Bear Unit Unit Scope Concepts: Bears are large mammals. Bears live in different parts of the world Bears are white, black, brown or white and black, depending on what kind of bear. Children have stuffed animals called teddy bears. Vocabulary: Grizzly Teddy bear Corduroy Tall Panda Large Counting Porridge Polar Medium Sorting Bamboo Black Small Soft Over Hot Hard Under Cold Dense Around Live Dark Through Not live Lock Background Information The teacher will need to know: Bears hibernate during the winter. Bears like to eat honey, berries, plants, insects and fish, . Pandas eat bamboo. Polar bears eat seals, sea birds, fish and crabs. Bears have 5 toes with long claws on each foot. Bears have four legs and short tails Bears have fur and Polar bears have feathers. Baby bears are called cubs. Math Activities: Use counting teddy’s to sort, count, match. Ask students to bring in their teddy bears and weigh the bears. Sort the bears by size, color, clothes, or any attibrute the students can name. Have students serialize bears of different sizes. Bear matching-pairs of cards with different numbers of bear to be matched by the children. Cooking: Bear Claws Give each child a piece of tin foil and 2 ballard biscuits. Instruct them to make 5 balls out of one biscuit and place them on the edge of the other biscuit. Have them add an almond sliver for the nails. Bake and enjoy. Bear Cookies You will need sugar cookie dough, cookie cutters in the shape of bears, cookie sheets, a small bowl, one can each chocolate and white frosting, and black food coloring. Take some of the white frosting and add the black coloring, mix well. Roll out sugar cookie dough and have children cut out bear shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake according to directions. When cool have children frost the cookie to make it their favorite kind of bear; brown, black, panda, or polar bears. Literacy: Cut out bear shapes. Write a letter on each shape. Make two sets. Have children match letters. This can be done with upper and lower case also. Encourage children to act out or retell stories. Maintaining a story center with the flannel board pieces used recently will promote story retelling. Social Studies/Science: Plan a teddy bear picnic. Walk to a nearby park with the children and their teddy bears. Eat lunch at the park. Visit a local zoo with bears. Have the children make bear paw prints with finger paints. Songs and Finger plays: By Gail Nettles One little bear, lonely and blue, Met a good friend, then there were two. Two little bears, happy as could be, Another joined in and that made three. Three little bears, looking for more, Came across another, that made four. Four little bears headed to a hive, Found a bear there, and that made five. Five little bears while the day is sunny, Eating from a bee’s hive sweet golden honey. Teddy Bear Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around. Teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground. Teddy bear, teddy bear, read the news. Teddy bear, teddy bear, shine your shoes. Teddy bear, teddy bear, go upstairs. Teddy bear, teddy bear, say your prayers. Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn out the lights. Teddy bear, teddy bear, Say Good night! Here is a Cave Here is a cave. (bend fingers to form cave) Inside is a bear. (put thumb inside fingers) Now he comes out. (thumb out) To get some fresh air. He stays out all summer In sunshine and heat. He hunts in the forest For berries to eat. (move thumb in circle) When snow starts to fall He hurries inside. His warm little cave (thumb in) And there he will hide. Snow covers the cave Like a fluffy white rug. (cover with other hand) Inside the bear sleeps All cozy and snug. Bears The other day I met a bear Deep in the woods a way out there. He said to me, “Why don’t you run?” You see I don’t have a gun. And so I ran into the woods But right behind me was that bear. Came to a tree let out a sigh Because the nearest branch was ten feet high. And so I jumped into the air,, But missed that branch a way up there. Now don’t you fret and don’t you frown. Because I caught that branch on the way back down. The moral of this story is don’t chase them bears when they get big. Ten Little Bears The little bears feeling just fine. One fell asleep and then there were nine. Nine little bears going through a gate, One was too fat, and then there were eight. Eight little bears looking up to