Topic: Animals in our home

Target group

4th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

General aim of education

Students give examples of animals raised by humans and exchange basic rules for caring for them.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• exchange common animals kept in homes by humans;

• discuss the rules of caring for pets;

• justify the statement that having an animal involves obligations;

• provide the benefits of animal husbandry and care.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• cards with numbers that determine the order of occurrences.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• The teacher asks students to prepare on the basis of abstract and available sources in any form, presentations on selected domestic animals. Each presentation should contain justification for the choice made and information about the needs of the described animal and the rules of caring for it.

Introduction

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

• The teacher and students jointly set the criteria for the assessment of student presentations (including their time) and draw the grading table on the blackboard.

• Students draw cards with numbers that determine the order of occurrences. Each presentation is evaluated by the teacher and students according to the adopted criteria.

• The teacher and students analyze the assessment table and indicate the best prepared presentations.

• The teacher instructs the pupils to exchange animals most frequently described by them in the presentations. Next, he displays an interactive illustration depicting the white‑winged affair, containing information about his needs and the principles of caring for him..

• Pupils discuss the benefits of pet breeding and determine the responsibilities of their carers.

• The teacher asks pupils to read the passage entitled „Farm animals” and explained what animals we call this.

Summary

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Animals in our home

Having a pet it is a great pleasure, but also a big responsibility. Most often, we keep those animals in our homes, whose maintenance does not pose too complicated tasks for us. Some people choose a more difficult animal to maintain. That is why in our homes you can find more and more species of animals – including those exotic and not native to Poland. Once, only dogs, rodents and rabbits were kept in homes. Today, ferrets, chinchillas and hedgehogs are very popular. They are equally interesting, but a bit more demanding when it comes to maintenance.

When we have a pet, we must remember that it is completely dependent on us. Taking them to our home, we assume full responsibility for his health and well‑being. Remember that every animal should have permanent access to fresh water, the food should be of good quality, and the room or cage in which it lives, large enough and clean. In case of illness, the animal will need specialist treatment. Remember also that caring for an animal lasts for a long time; cats, for example, live for over 12 years. You must be aware that the animal is not a toy but a companion for its entire life. After many years, he will still need your care and company.

In the case of exotic animals from warm countries, it is very important to provide them with high enough temperature, humidity and lighting. When considering the purchase of such an animal, we must be sure that we will be able to create the right conditions for him. If not, we should not decide to keep exotic animals at home.

Keeping animals for pleasure is a form of hobby, but some animals, called farm animals, man tamed for his own benefit. All the animals that we breed today were formerly wild. Many thousands of years ago people began to catch and breed them in captivity, which was the beginning of their domestication. Today they are an important element of the economy.

• Animal husbandry teaches responsibility.

• The most commonly raised domestic animals are: cats, dogs, rabbits, rodents (mice, rats, hamsters, degus), ferrets, fish, birds (parrots, canaries) and reptiles (snakes, turtles, lizards).

• Providing a pet with good care is the most important task of its owner.

• Domestication of animals currently serving as an economic contributor to the development of civilization.