ACT: The Animal Club for Tweens (ages 8-12)
The Animal Club for Tweens is the place where tweens who care about animals can learn about how they can ACT to make the world a better place for all kinds of creatures. #superstar
Beth Foster | Humanities Educator
Average rating:
4.9
Number of reviews:(378)
Popular
Rising Star
What's included
1 live meeting
25 mins in-class hours per weekHomework
1-2 hours per week. Most weeks the club meetings will end with an action students can take to work toward change. Completing the action is optional, though encouraged.Assessment
Students can earn badges in the Animal Club for Tweens by taking pictures of themselves completing an action, or by writing a short paragraph about how they took action. The photo or essay needs to be posted in the classroom to count toward the student’s badge. Badge earners will be recognized at the beginning of each club meeting. The first completed action earns the Grasshopper Badge. Five completed actions earn the Snake Badge: 10-Rabbit Badge, 20-Cat Badge, 30-Rooster Badge, 40-Pig Badge, 50-Wolf Badge, 60-Deer Badge, 70-Lion Badge, 80-Eagle Badge, 90-Elephant Badge, 100-Whale Badge.Class Experience
US Grade 3 - 6
ACT: Animal Club for Tweens is a club for 8 to 12-year-old students who are interested in animal welfare and animal rights. Each week we’ll meet a different kind of animal who needs our help. Students will learn about the issue surrounding the animal and decide if our club should take action for change. We’ll learn about different ways of making decisions as we decide as a club about whether we should take action on a particular issue. We’ll explore majority voting and consensus decision-making. If the students decide as a group that they should take action, the teacher will introduce at least one way to take action on that week’s animal-related issue. Some weeks, students may learn about sending an email to a government official asking that he or she make a particular policy decision that will help the animal. Other weeks, the students may learn that they can help an animal by sharing the animal’s story on social media sites. At other times, students may learn about a direct action they can take to help the animal, such as deciding not to buy a product or putting out bowls of water for wildlife during a drought. Some weeks, the club may host a guest speaker who is with an animal rescue group, or who is an animal activist or a government official who can tell the students about how they can take action to make change they want to see. The teacher will use video, lecture and slides. The teacher will also facilitate respectful conversation and debate as she guides students through different decision-making processes.
Learning Goals
Students will learn:
— about issues affecting the environment and animals.
— about different ways of making decisions as a group.
— about how government works and how they can be involved citizens.
—about many ways they can work for change they want to see.
— about using technology such as email and social media for communication.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
This club will teach students about different ways they can take political and consumer action by communicating with government and business decision-makers. While we will discuss how we can change policy, students will decide for themselves if an issue presented is one on which they think they should work for change.
An example might be the teacher presenting the story of a zoo that has an elephant in a very small enclosure that animal activists say is inhumane. The teacher will share with the students different perspectives on whether the enclosure is too small. The students will then discuss as a group and decide together what they think is true. If they agree that the enclosure is too small, the teacher will tell them that activists are encouraging people to send an email to the zookeeper and encourage her to send the elephant to a sanctuary. The teacher will walk through how that email can be written and what it should and should not say. After class, students can talk with their parents about sending the email and taking action.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Joined July, 2020
4.9
378reviews
Popular
Rising Star
Teacher expertise and credentials
2 Degrees
Master's Degree in History from Gettysburg College
Bachelor's Degree in English from Campbellsville University
I have been involved in animal rescue and animal rights work for many years. I am also an experienced community organizer and taught a “justice school” during which ordinary citizens learned about the ways they could take political action for change they wanted to see. Reviews
Live Group Class
$5
weekly1x per week
25 min
Completed by 261 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 8-12
1-16 learners per class
