Lesson Plan

Name: Laura Berkeley

Focus Area: Social Studies
Title of Lesson: Who Takes Care of Our Pets?

Key: Head Start Early

Learning Framework s
= Domain
=Element

Date: Nov.13, 2015

Grade Level: Pre- K
Total Time: 30 minutes

I. Objectives:

The children will enhance their knowledge of family pets by participating in a

class survey.
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o

The children will gain an understanding of teamwork by taking turns roleplaying as a Vet to assess their pet patient during the Who Takes Care of
Our Pets? activity.
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o

Domain: Literacy Knowledge & Skills

Element: Print Concepts & Conventions

The children will enhance their language skills by communicating with their
group members to complete the task of identifying each body part on their
pet patients check list during the Who Take Care of Our Pets? activity.
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o

Domain: Literacy Knowledge and Skills

Element: Book Appreciation & Knowledge

The children will develop literacy knowledge by identifying each animal (Pet)
during the Who Takes Care of Our Pets? activity.
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o

Domain: Social & Emotional Development

Element: Social Relationships

The children will gain an understanding of what veterinarians do by listening

to a read-a-loud of the book We Need Veterinarians by Lola M. Schaefer.
And by viewing a video.
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o

Domain: Social Studies Knowledge & Skills

Element: People & The Environment

Domain: Language Development

Element: Expressive Language

The children will gain an understanding on who a Vet is and what their job
entails by engaging in a social studies lesson plan.
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o

Domain: Social Studies Knowledge & Skills

Element: People & The Environment

II. Materials:

4 Bones
4 Feathers
4 Carrots
4 Fish
2 Stethoscope
2 Tongue Suppressers

Vet puppet
Bucket
Stuffed animals
o Dog
o Cat
o Bunny
o Bird
Pet Vet Center kit
o Animal Pictures: Cat, Dog, Bunny, Bird
o Animal Checklists
o Cotton Balls
o Swaps
o 2 Stethoscopes
o 2 Prescription Bottles
o Grooming Brush
o 2 Tongue suppressers
o 4 X- Rays
YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qC3bntQI3Q

* Prior to this activity:

The children will already have a clear understanding of what animals can be
pets, what they eat and where they live.
The Tables will be set up in groups of 4.
The checklists will be laminated.
Animal Cards, checklists and materials will be on the desks.
o Stethoscope
o Cotton Balls
o Swaps
o Dry erase marker
o Tissue paper (As an eraser)
I will have the video ready on the smart board

III. Procedure:
A. Motivation
1. I will introduce this lesson with a in class survey. (Pets)
2. I will introduce the Vet Puppet as a friend/ visitor.
3. I will have a video on Vets.
B. Steps
1. I will ask the children to join me for circle time
2. I will ask the children if they have pets.
3. I will use the Pets in My family chart to tally how many students have
what pet.
I will ask the children the following questions:
i. Who has a pet at home?
ii. Who does not have a pet at home? (Tally recorded o back)
iii. Who has 1 pet at home? (Tally recorded on back)
iv. Who had more then 1 pet at home? (Tally recorded on back)

v. Who has a: Dog? Lizard? Frog? Turtle? Cat? Bird? Fish?

Hamster? Snake? (Tallys recorded on each animal picture)
For the children who do not have pets, I will ask them:
i. What pet do you wish to have? (Tally recorded on animal of
choice)
ii. I will inform the children that I do not have a pet but I would
want a dog.
4. I will direct the class to count the tally marks with me.
5. I will ask the class the following questions:
When we get sick, where do we go? (Answer: To the Doctor. If the
answer is to the Hospital I will ask my follow up question) Follow up
question: Who do we see when we are at the hospital?
Does the doctor make you better?
When our pets get sick, where do we take them to feel better?
(Answer: Animal doctor or Vet)
6. I will introduce and read the book We Need Veterinarians By Lola M.
Schaefer
I will ask the following questions:
i. Can you name the 3 different types of animals veterinarians
take care of? (Answer: Pets, Farm & Zoo animals)
7. I will introduce the Vet puppet (Dr. Lopez).
Dr. Lopez will introduce herself and question the class.
i. Name
ii. I am a doctor who takes care of your pets and other animals.
Do you know what that type of doctor is called?
Dr. Lopez will introduce our activity
i. Dr. Lopez will introduce the Vet video (43 seconds-2:17)
ii. Today, you all get to pretend to be vets and give you pet
patients a check up
8. I will have the children pick 1 item out of the bucket to separate them into
groups of 4 (1 group of 3)
9. I will direct the children to go to their selected group tables.
Example: If you have a feather, can you go to the table with the
picture of a Parrot. (Will do this for each animal)
10. I will go over the materials with the class.
I will inform the class that they may or may not use all the materials
on the table and they will have to take turns completing each task.
Each Checklist card has 8 tasks.
i. 1 Animal Card
ii. 1 Animal Checklist
iii. 1 Stethoscope
iv. 3 Cotton Balls
v. 2 Swaps
vi. 1 Dry erase marker
vii. 2 Tissue paper (As an eraser)
11. I will give each table their pet patient
Rabbit: Tucker
Parrot: Polly
Cat: Star
Dog: Brownie
12. I will direct the children to do the following:

