Overview
This is a character education lesson that has integrated art, language arts, and math skills. This lesson is student initiated and will involve parents and community members. Students will brainstorm how they can reach out to a local family that lost their belongings to a house fire. Students will learn how to organize a donations drive. They will make posters to advertise the needs of the family. They will create power points by groups to present on the morning news show “Town Hall” to announce the needsĀ of the family. The students will write a script to read on Town Hall. Students in fourth grade will also be responsible for collecting the donations. This will be a student-driven activity. In addition, students will learn how to practice fire safety in their own homes and develop a written plan for what to do in case their house catches fire. Finally, the students will design their safety plans by using geometric skills learned during their math classes. For background knowledge, this lesson should be taught at the end of the Geometry Unit. Students should understand the meaning of and how to draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Student should also know how to draw a lines of symmetry and be able to recognize two-dimensional figures in their everyday lives.
Lesson Objectives
Materials Needed
- poster board
- markers
- graph paper
- computer with power point program accessibility
- journal for writing their fire safety plans and reflections
Procedures
- Students will brainstorm how to help a family in need, and discuss why it is important to help this family. Student leaders will focus the discussion on what this family needs and how we can help.
- Students will divide up the tasks of creating posters to display around the school, Power Points to show on the morning news on Town Hall, and scripts to read on the morning announcements in order to inform the rest of the school community about this tragedy.
- Students will learn about Fire Safety from a local Fire Department. The Fire Department representative will speak to the students and teach them about fire safety. Students will learn about having safety plans and how to practice fire safety in their homes.
- Students will draw a Fire Plan for their families in order to make connections of Geometry to real-life situations.
- Students will present their Fire Safety Plans and discuss the importance of having plans in case of a fire.
- In conclusion, students will have a discussion on how helping this family of the local community taught them responsibility, respect, caring, kindness, courage, safety, and good citizenship skills.
- Finally, students will write a reflection on this Learn and Serve project in their journals.
Assessment
Extensions and Adaptations
Related Links and Resources
https://www.georrgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/BrowseGPS.aspx
https://www.gov.ns.ca/lae/firesafety/docs/HomeEscapePlan.pdf
Handouts
Fire Safety Handouts.pdf
Credit
4th Grade Teacher
Cherokee County School District
Carmel Elementary School
2275 Bascomb Carmel Road
Woodstock, GA 30189