Looking for a highly engaging animal research project for your students? Kids love pets, and my students were highly motivated to use these animal research graphic organizers to guide their research and write about a pet that was just right for them. This resource also includes fabulous math and reading activities. Grab this fabulous theme unit for your classroom today.

*******Check out everything that is included in this resource!!!*******

Class Schema Chart

Nutrition, Shelter, Enrichment

The first three pages of this resource are vocabulary pages. (These vocabulary pages are included in many of my units.) They are meant to teach these three words deeply.

Pet Fact Cards

These can be simply used to jump start the research process. My favorite way to use them is to make a class chart with the provided labels.

Pets Are/Can/Need

After completing the vocabulary pages and the fact card classification activity, I use this page to assess how far the students' thinking has come.

I Wanna Graph

Once students are ready to move on, I use this graph to have students select which pet they plan to research. Use the pictures and labels to make a class graph.

Research Papers

There are seven animal specific pages, and one generic page. The research portion of this unit can be organized in many ways. You can research as a class, or in small groups by animals. This is a great way to utilize parent volunteers.

Pets! Pets! Pets!

This is a great post-research assessment. Students work with a partner that chose a different pet than their choice. They use the Venn diagram to compare their pet choice.

Memoirs of a Goldfish & Memoirs of a Hamster

Read Memoirs of a Goldfish and Memoirs of a Hamster by Devin Scillian and Tim Bowers. After reading both stories, use this Venn diagram to compare and contrast the adventures of the two main characters.

Pictures First!

In the story Patches Lost and Found, Jenny draws pictures first and then writes the words! Have students try it her way. I print one copy of the first page for each student. I print a stack of page two so students can write as long a story or as short a story as fits each individual student’s needs.

Puppy Love

This is an estimation and measurement activity. Students work with partners in order to sequence their paths from largest to smallest.

Pet Shop Money Activity

Children are given a budget to shop for their new pet. This challenging activity is full of critical thinking and math problem solving.

Something Fishy Bump Games

There are two games of bump provided. The first version focuses on the addition and subtractions strategy of doubles plus one and doubles minus one. The second version focuses on doubles plus two and doubles minus two.

Fish Bowl Estimation

I go to my local dollar store and get small clear containers to serve as the fish bowls in this activity. I use this as a partner or small group lesson, but it can be whole group lesson led by the teacher too.

Pet Shop Glyph

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT? "Pet Shop Glyph" becomes a student favorite because the base of the glyph uses student pictures. This glyph becomes a teacher favorite because it is low prep and full of hilarity. This is a perfect addition to your pet unit.

This lesson includes:

*Directions for creating the glyph

*Colored pieces for students to cut out and glue on their picture to represent their data.

*Black and white pieces for students to cut, color and glue on their picture to represent their data. (These are my favorites, and they save on colored ink.)

* Pieces for a whole class graph. (Simply cut out and glue on poster board. This makes this glyph perfectly adaptable for kindergarten.)

*Two recording pages for students to organize, represent, and interpret their data.

*Writing project

*******These books have specific activities in this unit.*******

*I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff & David Catrow

*The Five-Dog Night by Eileen Christelow

*Patches Lost & Found by Steven Kroll & Barry Gott

*Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillian & Tim Bowers

*Memoirs of a Hamster by Devin Scillian & Tim Bowers

Other Recommended Books:

*What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss

*The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatini & Bruce Whatley

*Martin and the Teacher’s Pet by Bernice Chardiet & Grace Maccarone

*I Want a Pet by Lauren Child

*Not Norman a Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett & Noah Z. Jones

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Total Pages

77 pages

Answer Key

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Teaching Duration

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Standards

to see state-specific standards (only available in the US).

CCSS1.MD.A.1

Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.

CCSS1.MD.C.4

Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in another.

CCSS2.MD.C.8

Solve word problems involving dollar bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies, using $ and ¢ symbols appropriately. Example: If you have 2 dimes and 3 pennies, how many cents do you have?

CCSS1.NBT.A.1

Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120. In this range, read and write numerals and represent a number of objects with a written numeral.

CCSS1.NBT.C.5

Given a two-digit number, mentally find 10 more or 10 less than the number, without having to count; explain the reasoning used.

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