Rescue Heroes Party Coming Up

Just a reminder about the Rescue Heroes party coming up tomorrow.  The children can dress up as their favorite Rescue Hero, bring books or toys about Rescue Heroes and bring a stuffed animal to "rescue."

Please let me know if your child is going to participate in the Cardboard City instead of the Party.

More Coast Guard

There was so much to talk about with the Coast Guard that we extended it another week.  We read about real Coast Guard heroes.  Did you know the Coast Guard helped out during 9/11?  We watched the end of our video and learned how the Coast Guard spots and marks icebergs, so ships won't hit them, like the Titanic did so long ago.  They still leave a wreath in the same spot to honor the victims of the Titanic.  We learned how to tie a knot--a clove hitch and got to bring home our ropes to practice.  We also got a coloring book published by the Coast Guard that shows what they do, some equipment they use, and terms for different parts of the ship.  Some of the children brought home instructions on how to draw Coast Guard boats, as well.

Next week:  "Hug-a-Tree" or how to get rescued if you are lost in the woods.  (P.S. keep working on memorizing their address and phone numbers.)

In preparation for our Rescue Heroes party on May 14th, the children can come dressed as a rescue hero, bring a book about a rescue hero and bring a favorite stuffed animal "to rescue."  Eli wanted to bring actual Rescue Hero figures.  That is okay, also.

Coast Guard

This week we learned about the  Coast Guard.  They are a fun group to learn about.  They are like the police officers, the fire fighters, the search and rescue and the navy and air force all rolled into one.  They even have Coast Guard dogs that can search for illegal things on boats.  We got a sheet that had pictures of a bunch of Coast Guard vehicles and we watched a video and were able to identify most of them.  Then we learned how to fold sailor hats out of newsprint and finally we learned how to talk like a sailor.  We learned different words like deck, porthole, lookout, etc.

Next week we are going to do more on the Coast Guard.  There is just so much to learn about.  We are also continuing to work on memorizing our phone numbers and addresses.  This is a safety thing in a child gets lost.  I would encourage you to work with them on learning these things.  The car is a good place to practice.  I have a special sticker sheet for the kids than can at least learn their phone number.

Police Officer

This week we got a visit from Officer Shelbie Boyd of the Tacoma Police.  She shared with us some ways to stay safe.  One of the most important was to know our own address and phone number in case we got lost.  She also shared with us not to talk to strangers in our neighborhood and to let our parents know if we have been approached by someone.  She shared a story of when she was a girl and a man followed her.  She ran home and told her mother and described the man's car and the police were able to stop him.  She told us not to share our information with people online either.  Finally she took us outside to see her car.  We got to sit inside it and touch almost everything.  It was pretty impressive!

Because know their addresses and phone numbers is so important, (my own child doesn't know hers either.) we decided to have the children learn their information this week.  I will have a surprise for when the children learn their address and phone. 

We are hoping to do a field trip next week with Lower Core to the Caterpillar Plant.  Shannon Hayes is planning it.  More information to follow. 

Doctors

To follow up with our discussion of nurses, we talked about doctors this week.  We started by reading Froggy Goes to the Doctor.  We thought it was quite funny.  Then we read a book about A to Z doctor things.  It was quite interesting.  We learned some new terms like U is for Urine among other things.  We got to look at some tools that doctors use and then we took our weight and height and did an eye test.  We ended up trying to make our own doctor kit.  (I was going for something like the picture above), but we found out crafts is not the favorite activity of the day, so I don't think any of them made it past the trash can today.  We enjoy "doing" activities better than "making" activities.

Next week:  A visit with a police officer.

We are hoping to join the Core kids on a field trip to the Caterpillar Factory on April 16th.  More information to come.

Nurses

We had a fun week learning about what nurses do.  A big thanks to our visitor Melanie Stucki and her two children, Rachel and Will.  Nurse Stucki told showed us picture of what she dresses like when she is a work.  She works with a surgeon.  She is completely covered up.  We got to practice putting masks on like she wears.  She showed us the tools she uses at work also.  Her stethoscope, otoscope, tiny flashlight, and blood pressure cuff.  Then we learned about parts of our bodies and got to play a game where we guessed where each part was.  We were pretty close.  Finally we all got to make fun first aid kits out of altoids tins.  They are just the right size to carry on a hike.  Everyone agreed we are really prepared now.

