A big part of our fire safety studies includes learning about the emergency number 911.

Several years ago, one of my students was involved in a trailer fire. It was little Jose', just 6-years-old, who dialed 911. No need to convince me of the importance of making sure my kiddos know about fire safety and using their heads in a crisis.

With that incident in mind, it was a joy to put a lot of work into the 61-page, "Call 911 Fire Safety Packet", making sure you have a variety of simple & fun activities to keep students engaged, as they learn about this important emergency number.

Since my kiddos are just learning to recognize numbers, they often confuse 6s & 9s.

It makes no sense for them to recite “Call 911 in an emergency” if they haven’t practiced finding & pressing those numbers; so we practice on real, non-working cell phones, that parents have donated to our class.

Just as important as learning how to dial that number, is knowing when it’s appropriate to do so.

Keeping these things in mind, I designed this 911 packet, with quick, easy & super-fun activities that will ensure your students know how, as well as when, to dial this life saving number.

The packet includes:

* An emergent reader: “Who Ya Gonna Call?” with 24 Dolch sight words.

I titled the booklet that because of the catchy Ghostbusters tune, and have the music playing softly in the background, when my kiddos work on this activity.

When the refrain “Who ya gonna call?” is sung, my students yell out 911.

* Afterwards, we do the  “When Should I Call 911?” cell phone craftivity.

This not only reinforces the lesson, but tests comprehension. There are ...

* 2 song posters; 9-1-1 to the tune of “Brother John”, as well as “Call 9-1-1” to the tune of “If You’re Happy & You Know It”.

* A matching “flip phone craftivity” that displays the song inside.

* A “Rip & Tear” craftivity that helps strengthen finger muscles.

* A “100s chart, mystery number worksheet”, along with quite a few worksheets to practice the numbers 911.

* Five, colorful 911 number puzzles that practice sequencing numbers from 1-10, counting backwards from 10-1, plus skip counting by 2s & 10s.

I’ve included a black & white pattern as well, so that students can make their own puzzle. And finally . . .

* 911 “slap bracelets”, a bookmark and certificate of praise.

Click on the link to zip on over to my TpT shop, to take a look at this whopping 61-page 911 Activities packet , chock full of hands-on fire safety fun. 

Today's FREEBIE also has a 911 theme.  Students sing this 9-1-1 song to the tune of "This Old Man". I've included 3 poster optons.  

Well that's it for today. It's balmy out, despite the drizzle; the perfect kind of day to open the windows, air out the house and snuggle up with a good book and hot cup of cider.  Wishing you a relaxing day.

"Each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor."  ~Edgar Allan Poe

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fire Safety Activities With Me

I know there's a lot a teacher has to cram in each month, but I can't stress enough, how important it is to make time to cover some fire safety with your kiddos, as life skills certainly far out way report card standards, should a crisis arise. 

With time as a factor, I designed these quick, easy & fun activities. 

There's nothing quite like adding a little bit of craftiness to a lesson or writing prompt, to get students excited and down to business. 

Younger studetns can simply do the craft, while older students can complete writing prompts. 

I've up-dated & tweaked some of my favorites and tossed them into Diane's Dollar Deals in my TpT shop. 

Simply click on the photograph that you're interested in, to zip on over to take a look. The "Safety Matches" are my personal favorite.

The "Put Out the Fire" craftivity, includes a sweet song. This project provides wonderful fine motor practice, as students cut the "hose" spiral. 

My kiddos are always amazed at the "way cool" results. I've included 2 spiral posters as well, so you can take advantage of that teachable moment to build vocabulary.

The Stop Drop & Roll writing prompt craftivity, also includes a song.

Besides fire safety "craftivities", I've also up-dated the fire safety number puzzles.

There's now a total of 52, featuring 20 different pictures. 

The puzzles come in color, so you can use them for an independent math center, as well as black & white, so your students can make their own. 

The number puzzles come in both horizontal & vertical patterns, and help students sequence numbers from 1-10, count backwards from 10 -1, as well as skip count by 2s & 10s.

I have two FREEBIES for you today: a cute fire hat, as well as a fire truck-themed 10 frames packet.  I hope you find them useful. 

Since I didn't want this blog to get too long, I'm posting two articles today, as I have one more big fire safety packet to share with you.

Simply scroll down, to check out all of the super-fun & creative activities, that will help teach your kiddos about the 911 emergency number.  

There's another FREEBIE there too. Thanks for stopping by. 

"The most tangible of all visible mysteries - fire."  ~Leigh Hunt

1-2-3 Come Do Some Fire Safety Writing Prompt Craftivities With Me

I'm having a great time dreaming up quick and easy fire safety activities for October's Fire Prevention Month. I hope you find something here that you and your kiddos will enjoy.

