Mother Bruce Activity Ideas
If you are anything like us then one of your favorite things about being an early childhood educator is helping children learn to read. Whether you are a preschool, kindergarten, or first-grade teacher – you are at the center of your students’ literacy development.
While there are many serious elements to consider when helping kids learn to read, like hitting core reading standards, there are also plenty of fun parts! One of the most fun parts is finding engaging and educational books to use for read alouds. Today, we are going to share with you several reading activity ideas to engage children with the entertaining picture book Mother Bruce.
Mother Bruce Summary
I remember the first time I heard about “Mother Bruce” by Ryan T. Higgins. At the time it was a new book on the market and after reading all of the reviews I knew I had to give it a go in my classroom!
Have you heard all the buzz about this book by best-selling author, Ryan T. Higgins? Here is a quick little introduction. In this story, Bruce is a grumpy bear who doesn’t have time for anyone or anything – except for eggs. He just LOVES to eat eggs! Then, one day, his plans go awry when the eggs he intends to cook hatch into four adorable goslings.
The goslings mistake Bruce for their mother and imprint on him. From that moment on, no matter how hard Bruce tries, he cannot get rid of the adorable goslings. Despite his continued efforts, grumpy old Bruce slowly begins to soften and connect with the baby geese.
Filled with witty dialogue and charming illustrations, Mother Bruce delivers a delightful tale about unexpected family, acceptance, and the humorous side of parenting. You and your students will laugh aloud and fall in love with the grumpy bear Bruce, all while students develop their literacy skills.
Mother Bruce Activities
When The Core Coaches first developed our read aloud protocol we did so with two things in mind – meeting important core reading standards and engaging students in the excitement of reading. Based on feedback from each of you, and our own students’ excitement during read aloud time, we are confident in our reading protocol.
I still remember the giggling sounds of first graders while we first read Mother Bruce. Moreover, I remember how excited my students were to engage with the story after reading by drawing things Bruce didn’t like and the one thing he did like… eggs! This is just one of the many reading activities I did to engage students in the reading process.
Text dependent questions
In addition to this activity, we also answered text-dependent questions about the key ideas and details of the story. All during our first day of reading!
When I pulled the book out on day two my students couldn’t wait to reread it. During this close read, I asked more text-dependent questions. However, the text-dependent questions on day two focused on craft and structure.
The text-dependent questions I used to guide my students through their first and second read of Mother Bruce are the same text-dependent questions you will find in our Mother Bruce read aloud!
On day three there are text dependent questions for students to explore the importance of words and illustrations. That’s right, there are three full days of reading and comprehension questions included in this resource!
What does an upgraded read aloud mean?
Like many of our original read aloud resources, this Mother Bruce read aloud recently received an upgrade.
That means, more questions and more activities to take you beyond day three. With the activities below you can add another day (or two) to your read aloud schedule.
Mother Bruce Vocabulary Activity
One of the new activities you will find inside this read aloud is context-specific vocabulary words. We include several resources to help you teach students these words. You will find a vocabulary poster, vocabulary cards, anchor charts, and vocabulary worksheets.
The new addition of vocabulary activities for Mother Bruce is just one of the new updates to this already amazing read aloud. Let’s see what other new activities are included!
Mother Bruce Writing Activity
As an early education teacher, you know that writing is an integral part of literacy development. Therefore, all of our read aloud resources now include a writing activity.
These writing activities include time to brainstorm ideas as a whole class, as well as writing and illustrating together. Therefore, providing students with the support they need to develop their writing skills and feel successful.
Here is a sneak peek of the writing activity included with the Mother Bruce read aloud.
Mother Bruce Quiz
Another new addition to the Mother Bruce read aloud is a quiz. This quiz is developed with the early reader in mind. Therefore, it is designed with images and words to help students demonstrate their understanding.
As one of the additional activities in this reading resource, it is up to you as the teacher if you want to include it as an activity. Moreover, as with most of the resources in this read aloud packet, you can have students complete this as a printable quiz or digitally.
Mother Bruce Craft
Earlier I mentioned how we designed our read alouds to address core standards while also being engaging. One way we have met this goal is by including a craft with each read aloud.
Crafts are fun for kids to complete after reading. They are also an excellent way for young learners to demonstrate understanding of a text. In addition, it provides a fun and tangible way for children to share what they learned when they go home.
Mother Bruce Retelling Puppets
Another creative way that students can share what they learned is through retelling puppets. Retelling puppets are one of our favorite new additions to all of our read alouds!
In the Mother Bruce read aloud, students get to use puppets of baby geese and Bruce to practice retelling events in the story. This is a great way to provide multi-sensory learning. Moreover, it provides an opportunity for kids to engage in their speaking and listening skills and group work.
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Mother Bruce Read Aloud for Preschool
As part of updating our read alouds for first and second grade, we decided it was time to make read alouds for preschool as well. Our preschool read alouds follow the same effective protocol we have used for years with our first and second graders. They also cover many of the same favorite picture books we have always used in first and second grade – like, Mother Bruce!
Grab the Mother Bruce read aloud for PreK here!
How To Teach Read Alouds In The Classroom
We understand that it can be difficult to come up with ideas on how to teach the core standards during your reading time. This is why we have created dozens and dozens of ready-to-teach read-alouds!
These read alouds are packed full of fun and engaging reading activities that are aligned with core reading standards and also come with detailed lesson plans. This gives you everything you need to effectively teach various books to your students.
In addition, we have several blog posts that are dedicated to supporting you in implementing read alouds in the classroom. Whether you teach first grade, kindergarten, or preschool, The Core Coaches has everything you need to read Mother Bruce and many more stories with your students.
