Usborne Beginners Bears by Emma Helbrough - Teaching Ideas

This book is a great beginner nonfiction book about bears. Students will learn a ton of facts about bears and their habits and habitats through text and pictures. They will learn a little bit of everything from their fur to where they live, to how they catch food.

Use the following information to help create a memorable lesson or use the packet I created to go with the book.

Reading level: 3.5

Theme: bears

Genre: nonfiction

Suggested Vocabulary: cub, den, fur, paws, claws, prey

Reading skills and strategies:

• purpose for reading – to learn about different bears and their habits and habitats.
• author's purpose – inform {evidence} every page is filled with facts and information about bears and their habits and habitats.
• organization
  ideas or topics – the book is written by separating ideas and topics of bears. Within the pages you can find the following organization.

• comparison – some pages compare different bears and their habits or habitats.
• cause & effect – there are some explanations of why bears do certain things.
• Sequence – the book sequences how bears climb trees and catch food.
• classify & categorize – classify bears, categorize them by habitat, food, fur, etc.
• compare & contrast – there is enough information to compare and contrast different bears.
• fact & opinion – there are so many facts about bears you could easily have students come up with opinions about the bears.
• main idea & details - {main idea}The books is about bears. {details} Bears climb trees when they are afraid. Sun bears eat honey. Bears use their claws to dig up roots to eat.
• predict – what you can learn from each section.
• story elements - list title, author, topic, organization, KWL
• summarize main idea – {author} Emma Helbrough wrote the book {book title} Usborne Beginners Bears {author’s purpose} to inform the readers {statement about topic} about bears and their habits and habitats. {at least 2 detail} For example Polar bears have their cubs in snowy dens and Brown bears catch salmon in their mouth.

Happy planning!