• Grade 1, Lesson 1
• Grade 1, Lesson 2
• Information Sheet 1.1
• Grade 1, Lesson 3
• Grade 1, Lesson 4
• Grade 1, Permission Form
• Grade 1, Letter to Parents

Grade 1: Safety
Topic: Preventing injuries			Activity: An accident near the school
Decision-making Process: Stop!			Resources Warner, Don't Forget
Foundational Objectives Students will identify sources of risk to healthy living Students will describe a decision-making process (CCT, IL)			Learning objectives Students will: appreciate and enjoy experiences with literature (C) recognize situations that might be dangerous identify personal and interpersonal behaviours in their everyday lives that might present a risk to their health or safety connect what they already know with what they are learning (IL)
Procedure A story might be used to begin this unit and to focus the students’ interest on the topic of taking responsibility for one’s safety. For example, read Warner, Don’t Forget [ For more information on shared reading, please refer to English Language Arts : A Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level .] to the students. Encourage their response to the story and discuss questions such as the following: Why is Warner’s mother always so worried? Should she worry so much about Warner? Why or why not ? Warner says that his mother has no need to worry, because he can take care of himself... He thinks he is old enough and responsible now. What do you think? Can his mother trust him? Why or why not? Do your parents worry that you will get hurt when you walk to school, when you play, when you ride your bicycle? How can you tell that they worry? What kinds of things do they say to you? What do you tell them? Invite students to take another look at some of the illustrations in the book. Ask them to identify some possible hazards in the situations shown. What could happen to Warner if he were careless? Do the students know what Warner should do to avoid the risks in these situations? Tell students that in the coming lessons, they will learn how to avoid accidents, how to be responsible for their own safety when walking along the street. When Warner crosses the street with his classmates, the crossing guard reminds him to look both ways. Discuss questions such as the following: Do the students know how to cross the street safely? Would some students like to demonstrate how? Is it sometimes scary to have to cross a street? Why or why not?			Notes If you teach only Health Education: The story is not essential to the health education program. It reinforces the Communication learning objective. Consider collaborative planning for this link with the teacher responsible for the language arts program. Assessment: Observe the students’ participation in discussions. Do they relate personal experiences to the story? To what degree are they ready to take responsibility for their safety? How familiar are they with street safety rules? Record observations on a checklist
Procedure Begin a drama [ For more details on the drama strategies suggested, please refer to the drama strand of the Arts Education Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level ] with the students. Introduce the topic "an accident near the school" by reading a short passage such as the one below: It is 8:45 a.m. The school bus arrives in front of the school. Justine is in a hurry to tell her friend Mario about her afternoon at the circus yesterday. Just as she is getting off the bus, she sees Mario and races toward him, calling his name. She does not see the blue car coming! And the driver cannot stop in time... Invite the students to imagine what happens just after this: what do people do and how do they feel? (They should not discuss their thoughts at this point.) Ask the students if they would like to do a drama which would involve them in role as Mario, Justine and other people who would be present in this situation. Discuss who these people might be (the driver of the blue car, other students in the school bus, the school bus driver, teachers arriving at the school when the accident occurred, parents accompanying their children to school). Divide the students into groups, according to the roles they have chosen. Ask them if they would like to mime the scene of the accident. (The focus of the drama at this point is "how and why do accidents happen?") Observe the groups as they work. Select two or three groups and ask the students, out of role, to describe what they mimed. What were their feelings as they were in role? How did they react? Invite the students to comment on the experience. Tell the students that when they resume the drama, you will be in role yourself, as a reporter (or a police officer). Explain that when you are in role, you will be wearing a badge. In role, start questioning witnesses about the accident. Speak to various people: the driver of the blue car, Mario, Justine herself, an older student who helped give first aid, etc. During the interview, ask questions to find out who obeyed or broke safety rules, who tried to prevent the accident and how, or ask witnesses to recreate some parts of the incident through a mime or a tableau. Out of role, discuss pedestrian safety rules. Did Justine obey these rules? Was Justine a good model? To avoid the accident, what should she have done? Following the discussion, ask if a group of students would like to mime a scene in which Justine observes safety rules and avoids getting injured. Ask the rest of the class if this is a good model. Discuss how good modeling may have a positive influence on others.			Notes If the students have no previous experience working in dramas, the teacher must make it clear that the situation they are about to enter is a fictional one. The children are being asked to join the teacher in a "pretend world". Observe the students’ involvement in the situation and their response during the follow-up discussion. To what extent do they make connections between the situation and "real-life" experiences and feelings? This unit models integration between Health Education and the drama strand of the Arts Education curriculum. Teachers are advised to consider possibilities for assessment based on the drama learning objectives. Assessment: Observe the extent of the students’ knowledge about pedestrian safety. Determine what rules need to be taught or stressed in the following activities, based on your observations

