You may be able to reduce the impact of bad behavior, but the type remains true. A fun tale about a bear who doesn't learn much. ( )

I would use this book in a second grade classroom and have the students point out key details about the character of the bear. I'd have them compare and contrast in sentences and in a t chart how the bear differed from big to small

For this book, I would use it as a second-grade interactive read aloud. The children can discuss the effects of bullying by the bully and the victims. They would plot the character development Bruce the Bear has in the story and how he is before he met the witch and how he is after he meets the witch. Then we would compare and contrast this situation of Bruce the Bear to one in real life and how to handle a situation if the child is being bullied.

This book would be read as an interactive read aloud to kindergartners and first/second/third graders. In all grades, the focus of this book would be bullying. After reading, as a class, we could go through the book again and choose scenes where Bruce was being a bully. As a class we would discuss why this was bullying and the students could write down how they think this made the other animals feel. The students could then also write down why they think the other animals wanted to attack him when he was small, and share these with the class. For my third graders, the students could compare the height of a bear to that of a chipmunk. In the hallway, a strip of paper will be laid out for each group. The students will then have to practice using rulers, yard sticks, etc. to find the length of a bear and chipunk and mark it on their strips of papers. They will then compare the two sizes by subtracting the inches of a bear from that of a chipmunk. My first and second grade students could write their own extension to the story by adding more events happening to Bruce in his diminished state. This would provide a time to practice story-telling through writing and creative writing.

I would use this book in a 2nd grade classroom as a read aloud. After the read aloud, the students would work on comparing and contrasting the character of the bear. They would compare and contrast him from when he was a big bear to when he was a little bear. Students would do so in a venn diagram. They would say that the bear was mean when he was big, but nicer when he was small. Or that he still liked rock tumbling when he was big and little. I would also use this in a Kindergarten classroom as an interactive read aloud to work on sequencing. I would use it as a read aloud so students could interact to help them comprehend the story better. At the end of the book, each student would be given a set of picture cards that would have scenes from the book on them (no more than 4-5). Students would have to put them in order and glue them down to a sheet of paper to turn in. This will help students recall stories and be able to put them in the correct order.