Meet... CLAIRE!!

Who is Claire, you might ask? Well, Claire just happens to be our class Guinea Pig!! She is a sweet, little, furry, baby girl who has made a new home in our classroom.

Last night I brought her home and got her cage all set up and snapped a couple more pictures before I took her to school. I made her a little hammock as well as a hidey-hole. After putting up the hammock, I'm not quite sure she is big enough to climb into it, but at least she has a place to hide out.

"I'm not so sure about this hammock thing... What do I do?"

"The ground is much better!"

The students FREAKED out this morning. They had no idea we were getting a class pet! It was a total surprise. I used this little furry friend to motivate them to do things today. We worked on being quiet so that we wouldn't scare her, and so that we could try to listen to her talk. They also wrote about her during their daily writing time. Here is one journal response I received...

And just in case you can't read 2nd grade writing, here is what it says:

We have a new pet. We feed her healthy food. We love our pet. We love Miss Mayes cause she was the one that got the pet. Thanks Miss Mayes. The pet is a Guinea Pig. We have to be quiet. We have to be gentle. We have to be nice. She is little. She is scared. She was born wrong just a little. She is still pretty. She is still pretty good. She is my favorite pet. 

And yes... Miss Claire was born a little wrong. She has a deformed front foot, but can do everything she needs to. She was a big hit and I'm sure I will have many stories to share as the year goes on.