All the Right Moves
Grade Levels : K-1 or 2
Lesson Objective
Primary Subject/Skills
Resources:
Suggested Procedure
Additonal Activity
Take-Home Activity
Lesson
Objective:
Learn and practice how to escape from a fire
Primary
Subject/Skills:
Science, Critical Thinking, Planning, Problem-Solving.
Resources:
• Fire Escape
section of the Command Center
• Fire
Escape Teachers Download
Suggested Procedure:
Introduce the idea of an escape plan.
Discuss what an escape plan is and why every
home should have one. Talk about safe and unsafe things to
do and why.
Use science to make the subject less scary
and more memorable. For example, you roll on to the floor
and crawl out of rooms because smoke rises up and the air
closer to the floor will be cleaner to breathe.
Conduct a Fire Escape Role Play Activity
Create a “model” bedroom for the students to practice
the escape procedure. Tape off a floorplan in your classroom
or in the school gym. Use chairs or tables for furniture.
Mark doors and windows and even a closet area. Cut the tape
at the edge of the “door” so it can be moved to
show it is open or closed. (The bedroom door should be closed
when kids are asleep – to help keep fire and smoke out
of the room.)
Discuss and demonstrate the steps with a volunteer
before you begin the role- play activity.
1. Use an alarm clock to signal the start. It will be the
smoke detector.
2. A student in the bed should roll onto the floor. Stay low
and crawl.
Ask students why the person should NOT stand up.
-Because smoke rises and the air near the floor will be cleaner.
Ask students to give you examples of smoke rising:
- fireplace, chimney, candle, campfire, burning leaves. Explain
that when a room is on fire the smoke will rise to the top
and be trapped by the ceiling.
3. The student who is crawling should take short breaths (not
big deep breaths).
Ask students why.
- Because smoke is poisonous and if there is smoke in the
room you don’t want to breathe the fumes deep into your
lungs.
4. The student should crawl to the door of the room, feeling
along the wall as a guide. When he or she reaches the door,
the student will check for heat by touching the door with
the back of his or her hand, BEFORE he or she opens it. Tell
the student as he or she crawls to the door, to pound on the
wall and yell so other people in the family will hear.
Ask students: What does it mean if the door feels hot?
- The fire is close and you should not open the door. Why
use the back of your hand? If the door is hot, you may burn
your hand a little bit. If you burn the palm of your hand,
it will be harder to crawl. Also, the back of your hand is
more sensitive to heat and you may not actually have to touch
the door to feel the heat.
At this point in your role play, there are
two ways the story can go. (You will want to try both. )
The door is cool
5A. Even if a door is cool when you touch it, open it only
a crack so it can be quickly shut if you see, hear or smell
flames or smoke on the other side.
The student opens the door (moves the piece
of tape that represents the door)
and crawls out of the room.
Explain that the student should crawl to an
exit (staying away from smoke and flames) then go outside
to a place the family has chosen to meet.
Ask and talk about the following:
a. Should you ever go back inside?
- NO!
What if you forgot a toy or even a pet?
-NO!! Wait for fire fighters. They know what to do and they
have the special clothing and equipment to go into the fire.
b. Why is it important to have a special place
to meet your family outside?
-So your mom and dad know that everybody is out safely. So
nobody gets lost.
Ask students to name some places they could
meet their family?
- Across the street. At a certain neighbor‘s house.
At a nearby store or business. The place you pick should be
close by and easy for everybody to get to. (Younger children
should not have to cross busy streets.)
The door is hot
5B. If a door is hot or smoke is seeping underneath,
DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. The student should push a blanket, towel,
robe or other heavy cloth in the crack. If there is water
in the room, the student should wet the towel or blanket.
Ask students why.
- Smoke outside the room cannot come in under the door if
you seal up the crack with a towel or blanket. A wet towel
or cloth will be harder to burn. Think ahead of time what
you could use to wet the blanket or cloth. Is there a glass
of water, a vase, even a fish tank in your room?
6. The student stays in the room and crawls
along the wall to a window. The student opens the window and
waves a sheet, or large piece of fabric out the window and
shouts. If the window is close to the ground (less than five
feet off the ground), climb out.
The window is stuck
7. The student tries to open the window, but it is stuck.
Ask students what the person should do?
-The answer is to break it with a chair, dresser drawer, or
other hard object.
How do you protect from breaking glass?
-By turning your face away from the glass as you break it,
and making sure your skin is covered. If your window is close
to the ground, you may climb out.
8. Have the student stay by the window until
the fire department comes.
Ask students: Should you ever hide under a
bed, in a closet or behind a dresser?
- NO!!!
Why not?
- If you hide, the fire fighters cannot find you. Stay out
in the room by the window
So they can find you if they come to the window or in through
the door. Remember, smoke is very thick and dark. If you hide,
it will be very hard to find you.
Go through the role play activity a few times,
having the class guide and correct the student as much as
possible so they are all learning the steps.
Additonal
Activity:
Make A Safe Exit Book
Bring in a digital or disposable camera to take pictures of
students as they execute the actions above. Make enough copies
of the Safe Exit Steps Template sheet so one step or action
can be pasted on to a single sheet. Pass out the sheets to
students who can write the action as a caption under the picture.
For younger students, you may want to write out the captions
and give them to students to paste on to the correct pictures.
Create a cover and staple the pages to make a classroom reference
book that also can be shared with parents during open house
or parent night events. Note, instead of a book you can also
make a bulletin board display, putting up the pictures in
order and adding a final sheet that shows a student safe outside.
Take-Home Activity
Give students copies of the Home Exit Plan and Safe Exit Steps
List to use at home (Fire
Escape Teachers Download).
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Downloads
