Injury Prevention and Safety
Grade 4 - 6
Overview
Injury Prevention and Safety in upper elementary focuses on building prevention skills, safety practices, and protocols at home, in school, and in the community. Student learning in this content area focuses on bullying prevention, emergency and disaster preparedness, gang prevention, gun safety, and healthy relationships.
Information and Resources
American Red Cross: Disaster Preparedness Plan
How to Make a Family Plan: Create and practice an emergency plan so your family will know what to do in a crisis.
Smokey Bear - Wildfire Prevention
Join Smokey Bear and learn how to prevent forest fires! Information and Resources on wildfire prevention from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS).
Firearms Safety Information - Project ChildSafe
Project ChildSafe is committed to providing educators and students the resources they need to spread the message of firearms safety.
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
Cal-OES provides information and resources for disaster preparation and planning.
National Preparedness Month - Ready
Ready.gov provides Information and resources for Disaster Preparedness Month in September
Sandy Hook Promise
Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization that provides information and resources to prevent gun violence and stop the tragic loss of life.
Web Wise Kids
Web Wise Kids is a national non-profit organization that provides unique and effective resources to equip young people to safely use and enjoy the latest technologies.
Conflict Resolution at School and on the Playground - Rutgers New Jersey Policy Lab
Rutgers New Jersey Policy Lab provides information, resources, and curriculum on conflict resolution in schools.
Earthquake Safety - Great Shakeout
This K-12 resource provides drill planning guidance, educational resources for teaching earthquake science and safety, and preparedness and safety resources for assessing and improving school earthquake safety.
Curriculum and Lessons
PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center
Founded in 2006, PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center actively leads social change to prevent childhood bullying, so that all youth are safe and supported in their schools, communities, and online.
Fire Prevention and Safety Middle School Resources
A complete language arts and science curriculum for grades 6–8. Students take on the role of forensic investigators in this program designed for the science classroom.
Everything You Need to Teach Digital Citizenship and Well-Being - Common Sense Media
Help students take ownership of their digital lives. All students need digital citizenship skills to participate fully in their communities and make smart choices online and in life.
McGruff® Talks to Students About Gun Safety
Let McGruff the Crime Dog® help you add gun safety to your health and wellness curriculum with two entertaining videos that teach students what to do if they should find a gun at home or see a student with a gun at school.
Sandy Hook Promise: Start With Hello and Say Something Programs
Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs programs effectively teach youth and adults how to prevent school violence, shootings, and other harmful acts.
KidSmartz - National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Personal Safety lessons for grades K-5 about preventing abduction and empowers kids to practice safer behaviors.
NetSmartKids - National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
NetSmartKids offers videos, games and activities that teach kids about Internet safety.
Preparedness Ambassadors: Disaster Preparedness for California’s Fourth Graders - CalOES
The Preparedness Ambassadors curriculum is designed to engage fourth grade students to develop and promote disaster preparedness guidelines for their home, school, and local community.
Youville (FTC)
Welcome to Youville! Youville is a free, downloadable, educational program to help children ages 8-12 develop skills to be safer online.
Book List
Grade 4 - 6
Classroom Activities
- Use Respectful Conversation Starters (Health Education Framework for California Public Schools, 2019, p.228) to teach about healthy relationships and communication.
- Have students Create Safety Plan using a template (Health Education Framework for California Public Schools, 2019, p.231)
- Encourage students to bring safety equipment for show and tell, a photo of protective gear, or make a short video showing them using the gear.
- Student-led projects. Using an electronic format, students write and record their own one- to two-minute public service announcement (PSA) covering a chosen Internet safety topic.
Partnerships
Partnering with the Family
- Families are encouraged to have an emergency preparedness plan in place and a sign or poster in an accessible location on when to call 9-1-1.
- Search CDC’s Home Emergency Preparedness to provide resources for families.
- Families that share they have an emergency plan in place are given a certificate of appreciation.
- Consider hosting an information night for parents and local community agencies to share what your school is doing for bullying prevention and how to report bullying, harassment, and other dangerous situations.
- Using publishing software, students create an Internet safety calendar as a gift for their parents, guardians, or caretakers.
Partnering with your School
- All educators are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the district's policies on bullying, prevention, reporting, and intervention/response requirements.
- Students, teachers, and administrators should actively discuss the policies, what they mean, and what students should do if they have concerns.
- Many districts have mandatory training, and this is a great time to have students develop awareness campaigns to reduce bullying school-wide.
- The tips will allow the school to address bullying issues and ensure a no-tolerance-of-bullying climate at school.
- Students show peer support by nominating other students for a safety award that is highlighted in the school newsletter or noted on the school’s website.
- The students are given a certificate or plaque for demonstrating safe behaviors including the proper use of safety belts when riding in cars, wearing helmets when riding bicycles, pedestrian or transportation safety while commuting to and from school, wearing mouth guards when participating in athletic activities, and wearing other safety equipment as needed.
Partnering with your Community
- Guest speakers from the local fire department, emergency management services, American Red Cross, and Poison Control Center, provide resources and teach the importance of developing and practicing emergency, fire, and safety plans at home and at school.
- Local EMS can instruct students, staff and parents on the Cardiac Chain of Survival to respond to a sudden cardiac arrest.
- Community organizations, and local nonprofits, that specialize in gang violence prevention may be invited as guest speakers.