Grade 1: Safety
Topic: Preventing injuries			Activity: Signs
Decision-making Process: Stop!			Resources Posters showing traffic signs
Foundational Objectives Students will identify sources of risk to healthy living Students will describe a decision-making process (CCT, IL)			Learning objectives Students will: recognize situations that might be dangerous identify personal and interpersonal behaviours in their everyday lives that might present a risk to their health or safety reflect on what they know and feel about an issue participate in a categorization activity where they are encouraged to explore the possibilities for placing objects into more than one category (CCT)
Procedure For the next lessons, the focus will shift to "how can accidents be prevented?" Ask the students how the parents of the students at Justine’s school might react when they learn what happened. Suggest that students continue the drama with a meeting where parents discuss plans to make sure that this kind of accident does not happen again. Before they start the meeting, however, they might need to find out more about street safety and about making good choices to avoid injuries. Show some traffic signs and ask if the students recognize them. Who are they intended for (pedestrians, drivers, cyclists)? How do they know? What should they do when they see these signs? What should drivers do when they see these signs? Ask students to categorize the signs by colour and shape. Compare the colours and shapes with the message the signs convey. Do the colour and shape seem to have any meaning? What do they mean? Have the students look at the symbols and words on the signs. Why do some signs use symbols rather than words or sentences? Are these symbols easy to understand? Why or why not? Suggest taking a walk in the area around the school to observe the traffic signs (plan the route to avoid particularly busy or dangerous spots). Ask if the students can predict what traffic signs they might see. Prepare an observation sheet (see the example on Information sheet 1.1) to be used by the parent volunteers during the walk. Explain to the students that whenever they see a traffic sign during the walk, they should tell the parents in their group so that they check it off on the sheet. Before setting out on the walk, review appropriate behaviour and discuss the street safety rules to be followed. Stop from time to time and invite students to look around: focus their attention on the surroundings (park, hospital, school, bicycle path, streets, intersections, crosswalks) and the associated signs. Ask the students to explain what they should do when they see these signs. Describe various situations to students and ask them what they should do in such situations (e.g., "You are in this park, playing ball with your friend. The ball rolls into the street. What would you do?" or "You are here and you have to cross the street to get to the store on the other side. Can you cross here? Why not? What should you do instead?" or "The light is red for cars, and the signal says that pedestrians (people who walk) can cross. What should you do? Can you cross without looking both ways? Why not? What should you do before crossing?" Many traffic signs are intended for motor vehicle drivers. But students need to learn that pedestrians should still be vigilant in case a driver ignores a sign (for instance, sometimes a driver will pass a school bus even though its red lights are flashing). Have students practise what to do to avoid accidents in such situations. Back in the classroom, ask the students to use their observation sheets to construct a graph to illustrate how many of each traffic sign they saw on their walk. (N)			Notes Adapt Information Sheet 1.1 to better reflect signs that are most common in your neighbourhood. Include for example : Assessment: Observe the students’ participation in discussions, as well as their behaviour. Do they know pedestrian safety rules? Do they obey these rules? It might be worth asking a parent to film the safety walk, as the video could be used to do a review or for assessment purposes. Students might evaluate their own behaviour throughout the walk and discuss whether this would provide a good model for other students.

Information sheet 1.1 - Observation sheet

Put a check mark in a box each time you see these signs.

.

