Henny Penny; The Adventures of Chicken Hatching and Brooding
My students need egg hatching/incubation materials as part of their life cycles science unit. This unit provides experiences with showing compassion towards animals.
Have you ever heard the phrase, "You can judge a society by the way it treats its animals"? Children who are given experiences where they can care for and interact with small animals teaches not only science but compassion, empathy, and tolerance.
We are a literacy-based 5th grade classroom from a semi-rural town in central Maine.
We are a high-poverty school with diverse cultural backgrounds. Many of our children come to school hungry and struggle with academics, behavior, and emotional issues. To say life is hard for these youngsters is an understatement. But everyday they come to school, eat their breakfast, try their best, and they grow and learn. Part of the premise of the literacy classroom is to integrate experiential learning into their daily work. Many of the children have very limited outside of school experiences. Providing engaging, hands-on opportunities helps them master reading and writing by making connections to text and by expanding their understanding of vocabulary as well as aiding in their basic academics in general. But most importantly it helps them experience success and build self-confidence.
My Project
Last year a very generous friend gave me 6 chicken eggs. She said, "Do you know what your kids need? They need to see life begin and take care of something tiny." Well she was absolutely right! We incubated 6 eggs but due to the poor quality of the incubator only one chick hatched. I was lucky enough to capture it on video and the excitement of the children was just emotionally overwhelming. We watched that video over and over and each time it was like watching it for the first time. We named the chick, Solo. Everyday the first thing the kids did as they entered the room was check on Solo. They cared for him and they took turns, with a caring adult next to them, holding him. Many told me that it was the best school experience they ever had. The best part was watching children who struggled to show compassion hold that chick with such tenderness and watch over him with such caring and protection. We combined this experience with reading picture books about compassion and friendship.
Watching children who struggle to show empathy and tolerance, gently and carefully hold a baby chick is magical.
The kids saw the world through different eyes. The tininess and vulnerability of the chick brings out feelings of caring in the children. As I was reviewing our new science curriculum I saw life cycles and immediately thought of Solo. It was clear that incubating and brooding chicks is the perfect way to combine science, literacy, and the teaching of empathy and tolerance.
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