Educators' Guides for Benjamin Bear in Fuzzy Thinking:
TOON Books Level 2
Common Core Guide:
KEY IDEAS AND DETAILS |
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What kind of bear is Benjamin Bear? What are some of the things he likes to do and the places he likes to go? List specific examples. | RL.1.1, RL.2.1 |
Have students pick one of the short stories in Benjamin Bear and retell it in their own words. | RL.1.2, RL.2.2 |
Where are some of the places that Benjamin Bear goes? Have students list the different settings, describing how they are different from each other. Benjamin Bear faces many challenging tasks in the story. Have students pick out several situations where Benjamin has to figure out how to fix something (how to get warm, how to find the way back in a maze) and explain what he did in response. In most of these stories, Benjamin Bear solves his problem in the last panel -- lead students through the panels of each story up to that point, and have them predict what he might do. |
RL.1.3, RL.2.3 |
CRAFT AND STRUCTURE |
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In “At the store” on page 19, the clerk says, “A-HEM!” when Benjamin is checking out. Even if you don’t know what the word ahem means, what is the clerk feeling when he says it? How can you tell? In “Sunset” on page 20, two different things “go down” and “go away.” What are these two things? In what ways are they similar or different? Ask students if they have any ideas about why the author would phrase both events using the same words. |
RL.1.4, RL.2.4 |
Look at the story “The biggest fish” on page 27. Benjamin says that a shark takes up as much room as a whale. How is that true in this story? Is that true in real life? See if students can guess how a fish might be as big as a whale before they read the story. Almost all of Benjamin Bear’s stories start with a problem, and end with a solution. Have students pick any of the stories and then have them name the problem, the solution, and what Benjamin did to get from one to the other. |
RL.1.5, RL.2.5 |
Explain to students how speech balloons work, showing them how the tail of the balloon points to the person who is speaking. In the story “Play with me” on page 16, who says, “Very well, and you?” Split students into groups of two and have them read aloud any story that has just Benjamin and the rabbit. Then switch off. |
RL.1.6, RL.2.6 |
INTEGRATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS |
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In “At the store” on page 19, what does Benjamin do as he walks through the store? What happens to him as a result? Why does the cashier weigh Benjamin Bear? Have students describe what happens in “Back to school” on page 30. What are the pictures in the thought bubbles? What is being shown in the second thought bubble? |
RL.1.7, RL.2.7 |
Benjamin Bear is very big. When does this come in handy? His rabbit friend is very small. Have students find situations where the two work together to solve a problem. | RL.1.9, RL.2.9 |
SPEAKING AND LISTENING / WRITING |
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Ask students to recount their favorite Benjamin Bear story. Ask them questions about the details of the story, and let other students ask questions as well. | SL.1.2, SL.1.3, SL.1.4, SL.1.6, SL.2.1, SL.2.3, SL.2.4, SL.2.6 |
Have students write an alternate ending to the Benjamin Bear story of their choice. Have students exchange their ideas and comment on each others work. Allow them the opportunity to revise their work afterwards. |
W.1.2, W.2.2, W.1.5, W.2.5 |
Lesson Plan:
Before Reading | Look at single pictures and discuss the many possible narratives you could create for the
image. For example, have students bring in a picture from a magazine, a photograph from
home, or a drawing they’ve made. Have students construct the rest of the story. Ask students:
What is happening in this picture? How do you know? What do you think will happen next?
Discuss how the visual information we get can be the jumping off point for many different
narratives. Have students then observe the cover of the book. What is strange about the picture? Why do you think the penguin is in the refrigerator? Why is it funny? Explain to students how the humor stems from an unexpected turn of events in the narrative, i.e. what happens next is not what we expected. |
During Reading | 1. A lot of the humor in these stories comes from the unexpected turns in the narrative.
Discuss narrative possibilities after each panel. What do we expect to happen after panel one?
Panel two? Is there more than one way the story could go? Examples: “To fly—or not” pg. 10, “The maze” pg. 14, “To jump—or not” pg. 17 2. Talk about different points of view in “Painting (pg. 7),” “At the store (pg. 19),” and “The winner (pg. 23).” Why is it funny to compare how two characters react to the same situation? 3. Talk about moments of slapstick, such as whomping the cow in “Painting (pg. 7),” Benjamin hitting the tree in “The winner (pg. 23),” snowball fights in “Do as you are told! (pg. 25),” or the baseball hitting the fox in “I want to play!” (pg. 28) Point out the physical comedy of the situation and have students compare with their own experiences. 4. Talk about things that don’t belong. Why is a bird nest on a bear stomach funny (in “A long nap,” pg. 11)? Do you think the moon eats bear food (“The man in the moon,” pg. 12)? Are there birds who live in the ocean under fishbowls (“Underwater,” pg. 13)? Would you ever use your pet bunny as a dish towel (“Help your friends,” pg. 15)? Explain to students the incongruity presented in each moment. |
After Reading | 1.Hand out activity sheet, and have students order the panels of “The Long Nap” sequentially
without any text in the word bubbles. 2. Next, have students do a round robin comic where one student does the first panel, a 2nd student does the 2nd panel, and so on. How is the final narrative different from what the first illustrator envisioned? |
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