Soldier Bear- read this book with your kids!!!

There is no secret- I love reading-- and I love a book that enraptures so many young readers at one time and can be recommended to anybody.  Soldier Bear captures the boys attention with war, the girls with a sweet bear- and ties in everybody that it is a true story.  I have never read a book that so eloquently paints the a picture of war for a wide audience to grasp onto.  Soldier Bear transcends grade levels and is a story I will read with my students year after year.  

Based on a real series of events that happened during World War II, Soldier Bear tells the story of an orphaned bear cub adopted by a group of Polish soldiers in Iran. The soldiers raise the bear and eventually enlist him as a soldier to ensure that he stays with the company. He travels with them from Iran to Italy, and then on to Scotland. Voytek's mischief gets him into trouble along with way, but he also provides some unexpected encouragement for the soldiers amidst the reality of war: Voytek learns to carry bombs for the company, saves the camp from a spy, and keeps them constantly entertained with his antics.

I read this book aloud to my class and had them participate in numerous activities throughout.  It was just about the sweetest thing watching them connect with not only the book but with history.  This book can be a spring board for so many topics especially with literacy and history- but even math and science.

 I hope you add this book into your amazon cart now.  It will be one of the sweetest books you read.  There are a TON of videos and pictures of Voytek on the internet which just makes the book come to alive even more!

http://www.amazon.com/Soldier-Bear-Bibi-Dumon-Tak/dp/0802853757/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_har?ie=UTF8&qid=1396291689&sr=8-1&keywords=soldier+bear

Here are a few of things we did:

 

Choose 5 words to descibe Soldier Bear and then use apps or taxedo/wordle to make a word cloud. (check out my other post about this)

  

We created sticky notes for the whole book as apart of the book trailer process and how to summarize each chapter.  From that we created a mini book retelling the story as well as a book trailer

 

Voytek becomes the mascot for the 22nd Polish Army Cop.  Students decided what animal would represent them as a mascot and why.  They wrote why they chose that animal and how they are alike that animal and then created their design.  

To analyze the character of Voytek.  We looked at his external and internal characteristics and how they impacted the other.  Character x-rays are powerful and allow students to closely read the text.  

I developed a book study and critical literacy activities to use with my students that can be used for students across multiple grades and disciplines.It can be found here.    There are many activities in the pack that are better suited for older/mature students- such as using QR codes to investigate Poland during WWII and the Battle of Mote Cassino.  

I hope you enjoy the book as much as we did.  The story is timeless and truly amazing!!!

Word Clouds

As a class we just finished the read aloud, Soldier Bear which is a true story based upon a bear that is enlisted as a soldier in the Polish Army during WWII.  Interested?  The kids EAT IT UP!  There will be more activities posted as we respond to our reading!  :)  

When I had previously seen Word Clouds, I thought they were cheesy, with no purpose, a time waster, and I wanted none of it.  My tune has changed a bit! 

Word clouds give students the opportunity to do a close reading of the text while making a visual representation.  This strategy allows students to analyze text and synthesize information into a few words. Students can select words from a number of sources.  We brainstormed first using a Character X-Ray which helped students to use a variety of vocabulary to describe both internal and external traits. ( for instructions check out this blog)

 The possibilities are endless, but for analyzing a text I have them choose 5 words that remind them of the book, character, etc. and the what evidence from the book supports it.  Right now, in 2nd grade I am big on BECAUSE and getting them in a habit of not using general phrases without giving reason.

  

We made word clouds both online and on our iPads with apps.  For computers I use 

Wordle makes the text bigger based upon how many times the word is entered.  There are lots of ways to manipulate them.

•http://www.wordle.net/ 

 

Tagxedo allows you to import a photo into your word cloud.

•http://www.tagxedo.com/

 

While I like the online versions, I found the apps to be far more of a pleasant experience.  So far we have tried  Wordsalad (Because it was free) and Phoetic because it was$.99 and you could import photos from your camera roll.  I am not sure quite how I feel about the app ones yet, but will explore the other word cloud apps in future lessons. 

I have students type their words into a word or note document and then copy them over.  This allows edits for spelling and just in case something wonky happens with technology.  

•Watch www.teachingchannel.org for information about word clouds. 

Students are now making them for other books they have read, themselves, family members, etc.

I like it because it is a visualization and really leads to incredible collaborative conversations that require text evidence.