The Little Red Hen Who Went to School

The Little Red Hen came to school last week to visit with the pre-schoolers, after they had just finished reading the fictional version of the same story. MY little red hen demonstrated that she likes to EAT bread, but was probably not terribly efficient at baking it.  She also flapped her wings a bit, strutted around, ate some scratch corn, and generally looked rather indifferent at being in school instead of at home in the coop. I kept her in a large dog crate filled with hay in my classroom for the day, since we have two half-day preschool sessions, and the teacher wanted her to visit both. I also let her out to roam around my classroom for much of the day, and she came to sit on my lap while I worked at the computer for awhile.  People were amazed that you can pet her just like a cat, and that she is that friendly and fun. Personally, I think having a hen in the classroom as a pet would simply just make every day better for me. I'm guessing we are probably the only classroom to have hosted cats, kittens, puppies, and chickens, loose, for a day, simply because my co-worker and I are both animal lovers. If there is a kitten wandering around the playground, or a dog out in the rain, why not bring them in to our room for the day?  That's OUR view at least, and so far, no one has minded overly much.  My superintendent, whose husband runs a pig farm, didn't bat an eye when she walked in and Miss Hen was wandering about last week. SOMETIMES I LOVE my school!!!