I decided last year to get a class pet...well it turned into two pets actually. I had got a guinea pig and then I was told they thrive better when there was two of them. So lo and behold we have Pancake and Acorn.
I cannot believe the benefits to having a classroom pet. It teaches them kindness and responsibility. Every month I have 4 new zoo keepers and they are in charge of cleaning the cage, feeding, watering, and brushing. It is amazing how the behavior students tend to "smarten up" when I take out Pancake and Acorn and start placing them on desks.
I also actually applied for a grant through PetSmart and I receive a $30 gift card each month for guinea pig essentials. This is a grant they offer for teachers with classroom pets.
For my students' writing journal today they wrote about which guinea pig they would rather be: Pancake or Acorn and then had to write why. They then had to write about what they would see from the cage and what they would want to change in the classroom as a guinea pig. Some of the responses were incredibly cute!
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