May 31, 2000
...This little piggie
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
Holding their snouts proudly in the air, dozens of porcine replicas have a reason to feel prized at Fostoria's Riley Elementary.
They are the love of third grade teacher Ann Wise, and have been incorporated in her classrooms for 10 years.
"When I was going to college, every day I would go by a pig farm,'' Wise recalled. "I saw some baby pigs and thought they were so cute. And I had a friend who collected pigs, so I started collecting and developed a pig theme for my classroom.''
Last Friday, the last day of school for her students, was also the scene of the annual "Pig Out.''
A vast smorgasbord, representing 24 different "bites'' from the homes of each of the children, were enjoyed for lunch. Supplemented by a pepperoni pizza from Wise, students feasted on bite size bologna sandwiches, "pigs in blankets,'' ham and cheese cubes with crackers, pepperoni sticks and pig shaped sugar cookies iced with pink frosting.
The long tables were covered with pink tablecloths and decorated with pig placemats. The pig theme was felt all day, with a showing of the movie "Babe'' in the morning, and a rousing game of "Pin the Tail on the Pig.''
"This is always fun,'' Wise said of the day. "I started it when I taught fifth grade, and my husband was a chef, about eight to 10 years ago.''
Wise gives the children pig shaped wooden desk cards as their name plates when they enter the classroom in the fall. Their names are printed on the front, then the back is used later in the year when cursive writing is mastered.
She even uses the pig theme in her discipline methods with her students. "The children accumulate numbers if they are good, and they can trade them in for things,'' she explained. "Such as a hand stamp in the shape of a pig, lunch with me, having a stuffed pig at her desk. Or they can draw coupons for free scrap paper, to sit by a friend or a free drink of water.''
A selection of supplemental reading books feature pigs, either real or as fictional characters. Wise said that she incorporates her growing collection of pig-related teacher aides in classroom lessons.
"It started as a hobby and became more,'' she explained. "I keep finding pig activities. I have a whole folder full of pig things.''
Some of those include directions for "pig limericks'' a story web using pigs, piggy shapes for number sequencing and lots of pig pictures.
"We read the different variations of the 'Three Little Pigs' and look at the story elements, to compare and contrast the various stories,'' she said. They also looked at the story taken from the wolf's point of view, to get a different perspective.
"They would write letters to pigs in their journals,'' Wise added. "Writing pig stories and doing math with figures of pigs on the sheet. And we made origami pigs.''
The favorite pig among all of the stuffed ones that line the shelves of the room is Petie. The small porker is given to each child for a weekend visitation. The child takes pictures of Petie's adventures, and writes about them, from the pig's point of view, in a special notebook.
Petie has been to a variety of restaurants, ridden bikes, motorized cars, tractors, and even a steam shovel. "He even got in trouble and spent time in the office,'' Wise said. "He was caught talking to an armadillo.''
"He goes bowling, to the Y swimming, sat on Santa Claus's lap, has gone fishing, played air hockey, went to the dentist, been swinging and he has done quite a bit of trampoline jumping,'' Wise said, looking through the photos in the album.
"People give me pigs, pigs and more pigs,'' Wise said with a laugh. "Lots of pigs for gifts from the children down through the years. I have quite a few pig earrings and pins at home. They get so they (the children) love them as well as I do.''
People Wise knows will come up to her and say, 'I thought of you today, I saw pigs.''
"One of the students' parents went to a restaurant in Cincinnati where they had these placemats that were pigs,'' Wise said pointing to the tables. "They asked if they could have some of them, and they were given four. I had them laminated so I could use them over and over. And other staff members give me things.''
The numerous stuffed pigs, including a "Harley Hog,'' are used to specify the class helper. "They get to keep the pig for the day,'' Wise explained. "That marks the 'hopper' or the helper of the day. THe pig is the place marker for whoever was the hopper.''
Paul Boice, said he has learned that pigs "sometimes smell real bad.'' The favorite pig activity he recalled was when "Zach had a blindfold with a pig mask on it,'' he added.
For Libby Sorg, the best part of having pigs in the classroom is having a stuffed one by her side. "When we got to have the pig sit beside us,'' she said. "Especially Peggy or Petie, he's the one we took home.''
"Pigs are pink,'' Wise said. "And fun. Pink is a soft color and is appealing to the children. I feel that it also sets a tone for the classroom, where everything is more relaxed and fun.''