LITERATURE

                     AND READING ACTIVITIES

    Several books are suggested for shared, guided, or independent reading in the web page section devoted to books and resources.    The extensions and activities that are provided here are examples of the complete unit that is available for purchase.  Contact me through the email link below should you be interested in ordering the Mushing Unit.

              ALASKA'S THREE BEARS

                                                               By:  Shelly Gill

Prereading:

    * Show students the book cover.  Discuss the parts: title, author, illustrator.

    * Have the students predict what the story may be about.  Write their ideas on chart paper to compare after the reading.

   *  What other stories do you know (or have we read) about three bears?  How do you think this one is different?

  *  Use a map of Alaska.  Explain the different geographical areas, climate, etc.

   *  Song and action activity:  Going on a Bear Hunt

Vocabulary:

         * grizzly, polar, boar, cub, Eskimos, delta, artic, ridge, slippery, webbed, pigeon-toed, frigid, salmon, raven, upstream, lumbered, glossy, chatter, bull moose, nibble, gobble, gulp, lingers, iceberg.

         *  Use pictures and actions to explain some of the words such as lumbered, webbed, gobble, gulp, lingers, slippery, etc.  Play Simon says using the verbs in the story.

         *  Write sentences using the words on sentence strips.  Leave out the specific word.  Write the vocabulary words on index cards.  Have students read the sentences and find the missing word.  Place the sentence strips and word cards in a pocket chart or reading wall center.

        *  Match the bear pictures to the names of the bears and characteristics.  Suggested book Alaska Wildlife Coloring Book.  (see book page on menu)                                                                         

             *  How to draw a bear - Jan Brett web site for information

                                 www.janbrett.com

READING THE STORY:

             Set a purpose for reading.  "See if you can find differences in these three bears."  "What do you think the bears want to do?"  "What will be the problem that the three bears have in the story?" "What do you think bear country would look like?"  "Do you think the bears in this story are real or fictional?"  

              Record the story on cassette.  Use the book and cassette as a listening center.

              Web story elements - Make a story elements web on chart paper.  Write the headings on the top of the paper (characters, setting, problem, events, resolution (end) ).  After reading the story have students dictate ideas for each heading.  Complete the web as teacher writing or shared writing.  Use for summarization.

              Comprehension:   During and after reading.. ask questions from concrete to more abstract levels of thinking.  (who were the characters, why did they decide to head for home; what was the weather like; what did they think about the "home" (habitat) of each bear?  How did they hunt for food?  Did they like the same food?

              Extensions:

                 * Select one of the bears.  Write about the bear based on the facts you learned.  (See Little Bear Writing activities)

                 - Divide the class into groups.  Each group will make a habitat for one of the three types of bears in the story.  This can be done using a box, cardboard, etc.  

                 *  What bear is your favorite?  Tell about this bear and why.  Draw the bear doing something that you learned about its characteristics.

                 *  Center activity:  Make cards with different characteristics of each type of bear.  Write one characteristic about the bear on each card.  Make three pictures of the different types of bears.  Place the pictures at the top of a pocket chart.  Students will place the information card that belongs to the specific bear under each bear picture.

               *  MAPS AND DIRECTIONS:  Make an imaginary map. Tell students that they are going to help each bear make the trip home.  Use directions (North, South, East, West).  Example:

                      "The three bears started in the North.  They began to find their way home in the Spring.  First they went to the South about the middle of the paper.  There they found a delta.  Draw a delta at this place.  Then they crossed hills where the land met the sea.  Draw a line to the East from the Delta and make the hills and the sea.  They had to then cross mountains (make the mountains on the West side of the hills.  They moved south and found an artic fox and a seal (draw these animals in the water) swimming in the icy water.  The polar bear jumped into the sea.  Continue using examples from the story until all of the locations and directions are drawn on the map.

     More books and Ideas coming soon..................... mush back by again.