Class Pets
Launching into Writing (Virtual Tour)
Stage of Literacy Development:
Stage 1: Beginning LiteracyStage 2: Consolidation / Fluency
Stage 3: Literacy for Growth
Ages:
5-10
Grade Range:
K 1st 2nd 3rd 4thFood Groups:
Primary: Text Structures & Genres, Knowledge Building
Transcript
I think it's really important to have class pets in the classroom. The students just love taking their free time to look and check on the pets, and they love coming in in the morning to see how they're doing. I'll introduce you to Alpha and Beta, our goldfish. We also have an algae eater who likes to hide named George down there. The children also have a class job, where they are feeding and taking care of the fish. I use the class pets often as a launching point for writing. For non-fiction of course, that's easy, please write about our class pets. And of course we learn and do a little research on these particular kind of fish. We also will write fiction stories, and they often will do a narrative. I'll have asked them to think about, what do you think it would be like to be Alpha and Beta, what do you think they're saying to each other about the people in the classroom, for example. I also will use the fish as a launching point for science units, research projects on fish, where we can talk about the special things that make fish a fish and then they can relate that to fish that are actually in the classroom.
Activity Objective
The goal of Class Pets: Launching into Writing (Virtual Tour) is to use a real-life experience to encourage students to write for an authentic purpose.
Quick Tips
Additional Comments:
- Provide students with opportunities to observe class pets. Give each student a journal in which they can record their observations. - Reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts related to habitats is engaging and integrates literacy with science. - Integrated instruction is a teaching approach that connects different subjects according to a selected theme or topic.
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Magnet Man: Integrating Science and Literacy through Writing (Virtual Tour)
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Student Made Books: Promoting the Enjoyment of Writing (Virtual Tour)
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