Character Connections

The Teddy Bear

In this deeply moving and COMPASSIONATE story, a young boy gives away a treasured possession to help someone in need.  The author, David McPhail, paints a picture of a young boy who shows WISDOM beyond his years.  The young boy loses a beloved teddy bear when he leaves it behind in a restaurant.  The bear is later discovered by a homeless man who grows very attached to it.  Months later, by an odd coincidence, the boy joyfully finds his bear again on a park bench where the bearded man had left it.  When the boy realized the man had grown attached to it, he used SELF-CONTROL not to say it belonged to him.

          But rather, in a great display of KINDNESS  AND GENEROSITY, he returned the bear.  He demonstrated ACCEPTANCE of the bearded man’s lifestyle and EMPATHY of his need.  He saw that the bearded man had a greater need for the teddy bear than he did.  The COMPASSION he showed was impressive.

DISCUSSION STARTERS:

~ Explain to students that compassion is showing concern or sympathy toward others.  Review that empathy is noticing how others feel and caring about how they feel.

  Consider asking some of the following questions:

•   Who showed compassion and kindness to someone else in the story?    

•   Could you have given the bear back to the man?

•   What do you own that would be difficult to give up?

•   Why do you think the little boy didn’t explain to the old man that the bear used to be his?

•   Why do you think the teddy bear was so important to the old man?

•   Why do you think the man slept in a dumpster and rummaged through trash cans? (Guide them to realize how fortunate they are and how many people in the world have less.)

•   What is something you have lost that you have missed after it was gone?

•   Share examples of empathy in this story.

ACTIVITY:

Give the students a template of a gift box and have them draw something they treasure that they would be willing to give to someone in need and a descriptive sentence explaining their gift. 

For older students, have them to write a short story describing what they could give up and why.