World Animal Day in the Classroom
This
section of the website is designed as a
resource for teachers, and aims to offer ideas and
support for celebrating World Animal Day in schools. It is our intention to continue developing it
with insights from educationalists around the world about the
importance of humane education, and real examples of
how World Animal Day activities have been incorporated
into the curriculum. We really hope that teachers will
find it useful; if you have any comments or
suggestions for improvement, then please contact
us.
Contents
Why Celebrate World
Animal Day?
Worldwide WAD - sharing
experiences
Malta -
Animals and Art
Nigeria -
Cultivating Kindness
Romania
- a School Visit
Singapore
– Safari@PL: a Celebration of World Animal Day
United Kingdom - an Early
Years Perspective
USA - Classroom Management and
the Teacher's Pet
USA - Super-Humane Kids
United Kingdom - Minny's Dream - the nightmare world of the battery hen house
Resources
Get Involved - Get an Idea
Get Involved - Handy Hints
Get Involved - Photocopiable Downloads
Research has shown
that there are numerous benefits in encouraging
children to care for animals. For young children,
looking after a companion animal, whether at home or
in the classroom, can help develop a sense of
responsibility and compassion, and can help in coming
to terms with some of life's more difficult issues,
such as bereavement (see 'Super-Humane Kids'
below). Sometimes a child who finds it
difficult to share his or her troubles with an adult
or another child will talk to and confide in an
animal, which can help in processing complex emotions.
 Celebrating World Animal Day in
school is an ideal way to mark the end of a project on
animals, whether involving pets, farm animals or wild
animals. There are numerous ideas for this in our Get
Involved section. The suggestions given cover all
areas of the curriculum.
For older students, World
Animal Day can be used to introduce more complex
ethical issues (conservation, euthanasia, vivisection,
vegetarianism, and so on) as well as the more obvious
applications to life sciences. A number of suggestions
for incorporating World Animal Day across the
curriculum can be found in the Get Involved section.
For
a more fun approach, teachers might like to look at
the KidsZone section of the website, which contains
ideas for things to do and a page of language puzzles
and quizzes, which are differentiated into levels
approximating ages four to seven, eight to eleven and
twelve to eighteen.
Bringing
pets to school for World
Animal
Day at St Andrew Catholic School,
Fort Worth, Texas
Worldwide WAD – sharing experiences
UK - Minny's Dream - the nightmare world of the battery hen house
Clare Druce, Director, Farm Animal Welfare Network (FAWN), has written a children's book based on her long experience campaigning against the battery cage system. Minny's Dream has been written to appeal to children in the 8-12 year age range.
Minny's Dream has been well reviewed in Teaching Citizenship: "Minny's Dream provides teachers with complex scenarios to nurture high quality moral reasoning." Teaching Citizenship
Desmond Morris: "A vivid story, told from the heart, of the nightmare world of the battery hen house."
Actor Martin Shaw: "Clare Druce subtly weaves the cruel facts of battery hen farming into a charming and exciting children's story. A really important read."
David Bellamy: Please read this super book and then do all you can to make Minny's Dream come true."
Minny's Dream is now available from www.lulu.com
So keen was Clare to get Minny's Dream "out there" that she and her husband paid towards its initial publication personally. Getting a book published these days is incredibly hard, and Clare didn't want to have to go on trying for years (and maybe NEVER getting "out there"). www.worldanimalday.org.uk is happy to help publicise Minny's Dream to all teachers and encourage them to use this book in order to raise animal welfare issues in the classroom.
Amanda Palmier, Creative Projects Co-ordinator at
the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in
Valletta, describes a WAD project in which animals
provided artistic inspiration for four- and
five-year-olds.
