Let’s face it…kids need extra reminders to be safety smart at the start of a new school year.
Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!
At the start of a new school year or term, it’s smart to encourage children to pay attention to safety…
…on the way to and from school
…in school
…on the playground
…at home
…everywhere!
Let’s Face It – Safety Quizzes – Get kids to pay extra attention to safety by involving them in attention-grabbing and fun activities like Let’s Face It – Safety Quizzes.
As the school year or term gets underway, quiz kids on how well they obey safety rules for:
– walkers – bike riders – bus riders – car riders – on stairs and in school halls – on the playground, etc.
Make a Safety Quiz Master – Create a Safety Quiz master sheet of circles, just plain outlines of circles. (Kids can color the happy faces later.)
Print a number next to each circle.
Print a heading: Let’s Face It – A Safety Quiz.
Draw a line below the heading. Leave it blank so that you can write in each quiz focus – Bus Safety, Safety at Recess, etc. – when you’re ready to make copies for students and host a quiz.
Make enough copies to give one sheet to each student for each quiz.
Quiz Time – Attention on Safety! – At quiz time, explain to the class that you want to focus attention on safety.
Distribute the Let’s Face It quiz sheets. Note that each circle has a number next to it.
Tell students that you will call out safety-related questions, 1 – (how many you choose)
Instruct them to listen carefully, answer truthfully, and fill in the circle next to the number of the question you asked with a face that expresses how well they practice that safety skill.
“I know that you’ve just begun Kindergarten, but I want you to know that you’re important to me and others, as well. Please remember to follow safety rules so that you stay safe.”
Tell kids to draw a smiley face if they always remember, for example, to wait until their school bus comes to a complete stop before standing up to get off the bus on their way to or from school.
Ask kids to draw a frowning face if they don’t always remember and know that they can do better.
Consider offering small prizes to students who draw the most happy faces.
Prizes always catch attention!
Think up appropriate safety-related questions to ask your class, depending on where you live, how kids get to and from school, your school’s design, resources, and daily schedule.
Find helpful tips for safety quizzes for kids online.
Personal Care for Attention on Safety – There’s no better way to get a child’s attention on safety than to find a just-right moment to sit by them and offer these caring words…
“You’re important to me and others as well. Please remember to follow safety rules so that you stay safe.”
Being Smart About Safety Shows Good Character – If you work with children in grades 3 – 5, you can drive home a winning pitch…
“Being smart about safety shows good character.“ What specific trait, widely taught in schools, does following safety rules show?
Answer: Responsibility.
Encourage kids to “be bold; be brave: encourage safety ways”…in themselves, friends and family.
How else can you focus attention on safety?
Play a Game of ing it! – Focus attention on safety by challenging students to play a game of ing it.
Play a game of ing it! Stopping when told to do so is an important part of paying attention to safety.
Invite kids to play as individuals or in class teams.
The challenge is to name all the verbs that connect with safety in some way that players can think of with ing endings. (Adjust this game to suit the language of your country.)
In English, for example, the list is long…
Stopping (to look both ways before crossing a street)
Walking (facing traffic if you are on the road, not a sidewalk)
Not Pushing – (being respectful of others when walking in a hall or standing in line)
Running, Skipping, Driving (with your family, being sure to wear a seatbelt)
Diving (in a pool, any time of the year)
Throwing (a ball, not at someone’s head or at a building with glass windows)
Talking (when you should be listening to safety directions)
Texting (while walking, bike riding, or otherwise, making you a distracted person)
Biking, Climbing, Playing…the list goes on.
Safety is a cornerstone for a healthy, happy, productive school year.
In a busy world, one full of distractions, focusing extra attention on safety is time well spent.
Remember, you don’t need to be a magician to work magic in any instructional setting!
Please send comments about how you focus attention on safety.
Talk with you again soon,
Barbara ♥ The Lovable Poet
