Social Studies
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.
8-12
year olds
1-14
learners per class
Charged weekly
Meets 1x per week
Runs week after week
25 minutes per class
Cancel anytime
Available Times
Pacific
Available Times
Pacific
Description
Class Experience
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.
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.
Most weeks the club meetings will end with an action students can take to work toward change. Completing the action is optional, though encouraged.
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.
25 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 1 - 2 hours per week outside of class.
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.
Teacher
Beth FosterThe Foster Woods Folk School, Teaching the Humanities Within an EcoSocial Justice Framework
🇺🇸
Lives in the
United States286 total reviews
225 completed classes
About Me
From ancient times, humans have used stories to better understand themselves and their place in the universe. Stories explain our past and how we can create a better time and world for ourselves and those who will come after us. This is the heart...
