Testimonials

What The Kids Are Saying

I like the teddy project because it was fun to do the MC. It was cool to be the MC. I was nervous at first, then when I went on the stage, I got use to it. It was vey exciting and it was a good idea to begin with.

—S. Grade 3

“I had a great time telling people about my bear and the journeys it has gone on and talking about my bear in presentations and talking about where my bear has gone to the classes in the gym”. 

—A. Grade 3

“I loved the whole thing, but I liked that everyone could come to it (student is referring to the year end afternoon school assembly). People came from Toronto and Ottawa, even..I was lucky because my mom and dad could come and my travelling companion could come”. 

—O. Grade 3

“My favourite part was when we received a package and the pictures of the teddy bears’ journeys with other people. It is my favourite part because some times you get very neat pictures of my teddy bear. I like receiving packages because you get very cool stuff...”

—A. Grade 4

“My favourite part was when we got post cards and little treasures because we got to listen, read them and show them...ps I loved the project.”

—V. Grade 4

What Educators are Saying

I had the pleasure of advising Mrs. Vanderwater each time a postcard came in the mail from one of her “bears” who was travelling the world. The excitement that the students showed when they came to the office to pick these up, was so delightful. It was so adorable to see them looking through [their completed albums] talking about their bears’ excursions. Some were in the pilot’s seat of aircraft and some were sunbathing on a beach in a sunny place when we had snow. In all, everything to do with this project was such a positive experience.

—Evelyn Farquharson
Ferndale Woods Elementary School
Senior Administrative Support

Teddy Bears On the Go® is a rarity among curriculum units. It is extremely motivational while incorporating countless curriculum expectations across all subjects and strands. Students are inspired by their bears’ magical trips to exotic places around the world. Research and writing skills are firmly founded in authentic, meaningful applications. In turn, the students inspire others with tales of their bears’ adventures. What more can we ask of an integrated unit. Teddy Bears On the Go® fulfills all this and more. Bravo.

—Dale Mays
Grade 4 Teacher

No longer do students have to face frustration and lack of challenge with low-level activities. Teddy Bears on the Go® projects provide open-ended activities that help children respond in their own way while learning various curriculuar goals. Teddy Bears on the Go® offers excellent opportunities to provide differentiated strategies and activities which helps all students reach their full potential. Teddy Bears on the Go® leads to student engagement which leads to improved student performance. Liz knows what learners need to succeed, she's discovered the right recipe.

If you've stumbled across this website, give this project a go and you, too, will be pleased with the tremendous positive impact it will have on your students.

—Deb Russell
Vice Principal

I wholly endorse this initiative, one in which students, family and the school can work in concert for a better understanding of our world’s geography and the people in it.

—Henry Legge
Principal

Teddy Bears On The Go® is an exciting multi-disciplinary approach to making learning fun! By tapping into a child's love of fantasy and providing meaningful curriculum based activities, Liz ensures a child's love of learning.
Cheers to Liz, for her determination in developing and sharing her creativity with fellow teachers and students!

—Linda Blackwell & Darlene Dempster

This innovative, cross-curricular and interactive approach to learning facilitates student learning through hands-on experiences in all aspects of the language curriculum, audio-visual presentations, Social Studies, Science and The Arts.

I had first-hand experience in Liz's classroom during the implementation of the quilt block project that augmented the Teddy Bears On The Go® program that she has coordinated with her students on a yearly basis. Parent volunteers were also present to assist the students. Everyone was animated, interactive, and excited about creating, or helping to create, the teddy bear quilt blocks. By its very nature, students experienced a broad spectrum of the curriculum over a 4-5 week time period. They demonstrated real-life skills in areas of Language, Mathematics and The Arts.

As a school administrator, I found this program to also foster parent/school community partnerships; something that we continually strive to nurture.

As leaders in education, we strive for continued student success. The interactive and cross-curricular venue that the Teddy Bears On The Go® approach to learning provides, creates an atmosphere conducive to student learning and achievement.

—Sheila Williams
Principal

The Teddy Bears on the Go® project is an educational delight! It is a wonderful way that students become enthusiastically involved in reading, writing and the integration of literacy throughout the school subjects.
It opens up the eyes of students to the big wide world and it gets the whole family and community involved in the education of our students. Teachers will be amazed and delighted at the excitement it creates in students’ desire to learn! I would encourage any teacher who wants their class to have fun learning to do this project.

—Mary Brooks
Principal

On our wall map of the world, the destinations were recorded. The children were so excited when postcards arrived from their bears. Friends and relatives who took the bears on trips recorded highlights in journal entries and often the bear returned with souvenirs and many pictures.
 
Our Bear night was a great success. The students proudly displayed their bears, with journals, pictures, souvenirs and postcards.
 
Many curriculum expectations are covered with this project and the students are reading, writing and presenting with a real purpose...not to mention [experiencing] history and geography [from a real perspective]. 

I did this project for two years until I became the librarian. The teachers who have since taught Grade 3 in our school have eagerly continued this project, which is now a tradition that the children look forward to when they are in Grade. 3.

Kathryn Heximer-Convery

  I found the Teddy Bear project very useful for the Special Needs children that I taught - some from your classroom. It enabled the children to truly connect with a geographical place. As you will recall, one of our children with ASD was greatly troubled with the thoughts of our teddy bear travelling. Thus, we sent our bears to one destination. The children for one year wrote to a peace keeper name Brad and the bear they had given him. We learned all about Camp Julian and Kabul as well as Afghanistan, in general. Remember, too, that Brad and our Teddy Bear even came to visit us [at the school] and then headed back to Kabul. The teddy bear remained in Kabul. As Brad left, he gave [the bear] to a young girl. Indeed, this was so very exciting for the children.

One bear also visited Parliament Hill [Ottawa, ON Canada] and the cabinet Minister Aileen Caroll. She came to Warnica shortly after returning from the tsunami stricken areas to return our class bear, tell the children about the tsunami and congratulate Warnica [for] the money it had risen on behalf of UNICEF.

Stephen Bertelsen
Warnica Public School
Barrie, ON Canada