Bears on Wheels: A Bright and Early Counting Book. By Stan and Jan Berenstain Random House, New York, 1969

Transcription

1 Bears on Wheels: A Bright and Early Counting Book By Stan and Jan Berenstain Random House, New York, Cover: How many bears do you see on the cover? There are 2 kinds of bikes. Do you know what they are called? Have you ever ridden a bike like these? Do you have a bike? What is it like? Whose picture do you see up in the corner? Do you like to read Dr. Seuss books? What is your favourite one? Why? 2. Title page: Why do you think there is a place to write your name in this book? If you borrowed a book from the library or a friend, would you write your name in their book? Why or why not? How many bears are riding the two-wheeler bike? Is it safe to ride on the back of a bike like that? Why or why not? 3. Page 1: How do you spell the number 1? 4. Pages 2-3: Why do you think the bear on the unicycle has his arms spread out while he is riding? Is it safe to spread your arms out when you are riding a bike? What could you do to make it safer to ride a unicycle? 5. Pages 4-5: Have you ever been to a circus, or seen one on TV, where clowns or acrobats ride a unicycle this way? Do you think children should try riding on shoulders like this? Why or why not? How do you spell the number 2? 6. Pages 6-7: How do you spell the number 3? How do you spell the number 4?

2 7. Pages 8-9:Which is safer, the riders on page 8 or the rider on page 9? Why? 8. Pages 10-11: This is a pretty neat trick! How do you think the bears managed to get from the unicycle to the 2-wheel bike? Where could you learn to do a trick like this? How old do you think you should be before you learn this kind of trick? 9. Pages 12-13: Have you ever seen a tricycle with 3 wheels and 3 seats? One bear is steering the bike. What are the other bears doing? Do you think they should wear seat belts? Why or why not? 10. Pages 14-15: Oops! I guess they should have been wearing seatbelts! Why do you think the bikes crashed into each other? What is an important rule we can learn about bike riding from these pages? What is a word on this page that means zero or nothing? 11. Pages 16-17: How many bears are hiding in the tree? What do you think they might do next? 12. Pages 18-19: Aha! Was your prediction (guess) right? How do you spell the number 5? 13. Pages 20-21: Why does the story say Five bears on none? What do you think will happen next? 14. Pages 22-23: Was your prediction right? If not, what happened instead? How do you spell the number 10? 15. Pages 24-25: Look out! What do you think is going to happen? How many wheels are on the new bike? How many bears are on the unicycle?

3 16. Pages 26-27: Oh no! Now what do you think is going to happen? How many bears are on the bike with 5 wheels? How many bears are on the unicycle? How many bears are coming toward them? How many bears are there in all? How did you figure out how many bears there are in all? How else could you figure out how many bears there are in all? Think of at least 2 other ways you could figure out the total number of bears. 17. Pages 28-29: Crash! I hope the road is soft so the bears don t get hurt! Did your prediction come true? Or did something else happen instead? If something else happened, what was it? Why do you think that happened instead? What are some other things that might have happened if the bears did not crash? Which bear might get his head hurt? Why? Which bears are wearing hats instead of helmets? Do you think it is safe to wear a hat instead of a helmet? Why or why not? How do you spell the number 21? How many bears are dressed in pink? How many bears are dressed in red? How many bears are dressed in black? How many bears are dressed in green?

4 How many bears are there altogether? How did you figure that out? What other ways could you figure out the sum? Let s make an equation. First, I will write a word equation. Then you will turn it into a number equation! pink bear + red bears + black bears + green bears = bears in all = 18. Pages 30-31: What happened at the end of the story? Is it a good ending? Were you surprised? Why or why not? If you were the author, how would you end the story instead? Try this: Draw a picture of the kind of bike you would like to have. How many wheels will it have? How many seats? What will make it safe, or surprising, or extra special? What would you use your special bike for? Who would ride it? Yourself, or a clown, or a bear or who else?

5 Answer Sheet & Tips for Parents 1. 5 bears on the cover // types of bikes: unicycle, tandem (or bicycle built for two) // Discussion varying answers // corner picture: Cat in the Hat // Discussion on Dr. Seuss books varying answers 2. Place to write name: so if you lose it or lend it out, people will know who to return it to (other possible answers, too) // Don t write in library books or friend s books because it belongs to them; show respect (and other possible answers) // bears on two-wheeler: 2 // Not safe: could easily slip off; not wearing a helmet (and other possible answers) 3. 1 = one 4. Arms spread out to keep his balance (and other possible answers) // Not safe because you could fall (and other possible answers) // Wear safety gear like helmet, elbow pads, sturdy shoes, etc. 5. Circus/ clowns / acrobat discussion: different possible answers // Children riding on shoulders not safe, easy to fall (and other possible answers) // 2 = two 6. 3 = three // 4 = four 7. Rider on page 9 is safer, because just one rider on the bike, and he has handlebars to hold, and two wheels for better balance (and other possible answers) 8. How-to for trick: a variety of possible answers // You could learn the trick at a circus school (and other possible answers) // How old: various possible answers based on where and how the training is done but probably not safe for children! 9. Have you ever seen? Yes or no? Where? When? // Other bears are singing, playing a guitar, throwing flowers around // Yes, they

6 should be wearing seat belts because they don t have handlebars to hold onto. 10. Various possible answers: Not watching where they were going; going too fast; singing and playing and not paying attention; etc. // Rule: possible answers: watch carefully, wear seat belts, don t fool around when bike riding, etc. // zero = none bears in tree // various possible answers (prediction) 12. Prediction right or wrong? // 5 = five 13. Five bears on none : the red bears are jumping through the air; they don t have a bicycle under them // prediction: various 14. Prediction right or wrong?? // If wrong, what happened instead? the 5 red bears landed on the bears on the unicycle // 10 = ten 15. Prediction: various possible answers // wheels on new bike: 5 // bears on unicycle: Prediction: various possible answers // bears on bike with 5 wheels: 1 // bears on unicycle: 9 // bears coming toward: 10 // bears in all: 20 // how did you figure it out? various possible answers, such as count them, add =21 after counting, read the numbers and add them, etc. // how else could you figure? As above, plus: use counters for each bear and count the counters; what else? 17. Prediction true or not? // If not, what else happened? They crashed and all the bears went flying into the air // Why happened? Various possible answers: going too fast, not watching, the bears on shoulders lost their balance, other? // if the bears did not crash: just keep going; stop and visit with each other; other possible answers? // the pink bear might get his head hurt because he doesn t have a helmet // green bears are wearing hats instead of helmets: not safety gear: not strong, and not tied on so will just fall off (and other possible answers) // 21 = twenty-one // pink: 1 red: 5 black: 11 green: 4 // altogether: 21 // ways to

7 figure out the sum: count the bears on the pages; add the numbers for the different colored bears; put a counter on each bear as you count it; other? // equation: = End of story: the pink bear rode off by himself on the unicycle // Good ending? Yes or no? why or why not? (discuss) // If you were the author, how would you end the story? (discuss possible other endings) Try this: Discuss the questions, and any other questions or ideas the child and you might come up with. Then have the child draw an imaginative bike. NOTE: The focus on the questions for this book was on counting, adding, using imagination, making predictions, and making inferences/drawing conclusions. There is also discussion on bike safety, and a child s own experiences with bikes. You can use similar kinds of questions when you read other books with your child!