Between Friends:
The Bear (pages 8–9)
Written by Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrated by Laura Watson
Text Type: Fiction: Poetry—rhyming poem
Oral Language
Teaching Strategy:
Time:
Help Students to Break into a Discussion-in-Progress (see page 9) Help students learn
strategies to break into a discussion smoothly and to encourage others to add ideas.
20 minutes
Materials:
- Between Friends, pages 8–9
- bear mask prepared from the Between Friends BLMs (see page 140)
- Audio CD: “The Bear”
Grouping:
whole class, small groups, and partners
Assessment:
Grade Two Oral Language Assessment Scale (see pages 30–31)
FIRST READING
BEFORE READING
Activating and Building Background Knowledge
sk students to share what they
•Aknow
and think about bears.
ow show students the
• Npoem
and the illustration.
Ask students what they notice.
Have students share their
thinking with an elbow partner,
then discuss as a class.
Have you ever seen a bear? What do
you know about bears? Would you
like to meet a bear?
It’s okay to be thinking something different
than your elbow partner. When you tell us
what you talked about, you could say “John
said… and I’m thinking…”
Setting a Purpose
Evaluating
xplain to students that they should
•Elisten
to you read the poem and join in as
soon as they like. Tell them to be thinking
about whose voices we are hearing in the
poem.
© 2014 Scholastic Canada Ltd. Listen and watch for clues
that help us to figure out
whose voices we are hearing.
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DURING READING
the poem and encourage students to join in, especially on second and third
•Read
readings.
Evaluating
Making connections/
analyzing
•After reading, focus on comprehension by offering prompts:
-Do you think the events described in this poem really happened? Why or
why not?
- Does this fit with what you know about bears?
ngage students in an open discussion.
•EModel
and reinforce strategies for
breaking into the discussion. Ask
students what kind of sign or symbol they
think would be good to use when they
have something to add to the discussion
(e.g., show thumbs up, touch finger to
head, use talking stick).
When someone shares something
that puzzles you or reminds you of
something, use the sign or symbol
to let us know that you would like
to ask a question or add to the
discussion.
on the needs of your students,
•Dyouepending
may choose to read the poem again and
track the print. Ask students to pay attention
to the punctuation at the end of sentences.
What should our voices sound
like when there is a question
mark? An exclamation mark?
Adding Playful Movements
students select a movement to match the question mark and exclamation
•Have
mark (e.g., both hands raised for a question, both hands on cheeks for an
exclamation). Reread the poem with the Audio CD, adding the movements.
AFTER READING
Evaluating
•
Revisit the purpose for the reading
by asking, “Whose voices do we
hear in the poem?”
How do you know whose voice it is? Is
anyone thinking someone different? Use
our sign/symbol when you want to add
to the discussion.
SECOND AND FURTHER READINGS
he students will want to reread “The Bear.” During further lessons, consider
T
including a balance of ideas from the following areas:
Engaging in Playful Language Activities
students into two groups, and assign a voice from the poem to each
•Organize
group. Have students chant the verses for their voice with the Audio CD or with
you as you read the poem aloud. Remind students to use movements and facial
expressions when chanting their part.
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Literacy Place for the Early Years—Grade Two
© 2014 Scholastic Canada Ltd.
he following is best done in
•Tsmall
groups based on needs:
Listen to this rhyming pair: “night” and
“ fright.” What parts sounds the same?
Let’s write them down. Look at how the
rhyming part is spelled. This can help you
read and write other words.
Reread the poem and
emphasize the rhyming
words. Brainstorm and list other
words that rhyme with these words. Identify and compare rimes (e.g., “-ight” in
“fright” and “bright”). Sort the rimes into categories (e.g., rimes that begin with
a blend, rimes that begin with the same letter). Discuss how rhyming patterns
can help us to read and write bigger words.
Extending Comprehension
Predicting/inferring
the whole class in a discussion about other conversations that could
•Engage
happen between the bear and the little brother. Remind students of strategies to
use when they want to add something to the discussion.
Interpreting by Acting Out Poems or Creating Poems
students choose whether they would like to be the little brother or the bear,
•Let
and give the “bear” copy of the mask. (Try to ensure an equal number of boys
and bears.) Have students
Have a conversation with each other.
work in pairs to role-play a
What might the little brother ask the bear?
conversation that could
How do you think the bear will respond?
happen between the bear and
the little brother. Have students
switch roles for another conversation.
a new stanza about what
•Write
the little brother might have said and done with the bear. Use the following cloze
stanza:
He told the bear that
Here is an example that you can use or modify:
He told the bear that they could play
with the hamster and the dog
and his sister’s little frog.
Developing Vocabulary and Interpreting Visual Images
to look closely
•Aatskthestudents
illustrations and to
describe how the characters
pictured are feeling. Compare
what the illustrations show to
what the text says.
© 2014 Scholastic Canada Ltd. In the poem, one of the characters says that
the bear must have given the little brother
“quite a fright.” Does the little brother look
frightened? Would you be frightened if you
saw a bear in your bed?
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FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES
copies of the masks, the Audio CD, and the small versions of the text in
•Place
the Listening Centre.
-Students can reread the poem while tracking the print. The fluent reading on
the Audio CD can be used for support, if desired.
materials in the creative arts area and have students create masks of
•Provide
other animals that might join the boy.
students to make up their own new stories, orally, as suggested at the
•Encourage
end of the poem.
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© 2014 Scholastic Canada Ltd.