Pet Rabbit Inquiry Film Strip

The month of September has been an extremely fruitful month for the students and educators in room 127.  More-so than we could have even hoped!

We have already begun sharing with you about our two projects (The Dot Project and Beautiful Stuff Project), and now I would like to write about the start of one of our inquiries.  We are currently also exploring another inquiry that has unfolded, however I will have to save that for a separate post.

In the summer I was generously given a rabbit for our classroom.  She was a donation from a loving family at my former school Sixteenth Avenue P.S.  Thank you to Shirley Ziv and her lovely daughters for giving us the opportunity to care for this very special pet!

It was our hope that this new class pet would provoke the students' curiosity and lead to a new inquiry.


We began by observing the students' reactions and listen to their thoughts...

A.A. is standing by the rabbit cage looking at the rabbit.
She looks up at Mrs. Ham and says:
Mrs. Ham when the bunny moves its whiskers that's
how the bunny talks.  When the bunny moves its ears
that's how she thinks. (4.1 years)

R.J. draws and writes: This is bunny.
She drinks when it's quiet. (4.11 years)

After R.J. completed her drawing and writing, she
proceeded to walk around the classroom and made
sure it was quiet enough for the rabbit to drink
her water. (4.11 years)

R.J.: Shhh! You're going to scare the bunny!
She needs quiet! (4.11 years)

Then the students observed the rabbit and began to ask questions...

Ai. St.: Why is the bunny eating the paper? (4.10 years)
J.B.: Why does the bunny keep smelling? (4.3 years)
A.A.: How old is the bunny? (4.1 years)

A.A.: Is she biting herself? (4.1 years)
Ms. Landolfi: No, that's how she cleans herself.
A.A.: She wants to be clean for our classroom,
right? (4.1 years)
Ms. Landolfi: You're right!

This was followed by our first question for investigation:  How can we care for our new class pet?

After a bit of research we gave the rabbit a slinky to
play with, fresh vegetables to eat, a litter box,
and an apple tree branch to chew on.

Thank you Mrs. Gervan and C.H. for bringing us the
slinky and special rabbit treats!

What emerged was "Bunny World."

The students were ready to let the rabbit out for some
exercise, and in order to keep her safe they decided
to build "Bunny World."

R.J.: We're making bunny world! (4.11 years)
J.A.: The bunny world has a tunnel and the bunny could go
over the road. (5.2 years)

T.M.: The bunny is going to be released. Be quiet!
(5.8 years)

Ar. Sa.: She tickled me! (4.5 years)

These pictures are from the first time that the rabbit
came out of her cage during the school day.
"Bunny World" has become much more sophisticated
since then!  More posts about this will follow...