One of my personal favorites is "Hot Tips For Fire Safety."  I designed a matchbook to feature the hot tips. Simply trim and fold a sheet of construction paper to make the matchbook. (Pattern included.)

On the outside of the matchbook it says: A perfect match: Smart kids and fire safety. 

Flip it open to find a list of hot tips at the top, and the matches on the bottom, with a warning to never play with matches.  

When everyone is done, review and discuss the tips. 

For writing practice, have older students make up a list of their own tips, or have them write additional advice on the back.  

Click on the link for the Hot Tips Fire Safety Matchbook craft.

My Y5's loved to make and wear hats and crowns, so I designed an easy fire helmet for your kiddos. Older students can write several fire safety facts on the front, back or rim. 

You could also make extra badges for children to wear.   They say: "I'm fire safety smart.  I'm alert, so I won't get hurt. "

For extra reinforcement, have students don their hat, pick a partner and give each other fire safety advice.

For more fire safety fun, make a flaming dangler.  This craftivity also reinforces the importance of not playing with fire.  I used the universal "no" sign to make the top portion, with a 3D flame dangling from the bottom. 

These look wonderful suspended from your ceiling, as they spin in the breeze. Older students can simply make the larger flame and use it to write 3 different fire safety ideas on it. 

I've included a list of fire safety writing prompts for them to choose from.   Click on the link to view/download the fire safety writing prompt craft.

Finally, while doing research, I came across a wonderful fire safety song to the tune of This Old Man. I used it on 3 poster options to help children remember to call 9-1-1 in an emergeny.

I've also included a smaller black and white version that students can color and take home to share with their families.  There are 3 on a page for quick printing.

Both places I found the song posted, did not know the author.  It was simply too cute not to share.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for visiting.  It's time to find the rest of my October books.  Looking through stories always gives me zillions of ideas. 

What better way to spend a few hours.  I hope you can pop by tomorrow for the latest FREEBIES. Wishing you an ed-venturous day.

 "The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed." - Lloyd Jones

 1-2-3 Come Do Some 911 Activities With Me

Teaching students that they can dial 911 in an emergency is extremely important.  I do this during Fire Safety Week. 

One of the things that we do is sit in a circle and pass around a variety of kinds of phones. We discuss their differences as we locate the numbers 911 on them. 

Each child takes a turn answering the question: "What number do you call in an emergency?" They reply 911 and then dial it on an old cell phone.  

I watch to make sure that they are pressing the 9 and not the 6.  Practice continues 'til each child has had a turn.  Listening to the number repeated 20+ times, as students take their turn, is beneficial reinforcement.

Afterwards, students pick a partner, and act out scenarios of when to call 911, taking turns dialing the number. I have a tub of different real phones that people have donated to us, so I have a nice supply of over 15  phones.  

It's important to remind students that they should only dial this number in a real emergency, because if they're just fooling around, they could tie up the line for someone who really needs help. 

For more practice, I designed two quick and easy fire safety crafts that are also fun ways to reinforce dialing 911 in an emergency. 

The first one is a paper cell phone.  I chose to draw Apple's Smart Phone, because of the play on words: "I'm smart. I know how to dial 911 in an emergency." that I typed at the top.

The phone flips open to reveal a cute "Call 911" song that your students will enjoy singing to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." 

Older students can write a list of when to call 911 in the empty space on the left.

I've included a larger poster of the 911 song as well.  I did not write this little diddy. 

Quite a few years ago a fellow teacher shared it with me, so I have no idea where it came from. 

I've Googled it, and actually found it, but that teacher too did not know the author.

I also work on making sure that children are not mixing up the 9 with the number 6, so I have them color in the numbers on their paper cell phone. 

There's also a "Don't Be Fooled" worksheet, where students find and circle all of the 9's hiding amongst similar numbers and letters, like a 6, q, and p. 

For more practice, I've also included a trace and write 911 worksheet.

The 2nd craftivity is a large 911 that students fill in with pieces of torn red, yellow and orange construction paper. 

(I cut 1 inch strips of construction paper on a paper cutter.  Each child gets one of each color.) 

Ripping and tearing paper is wonderful fine motor practice that helps strengthen finger muscles. 

Children rip a pile of each color and then rub a glue stick over the 9 and press down the pieces of paper, continuing 'til all of the numbers are completely filled.  Remind students to rub the glue on the number and not on the individual tiny pieces of paper.  This is faster and their fingers won't get all sticky.

Encourage students to sing the 911 song whiile they work on this activity.  (My Y5's started singing on their own, without a prompt from me, so I know your kiddos will also enjoy it.) Completed projects make a terrific fall bulletin board.

Click on the link to view/download the 911 Fire Safety Packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Hope you can stop by tomorrow for more fire safety craftivities.  I'm off to church.  Once again, my early morning has flown by.  Wishing you a blessed day.

"It always seems impossible until it is done." -Nelson Mandela