I am a programme co-ordinator for children of all ages at
an art centre for creativity in Valletta. On Saturday morning we
have the Young Cavaliers’ Club for children between
four and ten years of age. We decided to use the
Saturday nearest World Animal Day to explore the topic
of animals with the four- and five-year-olds. We started
by explaining about humankind's relationships with
animals, acknowledging the roles animals play in our
lives, and encouraging the children to be thankful for
the way in which animals enrich our lives. We allowed
the children each to talk in turn about an animal or a
pet
who has touched their lives in some way or other.
 Then we went on to a storytelling session in which I read a book
called The Very Lazy Ladybird by Isobel Finn
and Jack Tickle (Little Tiger Press). The book is about a lazy
ladybird who tries to find somewhere to sleep by
flying onto different animals. In this way the children
learnt about different types of animals and the noises
that they make – and also why the ladybird finds it so
difficult to go to sleep on that particular animal.
After the storytelling, the children each made a animal
mobile. We had copied different pictures of the animals in the book and the children were given two
animals each to paint. Then when they were dry we made
a hole in the bottom of one of the animals and a hole
in the top of the other with a puncher. We cut a piece
of string for each child, and threaded and tied each end to each of the
holes. Then we made a hole in the top of the upper animal, tied another piece of string
through that hole, then tied it to
a lollypop stick. The children really had fun doing this.
After the
break the children had their movement session. We did
this by playing the soundtrack from the film Madagascar and encouraging the children to move
around and make
the noises like the animals in the book.
It was a full three hours of fun and the children didn’t
want to leave.
Front cover of The
Very Lazy Ladybird. Text copyright © Isobel Finn,
1999 and illustrations copyright © Jack Tickle,
1999. Published by
Little Tiger Press, London.
Kingsley Aigbona, President of Nigeria's Society
for the Welfare of Animals Protection (SWAP) and Co-ordinator
for WSPA’s Kindness Clubs in Nigeria.
I was privileged to participate in a workshop on
Animal Welfare Education organized by WSPA’s African
regional office in Kenya. It was a real eye opener for
me. Amongst all the beautiful things we learnt how to
teach WSPA’s Animal Welfare Certificate Course (AWCC).
AWCC is a 12 weeks course designed for Kindness Club
members. They are given a free workbook each and are
then awarded a certificate at the end of the course.
The aims of AWCC are to give Kindness Club members the opportunity
to learn more about the care and treatments of DOGS,
CATS, FARM ANIMALS and DONKEYS and to share this
information with their local community; and to enable
Kindness Club members to look after their own animals
properly and to provide them with the correct care and
veterinary treatments.
When I got back to Nigeria, I sprung into action. I
wrote to the head of the Garrick Memorial School who invited me to his office
for discussion. Due to the fact issues concerning
animals are treated with indifference in my country,
it was not easy to get the school to agree to give one
hour weekly for twelve weeks to me to teach the
course. All the same, I was allowed to teach the course.
Amongst the
things that are necessary to run the
course smoothly are a workbook for each student, a dog
chain and collar for a demonstration, marker pens,
stapler, etc. The workbooks served as motivation to my
students – they loved the
workbooks so much that they loved the course 'at
first sight'! They enjoyed answering the questions,
solving puzzles and having their work scored.
Every session
ended with an activity. The dog session ended with
various plays. These were acted out by the children,
demonstrating the importance of sterilization. They
were able to learn better by acting out what they had
learnt over three weeks. This kind of approach
actually helps children to recall easily since they
will remember the words they spoke in the plays and
other things that happened during the play. The plays
also helped them to appreciate the role of Animal
Welfare Society Inspectors and Veterinary Doctors in a
community.
The session
for Farm Animals ended with the construction of a
rabbit hutch. This was another interesting and
educative activity that served as an extrinsic
motivation to my students. In order not to distract
other students, we chose a Saturday for the
construction of the hutch. On that Saturday, some of
the children came with various carpentry tools (many
of which were not even important for what we had to
do!). This shows that their enthusiasm was really
high.
