An EGGStraordinary Day!

The students in Room 503 have expressed (exhuberant) interest in having a class pet. All twenty of them would like a class pet. But are they ready to assume the responsibilities that having a pet entails? And does each student understand exactly what it means to step up to the plate and pitch in?

Hmmm...

Perhaps, I thought, it might be a good idea to start off with something not-quite-so pet-like to see if we really were to get a pet, how well it would be taken care by each Sixth Grade student.

This morning, before giving each student their own egg to carry with them through the course of the day, I explained how each student was required to care for their egg as they would for a baby or a very young child. The eggs are fragile, I expained. They need constant attention. They may not be left alone, nor left with a "babysitter".

During morning break, three eggs were left atop lockers, and one was consigned to a bench - all sans their "parents".

This prompted a discussion about what you would do with a baby (or even a pet): would you leave it on top of a locker?

The students were given an opportunity to redeem themselves.

During lunch, one student's egg broke. It was - as all of us concurred - an accident. We then had a discussion about what we could learn from that experience.

At the end of the day, the students journaled about their experiences:

Earlier this morning I had accidently tipped my bowl (each student was provided with a styrofoam bowl to house his/her egg) and [the egg] got a crack...After that, I could not have done better with taking care of it.

I thought it was kind of wierd taking care of an egg. One thing is that you don't have to do anything for the egg. The other thing is that it is so delicate. even the slightest mistake could crack it.

Dropping my egg made me more careful. I didn't want that to happen to the class pet (if we got one). Even though I dropped my egg I learned nobody's perfect and accidents happen.

My experience with my egg was fun and not fun at the same time...It taught me a lesson about taking care of things and not forgetting about it. I enjoyed it.

I don't think the egg gave us any help with the class pet because we won't carry the class pet around. The only thing would be not forgetting to feed the pet...I didn't like having the egg because it was annoying having to carry it around everywhere.

...It made me feel nice to have something to take care of the whole day.

Tomorrow, we'll talk "pet".

Cheers,
Ms. Pitman