heaven. One went home and then there were seven. Seven little bears climbing over some sticks, One fell off, and then there were six. Six little bears going to a beehive, One stopped to rest. and then there were five. Five little bears walking through a door. One turned back and then there were four. Four little bears saw a pretty tree One stopped to play, and then there were three. Three little bears looking for something to do, One went swimming and then there were two. Two little bears playing under the sun, One got hot and then there was one. One little bear when the day was done, Decided to go to bed and then there was none. Ideas from Exploring Wood by Jean Warren, submitted by Elaine in OR THE BEARS ARE WALKING (Tune: When Johny Comes Marching Home) The bears are walking through the woods Today, today. The bears are walking through the woods To eat and play. They catch some fish and eat them too. They munch on berries, quite a few. Then they run around and climb on a tree or two. HOLLOW LOG Use a long cardboard carton to make a pretend hollow log. Cut several round holes in the sides of the carton. Then let your children help paint it dark brown. Run a comb over some the wet paint to make the wood appearance. Glue on some patches of green felt to represent moss growing on the log. When the log is completely dry, the children can pretend to be bears living and playing in their log. Bears and Teddy Bears CIRCLE TIME AND CONCEPTS: Teddy bears and real bears. Real bears hybernate in the winter. Hybernate is to go into a very deep sleep. Teddy bears are fun! (But not real) ART CENTER: -bear caves. Use a lunch size paper bag. Cut an arch out from the open end (one side only) This makes the opening for the cave. Let children glue cotton balls all over the top for snow. * Photocopy a small bear, let children color and cut out. Glue bear to popsycle stick. The bear can go in and out of his cave. -Corduroy. (after reading "Corduroy" and "Pocket For Corduroy") Photocopy a picture of corduroy (or any bear) Let children glue on green overalls (cut from paper) Then glue two buttons on, for his straps. Then, let children cut out a small piece of fabric or paper, and glue it on for his pocket. -Stuffed bears. Use a lunch size paper bag. Stuff it with newspaper. Tie a string about two thirds up the bag. Add ears to the top, and buttons for eyes (or nose and use googley eyes for eyes) Let children paint their bears. -Bear pictures. Use a photocopy of a bear. (real bear) Let children spread glue on the bear with paint brushes, then sprinkle coffee grounds on it. -Panda bears. Use an outline of a bear and glue on black and white pieces of tissue paper. Let children cut or tear the paper into small pieces, before gluing. PRETEND CENTER: -Make a bear cave out of a table and blanket. -Put lots of teddy bears, instead of dolls. MANIPULATIVES: -buttons to sort by size and color -Bear puzzles -make a game for goldilocks and three bears- make 3 different size bears, bowls, chairs and beds. Have 3 cups that are "small", Medium" and "large" - children have to put the small bear, bowl, chair and bed in small cup... etc. (or use pieces of paper, in different sizes and children match to right one.) -Is it alive? Have several pictures of bears.. teddy bears and real bears (brown bears, grizzley bears, polar bears, panda bears) Have children sort by whether they are real or not. -1 to1 correspondence. Take five cups and number each with a number 1 through 5. Give children 15 buttons and have them put the correct number in each cup according to the number on the cup. -Plastic bears, different colors and sizes to play with and sort. Sand / Water Table: -have children make mountains in the sand Flannel Board Stories: Why Mr. Bear Has a Short Tail A Norwegian Folktale. The Bear and the Mountain bye Jean Warren Rosen, M. (1989). We’re going on a bear hunt. Ills. H. Oxenbury. New York: Margaret K McElderry Books. Vocabulary: Over, under, around, through, quite, up, down, lock, tall, cold, dark, dense, Activities: Read We’re going on a bear hunt, including gestures to demonstrate direction words. Set up obstacle course bear hunt: Water table insert filled with water represents river. Plastic tray filled with chocolate pudding for mud. Paper trees hung from roof of sand box or monkey bars depicts forest. Batting symbolizes snow. Large box, tunnel or blanket over monkey bars can be the cave. After removing