Bearly Alike

About the Movie

Bearly Alike is a 16-minute video that parallels a day in the life of the Alaskan brown bears with a day in the life of a young man named George. Watch George and the bears wake up in the morning . . . and fall right back to sleep. Watch George protect his sandwich from a dog, while bears protect fish from a wolf. Watch George and the bears eat, drink, yawn, itch, fish and more. Is George so different from the bears that live far way?

This light-hearted behavioral comparison was designed for elementary school children, in order to help them discover the similarities and differences between humans and animals. How are we alike? How are we different? With live action and original music, the video is perfect for anyone young at heart.

DVD special features include a printable teacher resource packet, full of ideas for children's literature, Web sites and interactive activities that will bring Bearly Alike to life. The DVD and teacher resources were developed from Laura's Master's research about how teachers use media in elementary classrooms.

Film Festival Screenings

• 2004 Chicago International Children's Film Festival (Chicago, IL)
• 2004 East Lansing Children's Film Festival (East Lansing, MI)
• 2005 Lil' Longbaugh Film Festival (Portland, Oregon)
• 2005 San Diego International Children's Film Festival (San Diego, CA)

Laura's Research

Sisbro developed Bearly Alike (and the accompanying teacher resource packet) from Laura's Master's research about how teachers use media in classrooms. She conducted a small qualitative study, in which she talked to Michigan elementary school teachers on the phone about how they use videos in their classrooms. As a result, she developed the following suggestions for educational video producers:

• Develop videos appropriate for younger age levels. Many teachers described how videotapes are aimed for older target audiences, and they need better programming for kindergarten through 5th grade.
• Relate videotapes to the school curriculum. Teachers must teach to their specific curriculum guidelines, and most teachers did not have time for unrelated activities.
• Develop videotapes that allow students to see something they could not otherwise experience. Teachers often used videotapes to bring the outside world to their students, when distance, logistics or safety prevented students from the real experience.
• Suggest how teachers can use videotapes with other classroom resources, definitely including books. All teachers used videotapes with other materials, such as puppets, Web sites and experiments. All teachers mentioned using books with videotapes, although none of the other materials emerged as common themes.
• Suggest interactive, interdisciplinary ideas with videotapes, instead of developing detailed lesson plans or curriculum guides. Most teachers wanted ideas in different subject areas, so that they could adapt them to their own classrooms. They did not want detailed, comprehensive lesson plans, because those were harder to incorporate into their own lessons. Teachers also wanted activities to encourage active participation.