Before
construction commenced, there was a brief revision
session on what we have done on shelters before. We all had
fun nailing, arranging and moving wood and net. I
daresay that this is actually the activity that made
the most impression on the students. I made this
deduction for two reasons. First, we had discussed
shelters in all the sessions of the course; from
kennels for dogs, cool dry place for cats to general
shelters for farm animals. Constructing a rabbit hutch
was therefore an opportunity to demonstrate the
importance of shelters to all animals. At the time the
job was completed, everyone agreed that the effort has
been worthwhile, even though our own hutch was not
exactly as the model we used.
Another reason
why the rabbit hutch made the most expression on my
students is that the rabbit hutch was donated to the
school farm! The students were elated when the school
head made a brief and concise speech to thank and
congratulate them for the rabbit hutch right in the
assembly ground, in the presence of the whole school.
As would be expected, this had an undisputable impart
on the club’s membership. Till date, the rabbit
hutch is still in the school farm. Any member of the
club can walk into the farm and proudly tell his
friend ‘We made that in our club.’
 The importance
of such projects to teaching cannot be
over-emphasized. They are particularly helpful in the
teaching of animal welfare especially in nations where
people don’t attach importance to the shelter of
their animals. When these children for example become
adults, they will still have the mental picture of
themselves constructing a rabbit hutch. This will help
them to be able to construct something for any animals
they are going to own to stay in. When it comes to
constructing a shelter for an animal, they will
believe that they can do it as they have taken part in
constructing one before. And whatever you can believe,
only you can stop you from doing it!
Kingsley Aigbona (left) with staff and students of
Garrick Memorial
School show off the rabbit hutch constructed
as part of the WSPA animal welfare course
Claudiu Iosim, of animal charity Animed Arad,
shares his experiences of organizing a World Animal
Day school visit.
A school visit is a great opportunity to promote
spay/neuter operations and adoptions. Especially
adoptions, since almost all the people we come into
contact with during the visit love puppies and kittens
and either have some or dream of having at least one.
First things first, we are invited by the
administration of the school to attend a certain event
the school is putting together. Once we have an
invitation we do our best to present everyone with
interesting reading material promoting adoptions,
donations and, of course, spay/neuter as the only
humane way to reduce the number of unwanted puppies
and kittens.
We plan ahead how to arrange our presentation and our
materials. We write, design, print and copy the
materials. The ones we just give away to kids are
simple ones, black and white, on one page only.
Something easy to copy. Because, to be honest,
many of these materials will end up in other places than their homes and there is no point in wasting
money on printing expensive materials. Kids are kids.
They come, they see, they ask a lot of questions and
then they run along and play. Only a few of
them will end up visiting us later, with their parents, to
adopt a dog or a cat. Many of them make donations,
though - small, true, but many. They are happy to put
coins and small bills into the donation box.
Speaking of fundraising, I have seen that people of
all ages will rather pay more money to buy something
than give away a smaller amount and get nothing in
return. So what I do is get as many things as I can
from different places and sell them at these
events. The kids love them. Especially things I bring
back with me from different conferences I attend in
the USA or within Europe. The great thing about
those items is that they cannot be found here and they
are of great quality.
Usually, during a school visit, we have a booth on a
corridor, where we present all our materials. In front
of the booth we place the cages with puppies and
kittens we have for adoption. We make sure we bring only healthy animals. They are all de-wormed,
de-flead, vaccinated, with a health certificate for
each and every one of them. Everything must be clean,
with bright colors to give a sense of happiness and
wellbeing. Sometimes we go from class to class and
talk to the kids about choosing a pet and caring for
him afterwards. We explain to them the importance of
vaccinations and spay/neuter, along with a lot of
other things they wish to know about.
 At the end of the visit they are all happy they had a
‘free’ hour, just to talk about puppies and
kittens; and, of course, they would always like us to stay
longer and return soon!
We get a positive feedback from the teachers as well.
Many of them end up buying things, making donations
and even adopting some of the animals we bring with us.
