Sequencing and Perspective-Taking with “The Very Cranky Bear”

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“In the Jingle Jangle Jungle on a cold and rainy day,
four little friends found a perfect place to stay.”

Thus begins our journey with Zebra, Moose, Lion, Sheep and Bear!

The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland is a delightful presentation in rhyme which will surely entertain Pre-K–Grade 1 students.

Below are a few activities that may be presented, modify to meet the needs of your students.

1. Retell the story

The selection from the Bear’s Perspective: Character: Bear Setting: Cave, rainy day Initiating Event: Disturbed while sleeping by zebra, moose, lion, sheep, and bear Internal Response: Angry Plan: To get some rest Attempt: Chases them out Attempt: Chases Zebra, Moose, and Lion out from cave after they use their ideas to try to cheer him up Attempt: Tells (roars) sheep “All I really want is a quiet place to sleep.” Direct Consequence: Sheep makes him a soft pillow using his wool. Bear goes to sleep Resolution: Peaceful, Relaxed, Satisfied (Was he dreaming of a thoughtful sheep?)

The story could be taken from each of the character’s perspectives.

Example: Character: Sheep Setting: In the cave Initiating Event: Bear chases the other characters out of the cave after they use their ideas to cheer him up. He goes back into the cave and roars at sheep, “ALL I REALLY WANT IS A QUIET PLACE TO SLEEP!” Internal Response: Surprised (great picture for feeling words); shocked; scared Plan: To help bear get to sleep Attempt: Clips off half her wool with clippers Attempt: Stuffs the wool into a cotton bag Attempt: Tiptoes back inside and asks bear if he would like a pillow Direct Consequence: Bear thanks sheep and goes to sleep; Sheep and his friends go back to playing cards Resolution: Sheep is pleased, warm, satisfied

2. The above could be acted out by students with simple costumes.

I am reminded of the time I taught kindergarten and of my teaching mentor, Gail O’Connor. She was so skilled at taking stories and adding simple props, then letting students add their own touches to characters! This story would so lend itself to a student play!

3. Each character had his/her own thought of what would cheer bear up.

Students could use this free thought downloadable (shown below). Modify it to meet the needs of your students (drawing or writing). The SGM’s Critical Thinking Triangle^® is the crux of the SGM tools, focusing on the thoughts of characters for perspective taking. This book is a simple introduction to a character’s thinking.

4. This story could also be used to show the four characters and what attempts they each made to please bear, using the beads on Braidy doll.

Students could be asked to write a sentence, as modeled here, using the sequence words. Then, the sentence strips could be cut and put in order, as shown.

Use this downloadable and modify it as you wish.

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