Past Fires in our Community Continued

Past Fires in our Community Continued


1. A Brief Description:
Talk about the three fires we looked at yesterday. What were the fires, what happened in each, and what activities did we do for each. The students will then look at two more fires in Winona, the large fire downtown and then the saw mill that set fire. A small activity will be done with these two stations.

2. Resources/materials needed:
- “Winona: A City Rebuild From Its Own Ashes” Article
- Molding Clay
- Pictures of Saw Mill from Winona Historical Society
- Picture of man at Saw Mill
- Lined Paper
- Musical Instruments
o Tambourine
o Bells
o Maracas
o Chime

3. Goal(s) for today’s lesson:
The students will comprehend the issue of learning form the past and relate that to our fire safety; understanding that we have bettered our saw mills from the past to prevent fire.

4. Objective(s) for today’s lesson:
With the molding clay, the students will reconstruct the buildings that were damaged by fire in Winona and talk about how the fire affected this town.
With the pictures of the saw mill and musical instruments provided, the students will create and sing a song explaining ways the workers may have prevented the fire.

5. Procedure:
a. introductory experience:
1. (4 min) Talk about what happened in the three fires we looked at yesterday.
o “House Destroyed” is an article about a family’s home that was burned to the ground one early morning. In this group the students will write a short story about what he or she would do if their home had burned down like the Tomashek’s home had. What would they do? What would they have lost? Who would they go to for help? How would their family help one another through this hard time?
o “Family Escapes Fire” is an article about another family who lost everything. They woke up to an explosion and had to get out of the house right away. They did not have time to grab any of their belongings. In this group the students will each go through a mock trial of escaping down a hallway of a home that is on fire. The students must crawl on their hands and knees down the row of chairs making sure to keep their heads down close to the ground and feeling with their hands out in front of them to make sure nothing is in the way and to feel how warm the ground is to know where the flames are.
o “Hometown Heroes Save Child” is an article about the fire department saving a 5-year-old boy from his home. He was trapped in the house with flames everywhere and the fire fighters were able to get in the home and rescue him without injury. In this group the students will use a blank piece of paper and crayons to draw a map of their home. On this map will be an outlined escape route from his or her bedroom. Remind the students it is a great idea to come up with more than one route in case one of them is blocked by flames. This map will be taken home to show the family. The family should then come up with a meeting place outside the home to make sure everyone is out of the house and safe.

2. (4 min) Tell the students we will be doing the same layout with stations again today and will be looking at two new fires.
o One is “Winona: A City Rebuild from Its Own Ashes.” This is an article about the city of Winona, MN and a huge fire that destroyed most of the buildings downtown. A large part of downtown ended in only ashes. In this group, the students will use the clay to try to rebuild the city of Winona much like the people did in 1862. Show how many buildings the group believes were destroyed and talk about how they believe this fire affected Winona. The students will also have to figure out how many years ago this fire happened. If help is needed, tell them they must subtract the year 1862 from our current year. Allow them to work together to figure out how many years ago that was. (2007 – 1862 = 145 years)
o The other is a fire that happened years ago at a saw mill. Ask the students if they know what a saw mill is. If not, explain that it is an “outside factory” where large bundles of wood are brought in and workers cut the wood and turn it into logs, boards, chips, or even paper. At this station the students will look at pictures of the saw mill and people that worked there. Then read the description of the fire that occurred there. As a group, the students will then make a short song explaining ways the workers may have prevented this fire. BE CREATIVE! Write down song on piece of paper because will be performing at end of class.
3. Any questions from the students???
4. (2 min) Break the class into two groups by splitting them right down the middle isle of the room. Send the left group to the Winona rebuilt station and the right side of the room to the saw mill station.


b. developmental experiences:
1. (14 min) The first rotation. Allow the students to get situated and start reading and looking at the pictures. The teacher will be walking around making sure all students are on task and following directions. Stop by the group looking at the saw mill information and ask why they believe the fire started. Then get them working on ways the workers could have prevented the fire. (Examples: not smoking in mill, not using wooden structures, other lighting rather than lanterns.) Talk with the group that is reconstructing Winona with the clay last. Allow them to build some things on their own and talk with each other about how they feel Winona was affected by this fire. Make sure they figure out how many years ago the fire occurred.
2. (14 min) Get the students attention and tell them it is time to move to the next section. Follow the process for first rotation by stopping at each group and asking the above questions. The groups will be at each station for 14 minutes. Once the last station is done, ask the students to return to their desks and leave all of the materials at the stations.

c. cumulating experiences:
1. (2 min) Once all of the students are back at their desks, ask what was learned from these three stations today. How many years ago did the fire in downtown Winona occur? (2007 – 1862 = 145 years) Ask what was lost in this fire. (Businesses, homes, money, vehicles.)
2. (5 min) The two groups will present their songs to the class. The group that was at the saw mill station first will present their song first. Then the second group. Once both groups have presented, ask for similarities in songs. Did both groups come up with some of the same ideas to prevent the fires? Will these ways to prevent fires still work today?? YES! They will still work today.

6. Assessment used during lesson:
The construction of buildings that were lost in Winona. Make sure all students take part in the building process, points will be deducted for those not taking part. (Write down names of students not participating.)
Creation of the song and the ideas for preventing the fire the students made. These preventions must be relevant and realistic or points will be deducted from the group.