Winter is here, and Bear Snores On is the perfect book to use this time of year. It’s rich vocabulary and complex concepts tie in quite nicely with bear research, science concepts such as hibernation, and comparing fiction and nonfiction. In this post, I’ll share 5 simple lesson ideas using the book.
Summarizing Bear Snores On:
Bear Snores On is one of the first two books Karma Wilson wrote in her series, and in my opinion, it’s the best! Bear is tired (aren’t we all this time of year?), and he just can not wake up. His friends try all sorts of remedies for his fatigue, but nothing works. As a last ditch effort, they give food a try. Of course, it’s the end of winter, and bear is a bit hungry. As you can probably tell, bear has been hibernating, so if you need a fun example for your students, this book explains it.
Introducing Bear Snores On and Hibernation:
Schema builder
With all of my book companions, I begin with a schema builder. In this unit, I used a tree map to help students brainstorm things they know about bears. It helps set the stage for reading as well as research. You might use a video about bears as a way to build students’ knowledge about bears too. The more knowledge the students have about the topic, the more connections they will be able to make.
Cross Curriculur connections
If you are using this book as part of your science unit, most likely you will use it as an interactive read aloud. As you are reading, I suggest that you stop and jot as you are reading for students to write one sentence summaries of each section as you read. You can use the organizer to the left as part of your lesson. You can also emphasize the rich vocabulary in Bear Snores On too. Many are related to hibernation.
Other Teaching Ideas You Can Use:
The last activity I am sharing with you in my free sample is the class book about why “Hibernation isn’t for Me!” Of course, your students will have a better understanding of hibernation, and hopefully, they will come up with a plethora of ideas on why they wouldn’t want to sleep through the winter. The prompt comes with a book cover you can print as well as the writing page you can copy for each student. If you compile your students’ papers together, you can create your own class book.
Bear Snores On Book Companion
The rest of this book companion can be used either in your literacy block, writing block, or science block. It has vocabulary activities, comprehension activities, and an awesome lapbook project for bear research. Additionally, I offer a full Karma Wilson Bear Book Bundle for five of her titles. You can check out both resource options below.
Bear Snores On Unit
Karma Wilson Author Study
DOWNLOAD THE FREEBIE:
Other Posts You’d Enjoy:
- PLANNING A BEAR THEME IN FIVE EASY STEPS!
- 10 GREAT REASONS FOR A JAN BRETT AUTHOR STUDY
- WINTER “MUST HAVE” READS FOR ELEMENTARY
Be sure to check out the posts below for other lesson ideas for the mentor texts we’re featuring.
I love Bear Snores On!
I love Jan Brett’s books like “The Mitten”. We would stitch 2 paper mittens with yarn and then create the animals to go inside.
I love Owl Moon.!
I love all the Jan Brett books about winter, particularly “The Mitten”. We perform a Readers’ Theater with this book.
I love this book! Thanks for the ideas.
I love to use How the Grinch Stole Christmas to teach synthesizing and character traits and character change.
Thank you for this adorable unit. LOVE all your work – thank you for taking the time to make everything engaging.
As always, your ideas and lessons for favorite mentor texts are just the BEST, my friend!
~Jennifer
I love this book! Thank you for sharing the corresponding comprehension activities!
I just read the story Owl Moon with my class. We loved learning about the figurative language and theme. Thank you for the additional activities!
I love snowflake bentley!
I love Blizzard (I remember the blizzard of 1978 well). We use it for a variety of things…reviewing the days of the week, talking about kindness, discussing snow and storms.
Bear Snores On is an excellent book – all of Karma Wilson’s books are class favorites! I use all of the books to practice beginning, middle, and end with my kindergarten kids!
I love The Mitten. Compare and Contrast different authors and sequencing.
Snowmen at night. We do a writing activity about what we would do if we were a a snowman atnight.
I read Snowflake Bentley and do research about snowflakes.