We understand that it’s not always possible to complete a full unit plan due to the many factors involved in selecting learning contexts. These one session lesson plans are designed to support the topics you are already teaching.
Each lesson is independent and can be used whether or not you have previously used resources from the Teachers’ Portal. All lessons begin with a brief overview that provides the essential animal welfare information needed to teach the session. If your students have already covered this content in earlier lessons, you can skip or shorten the sections that repeat material they already know.
The aim of these lessons is to help teachers embed animal welfare and responsible animal guardianship messages into a wide range of learning contexts you may already be exploring.
These lessons begin at Level 1, and some can be adapted for higher levels. Please refer to the level indicator on each lesson tile for details.
Level 1
This lesson can be used in the lead up to Easter. It uses the context of Easter and Easter egg hunts to look at various foods that some animal species should not be fed, as chocolate is one food that is particularly toxic to some animals.
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Level 1
This lesson can be used as part of a getting to know you or our class community themed unit by giving students the opportunity to consider how animals fit into their own and their peers lives.
Levels 1 & 2
This lesson is designed to be used by teachers to extend their students’ understanding of their school’s values, by exploring them through an animal welfare lens.
Levels 1 & 2
This lesson can be used as part of a unit on bullying or in the lead up to Pink Shirt Day to help promote empathy and compassion using the context of animals. Developing a child’s ability to show empathy and compassion towards animals supports their development toward being able to show empathy and care to other people as well.
Levels 1 - 3
This lesson can be used as part of a unit on keeping ourselves and others around us safe. Behaving safely around animals contributes to their positive welfare because it can reduce the chance they will feel stressed, anxious or scared in response to unsafe behaviour.
Levels 1 - 4
This lesson focuses on the key competencies that support the development of team building and social skills or during ‘discovery time’ or other similar ‘hands-on’ programmes that promote creativity and open ended problem solving.
Levels 1 - 4
This lesson can be used in the lead up to the school’s Agriculture Day. It gives students the opportunity to consider how they can ensure the welfare of their animal is provided for on Agriculture Day.
These lessons begin at Level 2, and some can be adapted for higher levels. Please refer to the level indicator on each lesson tile for details.
Level 2
This lesson gives students the opportunity to consider how our emergency response plans and preparations must take animals into account, as well as people, and how this should be done.
Level 2
This lesson can be used as part of a mathematics unit on position and orientation. It uses the context of dog walking to practise interpreting maps and giving and following directions.
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Level 2
This lesson can be used as part of a unit on community heroes or different roles people have in communities. It focuses on the work of people making positive contributions in their communities such as SPCA volunteers.
Levels 2 - 3
In this lesson students will create soundscapes, using instruments or by creating their own sounds, in response to an animal story. The soundscape will be used to communicate both the changing mood of the story and some of the sounds heard.
Levels 2 & 3
This lesson can be used as part of a science unit related to habitats. It is written to be used as part of a unit on habitats in general, rather than a specific type of habitat, and uses freshwater habitats as the context to provide an example.
Levels 2 -4
This lesson can be used as part of the planning phase in a variety of school gardening projects. It encourages students to consider how to design gardens to be animal and insect friendly.
These lessons begin at Level 3, and some can be adapted for higher levels. Please refer to the level indicator on each lesson tile for details.
Level 3
This lesson can be used as part of a unit related to healthy eating choices giving students the opportunity to consider animal welfare while providing them with all parts of a balanced diet.
Level 3
This lesson can be used as part of a mathematics unit on position and orientation. It uses the context of dog walking to practise interpreting maps and giving and following directions.
Level 3
This lesson can be used as part of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) to support students’ learning of some of the words associated with animal welfare in te reo Māori.
Levels 3 - 4
This lesson can be used as part of your writing programme in the lead up to any celebrations involving fireworks (i.e. Chinese New Year, Guy Fawkes, Diwali) if you have chosen to do a series of activities related to that celebration with your students.
Level 4
This lesson can be used as part of a unit on World War One or as part of a series of lessons related to ANZAC Day and the war. It gives students the opportunity to consider what role animals played in the war and how their welfare was affected and cared for during this time.
Level 4
This lesson can be used as part of a unit on conservation, biodiversity, native birds or sustainability. It gives students the opportunity to consider the human actions that have impacted on the habitats of our native species and how we can engage in positive conservation.
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