Additional information
by Tanya Saunders (Author), Faith Broomfield-Payne (Illustrator)
3-in-1 OMNIBUS EDITION!
A trilogy of social stories starring the eight Bear Buddies, one of whom is deaf and wears cochlear implants, teaching children how to get help when someone else needs it as well as how to self-advocate and help themselves, all while on a team quest to find a lost cochlear implant.
Book 1: A HELPING HAND
Oh no! Bobby Bear has hurt himself and needs help! What will the Bear Buddies do? How will they call for help and from whom? The story models some key vocabulary and simple language to use when asking for help, labelling different parts of the playground and describing what happened and why help is needed. When it arrives in the form of Miss Teacher Bear and a big medical box, we learn how playground bumps and scrapes are treated and discuss why it's important to call for help from a grown-up.
BOOK 2: LOST AND FOUND
Another mishap! Onna Bear has lost one of her cochlear implants - it's fallen off her ear and no-one can find it! Miss Teacher Bear devises a plan to search for the missing magic ear, with the entire Bear Buddies team lending a hand. The story demonstrates the importance of self-advocacy and asking for help when you need it while modelling key language and vocabulary to help children learn to help themselves.
BOOK 3: SUPERPOWERS!
Harry Bear simply cannot understand how Onna Bear's cochlear implants stick to her head. Does she have mystical superpowers? As Onna Bear explains how her magic ears work, we learn some fascinating key facts about cochlear implants and why modern hearing technology is so amazing. Harry Bear wishes he had superpowers just like bionic Onna Bear, so Sala Bear reminds him that all the Bear Buddies do already possess special superpowers - the superpowers of friendship (and super-hula-powers too, but that's another story!)
10 BONUS PARTICIPATION PAGES included to help children put their learning into practice with fun, conversation-filled activities!
Primary focus of trilogy:
- Key vocabulary and simple language for asking for help for someone else
- Key vocabulary and simple language for asking for help for yourself (self-advocating)
- Fun facts and vocabulary about cochlear implant technology
- Importance of helping others
- Importance of self-advocacy and standing up for yourself, what you need, how you feel and what you believe
- Importance of asking a grownup for help when the situation warrants it
- Thinking and talking about stories you have read
Secondary focus of trilogy:
- Understanding idioms ("a helping hand")
- School / playground vocabulary
- Perseverance / never giving up
- Expressing emotions / understanding how you feel
- Simple descriptive vocabulary (sunlight/shade, heavy/light, etc)
- Key vocabulary / simple language for describing treatment for playground bumps and scrapes
- Strengthening auditory memory
- Talking ahead / making plans
- Using story maps to re-tell stories
- Reading /interpreting a map / diagram
- Time passing (in 5-minute increments)
- What different things are made of and why
- How magnets work
The author is grateful for the advice and support of the Auditory Verbal UK (AVUK) team.
