Bear and Rat

Connecting to prior knowledge

Before reading

NOTE: Read the text for yourself before you begin this unit. Be mindful that the subject of loss may be difficult for some children.

Investigate the front and back cover of Bear and Rat with students. Begin by asking them to make predictions about the story based on the front cover alone. Prompt them to think about the main characters, the colour and style of the font, and the setting. Use a think-pair-share routine to build engagement. Once they have talked in pairs, students can share their OR their partner’s ideas with the class; this encourages active listening skills.

As you discuss the book, challenge students to provide reasoning to support their ideas using the ‘What makes you say that?’ routine. Record their ideas on butcher’s paper, a flip chart, etc. for future reference.

Now show students the back cover, hiding the blurb. Ask students if they think the illustration provides further clues as to what the story could be about. Record any new ideas.

Explore the front endpapers. Ask students what the abstract images remind them of, and what effects the cool blue colours have. Look at the illustration overleaf that depicts Bear and Rat doing handstands. Now look at the copyright page, noting the dedications from ‘C.C.’ and ‘S.M.K.’. Focus on the title page, drawing attention to the Chinese chop or seal beside the author’s Western name. This is his Chinese name, consisting of three parts: his family name and his two given names, given to him by his yeye (grandfather). If any of your students know about chops, you could invite them to share their knowledge with the class; alternatively, you can watch and discuss this short video.

Ask students if they recognise the author and/or illustrator. If so, can they recall any of their other books? Share some picture books that have been written and/or illustrated by Christopher Cheng and Stephen Michael King.

Ponder why Cheng and King might have created this sort of text. Cheng has said that he wrote Bear and Rat for his beloved wife (see p. 2 of Penguin Random House Australia’s teaching notes). Who might be the audience for this text? Also consider why the central characters are a bear and a rat (again, see the publisher’s teaching notes) – might they hold some special significance?

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During reading

NOTE: For the purpose of tracking page numbers, the first double-page spread (the wind scene) is considered pp. 4–5.

Take students through the illustrations in the book, ensuring that you do not read or show them the text. This initial look at Bear and Rat will allow them to make their own inferences, connections, interpretations and summary of the narrative. Invite students to share their thoughts and wonderings about what they see.

Follow this by reading the book aloud to the class. Focus students’ attention on:

• The sort of things Bear and Rat do together
• The colours used in each double-page spread – brown (pp. 6–7), blue (pp. 12–13), yellow (p. 17) and grey (pp. 28–29) – to represent different seasons and/or show the passage of time
• The setting and layout
• The details in the illustrations, and their significance to the story and the author
• The red and yellow motifs and what these colours represent
  • In addition to conventional colour symbolism, red and yellow are considered lucky in Chinese culture – consider the information available here or here

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After reading

Ask students if they think the words have provided more depth and clarity to the story. How do the words enrich the illustrations? Invite everyone to share their ideas.

Use sticky notes to record students’ thoughts about the story. Ask them to consider:

• Emerging themes and messages in the story
• The intended audience
• The relationship between Bear and Rat
• Why Rat asked Bear so many questions
• The visual elements in the story, such as:
  • The yellow bird on pp. 8 and 16 (King often includes birds in his work)
  • The great distances that Bear and Rat travel together, as seen in the bird’s eye view of pp. 12–13
  • The way the two umbrellas work together to get the job done on p. 18

Add the sticky notes to the initial ideas you recorded earlier. Ask students to discuss and compare their initial predictions with their current interpretations of the story.

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Exploring the text in context of our community, school and ‘me’

Friendship is the main theme in this narrative. Students can think about how this connects to their own world, with regards to friendships at school and in the community.

Begin by asking students to brainstorm the qualities of a good friend, such as kindness, loyalty, forgiveness, and so on. Record the responses, then write a selection on large sheets of paper (one per sheet) and place students in small groups for a chalk talk activity. For example, if they are reflecting on ‘kindness’, they might suggest that it is important for showing concern, being respectful, or being inclusive. They can also share their experiences of being a good friend. Finish by discussing students’ ideas and responses to the prompts.

Students will then choose ONE quality of a good friend (e.g. forgiveness) and write a short paragraph on how they can demonstrate this towards themselves, their family members, people at school, and people in the community. Read Bear and Rat again and invite students to identify these qualities in the narrative.

Encourage students to practise being good friends in the classroom. Introduce a kindness jar. Every time a student performs an act of genuine kindness, place a note in the jar to recognise them and their action. As the jar fills, acknowledge everyone’s efforts. Invite students to randomly select a note and read it to the class to reinforce the kindnesses they have shown.

Cheng’s wife also had a kindness jar filled with notes from her own students. The author has kindly provided the following photographs to share as part of this unit.