Ambulance

Future EMTs in action.

We got a visit this week from a real live ambulance (and we didn't even have to call 911).  Teacher Shannon's sister Katie brought her ambulance to show us.   Unlike our visit to the fire station, this time we got to touch everything.  EMT Katie even let the children sound the siren.  You may have noticed some extra "stickers" stuck to the kids' legs and arms.  Katie did an EKG on each of the children and gave them each a printout to take home.  She showed us 3 different kind of stretchers:  A big one with wheels, a back board and one just for stairs.  To make things even more exciting, there was a real emergency on the other side of Albertsons.  We got to hear them calling for ambulances on the radio and even heard them when they showed up.  Luckily, Katie didn't have to leave because she was off-duty. A huge thanks to Katie for the awesome tour of her mobile hospital.

Spencer and Tristan show off their print outs.  "We're glad to know we are alive.  Here's proof."

Lily gets an EKG.

It's true.  Ambulances do have the name spelled backwards on the front.  The kids ran to the front of the vehicle to make sure.

Judah models the neck stabelizer.

Next week:  Doctors

Paramedics/EMTs

This week we learned a little about Paramedics and EMTs in preparation for our visit from a paramedic next week.  Did you know that the term "paramedic" came from the army medics who would parachute into the field to give aid?  We read a book about a day in the life of paramedics and another book about ambulances.  We then made an ambulance paper craft.  The children were very creative in their construction.  Some of them even tried to write "ambulance" backwards like on the front of a real ambulance.  We finished up with a movie about rescue workers where we saw some old-time ambulances (with horses and wagons) and saw some real paramedics in action.  Next week we will have a visit from Shannon Hayes' sister, Katie Hemming who is a paramedic.  She is going to bring her ambulance to let us see inside.

The project we did in class.  The children were very creative in embellishing them so your child's will look more or less similar.

Search and Rescue Dogs

This week was exciting.  We had a visit from Mr Kent Olson from Northwest Disaster Search Dogs.  Mr Olson brought his 3-year-old golden retriever, Guinness. Guinness is a special dog.  Mr. Olson went all the way to Wisconsin to find him as a puppy.  He trained him to work in cities that have experienced disasters.  Guinness' job is to search the rubble for people that are trapped.  He can crawl over and under obstacles to find people and he barks to let the rescue workers know there is someone there who needs help.  His sense of smell is 70,000 times more sensitive than a human's.  Amazing.  When Guinness isn't working, he loves to play--especially with his chew toy and with kids.  We had a lot of fun playing with Guinness.  Thanks to Mr Olson for sharing with us.

Guiness is very strong.

Mr Kent Olson and Guiness

For more info on Northwest Search and Rescue Dogs, go here.

Field Trip to Edgewood Fire Station

We had a great time this week at the Edgewood Fire Station.  Firefighter Jen and Lieutenant Dan explained some things about fire safety to us.  We learned how to Stop-Drop-and Roll if our clothes catch on fire.  We also got to see Firefighter Jen dress up in her gear.  She wasn't scary at all. We learned that if our house in on fire, we should yell, "Here I am" and crawl to a firefighter if we can.  We even got to rescue Firefighter Jen when they attached a rope to her and we pulled her across the room.  We got a tour of the station and saw the kitchen, living room, and bedrooms in the station.  We also got to see the fire engines and even sit in the driver's seat and turn on the flashing lights. We really enjoyed our trip and had a fun time with the firefighters.

Next week we will be visited at the church by Search and Rescue Dogs.  That should be exciting.

Practicing Stop, Drop, and Roll

Rescuing Firefighter Jen (with Lieutenant Dan helping)

What happens when the sun comes out in Seattle.