Grade 1: Safety
Topic: Preventing injuries			Activity: I am a careful pedestrian
Decision-making Process: Stop!			Resources Various information sources on trafic safety rules (books, audiovisual materials, guest speakers). Examples: Traffic Safety; In the Outdoors
Foundational Objectives Students will identify sources of risk to healthy living Students will describe a decision-making process (CCT, IL) Students will help members of their family, class, and community achieve physical, mental and social well-being (PSVS) Students will develop their ability to avoid danger or react to it in ways likely to reduce any harmful effects			Learning objectives Students will: recognize situations that might be dangerous identify personal and interpersonal behaviours in their everyday lives that might present a risk to their health or safety develop their ability to communicate their knowledge about health to their friends, family and community (C) demonstrate safe behaviours in simulations of dangerous situations recognize possible sources of information on health questions (IL)
Procedure Invite the students to read some informative material on pedestrian safety or show them videos to remind them of important rules or to teach them new ones. Or invite a guest speaker (a police officer, a school bus driver, a student from a higher grade who is serving on the school’s safety patrol). Discuss the purpose of the presentation with this person ahead of time. At this point in the unit, other aspects of street safety might be explored. The guest speaker might discuss situations such as the following: "Suppose you are afraid of this dog that lives along your route to school. Every time you go by, it barks at you. What can you do?" or "You are waiting for your mom to pick you up after school. Someone comes to you and says that he or she works with your mother. That person explains that your mom sent him or her to pick you up because she has to work late tonight. What should you do?" After these activities, ask the students what new safety rules they have learned. Invite students to write a book on the safety rules they have learned. They can each illustrate a scene, then write (or dictate) a sentence to explain it. Students’ contributions can then be compiled into a book. Have students practise safety rules through different games and activities: in the gymnasium, classroom or schoolyard, draw sidewalks and streets and set up posters representing traffic signs and stoplights. Have students follow the routes laid out, while obeying safety rules; have students match up traffic signs and sentences describing what they mean. have students match up posters of scenes illustrating safety rules and sentences describing them.			Notes Bicycle safety might be incorporated into this unit if some students ride their bicycles to school. By now, students should know the traffic signs and safety rules fairly well. Record signs of growth. Group students who still need additional practice.

Grade 1: Safety
Topic: Preventing injuries			Activity: No more accidents near the school!
Decision-making Process: Explore...!			Resources
Foundational Objectives Students will identify sources of support for healthy living Students will treat themselves and others with respect (PSVS) Students will develop their ability to make decisions (CCT)			Learning objectives Students will: recognize that family and friends are sources of support increasingly accept responsibility for themselves and others suggest several possible courses of action and explore the long- and short-term consequences of these actions
In grade one, students should make at least one health-related decision and carry out an action plan to implement that decision. Selection of the topic for this real life application of the Decision-making Process should be based on local needs. The activities below are suggested as examples of a decision and action plan that would fit within this unit. Teachers might otherwise select only some of these activities for students to practise Levels B and C of the Decision-making Process.
Procedure At this point, students should be ready to resume the drama and to hold the meeting mentioned earlier. Ask them if they will accept you in role as the school principal. Explain that when you are wearing your school pin, you are in role. Welcome the students in role as parents and explain: As you all know by now, a few days ago, an unfortunate accident happened in front of the school. A grade one student, Justine Smith, was hit by a car. She had just got off the school bus, and was running to meet a friend. She dashed in front of an oncoming car, which was unable to stop in time. Justine was injured, but fortunately she is all right now. This accident could have been very serious, though. We want to make sure that the children are safe on their way from their home to the school. We would like to ask for your suggestions. What can we do together? To start with, I would like you to suggest any idea you have, even if you think it is not reasonable or feasible. I will record all responses for now. In role, record responses on chart paper. Direct discussions, acknowledge contributions, ask "parents" to expand on their ideas or to clarify their suggestions. In role, discuss the positive and negative implications of each suggestion. Can the parents reach a consensus and select a solution that is agreeable to everyone? Congratulate the parents for their willingness to help find a solution. This group reaches a consensus to invite all parents and guardians to sit down with their children and prepare a map showing their route to and from school. This map should show: the exact path that the child should take as a red line (if there is no sidewalk, the red line should be marked on the left-hand side of the street); the points on the route where the child has to be especially careful (when crossing streets, for instance); traffic signs and stoplights along the route; places where the child can obtain assistance or ask to use the telephone, for example (houses with "Block Parent" signs, family friends’ houses, etc.).			Notes Assessment: Observe students’ participation during the meeting. To what extent do they contribute ideas? To what extent do they respect the contributions of others? This plan will help grade 1 students act as good models for other students in the school.

