Not everyone in Dana Cornelius' third-grade class at Peebles Elementary School gets to eat fish on their birthday. But Yertle does. Yertle the turtle is Cornelius' class pet. And speaking of his birthday, he will celebrate his 25th birthday on September 11th. “Yertle brings so much excitement to our third grade classroom. We sing him a song and give him a fish every year on his birthday. On the helper table, each student Cornelius, who adopted Yertle at Peebles School, said: “When I see students who had their turtles over 20 years ago, they still ask about Yertle the turtle. He really is a wonderful school memory that will last for generations.'' said Cornelius, who has been a teacher for 27 years. Kelly Shute's second-grade class at Horsack Elementary School has more furry options, including Ginny Pig and Sage, ages 4 and 5, respectively. But her class pet journey began more than five years ago with Hossack students adopting her two tiny hamsters. “Students love reading about[children's book characters]Humphrey and Ralph S. Mouse, and they love to read about the relationships between their pets and the characters in their favorite stories. “We made real connections,” she said. Use your science and math skills to create a humane trap and research the best way to get your little escape artist back to their Habitrail home. ” However, the hamster's life was short. As fate would have it, a local family who had immigrated gave them two cute guinea pigs, Ginny and her daughter Squeaks. “Students read books about how to care for animals. They volunteered to clean and feed the animals, and even offered to take them home during recess. They had the opportunity to interact with live animals. Some students don't have that kind of behavior. Together in class, we learn how to be kind.” “By interacting with the creatures, we can learn how to be gentle and talk to them gently, and maybe even chirp or chirp for attention.” “You might be rewarded for doing something like that, so you can observe the relationships between the animals as they grow and change,” said Chute, who has been at the school for seven years. Ta. Squeaks died just days before school ended in 2023. Chute said her experience was unexpected and sad, but also a new learning opportunity. “All living things grow, change and eventually die,” she said. “Discussing and relating to the personal losses of our peers and our class losses has brought our class even closer together. We learned how guinea pigs are social creatures; I learned about human bonds, our bonds with each other, and how best to support Ginny when she's missing, her baby. ” Shute discovered Sage, a guinea pig who had just lost her sister, and said, “After a week-long trial, Ginny and Sage started living together and the happy chirps and chirps started again.” said. Last year, two turtles, Taylor and Travis, also joined Chute's class. These help teach about life cycles, animal adaptations, categorization, social and emotional learning, responsibility, compassion, understanding and empathy, she said. Her second-grade teacher at Hossack, Amy Devenzio, wouldn't say what kind of treat the ball python would give her on her birthday, but she was sure her students were intrigued and surprised by the snake. is. Devenzio said her students named it Buttercup when she brought it in more than 20 years ago. “I used Buttercup in second grade to enhance the study of a group of animals,” said DeVenzio, who has worked at Hossack for 31 years. “Buttercup is just one of the cool-looking classroom friends. .The students want to touch the buttercups.'' And I’m always amazed at how she feels,” she said. Natalie Beneviat is a contributing writer for her Trib Total Media.
