A guide for using our resources

Students will explain how fire dogs help firefighters.

Vocabulary: fire station, calm, Dalmation

Social Studies Focus: community helpers

  1. Watch a Video:
    Firefighters Suit Up

     

  2. Read the Issue:

    Meet a Fire Dog

     

  3. Play a Game:
    Dress the Firefighter

    Skill: build knowledge

     

  4. Complete Skill Sheets 

    Reading Checkpoint

    Skill: key details

     

    Color by Diagraph

    Skill: phonics

     

    Text Feature Hunt

    Skill: nonfiction text features

     

  5. Lesson Boosters 

  • Paired Text: Firehouse! by Mark Teague

     

  • Build Background Knowledge: What Can You Find at a Fire Station?

     

  • Vocabulary: calm

     

  • Hands-on Activity: Make a Fire Dog!

CCSS (and states that have similar standards): RI.1.1 key details; RI.1.5 text features; RF.1.3 phonics and word analysis; SL.1.1 collaborative conversations; L.1.2 standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling; L.1.6 use new vocabulary; RL.1.1 key details; W.1.8 answer questions

Simple, spectacular ideas to boost your lessons.

Paired Text: Firehouse! by Mark Teague

  • Tank is a fire dog, but what if dogs were actual firefighters? Follow pups Edward and Judy as they tour a firehouse and help the firefighters. Students will love learning new information set in a world full of adorable dogs!

Build Background Knowledge: What Can You Find at a Fire Station?

  • While children may not have visited a fire station before, they likely have an idea about the sorts of things that you could find there.
  • Provide the kids with the sentence stem and encourage them to share their ideas using a complete sentence:
    • I could find ________ at a fire station.

Looking for fire safety resources? Check out the FDNY’s podcast for kids at https://www.fdnysmart.org/listen/

Vocabulary: calm

  • In the article, children learned that Tank’s job is to help calm the firefighters. Remind children what calm means. Then ask what helps them get calm. Write their answers on chart paper. If you’d like, you can hang the list in the classroom to remind students of calming strategies.

Hands-On Activity: Make a Fire Dog!

Skill: writing, drawing, fine-motor skills

Materials: Make a Fire Dog! skills sheets, paper plate, scissors, glue, crayons

  • This activity lets children show what they know about fire dogs—and make a cute craft!
  • Give each child copies of both skills sheets, along with a paper plate. Have children cut out the hat, ears, and bone on the printable.
  • Next, have kids glue the ears to the sides of the plate and glue the hat on top. They can draw the dog’s face in the middle of the plate and draw spots on the ears. Then they can write their name on the badge and color the rest of the fire hat red.
  • Have children write a fact they learned about fire dogs on the bone. They can tape the bone to the bottom of the plate, so it looks like the dog just took a bite!