Buddy Bears
Celebrating Our Differences, Exploring Our Similarities
by Valerie Becker and Dara Feldman
Guiding Questions
Objectives
Materials / Resources
Engaging and Effective Activities
Guiding Questions
- How are people around the world alike?
How are people around the world different?
What factors make our lives similar to or different from those in other countries?
Where do I fit into the world?
Objectives
- The objective of this project is the same as the official United Buddy Bears site: "We Have to Get to Know Each Other Better"
it makes us understand one another better, trust each other more and live together more peacefully.
Students will recognize that learning about cultures from around the world will help people understand one another better, trust each other more, and live together more peacefully.
Students will practice mapping skills.
Students will develop their sense of self awareness, in relation to who they are in their family, community, country, continent, and the globe.
Materials / Resources
- Bear template
Buddy Bear QuickTime movie
Buddy Bears country locator Google Earth [http://earth.google.com/]
Samples of student personal, classroom, and national Buddy Bears
Globe
World map
Access to the Internet
Official United Buddy Bears site [http://united-buddy-bears.com]
Engaging and Effective Activities
- Teacher preparation :
Explore the Official United Buddy Bears site [http://www.united-buddy-bears.com/]
A quick overview of Buddy Bears
142 country bears were created in Berlin by artists from their respective countries. The bears stand in a circle, symbolizing friendship, understanding, and tolerance.
Activity #1
Show the Buddy Bear QuickTime movie. Ask students to observe how the bears were painted.
- Does anyone have an idea about how the painting for each bear was chosen? Do you think the colors or pictures have a special meaning?
Do you have a favorite bear? What makes it your favorite?
Do any of the bears remind you of something? What?
Discuss why the artist chose to paint the bear in the way he or she did.
Activity #2
Using the PDF template provided, have students create their own version of the bear. This bear should represent the individual student. Students then share verbally or in writing why they decorated their bear as they did.
Blank bears are sent home for a family activity. The family will design a representative bear. This is an opportunity for the family to discuss where ancestors came from, where they now live, and what is important to them. When bears come to school, discuss the new creations; for example, have students locate their homeland on a map of the world. Depending on grade level this may be continent, country, or city.
The individual or family bear is digitized and added to the individual/family Buddy Bear collection.
Activity #3
A class bear or a national bear (depending on grade level) may be created cooperatively and the digital image of the bear added either to the class or the national Buddy Bear collection on ALI. Classes may wish to create a life-size version of the buddy bear so that each student can add to it.
Activity #4
Students explore the Buddy Bear [http://www.united-buddy-bears.com/] site to see where other students around the world live.
Activity #5
Digitized class bears can be put into an iMovie HD project and students can add the following sentences in the students native language.
- My name is (individual Buddy Bear)
My age is (classroom Buddy Bear)
I live in (national Buddy Bear)
My wish for the world is
I want the world to know
Assessment Methods
- Pre-assessment: Interview children and ask them where they live. See if they can locate their country on a globe or map. Questions are grade level dependent; they can be country, continent, state, city, town, street, and so on.
Formative Assessment : Observation of classroom discussion and student sharing of original bears.
Summative Assessment : Interview children and ask them where they live. See if they can locate their country on a globe or map. Questions are grade level dependent; they can be country, continent, state, city, town, street, and so on.
Enrichment/Extension Activities
- Create a Pages template of a bear so that students can create a digital bear that contains all the students digitized class bears.
Photographs of student created Buddy Bears are imported into iPhoto and a QuickTime movie is created to share with others on the ALI site.
Using GarageBand, students can record in their own language to go along with their Buddy Bear and a podcast can be made and shared on the ALI site:
My name is (individual Buddy Bear)
My age is (classroom Buddy Bear)
I live in (country Buddy Bear)
My wish for the world is
I want the world to know
Connections
- Classrooms will have the opportunity to form a "global community" of learners by sharing their personal, classroom, and national Buddy Bears.
Templates
Student Work
Kindergarten Buddy Bears
by West Tisbury School's Kindergarten Class, Martha's Vineyard, MA., USA
During the first days of our kindergarten our class viewed and discussed the Buddy Bear Movie. Using the template, Teri, the classroom teacher, modeled the lesson by creating and sharing her own buddy bear. The student's buddy bears were photographed and imported into iMovie, then using a microphone, the children recorded their explanations. The movie was exported out as a Quicktime mpeg 4 and uploaded to the site. The whole activity took about an hour and a half.
Later this year the class will make Buddy Bear Models out of clay and paint them - look for them here!
by West Tisbury School's Kindergarten Class, Martha's Vineyard, MA., USA
During the first days of our kindergarten our class viewed and discussed the Buddy Bear Movie. Using the template, Teri, the classroom teacher, modeled the lesson by creating and sharing her own buddy bear. The student's buddy bears were photographed and imported into iMovie, then using a microphone, the children recorded their explanations. The movie was exported out as a Quicktime mpeg 4 and uploaded to the site. The whole activity took about an hour and a half.
Later this year the class will make Buddy Bear Models out of clay and paint them - look for them here!
Listen to student work.
by West Tisbury School's Kindergarten Class, Martha's Vineyard, MA., USA
After further investigation of the United Nation's Buddy Bears, kindergarten students made and painted their own Buddy Bears. They explored where their town is in the world using Google Earth, then they sang and recorded their bear song in music. All the peices were put together in iMovie.
by West Tisbury School's Kindergarten Class, Martha's Vineyard, MA., USA
After further investigation of the United Nation's Buddy Bears, kindergarten students made and painted their own Buddy Bears. They explored where their town is in the world using Google Earth, then they sang and recorded their bear song in music. All the peices were put together in iMovie.