In your groups, each member will take a turn and complete a task.
i. Use the stethoscope to check your patients heart rate and
breathing.
ii. Use the check list:
1. Check your patients head for any cuts or scraps.
Check off the Head box.
2. Feel around on each body part (Leg, Tail, Foot, Back)
to make sure the bones are lined up/ in place. Check
off the Foot, Tail and Leg box
3. Check the back (hair) for parasites like fleas. Check off
the Back/Hair box
4. Look at the eyes to make sure they are clear and do
not have debris around them. Use a cotton ball to
clean around the eyes. Check off the Eyes box
5. If your patient has ears, use the swab and clean out
the ear canal.
6. If you patient has long ears, use the cotton ball to
clean the length of the ear. Check off the Ear box
7. If your patient does not have visible ears, check its
wing for loss of feathers and broken bones. Check off
the Wing box
8. For the Dog, Rabbit and Cat, check their nose for any
discharge and to make sure it is slightly wet. For the
Parrot, check its nose for any discharge and make
sure it is dry. Use a swap to clean around the nose.
Check off the Nose box.
I will observe the class as they complete each task.
13. I will ask each group if their patient has a clean bill of health.
If not, I will give that group medicine for their patient.
14. I will ask the class to join me again for circle time and to sit with their group
members.
I will ask the following questions:
i. Do you think a Veterinarian has an important job in our
community?
1. I would ask the children to give me an example why a
Vets job is important; I will select a few students.
ii. Did you all enjoy being vets?
15. I will call out each pet group and ask the following question:
Name 1 action they had to do during their pet check up.
i. I will tell them to clean up their workstation and wash their
hands for lunch.
1. Clean the Checklist board and place everything in the
center of the table
16. I will repeat step 15 for each group.

IV. Conclusion:
After each group has completed their pet check- up, I will invite everyone back to
circle time to discuss what a vet does and why they are important to our
community. I will ask each group questions about their pet patient.
V. Transition:

1. I will have the children randomly select 1 of the 4 items in the bucket and
then split off in groups.
2. I will ask each group questions about the job of a Vet and what they did
with their patient.
VI. Follow-Up Activities/Learning Centers:
1. Dramatic Play: Pet Vet Center
2. Trip to an animal shelter
3. Trip to a pet store
VII. Evaluation/Assessment:
A. Evaluation:
Were the children able to complete the class survey successfully?
Were the children able to take turns being the vets during this activity?
Were the children able to understand what a Veterinarian does as a job?
Were the children able to identify each of their pet patients and their body
parts?
5. Were the children able to communicate with their group members to complete
this activity?
6. Were the children able to understand who a Veterinarian is and what their job
is in our community?
1.
2.
3.
4.

B. Self-Reflection Assessment:
1. What did the children most enjoy?
2. What did the children least enjoy?
3. If I implemented this lesson again, what would I do differently?
VIII. Early Learning Standards Met:
Domain/Element: Social & Emotional Development/ Social Relationships
Domain/Element: Literacy Knowledge & Skills/ Book Appreciation & Knowledge
Domain/Element: Literacy Knowledge & Skills/ Print Concepts & Conventions
Domain/Element: Language Development/ Expressive Language
Domain/Element: Social Studies/ People & The Environment
Supplemental Materials: