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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
Ferndale Woods Elementary School
Barrie, Ontario

• Two Time Winner of A&E Network’s Canadian Teacher Grant (2000 and 2001)
• Recipient of the John F. Freudeman Award for Excellence in Curriculum (2003)

In today’s classroom, teachers are faced with many challenges, changes and demands. Finding and providing motivating, worthwhile learning experiences for increasingly diverse classrooms in itself presents many challenges. However, Liz Vanderwater has endeavoured to do just that with Teddy Bears on the Go®.

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
Emma King Public School
Barrie, ON Canada

MISA Leader-Management of Information for Student Achievement
Simcoe County Board of Education,
Barrie, ON Canada

Since 2001 I have been aware of the concept of travelling teddy bears being sent by students and their families throughout the world. Mrs. Vanderwater has taken the concept to new heights with her current initiatives.

The world opens to these students as they receive reports, pictures and artifacts from around the world regarding the travels of their personal teddy bear.

The geographic location they look up, the nature of the flags of countries visited by the bear, or the display of artifacts returned along with the bear at the end of his/her journey are all sources of education for the students and their families.

I have seen pictures of these bears posing in such diverse places as war-torn Bosnia and frigid South America.

My wife and I have had the “privilege” of having a bear accompany us on occasion, with my wife totally engrossed in writing in the bear’s journal for the reading pleasure of the student back at home. Some “bear reports” also come via e-mail to the student, accompanied by photos.

Mrs. Vanderwater has also made two presentations for me, one at the Rotary Club of Barrie, and another as a workshop leader at a Curriculum Conference held by the Simcoe District School Board in Collingwood. Both presentations were well attended, well received and prompted many questions.

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
Mapleview Heights Public School
Barrie, ON

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.

A few students did come to show me their completed albums. It was so adorable to see them looking through the pictures 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 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
Fellow Teachers
Barrie, ON Canada

I would like to take some time here to comment on an exemplary educational program that Elizabeth Vanderwater introduced to our school this past school year. Teddy Bears On The Go® was immediately a great hit with all the children and was an excellent instrument for meeting curriculum expectations while infusing enthusiasm for learning into the students.

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. 

Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of it.

Sheila Williams
Principal
Warnica Public School
Barrie, ON Canada

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
Cundles Heights Public School
Barrie, ON Canada

The travelling teddy bear project is an exciting project. Hallmark®) very kindly donated one teddy bear to each of our Grade 3 students. These bears travelled for 6 months of the school year. The bears traveled to many parts of Canada, United states and some bears ventured as far away as Finland, England, France, Italy, Germany, Sri Lanka and Australia.

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
Librarian
Emma King Public School
Barrie, ON Canada

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.

Indeed, this is a great project and it was an honor to work with you on it. Now, on to our next project!

Respectfully yours,

Stephen Bertelsen
Warnica Public School
Barrie, ON Canada

Equity Co-Chair
Simcoe County Elementary Teachers' Federation