And then there is the publicity. If our visit is
part of a bigger event organized by the school, the media will mention our charity as well, as
being one of the main events. All
things being considered, a school visit is a good
thing to do as often as possible.
Staff and children enjoy looking at
the range of display material on the Animed Arad
information stall
Suzanne Choo is the teacher-advisor for the Safari@PL project
at Paya Lebar Methodist Girls School in Singapore.
Three classes of fifteen-year-old students from Paya Lebar
Methodist Girls School (Secondary) came up with an
idea for a project that would help educate the student
population as well as the public on responsible pet
care. They called this project Safari@PL.
Safari@PL was held in conjunction with World
Animal Day, and organized with the help of Noah’s
Ark Companion Animal Rescue and Education Society. As
part of the event, students and staff brought their
pets to school. There were animals ranging from dogs,
cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters and even a frog!
Students were also encouraged to dress up in
animal-themed costumes. A carnival-like atmosphere
pervaded the entire day as various food and
merchandise stalls were also set up to raise funds for
animal welfare homes.
In addition, various events were organized, not for the
students only, but for the animals as well! One
exciting event was the dog race where specific breeds
of dogs got to race against each other: for example,
the Sheltie race, the Jack Russell race etc. There was
even a race for rabbits. Not that all the animals were
on their best behaviour; in the Maltese terriers’
race, one dog just sat down and refused to move, while
the rabbits had a lot of difficulty in sticking to
their designated tracks!
In addition, the students invited trainers from the
Singapore Kennel Club to give a talk on pet care and
lessons on dog grooming. These volunteers even
conducted a dog show for the audience. Aside from the
races, shows and talks, a group of students put on an
original production on the dangers of animal
experimentation, while others set up stalls ranging
from pet accessories to stuffed toys.
This event was indeed an enriching and educational event
for staff and students alike. The event also gave
students the opportunity to interact with animals and
as a result, they learned increased respect for and
appreciation of animals in all their diversity –
issues not covered in the everyday school curriculum.
This article was originally published in Child Education
magazine.
World Animal Day was launched in
the UK in 2003, with many teachers realising the
potential learning opportunities.
Kati Banciewicz teaches a Y1
class in North London, and linked World Animal Day
into a Pets topic that she had chosen for the
beginning of the school year. Kati began by bringing
her Labrador Charlie in to school to meet the
children. They were then invited to talk about their
own pets or their ideal pet, what they would call it,
how they would care for it, etc. Each child was then
asked to draw the animal for inclusion in a pictogram.
This resulted in an elephant among the ideal pets.
Kati explains: ‘Matteo’s choice led to interesting
discussions on what animals make suitable pets, basic
concepts of animal welfare and relative sizes – a
cat is bigger than a mouse, but smaller than an
elephant, that sort of thing. Matteo thought that an
elephant would be the same size as a big dog and was
amazed when we looked at some pictures. He finally
concluded that perhaps it wouldn’t be the best
choice of pet.’
 Some schools took a larger approach to WAD. Byerley Park
School in County Durham held its Book Fair the
preceding week, with a theme of wild animals for the
Infant School. This culminated in a wild animal fancy
dress party at the end of the week, with the whole
school decorated with displays about wild animals and
pets. Meanwhile in Rochdale, children at Crossgates
School made animal masks (right) and dressed up in costume as
part of a larger science investigation into the animal
kingdom.
Some WAD activities were on a very small scale, but
nevertheless proved significant. Claire Gough is an
assistant in a Year 2 class in Macclesfield: ‘I sat
with six children in the book corner looking at
pictures of animals around the world. We were
discussing a photo of a cow in India when Girish
pointed to a cat sitting in the background. Girish’s
family had moved from Gujarat to Macclesfield two
years ago and, although he clearly understood English,
rarely spoke. However, when he saw the cat, he began
to tell us about his grandmother’s two cats in
Ahmadabad. The other children were very interested.
