So, let me start with a little personal story. When I was about 13 years old, one of my sisters was already married and living in a little house with three small children. One early morning, we got a frantic call that her house was on fire. By the time we raced over to her, the entire duplex was engulfed in flames. Nothing could be saved. I'll never forget the surreal feeling of seeing the appliances and furniture melted into unrecognizable twisted black objects. I can still picture the firemen shoveling debris out of my baby nephew's window and seeing part of his favorite My Buddy doll among the mess. Luckily my sister and her family made it out in time, but they lost everything they had.Fast forward about 10 years to my other sister living in New Jersey. Another panicked phone call. Another house destroyed by a fire. This time due to a downstairs neighbor falling asleep with a cigarette. Another sister who lost everything, but thankfully wasn't home at the time.
I know it's hard to believe that both of my sisters' houses burned down, but it's true. And it's the reason why I am vigilant about fire safety in my own home. So as you can imagine, fire safety is a topic near and dear to my heart, so when I was approached to review these materials from FEMA and the National Fire Protection Association I immediately responded.
Although thinking about a fire in your home can be a scary prospect for a little kid, the videos produced by FEMA/NFPA do a great job of informing and teaching without bringing out that fear. Check out this first video called Little Rosalie. {You can also access it on You Tube or School Tube}
It's suggested for grades prek-1, but my second graders actually really liked it. Around the middle of the song when everyone is dancing outside, they asked if it was a brain break and if they could dance along!
This next video is called What's that Sound and it's aimed at grades 2-3. It features a rapper with some interesting bling who flies around on a smoke detector. And the kids loved it. They were up dancing and singing almost immediately. Be warned, the Beep Beep chorus will be stuck in your head for a while after watching! {You can also access it on You Tube or School Tube}
There is also a wealth of quality prek-third grade teaching resources available free to you at Sparky's Schoolhouse. I was especially impressed with the opinion writing activity - complete with great common core standard connections for second and third grade. It is really well thought out and includes printables, teaching ideas, assessment ideas and integration of the music videos.
And as a thank you for watching the videos and checking out Sparky's Schoolhouse, they are giving away a Kindle Fire to one lucky blog reader! All you have to do is enter using the rafflecopter widget below. Good Luck, stay safe and check those batteries in your smoke detectors!
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