Photos courtesy of Christopher Cheng

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Rich assessment task

Ask students to respond to the following prompts to reflect on their learning:

• How does having a best friend help you to be who you are?
• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of having more than one friend?
• What would you do to keep in contact with your best friend if they moved away?
• How would you deal with your loss if a friend moved away?

Students can respond by recording a short video, creating an illustration, or writing down their ideas. Allow time for students to share their responses and discuss any similarities and differences. Highlight the significance of coping strategies and the fact that we all respond differently to life’s challenges.

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Responding to the text

Re-read Bear and Rat to the class.

Afterwards, revisit students’ thoughts and ideas about the story. Now read it again, allowing time for students to look closely at the illustrations to deepen their understanding of the different elements on each page. Begin with a whole class viewing of the first double-page spread (pp. 4–5). Use the following visual thinking prompts to generate a discussion:

Record students’ responses on sticky notes and attach them to the double-page spread. Model clearly, using appropriate labelling techniques.

Now place students in pairs or small groups with copies of the book. Each pair/group will focus on a different illustration. Ask them to look at it carefully and respond to the above visual thinking prompts. Allow time for students to discuss and record their ideas using sticky notes. They will then share their ideas with the rest of the class. Discuss any commonalities between the illustrations. It would be beneficial to display or enlarge each double-page spread while you talk about it.

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Exploring plot, character, setting and theme

Listen to Cheng and King discuss the ideas behind the story and illustrations (‘Meet the Creators’). Invite students to reflect and share their thoughts on what they have heard. Highlight the importance of the author writing the book for himself, to help cope with difficult times. Note also that he has woven significant and meaningful things from his own life into the story. Ask students why they think he might have done this.

Discuss the significance of the characters, Bear and Rat, and identify the choices they make in the story. Ask students to highlight specific pages to support their thinking about these choices.

Introduce the step inside routine to help students focus on either Bear or Rat. You may need to help them unpack the focus questions before they begin. Encourage them to refer to their work from previous lessons to assist with their thinking. In addition to the focus questions, you can also ask:

• Does anything puzzle this character throughout the text?
• What questions arise for you about this character and their actions?

Students can record their ideas and share them with the class. The step inside template may be useful here.

Now read Bear and Rat again, this time noting all the words that describe the setting. For example:

• The steep hill on p. 6
• The deep river on p. 11
• The wide forest on p. 16

Discuss how the words give a sense of scale in terms of time, distance, and the ruggedness of Bear and Rat’s journey together. This can be read as a metaphor for life’s journey.

You can also point out how the illustrations support these descriptions, enabling us to visualise, for example, the steepness of the hill on p. 6.

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Rich assessment task

Highlight the fact that Bear and Rat are always there for each other, no matter what happens. Discuss the importance of having a friend you can always rely upon.

Present students with the following questions:

• Think of a time when a good friend or relative has been there for you. What was the situation/problem?
• What emotions did you feel at the time?
• How did your friend/relative respond?
• What did they do/say?
• What was the outcome?
• How did you feel afterwards?

Invite students to share their responses, first in small groups and then with the whole class.

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Examining text structure and organisation

Discuss the importance of visual literacy and how it helps readers to discover more about the story. Revisit work from previous lessons, highlighting some of the visual literacy features that students have already observed (e.g. setting, colour, expression, gestures/body language).

Discuss the three elements of visual literacy:

Identify these elements on a double-page spread from Bear and Rat (you can also refer to other texts you have read in class). Ensure that you have annotated the spread clearly ahead of time, perhaps using sticky notes to record the different features. Pay special attention to new features such as vector, gaze, salience and framing; discuss each of these in detail while pointing out examples from the book.

Now choose another double-page spread and invite students to identify the visual literacy features, sharing their observations orally. Display a list of the features and their descriptions so that students can refer to them easily. For every visual literacy feature that they identify, follow up with a question from the ‘What makes you say that?’ routine.

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Place students in pairs or small groups and have them choose another double-page spread. Explain that they are going to tap into Bear and Rat’s emotions by examining the spread and identifying how each character is feeling. They will record how the author and illustrator have captured this feeling, giving consideration to what they have learned about the text and images so far. A retrieval chart may assist with highlighting some of the multimodal elements; students will likely engage with the visual, spatial and gestural modes during this exercise. An example has been provided below:

Once they have finished recording their ideas, each pair or group will share their thoughts with the rest of the class.

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Examining grammar and vocabulary

Re-read Bear and Rat and invite students to identify any unfamiliar words or phrases in the text.

Draw attention to the figurative language on p. 24. What does Bear mean when he talks about the dam bursting? Have students think-pair-share to explore this concept. Discuss how figurative language can bring books to life and activate readers’ imagination.