The moment marked a real breakthrough for Girish and
is one I will never forget.’
Reprinted with permission from the National
Association for Humane and Environmental Education,
publishers of KIND News and KIND Teacher, 67 Norwich
Essex turnpike, East Haddam, CT 06423-1736, www.nahee.org.
Peer conflict. Aggression. Out-of-seat behavior.
The day-to-day issues in an elementary classroom are
as varied as the strategies for managing them. So what
works, and what doesn't, and why? We would venture
that there are almost as many answers-from token
economies to timeouts- as there are practitioners in
the field. But here's an interesting study: When a
friendly, well-trained dog is introduced into an
elementary school classroom, teaching conditions
improve considerably. Students as a whole become less
hyperactive, less aggressive, and more attentive to
their instructor. The dog, by her very presence,
becomes an effective classroom management tool.
About the Study
The 2002 study ["Behavioral effects of the
presence of a dog in a classroom," Anthrozoös 16
(2), 2003], conducted by Kurt Kotrschal and Brita
Ortbauer, took place in Vienna. Four months into the
school year, after a social dynamic had been
established in the classroom, the two researchers
began observing a multicultural class taught by
Veronika Poszvek. The group comprised 24 boys and
girls with a mean age of 6.7 years. Most students'
families had recently immigrated to Austria and faced
a language barrier. In part because of the diverse
ethnic backgrounds of Poszvek's students, teaching was
a challenge. Over a monthlong control period, the
class was videotaped during standard "open
teaching situations," in which students completed
learning tasks without necessarily remaining in their
seats. This was followed by a one-month experimental
period in which a dog was present in the classroom
every day, for the full day. At the outset, students
were taught about the dog's needs and shown how to
care for the animal. During open teaching situations,
they were free to interact with the dog except when
she was on her mat. Three dogs were used alternately:
a male retriever, a female husky, and a female
crossbreed. Two were certified therapy dogs, all three
had gentle dispositions, and all belonged to Poszvek.
The results are intriguing.
Staying Power
You could reasonably expect that a living, moving,
furry presence in the classroom would distract
children, redirecting their attention from their
teacher and their tasks. Kids might behave more
disruptively as a way of getting the animal's or
classmates' attention or because of the sheer novelty
of the situation. In Kotrschal and Ortbauer's study,
however, neither scenario played out. The research
found that having a dog in the classroom actually decreased behavioral extremes, making the diverse
group more homogenous. Children were less engaged in
loud, conspicuous, or troublesome behavior. They paid
more attention to their teacher, cooperated better,
and communicated more intensely with one another.
Improvements in social behavior were more pronounced
in boys than in girls, perhaps because girls showed
less boisterous, "rough-and-tumble" activity
to begin with. The researchers also speculate that the
teacher's authority increased, particularly with
respect to certain male students, in the presence of
her compliant, obedient dog. Although behavioral data
were not collected after the two-month period ended,
Veronika Poszvek continued to bring her dogs to school
the following year. She reported that the effects
observed in the study were lasting and long-term.
A Dog in Every Classroom?
Like many teachers, Margie Smith, a special
education instructor in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had
trouble with the noise level in her classroom. Rude
language and fights were common among her fifth- and
sixth-graders. One day, Smith brought her cat, Beamer,
to school. Taking cues from his body language,
students found that Beamer interacted more with them
when they were calm and quiet. It is a lesson, Smith
says, they carried into their treatment of one
another. "With Beamer around," she says,
"the kids settle in and play better
together." But can every teacher bring her pet to
school? And should she? Though Kotrschal and Ortbauer
suggest that dogs are a cheap, easy means of gaining
control in the classroom, pets are in fact neither
cheap nor easy. There are many factors to consider
before bringing any animal into the classroom. For
example:
- Do students have the self-control and
maturity to humanely handle a pet?
- Could the animal
pose a health or safety threat? Will the school accept
liability?
