Standard 2.1E: Health and Physical Education

Content Area: Health and Physical Education

Index: 2.1E Grade 4 CPI 1

Standard: 2.1 - Wellness

Strand: E - Safety

Cumulative Progress Indicator: 1 - The student will describe the characteristics of safe and unsafe situations and develop strategies to reduce the risk of injuries at home, school, and community.

Grade: 4

Sample Activities:

· SAFETY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD - For this activity, you need a video camera or a camera that develops instant photographs. Accompany students on a “walk” to an intersection near the school. Videotape the activities at the intersection, noting the movement of vehicles and pedestrians. Note obstacles that may interfere with safe crossing or driving, such as buildings, signs, or trees. Students view the tape to detect as many safety hazards as possible and suggest possible solutions. Students write a letter to community officials outlining their suggestions for increased safety.

Variation: Students develop a safety checklist and monitor a school or community play area for potential safety problems. The class develops a report for community or school officials.

· FIRE ESCAPE SAFETY - Students draw a diagram of the place where they live and indicate two possible escape routes in case of fire. Students write a letter to their parents or guardians asking them to assist the student to practice a safe escape from their home.

Variation: Invite the fire department to demonstrate various fire safety devices such as smoke alarms and extinguishers.

Variation: Students develop posters for Fire Safety Week. Provide a prize for the winning entry (e.g., a T-shirt, folding fire ladder, or smoke alarm). Encourage local merchants to donate the awards.

· SAFE PLAY= FUN - Brainstorm the kinds of sports and recreation activities students like to participate in and put the responses on the board. Explain that they will have even more fun if they play safely. Students develop a safety booklet or pamphlet on a selected activity. Match students with similar interests, being sure to have small, manageable groups and all kinds of activities represented (e.g., biking, roller blading, swimming, basketball, hockey, hiking). Each group designs a four page booklet describing the activity, providing illustrations or pictures of safety in action, and concluding with statements from each of the group members about how safe play equals fun. Groups exchange completed booklets and review. Post the booklets on the bulletin board or share with a class of younger students.

· DRAW A MAP - Students draw a map of the local area, emphasizing places they walk, play, ride bikes, or skateboard. Students identify and explain the potential safety hazards in the area and outline rules of safe play for that specific area. Students present their maps and justify their responses. Students focus on the following:

NEIGHBORHOOD SAFETY SURVEY
-        How to use traffic lights at a busy intersection
-        Areas to avoid (e.g, traffic, violence, poorly lighted, construction)
-        Areas that are unsafe and why
-        How to avoid busy traffic areas
-       Safe routes
-        Location of telephones and emergency services personnel

· WHO ARE YOU? - Use puppets or stuffed animals to introduce three characters that represent the ways people handle conflicts:

Mouse: Meek, weak, doesn’t stick up for his/her own ideas
Monster: Bully, pushes ideas on others
Me: A balance between a monster and a mouse

Model how each character might handle the same conflict situation. Allow student volunteers to participate in the demonstration. Then divide the class into small groups, and give each group a situation. Students determine if the character in the situation is responding as a mouse, monster, or “me”. If the mouse or monster is in control, the group rewrites the situation to handle the conflict more appropriately. Groups present the original role-play and then the rewrite. As the students present their skits, they discuss the skills needed to manage conflict in a healthy way.