Ask students if they can think of any other metaphors. Allow time for them to find examples in other imaginative texts OR to write their own. Suggested texts include:

• Fire by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
• * Flood by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
• My Mouth is a Volcano! by Julia Cook, illustrated by Carrie Hartman
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, illustrated by John Schoenherr

* Reading Australia resource available

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Have students use a dictionary to find the meaning of the following words, and identify a synonym or two for each:

To consolidate their understanding, they can write some simple or compound sentences using each of these words. Once they have finished, they can share their responses with the class.

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Rich assessment task

Invite students to choose an illustration from Bear and Rat and record their own emotional response to it. They should discuss what it is on the page that has triggered their emotions and feelings. They may use sticky notes to help them highlight specific parts of the illustration OR write directly in their notebooks. Useful sentence starters include:

• The colours in this image make me feel …
• The words on the page make me feel …
• Bear and Rat hugging make me feel …
• The heavy rain leaves me feeling …

Invite students to share their responses if they are comfortable to do so. Then ask and discuss the following question:

What do we notice is similar/different in each of your responses?

This task could be extended to respond to the whole story. Students could also extend their thinking by reflecting on how it might support people who are dealing with loss or grief.

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Book review

Revisit the story of Bear and Rat. Ask students what they enjoyed about the narrative. What were the highlights? Who would they recommend the book to, and why?

Show students some examples of book reviews (you can even find reviews written by Australian children). Focus on the structure and the reviewer’s language choices. Together, brainstorm some words that could be used in book reviews. Record and display these ideas and build up some sentence starters. A retrieval chart like the one below may be useful:

Invite students to write their own book review for Bear and Rat. This needs to be least one paragraph in length, and conclude with a rating out of five stars. Invite students to share their finished reviews with their peers.

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Book trailer

Discuss the purpose of a book trailer. Explain that this is a short video or teaser that introduces a book in a way that makes people want to read it. Show the class a few examples from Penguin Random House Australia or Cheng’s website. You can even watch the official book trailer for Bear and Rat.

Point out that a good book trailer has the same effect as a good movie trailer: it makes people excited about reading the book, and it piques their curiosity about the characters, plot and ending without giving too much away. It can also stir their emotions; if you have watched the book trailer for Bear and Rat, you could talk about how the music was specially composed to enhance the viewers’ feelings while watching.

Discuss the steps in making a book trailer. Essential elements include illustrations/video footage, sound effects/music, and video editing or animation software. Author Tristan Bancks has some great tips and tricks for making book trailers; play some of the examples from his website and highlight the important points from his post.

Now demonstrate how to create a book trailer using iMovie, Canva, or the app/software of your choice. Model this process step by step, and together develop a checklist that students can follow. For example:

1. Create a storyboard (no more than 10 panels)
2. Write a script (note the images/footage/text to be included)
3. Insert images and video footage (taking into consideration the elements of visual literacy)
4. Add text/voiceover
5. Add effects and transitions
6. Edit and check structure, timing and flow

Also jointly develop success criteria, using the examples from Penguin Random House Australia and Tristan Bancks as a reference point. Alternatively, use this rubric from ReadWriteThink.

Finally, in pairs or groups of three, students will work together to create a one-minute book trailer for Bear and Rat. Invite each pair/group to share their completed trailer with the rest of the class. Their peers will respond with two stars and a wish, i.e. two positive comments and a suggestion for improvement.

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Our special things (oral)

Bear and Rat have a collection of special things that they bring on their journey. Ask students if they can recall these items and their significance (you can find examples on pp. 9, 19). Now invite students to share examples of special things from their own lives. You could ask them to bring something special from home, OR have them draw a picture, and share its significance. These can be displayed in class for all to view.

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Imaginative writing

Ask students to write imaginatively about going on a journey with a close friend or family member. They should highlight where they are going, what they plan to take with them, and why.

Together decide on the requirements for this task, such as the length and intended audience. Invite students to share their completed writing in pairs or small groups, OR with the whole class.

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Book diorama

Invite students to create a diorama based on a scene of their choice from Bear and Rat. They can use this as an opportunity to showcase their favourite scene; they might add speech bubbles or a description of the characters/events, or simply write about why that scene is their favourite.

Prompt students to think about what they will include in their diorama, as well as the materials they might use. Show them some examples to spark their creativity. Again, jointly develop success criteria; ensure that they are clear and simple.

Once the dioramas are complete, conduct a gallery walk to explore the different scenes from the book. You might invite students to say something about their work.

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Rich assessment task

Place students in groups of four and ask them to select a scene from Bear and Rat. They will closely examine the book and discuss what they can read in the text, as well as what they can see in the illustration. They will then create a freeze frame that represents their understanding of, and feelings associated with, that scene. As the groups present their freeze frames, invite each group member to say a word that captures the essence of their chosen scene.

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