Authentic, real-world applications in the classroom keep students engaged and excited! Coming across a lesson that can truly make a difference and tie into a great cause is a huge win. Teacher Amy McKinney from Pennsylvania partnered with a local animal shelter for a persuasive-writing assignment with her third graders. Each student wrote about an adoptable pet and even drew an adorable photo! The goal was to help pets find their forever homes while students practiced their writing skills (and have a little fun, of course). The shelter is displaying these awesome write-ups with the adoptable pets and also shared them on their social media.
Take a look at this partnership:
McKinney’s daughter works with a local animal shelter, making the partnership a no-brainer. For other teachers looking to start a project like this, McKinney said, “I recommend that they reach out to animal shelters in their area. I’m sure they would love the opportunity to work with elementary students to help find homes for their pets!”
Authentic experiences increase student engagement.
McKinney shared the project on her Instagram and noted, “My students’ engagement was tremendous! They knew the work they were doing would make a huge difference in a pet’s life, so what normally takes us a couple of weeks to do, we completed in just days.”
The project was a huge success and McKinney told us both she and the animal shelter hope to continue this as an ongoing project. It keeps students engaged in the lesson while benefiting animals in need of a home.