Another day of 31 Days of Kindergarten and today is about Teaching Fire Drill Procedures the Fun Way!
So you’ve made your name tags, created some fabulous new literacy games, and have a plan for the first day of school. But have you thought about that dreaded FIRST fire drill?! I hope these ideas for Teaching Fire Drill Procedures in a Fun Way will be helpful to you! My first year of teaching, I didn’t even think about this and believe me, I was sorry! Our school has a planned practice fire drill, but kinders need lots of training and practice and practice and MORE PRACTICE, especially the first few months of school! Over the last few years, I have created my own little plan for teaching fire drill procedure and it’s fun and effective!
I think everyone has seen my 60+ Anchor Charts for Kindergarten, so I am sure it is no surprise that I LOVE anchor charts! And a fire drill procedure anchor chart is a must too! I usually introduce the word Fire Drill and ask if anyone knows what that is. I write down what they say or draw a picture, depending on their answer. We talk about if anyone has been anywhere where they have participated in one and usually only the students who went to pre-k have been a part of one, and they have a lot to say!!
Next, I tell them I have a few books about fire drills and can’t wait to share them with them! The first book I like to read is Fire Drill from Paul DuBois Jacobs.
This is an easy to read book, with rhyming words and a simple message: fire drills are not scary, get in line, go outside and when you come back inside everything will be fine and you can go back to learning and playing!
My next favorite book is Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill from Jaime Harper.
Another book that kids love is Arthur’s Fire Drill from Marc Brown.
Do I read all 3 books in one day? Nope! The first day of school for us is a Monday and we have a school wide practice fire drill on Friday. So, I usually introduce fire drills on Tuesday or Wednesday and read one book and practice our complete procedure each day, till the school-wide practice on Friday. This works for me, but do what works best for your students and your classroom. I promise if you practice more than 3 times, your kids will be ready for a practice or even REAL fire drill!
This year I decided to make little Fire Drill Expert brag tags. I plan on giving my students this brag tag AFTER our successful school-wide fire drill practice on Friday. This will give them something to look forward to and hopefully not be scared when it actually happens!
I print these brag tags out on cardstock and laminate them. I punch a hole in the top and then give them to each student to put on their backpack brag-tag holder! Yes, I use inexpensive metal shower hooks as brag-tag holders AND they go on the kids backpacks!
Want your own class set of Fire Drill Expert Brag Tags? Click HERE!
Hope you can use some of these ideas to make Teaching Fire Drill Procedures the Fun Way! Looking for more beginning of the year kindergarten ideas? Go to Books to Teach Rules and Procedures or awesome Classroom Management Charts.