If you were in the path of a horrible storm, my thoughts and sympathies are with you.
This week, our community finds itself rebuilding from Hurricane Ian. We have been out of school for almost week due to the flooding, power outages, and damage many people experienced. Some families lost everything, while other areas of town appear untouched.
How do we talk to our students about hurricanes or any natural disaster that occurs locally?
How do we let those kids who will need our love, support, and patience more than ever know they are safe and cared for?
How can we can encouraging support, sympathy, and kindness from those who were not as impacted by Ian?
How do we do all this and still teach?
Here are some structured ways to talk about the storm
Brainstorm
Break students into groups. Assign each group a brainstorming topic to share. For example, assign topics like "Things to do when you lose electricity", "Hurricane cleanup jobs", "Activities put on hold," "Best hurricane snacks".
Cause and Effect Charts
Create a cause and effect chart that details the many effects of the storm. When students work together, they can hear one another's experiences.
Hurricane Reflection sheet
I created this worksheet as an organized outlet for students to express and share their personal experiences. The structured format provides an outlet for students who experienced loss and for those who did not. While sharing, model ways to show compassion for those whose families have struggled.
Here is a free resource that includes similar reflection pages for natural disasters.
This product includes reflections worksheets and 2 styles of writing paper for the following natural disasters:
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Earthquakes
Wild Fires
Blizzards
Landslides
If you have other ideas for creating a compassionate, caring classroom after the storm, I would love to hear from you!
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