Mrs. Rowell’s fifth-grade class reads a story about Beatrice, a girl in Uganda who couldn’t afford to go to school. When Beatrice’s family was given a goat, they were able to earn money from its milk to send her to school. After learning about Heifer International, the fifth graders decide to sell healthy snacks at school to raise money to buy a goat, a flock of chickens, and some ducks, to help families in need.

About a service project done by 5th grade class. 1 - planning, spending, saving and borrowing, and some civics connections. 5th - Civcs connection
RL 20
Heifer International

Jan West Schrock - whose father Dan West founded the organization Heifer International - tells the tale of a fifth-grade class determined to make a difference, in this inspiring picture book. When Mrs. Rowell reads Beatrice's Goat - a picture-book in which a young Ugandan girl's life is transformed, after Heifer International gives her family a single goat - to her class, the students decide that they too want to give a needy family a goat. From researching the organization, to raising the necessary $120 for their gift, they must work together, learning the importance of community service, and some basic financial and entrepreneurial skills as well.

With a positive attitude about children - both their capacity for empathy, and their ability (when motivated) to work in disciplined cooperation - and amusing illustrations, Give a Goat is a wonderful book to spark schoolroom conversation about poverty, and the best means of fighting it. It also shows that wanting to help is not enough - that it's important to have a plan. I know very little about the history of Heifer International, so I was interested to read, in the author blurb on the rear dust-jacket flap, that it was born out of Dan West's involvement in the Spanish Civil War, and his efforts to help the impoverished civilians there - I had no idea! ( )

A fifth grade teacher reads her class the story of Beatrice's Goat, and it launches the students' desire to help others. With much planning, they get involved with Heifer.org, raise money, and do indeed make enough money for a goat. They also inspired other classes in the school to do good works. A wonderful, feel-good book that will likely launch readers to want to follow suit. ( )

Give a Goat by Jan West Schrock relates the tale of a class of real fifth grade students who, after hearing a book on how one goat can change the lives of children in Africa, decide to hold a fundraiser to buy a goat for the organization Heifer International. I was a bit reluctant to review Give a Goat as I tend to be leery of books that preach or sell to children. However, I was more than pleasantly drawn into the story and found no preachiness anywhere! I can guarantee you that if I were still in the classroom, we’d be collecting pennies to buy our own goat and I can easily see Give a Goat exploding to the same degree of popularity as the Flat Stanley phenomenon in schools.

As an added bonus, the book is a mathematical lesson in economics and business with lessons on buying, selling, profit margins, loans, budgeting, quality control, inventory, investment and record keeping ready to incorporate into your own project. The bright watercolor illustrations of Aileen Darragh add sensory delight as various animals, including the silly goat, insert humor into the scene.

It’s also interesting to note that author Jan West Schrock is a veteran educator and daughter of the founder of Heifer International. For more on what appears to be a fine organization.

For the full review & teaching activities:Reading Rumpus ( )