Delmae Second Graders Adopt Reading Pets Reading is both fundamental and fun at Delmae! Second-grade students recently participated in a pet adoption event that provided secondgrade students with stuffed dogs as a way to promote literacy and to get students excited about reading. Second grade teachers wrote individual Donors Choose Grants for each of their seven classes to fund an academic unit to promote literacy. All seven grants were funded which resulted in a unit of learning and a project of giving. The unit on friends and family included research, writing and reading about pets. In this unit, students read “Henry and Mudge,” a book about a boy who adopted a dog because he was lonely. Since our school mascot is the Delmae DAWGS, this was easily aligned with student interest and school spirit! As a culmination of the unit the students participated in a Pet Adoption Day. Each student was allowed to adopt a pet stuffed dog to have as a reading buddy both in class and at home. The pets were placed in portal kennels which were set up as stations around the multipurpose room. Students selected a pet from their teacher’s kennel and received a small cardboard pet carrier and an adoption certificate. Students signed a contract saying that they would read to the stuffed puppies for 20 minutes each night. Students also are bringing the puppies back to school on Fridays to read to them during Flashlight Fridays, a weekly reading event in which students get to read a book of choice using a flashlight. A special PUPCAKE treat was provided for students at the end of the adoption program by our partners in literacy at First Reliance Bank. The unit culminated with a food and supply drive for the Florence Humane Society.
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