept about personal strengths and individuality is appropriate for the age group you work with. Depending on the age group, you might ask students to start a mind map of their strengths that they add to over the school year, or you might create a symbol for preschool-aged children that can be used to represent them in surveys/personal materials/work/etc, based on what they share about their personal interests or strengths.

Create a class charter.

By bringing their whole selves and bolstering the community with their strengths, the Bear’s gang is able to stay safe and turn the journey downstream into a joyous adventure. How do your students want to feel at school? (Refer back to and add on to the mood meter.) What needs to be agreed upon as a group to ensure that the school year is a great adventure?

Mapping!

Create your own map of the school and its surrounding environment.

The end pages of Bear Came Along contain beautiful maps of the book’s setting. Use these as inspiration for your student-created maps of their school and surrounding community.  The scope and style of the map should consider the developmental ages of your students and your science and/or social studies curriculum. For the youngest students, the map might be a 3-D model that they can touch and play with, containing just the school and its outdoor play space. Early elementary maps might increase the space to include the neighborhood or town. Late elementary maps might be 2-D and contain the school and its place within the state – or perhaps be 3-D and include the town as it looked “long ago,” depending on the social studies time period within your curriculum. Is your science curriculum focused on water habits? Land habitats? Gardens? Rocks and minerals? Include that particular feature on your map. As your students get to know the playground or nearby park, invite them to add on to the map.

Use the map to set the tone for the learning experiences for the year, and help you take the learning outside.

Consider presenting this as a treasure map, where “x” marks the spot of the secrets of the community/environment to be unlocked by your class.  Your first “x” might lead students to hidden pails or paper bags for gathering nature treasures. Bear fell into the river because he was curious.
  • Did anyone find something that made them curious?
  • How did the shell get to the playground?
  • Why are the nut shells broken apart on the tree stump?
  • Where did the broken pottery come from?
  • Are there stories hidden in these treasures?
  • What are you curious about here?
  • To what extent can children’s curiosities and interests shape the curriculum?

Another “x” might include an invitation to gather sticks and make mud (or use glue) to create a shelter for the animals students previously made to represent their strengths. These structures can be created and left outdoors, made inside and put together to form a habitat, or can stand alone on children’s desks, where they can tend to those animals throughout the early weeks of school.  Yet another “x” might lead students to the notebooks they’ll use for Writer’s Workshop or for as Science Journals, and ask them to find a special “sit spot” someplace where they can sit on their own in quiet, open their senses, breath, and connect. Draw/write about what you connect with. Use these sit spots throughout the year and record the changes that occur

The concept of learning experiences being treasures hidden on a map can go in any number of directions: The idea is to connect students with place and community in joyful shared experiences grounded in your curriculum, whether in person or at a distance. Inevitably, you will find that taking the learning outdoors naturally brings children together and integrates science, technology (simply put: tools designed to solve problems…think sticks, pulley systems, ramps, etc.!), engineering, art, mathematics, reading, writing, social studies, music and movement.

Since 2005, Seedlings Educators Collaborative has provided professional development, ongoing support and resources to Connecticut educators from diverse school environments.

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