(L239) We’re Going on a Bear Hunt: Oral Language Companion

“We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”, by Michael Rosen (illustrated by Helen Oxenbury), is the all-time favourite book of many of my clients. It’s a rollicking, almost hypnotic, tale about a family getting out, exploring the world, and then coming home together. Oh, and it features a bear chase!

The book’s popularity owes much of its appeal to its poetic language. It showcases English stress patterns, using concrete nouns, simple verbs, interesting adjectives and some enchanting words-sound effects (onomatopoeia).

In this no-prep oral language companion to “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”, we have adopted the language used in the book to create a verbal reasoning workout that’s fun, and flexible. Featuring 12 oral language activities, we’ve focused most of the tasks at Blank’s 2nd Level of questioning, making it suitable for preschoolers and young school-aged children alike.

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Included in the 63-page pack are:

1. We’re going on a .. [different types of family activities].
2. What can we see?
3. Things we can’t do!
4. Early adjectives. What’s [adjective]?
5. Onomatopoeia – sound effect play!
6. Activity naming.
7. Vocabulary: What do you need to …
8. Equipment for activities with specific verbs
9. Divergent thinking: from verbs
10. What is this part for?
11. Where could you find these things?
12. Sequencing events

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We hope you find this oral language companion a useful complement to the story, and to your teaching.

If you work with young clients, we highly recommend getting a copy of the storybook. Pick up a copy, new or second-hand, from a local bookstore, or from an online bookseller.

If, for any reason, you can’t get hold of the book, you can access an animated retelling of the story, here.