their shoes and socks assist students in walking through the bear hunt obstacles and then back through. Place blanket over a table to make a cave. Encourage children to take turns hibernating and waking up. Salzman, Y. (retold) (1987). The three bears, Ills. Y Salzman New York: Golden Book. Vocabulary: Large, medium, small, hot, cold, broken, gone. Activities: Make puppets small medium and large from either 3 size paper bags or construction paper cut 5”X7”, 5”X6”, and 5”X5”. Fold the paper lengthwise in half and in half again. Curl the top to form a loop and paper clip or staple to fasten. Supply materials students might use for features on their puppets. Porridge 4 cups water 2 cups quick oats 1 small tart apple 2 cups milk 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup raisins 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon dash of salt Bring water to a boil. Add oatmeal and salt and boil one minute, stirring occasionally. Cut apple into small pieces and add to cooked oatmeal. Add milk, brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon. Cook slowly, stirring often for 10 minutes. Makes 10 servings. Include 3 sized beds, bowls, spoons, and chairs in housekeeping. Imitate bear walking on hands and feet. Present the story on flannel board. Leave board and pieces out for children to practice retelling the story to each other. Act out the story of the three bears with the children, allowing them to take turns with the roles. Match 3 sizes of bears, bowls, spoons and chairs. Freeman, D. (1968) Corduroy. New York: The Viking Press. Freeman, D. (1978). A pocket for corduroy. New York: The Viking Press. Freeman, D. (1977). Beady bear. New York: Puffin Books. Vocabulary: Corduroy, overalls, department store, pocket, cave, wind up key, hard, soft, cold, toys, live animals, laundromat, and flashlight. Activities: Provide paper and scraps of material, buttons, scissors, glue including corduroy. Ask the children to make a corduroy bear of their own. Discuss whether or not a toy bear could really do the things that Corduroy and Beady bear do. Discuss hibernation. In the discovery center include items soft and hard. Help the children sort items by that attribute. Martin, B. Jr. (1992). Brown bear, brown, bear, what do you see? Ills. E. Carle. New York: Henry Holt and Company. Vocabulary: Color words, bear, dog, fish, teacher, bird, horse, duck, frog, cat, sheep. Activities: Make flannel board characters. Outline the characters in the story on a sheet of flannel. Demonstrate story, allowing children to identify the next animal or teacher, and place it on the appropriate place on the flannel board. Make the characters in the story and connect them to hats. Have the students wear the hats and stand when their animal or teacher is identified. Art center should include materials for the children to make their own colored animals and teachers. I did a bear theme this year. Here are a few things I did: * Make paper blate bears - attach a small plate (head) to a large plate (body. Children cut out of card and attach the ears, arms and legs. They then use sponges to sponge brown paint all over. A face can be painted on. * We had a teddy slumber party. The children brought their bears and at the end of the day, tucked them in to sleep somewhere in the room. When the children left, I set up the bears as if they had a party - some around food plates, some reading books, some doing puzzles, some writing on the blackboard, some in all the blocks.... You should have seen the shock and excitement on the childrens faces when they arrived on Monday and saw them!! I took photos, then we cleaned up, and sat together and wrote a story about what the bears had gotten up to. * Bear cupcakes - decorate cupcakes as bears: brown icing, smarties for eyes, choc buds for ears and nose. The kids loved these!!!! Peta wellspd@highway1.com.au (This is a great time to do the letter "Bb". Have the children glue buttons on blue or brown B's.!) Material: small basket and stuffed bear Have the children sit in a circle. Begin by explaining that a basket is a picnic basket and the stuffed bear is a hungry bear. The basket should be passed from child to child around the circle. After the children have done this a couple times pass the bear around the circle in the same direction. The games ends when the bear get his basket of food. This game can follow whatever theme you are doing such as fox & geese.