The Firefighters written by Sue Whiting

The first book that I wanted to share with everybody is The Firefighters written by Sue Whiting and illustrated by Donna Rawlins. The Firefighters is about a group of children who want to be firefighters. During their school day, they dress up as firefighters and pretend to extinguish fires around their school (with the help of their teacher of course)! At the end of the book, the children get to meet real firefighters and check out their fire engine.

I really like this book for younger children who are learning about fire safety. By reading The Firefighters, children can see themselves as the children in the story. When I'm reading this to a classroom, I ask my students many times throughout the book if these children are actual firefighters. They all say, "no," but I remind them that they can also pretend to be firefighters. Many of the children in the story want to be firefighters when they grow up. Even though they aren't firefighters yet, they can still pretend and learn all about fire safety.

Children inspired by real firefighters

This book is well written. I like how in the story you can tell that the children are using items that you can find around a house or school. They use cardboard boxes as their fire engines, plastic hats as their helmets, rain boots as their firefighter boots, and handkerchiefs as their masks. You can also tell that the children and teacher in the story are still in their neighborhood as they go "fight" fires. They pass the playground and children playing in the sandbox.

Pretending to be firefighters using cardboard boxes

When I read this story aloud to a classroom, the children love to act out the siren sound! "Weee-ooo! Weee-ooo! Weee-ooo!" The author repeats it may times in the book, so the students are ready to participate. I also really like that the firefighters at the end of the story is a man and a woman. It shows children that a firefighter can be male or female.

Firefighters written by Christopher Mitten (non-fiction)

Typically when I'm teaching my class about a certain subject, I like to pair fiction books with non-fiction books. When doing this, it give students the opportunity to see real life events, but can also show them more imaginative stories. When I read The Firefighters, I like to read Firefighters written by Christopher Mitten. This book shows real pictures of real life firefighters on duty. It provides information on what it was like to be a firefighter many years ago, and what it's like to be a firefighter now. It also talks about different kinds of fires and fire safety. It also mentions the equipment that firefighters use and about the fire truck. You can use any non-fiction firefighter book that you like. It all depends on the students that you have in your classroom at the time. 

Example page from Firefighters written by Christopher Mitten

                                                        

                                            Firefighter Activities

     1. Make your own fire engines and pretend to be firefighters.

     2.  Make something special for local firefighters: cards, food, drawings, etc. 

     3.  Invite a firefighter to talk to your students about fire safety.

    4.  As a group, talk about how you can describe a firefighter: brave, smart, kind, etc. Have children make a firefighter and write one word to describe a firefighter.

Describe a firefighter project

I really hope this inspires you to teach about the job of the firefighter! Firefighters have a very important duty... they protect us and everything around us. Children need to understand that firefighters are here to help and should be taught to respect the people who help their community. 

                                                          HAPPY READINGS!

                                                                             Jenna