Title: We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
Author: Michael Rosen
Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
Copyright: 1989
Summary: A family goes on a bear hunt and finds more than they bargained for.
Bible: This is a story about a family on a journey. I talked to the boys about the Hebrew families who journeyed from Egypt into the desert before reaching the land that God promised. (They were not too interested and wanted me to return to this story.)
Drama: Interesting side note: The library did not have this book, but it did have it on CD. I decided to get the CD and listen to it in the car. Both boys loved listening to the story in this format and ‘A’ has completely memorized it, including all the credits. I am not sure if this reinforces that he is an auditory learner, but I am more inclined to get books on CD after this experience. Of all the books from this curriculum, this is the one that the boys were most interested in. Is it because of the CD?
We acted out the story with all the various actions and expressions that are in the plot. We were camping at the time, so the boys had ample opportunity to really use their imaginations. (some include: swishing through wavy grass, sploshing through a cold river, squelching through oozy mud, stumbling through a dark forest, hooo wooing through a swirling snowstorm, tiptoeing through a gloomy cave.)
Another time, I named an action in the story and had the boys act it out. Skipping, riding piggyback, holding a stick, pulling/tugging, wading, huddling, throwing, pointing, hugging, tripping, climbing stairs, shutting the door.
Art: Illustrations: We compared this inside cover illustrations on the front and back. I had the ‘R’ find the cave on one and ‘A’ find the cave on the other. I also asked the differences. ‘A’ saw that there were birds on one, but not the other. He also noticed that it was night time in one and day time in the other. I asked if there was an animal in one picture that was not in the other. ‘A’ was able to answer ‘bear’.
I had the boys look out of our back window and pay attention to what it looks like. Later tonight, I will have them look out the window again and compare. (Hmm, maybe I should have them take pictures to compare….)
We looked at each individual illustration and I asked questions for each picture.
-Looking at a flock of birds, I asked: “Where do you think the birds are going?”
‘A’ answered: “The birds are going to the bird nests.”
-Looking at flowers, I asked: “If these flowers were in color, what color do you think they’d be?”
‘R’ answered: “green”, ‘A’ answered: “pink”
-Looking at ducks, I asked: “How many ducks are there?” Together, we counted ten.
-Looking at a particular bird, I asked: “What kind of bird is this?”
‘A’ got all excited and responded: “I know! It’s a ‘eagle’.” (He was close! It was a “seagull”) I then introduced them to the bird, “sandpiper”.
-I asked if a snowstorm was hot or cold? Both responded “cold”.
-We looked at the picture of the family going into the cave. I asked if they thought everyone looked like they wanted to go into the cave.
Both boys answered ‘yes’. So I had them look at each person and pay attention to the body language. I had them notice how the toddler was pulling the sister away from the cave, and that the dog was hunched up with his head low. So, they came to realize that not everyone wanted to go into the cave.
-When the dog saw the bear, I asked how do you think the dog feels? ‘A’ answered ‘scared’. I asked the same question about the bear. ‘A’ gave the same answer. I told them I thought he was angry because he ran after the family.
Comprehension: There is a picture where the family is carrying their shoes while going through the river. I asked why were they holding their shoes. ‘A’ answered that they held their shoes so they would not get wet. I then discussed how wet shoes are uncomfortable and could cause blisters. (I also included a description was what a blister was.)
I asked why was the baby still wearing shoes. ‘A’ was able to answer that the Daddy was carrying the baby.
I asked why the Daddy was carrying the baby? ‘A’ gave an awesome answer that I can’t write verbatim, but it included scuba diving, floating down the river, and saving him.
Relationships: Family: The family in the story consisted of a father, four children and a dog. We talked about how families come in different sizes and varieties. We drew our family tree, and the boys were able to properly (verbally) fill in the names with some minor prompting. ‘A’ had a tendency to want to add our pastor to the family.
Music: I gave the boys their tin whistles and as I read the story, I had them play music according to each action. Some actions, they played slowly, some fast, etc.