Firefighters

This week we prepared for our trip to the fire station by learning more about what firefighters do and about fire safety.  We read a book about Max' trip to the fire station and are excited to see if our fire station is the same.  We also learned about fire drills and we are prepared to practice our fire drill when the time comes.  We did a fire safety scavenger hunt and found four of the six things on our list: exit signs, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and a fire hydrant.  The children are going to look for the other two items when they are out in public this week: sprinklers and a fire alarm.

Next week is our field trip to the fire station in Edgewood.  Please be on time and bring your permission slip. (I have Julian's and Mark's.)  I still need another volunteer to come with us (or we may not have room for all the kids.)  We will be back by noon, so no need to pack a separate lunch for the children.

Health Inspector

You may have noticed the short little cups of "jello" the kids came home with today.  They are actually not jello, they are science experiments compliments of our guest today, Kim King.  Kim is a health inspector and these little cups were homemade petri dishes.  We swabbed the bathroom and areas of the kitchen and are going to grow up the bacteria.  The cups need to be covered with saran wrap or put in a sandwich baggie and put in a warm, dark place.  In 5-7 days they should be able to see the bacteria or mold growing in the auger.

Teacher Kim shared the tools she uses in her job, talked to us about keeping our hand clean when we cook food, and not spreading germs.  She also did a fun experiment with the children where they tried to determine what the flavor of a jelly bean was and if they could distinguish Sprite from 7-Up.  We had a few experts in the group.

I also sent home a permission slip and some fun worksheets about hand washing and germs.  If you didn't get the permission slip, let me know and I can email you a copy or make sure you get one next week.  Some of the children were very interested and knowledgeable about germs.  There is a great website if they would like to learn more.  http://fightbac.org/kids  There is a free pdf book, presentations, coloring/activity pages, videos and even several video games to teach the children more about preventing food borne illnesses.

Class Outline

January 2015

January 8
January 15	Introduction:  What is a hero?
January 22	Animal Heroes
January 29	Visit from a Health Inspector

February 2015

February 5	Firefighters
February 12	Field Trip to Edgewood Firestation (10105 24th Street East, Edgewood, WA 98371)
February 19	Visit from Search and Rescue Dogs
February 26	EMTs/Paramedics

March 2015

March 5	Paramedics/Ambulance Drivers
March 12	Visit from an Ambulance
March 19	Visit from a Nurse
March 26	Doctors

April 2015

April 9	Visit from a Police Officer
April 16	Coast Guard
April 23	More Coast Guard
April 30	Hug a Tree

May 2015

May 7	Zoo Field Trip
May 14	Rescue Hero Party
May 21	Field Day

Animal Heroes

In keeping with our animal theme for the zoo visit, we discussed animals that are rescue heroes.  We watched a video of Officer Buckle and Gloria.  We talked about police dog heroes and water dog heroes.  These dogs can jump from a helicopter swim out to an unconscious person, turn them over and drag them to shore.  Amazing.  The children discussed which type of water dog they would want.  We also talked about Animal Control officers and how they not only keep us safe from dangerous animals that are loose, but they also rescue lost or hurt pets.  We finished up by making a paper bag puppet police dog.  On Feb 19 we will have a chance to meet some real search and rescue dogs when they visit us.


Next week we will have a visit from a health inspector (not to inspect the church, but to share with us what she does in her job.)  She is going to share some fun experiments with us.


February 12, we will be visiting the Edgewood Fire Station.  We will meet at the church and carpool.  Teacher Isabel and I don't have enough room for all the children, so we need another volunteer with space in their car to come with us.  You are welcome to bring siblings.  Just let me know how many will be coming so I can let the station know.  There is no cost to tour the station.  I will be passing out field trip permission slips next week.


Teacher Jennifer Wright

What is a hero?

Last week we talked about what a hero is. He is brave and selfless. We talked about how we can be heroes to our families. We played a game where we guessed some of the heroes in our community: firefighters, police, veterinarians, doctors, etc. We ended by reading a book about one of my heroes--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Next week we will be participating with the Animals class in the Zoo to You presentation. We have a few visits and a field trip planned for the next month. Mark your calendars for Feb 12. We will be visiting the Edgewood Fire Station. More about that later.
As a final note: if anyone knows a rescue hero who would be willing to come in and talk to the children or even record a video to show them, please let me know.

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