Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

One amazing web resource for educators is TumbleBooks which features many different eBooks with life learning lessons, great stories, and many books for many different age groups. One book I really enjoyed was Bugs, Bugs, Bugs written and illustrated by Bob Barner. The book is for pre-k through 1st grade students. There are two great things about this eBook with the first being the media used to present the material and the second being the material. The eBook has so many options to be used for beginning readers as a reward or to help them learn new words. It also has a great humane education message about bugs being fun and a part of nature that all people are included in instead of being scary or weird. I think this eBook is not only a beautiful and entertaining book but also a good tool to learn and become familiar with bugs at an early age.

Real World Experience

In the past I had the pleasure of going back to my second grade teacher and using her class for one of my humane education projects. I did an art lesson where the students made mosaic pictures by gluing colored paper squares to a white sheet of paper. The theme for the pictures was "What lives in a garden?" Before we got started I had the students tell me about the things that live in gardens. Some students said bugs, others talked about the plants like flowers or even corn, and others thought about animals like their dog or rabbits. The approach helped each student share ideas and make their own unique picture. Most of the pictures were very abstract which was nice but as they worked I went around the room assisting with glue spills, finding more colored paper, and hearing about what it is like to live in a garden. The students were able to show that they understood some of the everyday situations plants and animals go through and how they could help the plants and animals. Overall this lesson was one of the first ones I ever did that was more focused toward humane education and I feel it was very successful.

Animals in the Classroom

While searching the ERIC database I came across a wonderful article titled Animals in the Classroom: A Guide for Elementary and Secondary Educators by Elaine Birkholz and Peter Theran which discussed the different ways to integrate animals into eh curriculum that would foster learning, compassion, and be safe for animals. The article discusses which animals would be most useful in the classroom, how to care for them, and how to integrate them into the curriculum. The article goes over pets such as rabbits being difficult in the classroom to hamsters that are nocturnal to gold fish being sturdy adapters to the classroom environment. Another important fact for educators to become aware of is that there are laws in place in certain states regulating classroom pets including Florida. The article also touches on dissection and its alternatives and respect for life which is one of the underlying lessons when having a classroom pet.

I personally feel that if the right animal is in the classroom and it is integrated into the curriculum it will be beneficial to the students. I also think that this article is very useful to any educator who has considered having a classroom pet.

What do you think?

After posting about dissection technology I thought I would post some information about the Lynchburg College 2006 Governor's School for Math, Science, and Technology to get opinions about the use of technology at this school. The school is for gifted high school juniors and seniors in Virgina who stay the summer and take advanced courses in math, science, and technology. One of the science classes offered is called "Blood and Guts" which many students take because they are thinking about medicine as a career. To showcase the work of students the college put up a website showing gifted students with mutilated animals and with students pretending to eat animal intestines. Many different groups were appalled at this display including the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The following links are from the college's press release about the school, the blood and guts web page, PCRM's response to the web site, and the book The Use of Animals in Higher Education by Jonathan Balcombe.

Now it is time to read through the information and comment on what you think about the issues at Lynchburg College. I'll comment with my thoughts in a later post.

Lynchburg College 2006 Governor's School for Math, Science, and Technology.
Blood and Guts Web Page
PCRM Article 1
PCRM Article 2
The Use of Animals in Higher Education by Jonathan Balcombe

Diary of a Worm

Books are important instructional tools and media. Books also have many different messages that are sent to children through word choice, pictures, and the roles people and animals take within books. Because of this, humane education can be brought across to children through the books used in the classroom. I recently found a wonderful book titled Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin. The book follows a young worms life at school, the dance, with his friend spider, and his interactions with humans. The important issues in the book are how the children can relate to the worm. The little worm wants to live his life, go to school, and have fun with friends and family. The lesson on the book can involve comprehension with printed materials but adding a discussion about what it is like to be a worm helps with empathy building.

One way to find books yourself that have humane education themes is to read the book and ask, "How are animals portrayed?" "After reading do you understand how another person feels?" "Is the environment valued in the book?" "Are the lessons taught about being kind to others, empathy, and about having a strong moral character?"

These are some of my favorite books with humane education themes:

Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss

The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

The Peace Book by Todd Parr

It's Okay to be Different by Todd Parr

Dissection Technology

Dissection in the classroom has been a hot button issue for students and instructors alike. A humane educator is against dissection in the classroom because of the cruelty to the animals being studied. Learning about life through death does not make much sense. Luckily for educators technology is available from many databases for use in schools. There are also options through teachkind.org to teach life sciences without dissection, information on why dissection is not an effective learning tool, and evidence that the animal dissection industry is not safe for schools to support.

Regina~ I think your blog is a fantastic idea. I checked out the website about Humane Education and agree wholeheartedly that we need to incorporate this kind of education into our classrooms. Especially today, it's essential that kids learn to be humane towards each other and also to animals. Like the website says, if kids can learn to be humane to innocent creatures that are unable to protect themselves, they will learn to be good, compassionate and kind citizens of this world. I also think it's so great, especially as a future teacher, that you can sign up to be sent free information about how to use this education in your classroom, and that the website offers free videos you can download and use in your classroom; another way to use technology in a useful and educational way. I was just wondering, how did you find this great website and also if you get sent their information, do you find it really helpful? Thanks!
~Meg