- Does the classroom have an appropriate
space for an animal, away from heavy traffic areas? Is
it the best place for a pet to spend his days?
For a checklist and a more thorough discussion of
animals in the classroom, see "Is a Classroom Pet
for You?" This brochure is available at www.nahee.org.
Unleash the Potential
 All things considered, a classroom pet-a dog in
particular-isn't a practical option for most teachers.
Still, there are ways of involving students with
animals and reaping the social and educational
benefits of those interactions. In schools and
libraries across the country, reading assistance dogs
instill confidence in reluctant readers. Kids who are
normally too intimidated to read aloud enjoy
practicing on their four-legged friends, who never
laugh at their mistakes. Other students pair up with
therapy dogs by training them for agility tests.
Working with dogs helps many children and adolescents
overcome physical limitations or emotional and social
difficulties, such as shyness, anxiety, or aggression.
We urge you to explore any number of possibilities for
strengthening the bond between children and companion
animals while also helping your students become more
thoughtful, capable, compassionate citizens. For more
information, contact The Humane Society of the United
States (www.hsus.org), Delta Society's Pet Partners ®
program (www.deltasociety.org), or your local humane
society.
Reprinted with permission from the National
Association for Humane and Environmental Education,
publishers of KIND News and KIND Teacher, 67 Norwich
Essex turnpike, East Haddam, CT 06423-1736, www.nahee.org.
Do you know an "animal kid"? A boy in
your class who loves to show you pictures of his dog?
A girl whose favorite T-shirt reads "I ©
Hamsters"? If so, then you might know the kind of
young person Northeastern University sociologist
Arnold Arluke calls a supernurturer. In his study
"Childhood origins of supernurturance: The social
context of early humane behavior" [Anthrozooös 16 (1), 2003], Arluke went in search of clues to what
makes young animal lovers tick. His interest wasn't
purely academic. Arluke believes that if we understand
the social psychological factors associated with
certain children's humane tendencies, we could apply
that knowledge to developing ways of instilling a
humane ethic in all children.
 Veterinary Adventurers
Arluke's first challenge was
to identify a study sample, a group of kids who
exhibit extraordinary humaneness in their everyday
lives. To do that, he went straight to the mother lode
of young supernurturers: Tufts University's one- to
two-week Adventures in Veterinary Medicine program. To
say that the kids in the Tufts program love animals is
like saying Yo-Yo Ma likes the cello. All participants
had pets – lots of them. An average of seven pets per
student was reported, with one student reporting 19.
The majority had volunteered in veterinary offices or
animal shelters, and about half were vegetarians. They
saw themselves as animal lovers and were known as
"animal crazy" among their peers. To get at
the roots of their intense connection with animals,
Arluke conducted rigorous, formal interviews with 30
students (ages 11 to 16) and their parents.
Good Things Come in Packages
What Arluke found
suggests that there is no one, dominant social
psychological factor associated with supernurturance.
Rather, the Tufts students shared a set of
circumstances and characteristics-a kind of "supernurturance
package"-linked to their animal-loving ways. For
starters, they had a strong self-image as "animal
people." According to Arluke, "being an
animal person was master status for students, serving
as their basic and most important self
definition." They also saw their relationship
with animals as reciprocal. Students reported
"feeling better" after assisting animals,
and for some, caring for animals was a way of coping
with family or personal problems. Finally, Arluke's
supernurturers felt a powerful sense of responsibility
for protecting animals. They showed acute awareness of
signs that animals might need their help and often
viewed themselves as uniquely suited to looking out
for their nonhuman friends.
Family Values
Not surprisingly, Arluke found that
parents played a pivotal role in cultivating and
reinforcing their children's interest in animals. Most
supernurturing kids had at least one parent who
identified himself or herself as an "animal
person" and provided a range of animal
experiences from an early age. Parents consistently
supported their children's early attraction to animals
and typically allowed them to care for at least one
animal on their own, facilitating a sense of
responsibility and bonding. Further, they treated pets
as family members by including them in domestic
rituals such as family picture-taking and validated
their children's grief when a pet died- arranging
ceremonial pet burials, sharing their own grief, and
sometimes getting their children new pets to ease the
pain. In doing so, Arluke observed, "parents...
may have enabled children to convert traumatic,
animal-related experiences into catalysts for
supernurturance." Parents also modeled
supernurturance (e.g., by rescuing stray or injured
animals), gave their children books about animals, and
encouraged them to volunteer for animal shelters and
advocacy groups. When it came time to get a new pet,
families often framed the act as a way of helping or
rescuing animals, not just a means of acquiring
companionship.
The Supernurturing Classroom
Though Arluke's study
focuses on family, the role of teachers in molding
children's attitudes and actions cannot be overlooked.
See, for example, how fourthgrade teacher Cory Chimka
(KIND Teacher, page 51) weaves a humane ethic into
lessons for his inner-city students- and how they, in
turn, have influenced his knowledge and perception of
animals and behavior toward them. So, how can you
structure a classroom environment where humane values
prevail and supernurturers shine?
- Capitalize on
teachable moments-natural opportunities to include
animals in your activities, informal discussions, and
sphere of caring. When you remove a spider or a lizard
from your classroom, for instance, articulate the act
as a way of saving the animal. Divide your class into
"rescue squads." Have them use the cup-and-cardboard method to gently catch and release uninvited
guests. "Katcha Bug," a great tool for this
purpose, is available at www.petacatalog.org.
- Kindle
children's interest in animals by keeping a supply of
pet-care guides, wildlife encyclopedias, and
humane-themed storybooks handy. You'll find great
titles on page 52.
- Do you have a classroom pet?
Refer to her lovingly as part of your class and
include her in the class picture. Model humane
behavior by providing the care she needs. Under close
supervision, give students a sense of responsibility
by entrusting them with some of the animal's
day-to-day care. Invite students to express their
grief over a pet's death, and don't be afraid to show
yours. Have your class create a scrapbook of favorite
memories of their pet.
- Provide avenues for students
to get involved more formally in animal welfare. Guide
them toward service learning that puts their love of
animals to good use on behalf of animal shelters or
animal advocacy groups. Encourage them to turn their
passion for animals into meaningful action by
participating in KIND Club Projects featured in KIND
News. [Available at www.kindnews.org.]
- Help your students identify themselves as
"animal people" in any number of ways. Form
a classroom KIND Club and distribute KIND ID cards
(bound into KIND Teacher) to every child. Acknowledge
children's concerns about animals and affection for
them and extend opportunities for your class to make a
difference -by planting a butterfly garden, filling
schoolyard bird feeders, "adopting" a
manatee or other endangered animal, or raising funds
to outfit a local service dog with a bulletproof K-9
vest. Your students will begin to feel a connectedness
with the animals they have personally fostered and
gain an interest in seeing them thrive.
For more on
the impact and implications of humane education, visit www.nahee.org. Click Research and Evaluation.
Resources
It is easy to incorporate World Animal Day into the Curriculum, and
to cover all subject areas in doing so. WAD activities
can be organized as a one-off celebration just for the
day itself or as part of a longer course of study.
Our Get an Idea section is
broken down into three age ranges: 4- to 7-year olds,
8- to 11-year olds. Suggestions for activities are
given as a simple list of bullet points with potential
curriculum areas that could be covered.
Many of the activities suggested in the Children's
Clubs and Youth Groups section of this site could
also be adapted for use in the classroom.
This section is intended for teachers organizing fairly large-scale events,
such as fund-raisers, concerts, school trips, etc. Our Handy Hints serve as a
useful checklist for important points to
remember.
This section includes worksheets, recording sheets and certificates
that can be downloaded and reproduced free of charge
for use in the classroom. There is also a list of
organizations around the world that provide good
quality educational material about animals.
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