There is something we want to share with you…something that was just too fun to keep to ourselves.  A wonderful teacher from Boone, Iowa had her middle school Language Arts students write essays about their classroom pet and the benefits of having them!  Thank you Mrs. Runestad and her students at Sacred Heart School for sharing!

 

The benefits of having a classroom pet can help learning in schools.  If a student is feeling down, they can pet Daisy and feel a little better inside.  She also has been the topic for our journal writings in many different ways.  Once we had to tie dark chocolate and Daisy into a story, and they all turned out good.

Also every day Daisy goes to work and we read aloud to her.  This is how we practice fluency.  We have 15 minutes and we read as much as we can in that time.

 

I like having a class pet!  It is awesome and I would suggest every class get one.

 

~ Brandon

 

 

Daisy, our European Brown Bear Hamster, is a great classroom pet to have. She helps us with our fluency because we all take turns reading out loud to her in the hall during free reading time. Daisy also makes the day more fun just by being here at school with us. We sit in a circle and let her run around inside of it while we take turns reading, or when our teacher reads to us. It is also fun for us to just hold her because she makes everybody happy and calm. In all, I think it’s a great opportunity to have Daisy around, and I think all classrooms should have a pet like Daisy.

 

~ Mark

 

 

I cherish having a classroom pet.  She sits and listens to us while we read.  It’s nice to come to school and find out she’s still here, and we get to stroke her affectionately.  I would hate for anything to happen to her.

 

If she would ever escape I would feel displaced; as if life was turning for the worst.  When we first come to class we read independently for 15 minutes.  Our teacher, Mrs. Runestad, created a list for who would read out loud to Daisy in the hall during that time.  This helps us increase our fluency and we have time to associate with Daisy.  

 

She’s also fun to have.  When we have parties we create different mazes for her to run through with various things that are in our classroom.  It is fun to watch the maniacal way she runs to find the exit and/or a snack.  

 

Overall, it has been a good experience to have a class pet, and personally I would recommend that every teacher get a classroom pet, that has amazing character, for the students in their classroom.

 

~  Mitch

 

 

We have a class pet named Daisy; she is a hamster who is always trying to escape. We use her while we are working in groups and doing individual work. We read out loud in the hallway to Daisy once a day, and we enjoy it. Some fun things that we do with her are to put her in a ball so she can run around in a circle, while we work. Every once in awhile she can be a bit of a distraction, but we love her all the same. I think all classes should have a class pet in their room – not just for academics but for fun as well.

 

~ Joseph

 

Visit our blog again next week to read the rest of the essays from students at Sacred Heart School!  And to learn more about the benefits of classroom pets and how you can receive financial support to have one in your classroom, visit https://petsintheclassroom.org/teachers.