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The following activities are only suggestions
to make participation in the Classroom Pet Exchange more interesting for
you and your students.
Bon
Voyage Party |
| When your pet is ready
to leave on the journey to a new class, how about throwing a Bon Voyage
Party? This would be a good opportunity to visit the school's web site
that the pet will be traveling to or if that is not possible, you could
use the Internet to learn more about the state the pet will be visiting.
Students can also share and record expectations of the pet's visit in its
journal.
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|
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| I would like to keep our pet for six weeks
first like we did and then mail him away to the other school. After
the experience students will feel more of a bond to their own pet.
This way we had already started a journal and cannot wait to read it again
in April when it returns from the other school. The exchange class
will have this journal to read and get to know us better as well.
Cheryl Cooper Hillel Community Day School North Miami Beach, Florida |
| Powerful
Sharing |
| By using the program,
PowerPoint, students can create multimedia presentations for their exchange
class. These presentations could be individually created or could be whole
class activities. The disk could be sent by snail mail, as email attachments,
or by ICQ file transfer.
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| Caring
Pledge |
| Before our pet goes
home with a child, they say a pledge and we make a big deal of it. The
right hand goes on Fuzzy's Journal while the left hand is raised in the
air. The students repeat after me, " I, ___________, do solemnly swear
that I will love and care for Fuzzy to the best of my ability. I will write
my story tonight and return Fuzzy and the his journal tomorrow." The kids
love this part. As the new child is saying his promise, quite a few others
are smiling as they listen.
Joanne Whitley Piedmont Elementary Dandridge, Tennessee |
| Souvenir
Collecting |
| Everyone enjoys collecting
souvenirs when they travel. How about asking each child to put a small
token in a collecting bag as they take the pet home? This could be a post
card, snapshot, or some other momento of the visit. If this isn't possible,
the class could make a souvenir goody bag to send back with the pet. It
could contain pamphlets about the state and tourism attractions.
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| Journey
Preparations |
| Students could prepare
a class book telling the exchange class something about their visitor (likes
and dislikes, food and care, places the pet might like to visit. Then pack
a bag to go on the trip. This could include pictures of the exchange class,
so he doesn't get lonely, a favorite blanket or good luck charm, or other
items your pet might like to take along and remember suntan lotion if going
to a warm climate. Don't forget to make an airline ticket. This could also
be used to pull in a Math lesson on money, time etc.
Eileen Weinstein Second Grade Arrowhead Elementary School |
| Travel
Tales |
| Another way to keep
up with the pet's adventures is through web visits. Send an email account
of the visiting pet stories to the Class
Pet Exchange and they will be posted on our web site. You could
also read about other's adventures as well. Be sure to include
your class name, grade level, and the name of your class pet!
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|
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| Send weekly updates via email to
your exchange class. We just started this and it's been really fun!
We're sending digital pictures, too, but be sure to check out your school
district's policy on this. Just as we enjoy hearing from our loved
ones when they are away on a trip, students love hearing from their pet
as he travels home with his exchange class.
Jim Gilboy & Kitty Norcutt Grass Valley Elementary Winnemucca, Nevada |
| Video
Visits |
| Wouldn't it be great
to get to see your pet and its exchange class? This could be possible by
exchanging video tapes of the visit through mail. The video could include
the school, classroom, and of course the visiting pet. You could even video
part of the community. This would be a great way to visit and see the area
the pet is visiting.
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| Welcome
Home Party |
| When you pet is ready
to return from its journey, how about throwing a Welcome Home Party? This
would be a good opportunity to share the pet's journal with the students
and compare visits.
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| As you are packing
your pet for the journey, why not include your class' favorite book to
send along too? If the book is a short story students could take
it home with them along with the pet for the entire family to share.
This would give students a focus to start with and something to do when
the children took the pet home for its visit. If the book is a chapter
book, it could be read aloud to the entire class and could be discussed
in email correspendence with the exchange class.
Valerie Gue Sontag Elementary Rocky Mount, Virginia |
| A
Picture is Worth Thousand Words! |
| When you send your pet for a visit, also
send a disposible camera so each child in the exchange class can take a
picture of the pet to return with the journal at the end of the visit.
Carole Whitney Rush Strong School Strawberry Plains, TN |
| Gameboards |
| The first year my class sent Eddy, the
elephant, to Pennsylvania. They wanted to share as much as possible about
Eddie when he visited them, so they created gameboards. We took four U.S.
maps and looked up all kinds of facts about elephants and glued them into
a travel pattern onto the maps, creating gameboards for our Pet Exchange
partner class to play. The children had a ball, worked in small groups
with parent help, and learned so much about geography and elephants. What
a terrific language and general learning experience. Thanks Tracy!
Tracy Hughes La Canada Elementary School La Canada, CA 91011 |