Adopt an Animal Project

This is a project we do every year during the first couple of weeks of school to build a classroom community. It gives my students a chance to get to know each other and figure out which wild animal our class will adopt for the year. We usually focus on the animals at our local zoo, but the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has a huge list of animals to choose from for this activity! You can check out their HUGE list of animals here!

We always choose an animal that comes with a plush version of it. We keep the animal, certificate, and information sheet in our classroom during the school year.

We start with a list of 5-6 animals to choose from for the animal our classroom will adopt for the year. You can choose ANY of the animals that are listed! We try to choose a variety of animals from different areas of the planet.

Once you have your list of animals each student needs to choose their favorite animal from the list. This animal will be their focus for the different projects in this pack. This pack includes a persuasive writing piece, an informational writing piece, an informational poster, and an informational bookmark activity. Click here to check out this pack in my tpt store!

Students start with a persuasive essay with the reasons why we should adopt this animal for our classroom. They will need to do some research on their animal and write 9 detailed facts about their animal on the chart that is included.

Once they have their 9 facts they will use these facts to write some sentences about their animal. These sentences and facts will help them as they progress onto their persuasive essay assignment.

We type our persuasive essays. They are five paragraphs long with an introduction, one body paragraph per reason, and a conclusion. Students can add pictures to their essay if they do this digitally.

Next students create an informational poster about their animal. This gives them a chance to get creative! We do these posters by hand on the poster layout included in the file. I usually model one on one of the animals. I typically choose the animal that most people didn’t choose.

There are some other activities included in the pack as well. Students can make informational bookmarks and puzzles for their animal.

The last thing we do is a poster about each animal. Students work in groups of 2-4 people, so popular animals may have multiple groups! They design the poster so they can use it in a presentation to the class about why their animal should be adopted.

After the presentations, we vote as a class to see which animal we will adopt. We then adopt that animal. I usually pay the $60 adoption fee, but it could be paid by your PTO/PTA or with student donations.

Once we get our plush animal and information, we write informational reports about the animal we adopted! I usually buy a few books about this animal to have in our classroom.

We put up a bulletin board display of a collection of our work! I am always excited to see which animal we adopt each year!