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January 2015

New Lessons for Grades 5-7

New lessons

Start the new year with new lessons and presentations that will impact your students in a meaningful way – while also teaching the Ministry of Education’s prescribed learning outcomes.

This year we are introducing new lessons in math, science, social studies and language arts* which focus on cat overpopulation. Use one or all of them in your grade 5-7 classroom. Lessons are interactive and thought provoking, challenging students to come up with solutions to the community cat overpopulation problem.

Also new this year are lessons on social justice. Practising their critical thinking skills, students can use animal welfare issues as a bridge to ease into discussion of more sensitive and personal social justice issues such as racism and stereotyping.

Look for brochures in your staff room that outline all of the BC SPCA presentations and lessons available for your grade, or request a copy of one or all of the units today.

*Hunter, the book reviewed in this installment of e-Teacher, is used along with Eric Walters’ Catboy in the language arts lesson on cat overpopulation.

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Book Review

HunterHunter
by Eric Walters

In this follow-up to his young adult novel, Catboy, about a boy named Taylor trying to save a feral cat colony at a junkyard, Eric Walters tells the same story, this time from the point of view of one of the feral cats, Hunter.

Based on previous experiences, Hunter distrusts humans. How will he react when Taylor and his friends start showing up at the junkyard? Will he grow to trust them? The novel’s perspective gives students the chance to consider how feral cats might view human behaviour and to better understand the differences between feral and domestic cats. Anthropomorphizing is used for the purpose of the point of view as well as some aspects of the plot; while not always realistic, this approach does work to evoke empathy in the reader. Unfortunately, some animal welfare issues are not addressed; most notably, the opportunity to mention spay/neuter to prevent overpopulation is lost.

Suitable for students in grades 4 and up, Hunter is sure to entertain, while also offering educators a springboard to animal welfare-related lessons and discussion.

Read more BC SPCA book recommendations.

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school club tip december 2014

This month, in keeping with the cat overpopulation theme, why not hold a jelly bean jar contest to guess the number of kittens that can be born from one unspayed cat and her unspayed offspring?

Use the math lesson from our new cat overpopulation unit to find the answer and then count out the number of jelly beans equivalent to the total number of kittens born over two years. Put the jelly beans in a jar and let students enter their guess for a chance to win the entire jar of jelly beans. Announce the winner over the school intercom and include information on the importance of spaying and neutering pets. It’s a problem we can ‘fix’!

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Current Events

Dog in snowWith temperatures dropping this winter, it’s crucial to keep all our family members, both two legged and four legged, safe and warm.

Meet a dog who was left outdoors due to having accidents in the house but is now learning to live indoors with his new foster family. Learn what to do if you know of an animal who is left outdoors and find tips on making the transition of bringing your outdoor animal inside.

Read more about this and other news items that you can discuss with your class.

 

BCSPCA Staff: company_logo

The BC SPCA has classroom resources for grades K-7. The lessons integrate animal issues and information into existing provincial learning outcomes. 

Click on a lesson plan below to learn more.

 

BC SPCA Lesson Plan: Kindness Counts

Kindness Counts
(for K- Gr. 2)

 

  Companions for Life (Gr. 3-5)

Companions for Life
(Gr. 3-5)

 

  You can make a difference (Gr. 5-7)

You Can Make a Difference
(Gr. 5-7)

 

BC SPCA Lesson Plan: Cluck!

  Cluck - The life of an egg-laying hen (Gr. 4-6)

 

BC SPCA Lesson Plan: Bite Free

  Bite Free (K - Gr. 5)

Bite Free is on the recommended resource list for Health and Career Planning for grades K-5.

 

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On behalf of all the animals we care for and protect, thank you for your support.