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How a strange creature became a favorite pet
Learning Objective: Students will find the main idea and supporting details of a paired article and timeline about the various animals humans have chosen as pets.
The year was 1946. Albert Marsh had just won a bet. His prize was a strange, small creature. It had soft fur, puffy cheeks, and big teeth. It was so small it could fit in his hand.
What was this cuddly creature? It was a golden hamster! At the time, golden hamsters were
Marsh thought that hamsters would make great pets. But few Americans had ever heard of them. Plus, hamsters are a type of
Shutterstock.com
Hamsters store food in their big cheek pouches to munch on later.
Pets With a Purpose
Today, 70 percent of homes in the U.S. have a pet. Many animal owners think of pets as part of the family. But that hasn’t always been true.
For much of history, people owned animals mostly to work. Dogs helped guide other animals and hunt. Cats chased mice and rats away from kitchens. Only rich people had pets for fun.
That changed in the 1800s. Americans started buying family pets. Soon, dogs and cats became household favorites.
A Creative Plan
Marsh came up with a creative plan to make hamsters a popular pet too. First, he needed people to love the animals as much as he did. Marsh asked a local store to display 12 hamsters in its window. People saw how cute the pets were. In one day, all 12 hamsters had been sold, and the store wanted more!
Next, Marsh needed to get the word out about hamsters. He put advertisements in newspapers and magazines. He also wrote a book about how to care for hamsters. The book flew off the shelves!
News about the
A Hamster Craze
Marsh had started a hamster
Marsh’s hamster craze ended in the 1950s though. A disease that harms hamsters killed many of the animals. People stopped buying them.
But the story of hamsters in the U.S. wasn’t over yet! In 1971, another American brought wild hamsters back from Syria. Some of them became pets. Once again, people fell in love with the adorable animals.
Today, millions of Americans have pet hamsters. These cute creatures have wiggled their way into our hearts. And it all started with Albert Marsh.
The Granger Collection (500-1500, 1700s, Grace Coolidge); Design Pics Inc/Alamy Stock Photo (Snake); Shutterstock.com (All Other Images)
Humans have owned animals for thousands of years. Check out the different pets people have kept over time.
Ancient Times
Ancient Egyptians owned monkeys, crocodiles, and hippos. An Egyptian queen once gave a giraffe as a gift!
500-1500
In Europe, pets were treated like kings and queens. Dogs wore collars made of silver and gold, while cats wore fancy coats.
1700s
Some early Americans kept wild animals as pets, including squirrels, raccoons, and deer.
1920s
President Calvin Coolidge and his wife loved unusual pets. They had pet raccoons, ducks, and even a black bear!
Today
There are now more pets than people in America! Reptiles are especially popular. These scaly animals include snakes, turtles, and lizards!
THINK AND WRITE
Imagine you own a pet store. Create an advertisement for hamsters and two other pets mentioned in the story and timeline.
Watch a video about the history of humans keeping animals as pets.
A History of Pets
Watch a video about the history of humans keeping animals as pets.
<p>Our interactive vocabulary slideshows help unlock challenging vocabulary words with great visual and audio support.</p>
Vocabulary Slideshow: The Story of Awwwwww/Pets Through Time
Our interactive vocabulary slideshows help unlock challenging vocabulary words with great visual and audio support.
Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
For more articles on animal history, check out “The History of Dogs” and “How America Went Dog Crazy.” Then ask your students: how are dogs and hamsters similar?
Your students will love learning about another craze: gummy bears! Read “How Gummy Bears Took Over” and ask students to predict what the next big pet or candy will be.
Table of Contents
4. Differentiate and Customize
Striving Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers
1. Preparing to Read
Set a Purpose for Reading/Preview Text Features/Build Background Knowledge
Introduce Vocabulary
2. Close Reading
Close-Reading Questions
Critical-Thinking Questions
3. Skill Building and Writing
Featured Skill: Main Idea and Supporting Details
Differentiate and Customize
Read the lower-Lexile version of the articles while students follow along. As they read, students should look for and highlight the ways in which cheetahs and sloths are similar and different. Then work with students to complete the Compare and Contrast Skill Builder as a group. Tip: When students read the articles online in Presentation View, they can use the highlighter tool to mark the text.
Before having students read the articles, go over the domain-specific vocabulary words in bold. You can also show the vocabulary slideshow to reinforce the meanings of these words. Point out that two of these terms (grasslands and rainforest) are examples of another term (habitat). Then ask students to think of other animals they know about, and together discuss the habitats where those animals live. Invite students to share the words for grasslands, rainforest, and other habitats in the other languages they know.
Invite students to research another animal that is particularly fast or slow. Once they have selected their animal, ask them to answer the questions from either text with one or two sentences about the new animal.
Nonfiction
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Mini Read
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Paired Texts
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Paired Texts
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Paired Texts
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