Risk Watch: Make Time for Safety

Risk Watch In Our Neighborhood
Grades Pre/K
by Bonnie Pandila, Moose Jaw, SK
2000 NFPA "Teacher of the Year" nominee

Students will look for good "Risk Watcher" activities so children can continue to create a safe environment.
Students will look for unsafe "Risk Watcher" activities so children can bring to the attention of others the change of behaviors necessary to avoid risks.
Students will tell the story through the use of pictures in a large Bulletin Board for the School Community. This will also be used for sharing with parents at the "Farewell to Kindergarten" program.
Students will, through creating a book, tell the story to their home community.

Version 1: The pictures taken on a neighborhood walk would be preset into the storybook with Risk Watch icons in the corner of each picture.

Version 2: Each child receives a set of pictures from the walk. They then sort them into "safe" and "unsafe" categories. They glue the "safe" pictures onto the template boxes and the "unsafe" pictures onto the templates. They then take the Risk Watch icons and place them beside each picture that tells about the Risk Watch area.

This lesson targets the "safe" behaviors in the school and home community. Through the use of a hallway Bulletin Board, the school community will be targeted for "safe" practices. Those parents attending the "Farewell to Kindergarten" program will also have the opportunity to view the Bulletin Board display and hear their children's storytelling.

Each child will also take home their Mini-Book created during school, helping to reinforce safer practices at home. Kindergarten children, in their role as storytellers, will help transmit the message of the Risk Watch lessons learned throughout the year using their Mini-Book.

I use neighborhood walks regularly as part of my Kindergarten program. Each week our neighborhood walks are used to find answers to specific targeted objectives. The use of a digital camera not only allows us to document and record the answers we are seeking, but to have a visual reminder of what we saw and share the information with others. The digital format makes it convenient to reproduce pictures and allows children to work with technology and see its benefits.

The pictures taken on the walk will be used for the Bulletin Board in a central display and a Big Book will be made. The hope is that this will provide another impact on the different communities in helping to think, see and create a safer environment through a story approach, with the Kindergarten children as storytellers.

The activities in this lesson plan will be used as a culmination to highlight the learning taken place over the year.

The children and teacher will take a walk in their schoolyard and in the neighborhood looking for both safe "Risk Watchers" and unsafe "Risk Watchers." Explain to the children, that today is our weekly walk adventure. Share with the children what we are looking for this week. "Is our school and neighborhood a "safe" environment? Being "Risk Watchers," we will look for signs of both "safe" and "unsafe" situations and take pictures using the digital camera." Have students list situations they may encounter on the walk.
Before leaving the building, go through our neighborhood walk "safety rules" and reminders on being a good neighborhood in our neighborhood.
Using the pictures taken on the walk as well as those taken during recess and home time, the Bulletin Board will be created (see Bulletin Board outline). The Bulletin Board would be outside the Kindergarten classroom for all the students and visitors to our school to see for reinforcement and as a reminder on creating a "safer environment." The Kindergartens would help write short statements about each picture. They would help categorize the pictures as "safe" or "unsafe."
On the day of "Farewell to Kindergarten" this will be used as a culminating activity for the Kindergartners to tell stories to their parents.
One classroom Big Book and a Mini-Book for each student will be created. As a follow-up, students can check their house to make sure it is as safe as possible for the summer holidays.

The Mini-Book, which the children are bringing home, is about one of our neighborhood walks. The purpose of this week's walk was to look for "safe" and "unsafe" Risk Watch practices. Your child will tell you their story about what they have learned and observed using their Mini-Book.

After telling their story, you and your child should take a walk through your house and yard to check for safe practices you follow and change those unsafe conditions which may cause injury. This will help you and your child become better "Risk Watchers."

At the end of the Mini-Book you will find a page where your child can draw a picture of how your family members are safe "Risk Watcher" at home.