First Grade Activities for Fire Prevention Week
Fire Prevention Week runs from Sunday through Saturday and always includes Oct. 8, the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Though children in first grade are still very much hands-on learners, their emerging reading, math and writing skills make a wide variety of fire safety activities possible and desirable. Combine demonstrations, observations, role-playing and center-based cooperative learning strategies to reinforce lifesaving fire safety messages with your first-grade children.
Other People Are Reading
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Demonstration and Discussion
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Arrange smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors on a table for the children to examine. Ask if they have ever seen smoke or carbon monoxide detectors before, and where. Have everyone cover their ears. Show the children the test button on each smoke detector and have each child press it.
Ask the children what they should do when they hear the smoke detector. List all answers on a whiteboard or a sheet of easel paper, even if they are incorrect or unsafe, and discuss them. Ask "What would happen if you did this?" For example, if a child says he would hide under his bed or in a closet, discuss how hard it would be for his parents or the firefighters to find him.
Write all the "safe" answers in full sentence form in a separate column and cross out each unsafe answer. Have the children copy each "safe" answer into a mini-book. Have each child illustrate each answer. Staple the books together and have the children read it for the first five minutes of the day for the rest of Fire Safety Week.
Mini Books
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Give each child a copy of "My Smoke Alarm Mini-Book" and "Smoke Alarms -- A Sound You Can Live With!" Have children fold the book in half across the long side, and in half again across the short side, so that the two pages with blank space are on the outside and the pages with pictures and writing are on the inside. Have each child illustrate the front and back covers at home with their parents, after talking about where they are supposed to meet if their home is ever on fire.
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"Stop, Drop and Roll"
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Give each first-grade child a tissue paper roll, construction paper, white paper, crayons, markers, scissors and glue to make a tissue roll doll dressed like himself. Have each child draw flames on a sheet of paper and cut them out to tape to the front of their tissue roll dolls.
Watch the Alexandria Fire Department video "Stop, Drop and Roll" with your first-grade children (see Resources). Have the children knock the tissue roll doll over so it rolls back and forth like the boy in the video. Remove the flame from each doll after it rolls five or six times.
Explain that fire needs the same oxygen that people and animals breathe or it can't burn. Have each child practice dropping to the floor like the boy in the video and rolling. Send a note home with each child, asking parents to practice "Stop, Drop and Roll" with their child at least once a month.
My Friend Edith
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Dress a doll in a fire hat, boots and fire coat. Make a gold badge with the name "EDITH" in all capital letters to pin to the front of her hat. Explain to the children that "EDITH" stands for "Exit Drills in the Home." Place Edith in a backpack, along with a copy of "Escape Rules in a Fire" and the "Home Fire Inspection Checklist" (see Resources). Add a sheet of red and gold stickers and copies of the "Home Fire Escape Plan" grid (see Resources) in a folder.
Send notes home telling families that EDITH will be visiting each child sometime during the school year. Explain that when EDITH comes to visit, the family should test all smoke detectors in the home and check their fire extinguishers to make sure the pins are in place and the extinguisher is fully charged. Ask families to create an exit plan using a copy of the grid and practice it with all family members. Tell families to sign and date the folder and place a gold star on each smoke detector they checked, and a red star on each fire extinguisher.
Each time EDITH returns from her travels, practice "Stop, Drop and Roll" in class and review fire safety rules.
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References
Resources
- Scholastic: Student Worksheet 3 -- My Smoke Alarm Mini-Book
- Scholastic: Bonus Family Worksheet -- Smoke Alarms -- A Sound You Can Live With
- Monkey See: Alexandria Fire Department ; Stop, Drop and Roll; Patsieann Misiti; 2007
- New York State Department of State Kidsroom: Escape Rules in a Fire
- New York State Department of State Kidsroom: Home Fire Inspection Checklist
- National Fire Protection Association: Home Fire Escape Plan
- Photo Credit San Diego Fire Fighter image by Charles Kaye from Fotolia.com