Grade 1: Safety
Topic: Preventing injuries			Activity: I am careful on the way to and from school
Decision-making Process: Go!			Resources
Foundational Objectives Students will identify sources of support for healthy living Students will act on their knowledge about maintaining or improving their health Students will treat themselves and others with respect (PSVS) Students will develop their ability to make decisions (CCT)			Learning objectives Students will: recognize that family and friends are sources of support establish daily habits for being careful and avoiding accidents increasingly accept responsibility for themselves and others design and apply action plans evaluate their progress and revise their plans as needed
Procedure In role, discuss how to implement this decision. (Refer to the action plan model in the unit describing the Planning Process to guide the discussion): How could the children and their parents make sure that all the necessary details appear on the map? Perhaps they should walk the route together first and note each detail on the map? Will the map in itself be enough to make sure that children respect safety rules? Perhaps children should practise once or twice with their parents? Would it be better for children to be accompanied by an older student, perhaps an older sibling, or another child living in the same neighbourhood? If so, should the students explain their plan to this person? Could this person become a source of support, to make sure that the action plan is always carried out properly? What should students who take the bus to school do? Should they practise getting on and off the bus safely? Out of role, tell the students that you are going to write a letter explaining the project to parents. Invite them to suggest what information you should include in the letter. (See the sample letter at the end of the unit.) When the letter is ready, have the students take it home to their parents. For a two to three week period, encourage the students to follow their action plan on their way to and from school and discuss progress. Encourage them to carry out their plan for the rest of the year. Monitor progress throughout the year. After a while, students will not need the map anymore, but should have established safe behaviours. As seasons change, discuss additional safety factors to consider (e.g., avoid icy patches if possible, or walk carefully if you have to step on them).			Notes Assessment: Conduct small group conferences to discuss progress. Are students encountering any unforeseen difficulties? Do they have any questions? Do they need to review some traffic signs or safety rules? Should they modify their plan?

Information Sheet & Sample letter for parents and guardians

Dear parents and guardians:

Our Grade one class will soon start a unit on street safety as part of the Health Education program. On _______________(date), we are planning a safety walk around the school's neighbourhood, to observe traffic signs and signals and discuss important street safety rules. The following is a map of our route for this out of school activity.

(Map)

We will be leaving the school at _______________(time)and returning at _______________(time). I will need four parent/guardian volunteers to help me supervise students on this trip. Please complete the following permission slip and have your child return it to me by _______________(date).

Thank you for your cooperation. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

__ I give permission for my son/daughter to go on this out of school activity.
__ I do not give permission for my son/daughter to go on this out of school activity.

__ I am available to act as a helper for this out of school activity.
__ I am not available to act as a helper on this out of school activity.

Signature of parent or guardian:

Information Sheet & Letter to parents re: route to and from school

Dear parents and guardians,

We are about to complete the unit on street safety, and we are now at the point where the students are drawing up an action plan to put their new knowledge into practice. We have learned a lot about traffic signs and street safety rules. The students in our class have decided on a plan to make sure they make use of this knowledge. Here is what we want to do.

Each student in our class will draw a map of the route he or she takes every day to and from school. He or she should try to follow this plan, at first with your help or that of an older child. Your child will need your help to draw the map, which should include the following details:

• the location of your house and the school;
• the exact route your child is to follow, marked with a red line (streets to take and streets to cross; if there is no sidewalk, draw the red line on the left-hand side of the street, where your child is to walk);
• points on the route where your child will have to be especially careful (streets to cross, for instance);
• the traffic signs your child will have to obey along the way (stop signs, traffic lights, crosswalks, areas controlled by school safety patrol);
• places where your child can go for help or to use the telephone, for example (houses displaying "Block Parent" signs, family friends' houses, etc.).

Your child will get the most out of this activity if you do it together. You might wish to discuss what symbols you will use to mark the important details on your child's map. Your child will be the one to use the map, so it should be as easy as possible for him or her to understand.

Thank you for your cooperation. This is a very important exercise for the children's safety. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,