BY KEVIN A. MAGIN
Recently, our Fire Prevention & Life Safety Office (FP&LSO) piloted a program that not only was extremely successful in relaying the fire safety message but also helped the students to meet or exceed New York State learning standards. The office operates a year-round educational program in nine elementary, two middle, and two high schools. We also reach out to our local YMCA center and 11 daycare facilities and host many tours and a yearly open house. A career captain, one full-time and one part-time fire educator, and a volunteer committee of 12 members staff the office. The North Greece Fire District, in Rochester, New York, is a combination fire department with 72 volunteer and 21 career firefighters who work out of three stations to protect a population of 35,000 within a jurisdiction covering 45 square miles.
Before piloting Reading & Writing Fire Safety, our newest program (nicknamed “Reading Buddies”), the FP&LSO upgraded all the fire safety lessons to meet New York State Board of Education standards. Although this was time consuming, it has significantly benefited our programs: Our lesson plans now measure up to and can enhance what is being taught in the classroom. Our presentations are no longer merely “show and tell” segments; we actually can justify our program to an educator, an administrator, or a parent as one that teaches proper fire and life safety behaviors while meeting educational standards.
The goal of the program, written and designed for fifth-grade students, was to have these children create and present fire safety stories to second-graders within their own school. The intent was to get the children reading and writing about fire safety while we weren’t in the classroom. By allowing them to present their own stories to the younger school children, we were able to complete the project in a positive way that not only relayed the important messages of fire safety but also helped develop a sense of community within the school walls.
 (1) Students display their “published books.” (Photos by Andy Hinds.) |
Our cooperating school, the Northwood Elementary School, is located in our fire district, but it is actually part of the Hilton Central School District in Hilton, New York. Three fifth-grade and three second-grade teachers and the school administrator supported us. Everyone was very excited by the idea and willing to put in the classroom time needed to make it a success.
We introduced ourselves and explained the program details to the children during a 30- to 35-minute assembly. Then, we spoke about some of the things they should know about fire safety, topics covered throughout our fire safety programs of the previous five to six years. Among these topics were E.D.I.T.H., smoke detector safety, Crawl Low Under Smoke, Get Out & Stay Out, and When to Call 911. We asked the children for their help in teaching the second graders because these younger students were “just not getting it from us old guys.”
The fifth-graders were to create a fire safety story that would correctly teach one of the following fire safety messages: Crawl Low Under Smoke; When to Call 911; E.D.I.T.H.; or Stop, Drop, & Roll. Using the short story “The Three Little Pigs,” we reviewed the basic elements of a short story including plot, characterization, setting, and description. Reading the story aloud to the children, we discussed the actions of the words and how they corresponded to the pictures on the page. We also discussed the brightness and quality of the pictures and how they helped to tell the story in addition to what was being read. We then fielded questions from the children before giving them their own “Fire Safety Author” pen to assist them in their creative writing.
 (2, 3) Fifth-graders share their stories with second-graders. |
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Each teacher was given a rubric of the fire safety topics they could use as a checklist against the children’s stories and a number of blank draft books (blank white pages, folded over, and stapled in the middle).
The excitement was there immediately. The children had just about two weeks to submit their rough drafts and preview all their fire safety facts. If any fact was wrong or inconsistent with what we teach as a fire-safe message in our district, we would suggest the correct approach before the final printing.
When we finished previewing the stories, about 65 in all, we sent them back to the children with a blank hardbound book for the final draft. One week later, when they were finished, we designated one afternoon as a “Reading Day.” The fifth-graders presented their work to each other as a whole in an assembly to the second-graders, administrators, and fire department dignitaries. Each fifth-grade class paired up with one second-grade class and went to a mutually agreed- on designated area to further divide so the fifth-graders could read their stories in a small-group setting. We gave the children 25 to 30 minutes to read, change groups, and read again before we all met again out front in the school bus loop for an ice cream and cookie social. Outside, we had a fully staffed quint and an engine assisting with handing out the treats, giving tours of the equipment, and posing for photos with the children.
LESSONS LEARNED
Here is what we learned from the teachers and the children:
- The teachers explained that we needed to be a bit clearer on our beginning instructions and that the books should be more pictures and less copy, since the reading audience was second-graders. Although not many, we did have some stories that contained an excessive amount of text.
- We also needed to better incorporate in the program the school technology teacher, for students who would use the computer, and the ESOL teacher, for students who speak English as a second language. Numerous children used computers for picture icons and text boxes because they had trouble with language or had developmental problems. To help speed up the rough-draft phase, teachers had the children write in what they would draw or color to help tell the story. Finally, teachers asked us to be the “publishers” and editors for the children. So, we created an “Editor’s Sheet” for each story and used it as a guide as we edited the stories for story line, characterization, settings, and descriptions as well as overall impressions.
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(4) Sample of a children’s story.
- The children taught us to expect anything. We had stories of every kind, from outstanding to horrible. We had stories that took place in the future with little fluffy hairballs as characters to stories with pandas having a fire in their homes in the woods. Some stories were very basic; others were extensive manuals on fire safety that would make any fire safety journal jealous. We caught some children copying each other’s ideas; one student copied an already published children’s book about fire safety. We informed the teachers, who then taught the class about plagiarism. Only one of the stories included a death. We decided to present successful fire safety messages to the second graders and not scare them with these types of stories. We informed the teacher and asked the student for a rewrite following our Editor’s Sheet. We know that death can be an outcome of fire, but we did not want to traumatize the younger children on our Reading Day.
- These books gave us the opportunity to see what the children have been learning over the years in our programs. It became apparent that we were doing a pretty good job, since not many stories needed corrections in the fire safety messages.
- It takes a lot of work to review 65 stories and get them back to the children in a timely fashion. I literally fell asleep on my couch at home as I was attempting to finish a stack of rough draft previews; it was 1:30 a.m.
- The teachers said this program was a success because of the lighter springtime schedules. In January or February, they explained, more time would have been needed to complete the project.
The program was very successful and wowed not only the bosses but also the school teachers and administrators. To think that a bunch of local firefighters could actually create, implement, and run a program that teaches to state education standards and excites the children at the same time.
Endnotes
1. We obtained the hardbound books for the final drafts at www.barebooks.com/.
2. Educational standards can be found at www.edstandards.org/.
KEVIN A. MAGIN is a fire prevention educator with the North Greece Fire District in Rochester, New York.
