We’re Going on a Bear Hunt retold by Michael Rosen
Check out one or all of these versions of the book:
Read Along https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL36gMrHJaI
Michael Rosen performs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyI6ykDwds
An animated version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waoa3iG3bZ4
Yoga version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAT5NiWHFIU
Before listening to the story, talk about:
-The title and pictures you see. -The author and what an author does (writes the story) -The illustrator and what an illustrator does (creates the pictures) -- “What do you think the book will be about?” “What will happen?” “Will they find a bear?”
While the story is being read, pause the video in different places to discuss
- What might happen next, what are the children’s ideas? - Invite them to join in on the repetitive phrases as the story is being read. - Create movements to dramatize the different events. Listen to the different sounds…can you make those sounds? - Are you noticing something interesting about the pictures in the story? Colour/no colour. Pattern?
After the reading, retell it
- Can you recall all the different experiences the family had to find the bear? - Where do bears live? Caves/dens/in the woods. - What do bears like to eat? Fish, berries, small animals, honey. - What is hibernation? Long sleep in the winter. They will eat and eat so they can sleep for a long time during the winter. Why do they hibernate? Food is hard to find in the winter (berries are gone, no honey, fish difficult to reach under the ice, other small animals are also hibernating.
Activities that can be done to further expand on the story
-Pretend to be a bear getting ready for hibernation; eating the berries and fish and filling their tummies and then finding a den/cave to sleep in. Make a cave/den by providing blankets, chairs, clothespins, pretend food etc. Allow the children to use their imagination.
- Make some patterns like the colour/no colour pages in the book. Use bear counters or any items that you have plenty of…Legos, gemstones, plastic milk caps, wooden/foam shapes, fruit loops. Sort by colour, count them, make a pattern, and duplicate a pattern.
- Imagine going on a bear hunt. Talk about what you might see, hear, feel, your emotions. - Pretend to go on a bear hunt, retelling the story and doing the actions and sounds of all the experiences the family had. Movement and recreating the sounds is always fun. Or place different items, like stuffed bears, bear counters, books with bears, pictures of bears etc. and go on a bear hunt finding and collecting all the bears you see.
- Make Sound effects. The family travel through a field of grass, a river, mud, a snowstorm, a forest, and finally end up in a cave where they actually find a bear! Then they run out of the cave and do everything in reverse order. Set out some objects: an empty bottle, a pot and spoon, a water bottle with a small amount of water, a broom and jello in a sealed container. Here are some ideas: (though of course kids can come up with their own)
· For the grass "swishy swashy": run the broom along the floor.
· For the river "splash splosh": shake the water bottle.
· For the mud "squelch squerch": shake the container of jello.
· For the forest "stumble trip": bang the pot with spoons.
· For the snowstorm "hoooo woooo!”: blow into the top of an empty bottle.
· For the cave "tiptoe tiptoe": bang the pot softly with spoons.
- Go Fishing. Use a rod/stick with string/yarn and a magnet attached to the end. Create fish with paper/felt and attach a paper clip to each. Place the fish in a bucket/container and see what you can catch. Or play the traditional Go Fish card game.
- Gross Motor Fun. Let’s pretend to be a bear and other animals:
· Walk and move like a bear. Big, heavy, slow steps
· Slither like a snake, jump like a grasshopper in the Long, Wavy Grass
· Swim like a fish, float like an otter in the Deep, Cold River
· Crawl like a salamander, slither like a snail in the Thick, Oozy Mud
· Prance like a deer, Stand still and watch owl in the Big Dark Forest
· Hop like a rabbit, Pounce like a wolf in the Swirling Whirling Snowstorm
· Swoop down like a bat, skitter like a mouse, creep like spider in the Narrow, Gloomy Cave