Risk Watch: Make Time for Safety

A Student Made Library Resource Center (Extension of The Program for Parents)
Grades 5-6
by Abby Cregg, Lawton, OK
2000 "Teacher of the Year" Award Finalist

Objectives

Students will demonstrate master of skills while developing "Big Books" and "Videos" for the School Library Resource Center. These will be available for check out by students, staff, and parents.
Students will create scenarios about "safe" and "unsafe" behaviors to correlate with each of the eight lessons in the curriculum.
Primary grades (1-3) will make "Big Books"; Intermediate grades (4-6) will write and produce videos.

Core Subject Integration

Language arts (written and oral presentation), health, art (both pictures and video)

Materials

large construction paper
paper notebook or plain typing paper
pencils, crayons, markers
glue
book binder (if available) or Library Book Tape (to bind Big Books)
VCR tapes and video camera
parent Letter (permission to use their student work or perform in video tape)

Note: I used video equipment donated by our local school board and VCR tapes purchased by our PTA. All other supplies were from students or school supplied.

Procedure for primary students

Divide your class into groups to brainstorm possible "safe" and "unsafe" situations incorporated into the eight lessons.
Students will write and/or dictate (depending on ability of student) stories for their Big Book. (A big book will be written for each of the eight areas of injuries.)
Each student in class will illustrate their page of the Big Book with either marker, crayon, or pencils.
These Big Books will be laminated, bound, and placed in the School Library Resource area.

Procedure for Intermediate students

Intermediate students, working in cooperative groups, will brainstorm and then produce a "mini" play based on one particular lesson they (the class) liked best. (All eight lessons will be addressed.)
The students will then perform the play in front of the video camera (being filmed by either teacher or student). All parts will be performed by the students.
These videos will be placed in the School Library Resource Center available for student, teacher, or parent checkout.

Note: We ended up with multiple copies of big books and videos for each risk area. Each class, first through third, made eight big books. Each class, fourth through sixth, made eight videos.

Extension

Our school will offer the same student lessons taught at night for the parents. These lessons will be presented by students and/or the community resource people who taught the lesson during the day. With night classes for parents, and the Video/Big Book Resource Center in the School Library available for check out, I feel that these activities complete the full picture of the Risk Watch program. (Note: This will be in addition to and NOT in place of our Risk Watch Fair at the end of the program.)

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