My Pet

• Review this lesson plan and choose what you need from the Teacher Support box.

• If necessary, pre-teach these related vocabulary words: animals, pet, needs, responsibility.

• Consider the abilities and backgrounds of all your students and decide when and how to introduce and differentiate lesson content, activities, or concepts.

• If the background cards are missing or broken, you can download them from the Additional Resources section of the Teacher Support box.

• Show the students the image of various animals (see the activity card below) and ask them to describe what they see.

• Prompt a discussion about the needs of animals.

• Consider asking questions like:

  • What do these animals need to eat?
  • What do these animals need to drink?
  • What do these animals need to keep them safe and warm?

• Tell the students that when people have pets, they are responsible for taking care of them. Explain that this includes making sure the pets have food, water, and shelter, and also making sure the pets get exercise, attention, baths, check-ups by the veterinarian, and medicine when they are sick.

• Ask the students to imagine what it would be like to have one of the animals in the picture as a pet.

• Ask the students to choose an animal to be their pet.

• Encourage them to build a scene for their pet that includes everything the pet needs. Remind the students that they should pick a setting that is appropriate for their animal (e.g., a dog may live in a house, but a duck would need to live outside.)

• Activity tip: If the students have difficulty thinking of items to build for their pet, start by asking what the pet would eat.

• When the students have finished building, ask them to share what they have built for their pet.

• Consider asking questions like:

  • Which animal did you choose as a pet?
  • What does your pet need?

• Tell the students that when people go on vacation, they need someone to watch their pet and that this person is called a pet sitter.

• Ask the students to create instructions for how to take care of their pet while they are away.

• Encourage them to role-play the pet owner demonstrating the instructions to the pet sitter.

• Ask guiding questions to elicit students’ thinking and their decisions while ideating.

Observation Checklist

• Review the learning objectives and educational standards addressed in this lesson (Teacher Support box). 

• Share specific student responses and behaviors at different levels of mastery.

• Use the following checklist to observe students’ progress:

  • Students are able to express their thoughts, ideas, and opinions to others.
  • Students are able to understand the fundamental narrative structure and elements.