The book 'Polar bear, Polar bear, What can you hear?'

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The book ‘Polar bear, Polar bear, What can you hear?’

in the primary classroom

‘Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you hear?’ by Bill Martin is a classic picture book which is likely to be enjoyed by young children. This is most obviously due to its large, bold and colourful illustrations. Also its repetitive and simple text makes it easy for younger readers to join in and as a result, enjoy the book. The book not only comes in normal children’s book size but is also available as a big book. This makes it a useful book to use with children in the classroom and can thus be used effectively in whole class teaching. Children, when sitting on the carpet will be able to clearly see the book as the teachers holds it up and reads it with them.  However it can also be read by children alone or with an adult.

I feel that from my experience of literacy in the primary classroom, it would be an effective book to use with Key Stage One children. The book can not only provide an enjoyable read for the children but would also allow for further study in line with the National Literacy Strategy objectives for Key Stage One. I have observed and carried out teaching of the literacy hour for year one children where a picture book provides the basis of their literacy lessons for the week. Therefore I feel that the book, ‘Polar bear, Polar bear, What do you hear’, could be studied in a number of ways to meet some of the objectives in the National Literacy Strategy framework for year one children.  

Firstly the book is a patterned text. Throughout the book there is repetition of…’What can you hear?’ and…’I hear a…..in my ear? Polar bear, Polar bear, What do you hear? (pg 1). Therefore in line with the National Literacy Framework and the National Curriculum, it is a type of text which must be read and studied in Key Stage One. In year one, term one, in the range of study for fiction and poetry, children need to study…’stories and rhymes with predictable and repetitive patterns…’The National Literacy Strategy (pg 20). Similarly, in line with the National Curriculum programme of study for English, children should study…’stories, plays and poems with patterned and predictable language…’ The National Curriculum (pg 47).  Therefore, in summary, I believe that this book is ideal for use in the classroom to cover this range. Children could be encouraged after reading the book, to decipher this repetition within the text. This would enhance their understanding of the structure of patterned texts.

The book could also be incorporated into literacy for year one children through guided reading. The book would be ideal given that it is a patterned text; there aren’t a vast amount of new words in the book. However there is a balance between simple, common words...’I can hear a…’ Polar bear, Polar bear, What can you hear?, and also words which children will find tricky, ‘bellowing’ and ‘flamingo’. It will allow for development of speaking and listening skills by encouraging children to use appropriate expression and intonation to add to the enjoyment of the story. This may aid children in gaining confidence in their speech. For example, I could prompt the children to read the punctuation and also make the noises that the animals make. I could also introduce the variation in tone of voice to indicate questioning. All these contribute to effective speaking and listening skills which children should be encouraged to develop.

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The book follows a similar format to the book ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?’ This is because the reader is introduced to a new animal on each double-page spread. I feel that this is an excellent book for developing children's prediction skills. Due to the books repetitive format, children will be able to enjoy predicting which animal will be heard next. Therefore in terms of its use in the primary classroom, it can provide a class based discussion on types of animals which may be referred to next within the book. This promotes the speaking and listening ...

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