Literacy Programs Responding to Communities in Crisis

Using FEMA Materials to Help ESL and GED Students
Deal with Disasters

Many instructors statewide have personally experienced such disasters as hurricanes, floods, tornados and fire. Each of us has developed our own strategies for teaching safety and hazard prevention. Sharing my own experience with other flood victims has helped a number of my colleagues and students get help from FEMA and the Red Cross.

Naturally, when we think about warning and alerting our students, we want to make sure that they understand the dangers associated with a natural disaster and how to minimize the risk of being injured during a crisis. It is especially important to us as instructors to obtain accurate, reliable information about what to do when disaster strikes. We are indeed fortunate to have all this information at our disposal through The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The FEMA website provides the public with a wealth of information and guides that can reduce the risk of injury and may even save lives.

Our students are certainly at a higher risk of injury because they simply do not truly understand the dangers involved and the preparation needed in order to survive a disaster. FEMA can help explain the risks for a wide variety of Hazards. FEMA produces a publication (also available online) titled “Are you ready?” This publication is an in-depth Guide to Citizen Preparedness that deals with such topics as basic preparedness, natural hazards such as floods and tornadoes, technological hazards such as hazardous materials or nuclear power plants and even the hazards of terrorism (i.e., biological threats and explosions). It also contains a unit on recovering from disaster and a very practical appendix containing water conservation tips, disaster supplies checklists, and a family communication plan that will help families who may become separated during a disaster.

I found this guide to be highly informative and filled with good practical suggestions. I read with great interest, the sections detailing the topics with which I have had little experience. The technological and the terrorism hazards information was new to me and contained scenarios that I had never really given much thought about before 9/11. The challenge for the instructor is how to use this material in a non-threatening way that will alert students to possible danger but not unduly frighten them. Secondly, we need to edit and to modify the text for ESL students so that these valuable lessons can be created that serve two purposes:

• To inform students with low language and low literacy skills ways in which they can minimize the risk of injury and property damage and,
• To teach grammar, reading and writing in context of real life situations and integrated into existing curriculum structures and not just as an additional isolated activity (i.e., a grammar, reading, or writing objective is derived from the lesson)

Let me provide you with a sample for a low-level ESL student. The following lesson is a lesson plan using an edited excerpt from the “Are You Ready?” guide.

Methodology: To revise authentic texts for low-level English speakers using FEMA materials

Materials: Microsoft Clip Art Gallery online, Microsoft word

Target Level of Instruction: Beginners Instructional Objectives

Functional Objective: Learn Basic Evacuation Guidelines in the event of a local evacuation; follow directives on evacuation procedures, identify unsafe weather conditions

Structural (Grammatical) Objective: Using imperative forms

Lexical (vocabulary): Disaster prevention, first aid, supplies

Natural Disaster Preparation for Evacuation

1. Keep a full tank of gas in your car

Gas tank		Fill gas tank

Gas stations may be closed during emergencies and unable to pump gas during power outages.

Storm		Gas station closed
power outage = no electricity

2. Take only one car per family

One car		for one family

If you do not have a car, call _________ and take the emergency bus.

no car?		Use a bus from your local government

3. Wear clothing that provides some protection,

Such as long sleeved shirts,	and sturdy shoes,	and long pants,	and a cap.

ESL: Students of higher level of language proficiency will not need as much pictorial support as the example I provided for a low level ESL student. Intermediate and advanced students should be able to read short excerpts from the guide without a great deal of editing. Higher functioning students can practice grammatical structures in a real life context using
modals such as should, could, might to express advice and possibility, or must and have to, to express obligation.

GED Student Applications: There are so many opportunities to present grammar, reading comprehension and writing conventions while teaching this important safety information. All of the tools you will need are provided free of cost through FEMA.

Sample Student Activity: Preparing a disaster survival kit. Materials: “Are You Ready?”, 1.3, pages 34-36. Students can use the pages in this guide to identify essential home and food items that will be needed in the event of a disaster. They will also gain knowledge about the kinds of risks they will encounter and what will be needed for basic survival. Students can then make lists of items they now keep in the home and a list of items they will need to purchase in order to complete the kit. Students can then decide what five items are the most essential and write a short essay explaining their choices.

Distance Education for ABE/GED: Students who have access to computers may want to take some of the distance education courses offered through the FEMA independent study program by calling 1-800-238-3358. The student can access home study courses and will receive a certificate from FEMA upon completion of the lessons and a final exam grade of 75%.

In the future, this career field may grow as we learn more about hazards and develop better prevention and reaction methods for dealing with crisis. These courses may interest our students in becoming safety officers, industrial/government safety inspectors or first responders in a disaster. There could be many avenues of career exploration and training as a result of these courses (students may decide to become firefighters or part of an emergency medical team). This training may eventually provide valued services to the community (i.e., reduction in casualties, save private and public property, prevent escalation of injury).

Teacher Tools-Using the Facilitator’s Guide: A facilitator’s guide is a tool for those interested in delivering “Are you Ready” content in a small group or classroom setting. The facilitator’s guide provides you with an easy to use manual that has instruction modules. It also comes with a CD that contains customized presentation material, sample training plans and other disaster preparedness educational resources. Instructors can use the instruction modules to meet broad basic curricular objectives such as reading comprehension and reading analysis. If you would like to get a free copy of this guide, call 1-800-480-2520. I encourage all instructors to visit this site and take advantage of information that may someday save a life or prevent an injury during a disaster.

Terry Shearer is a part-time Education Specialist for Region 4 Education Service Center. She has her own consulting business (EDUCALL Learning Services) specializing in program development and curriculum for Workforce Literacy and Bilingual Vocational Programs. She has 25 years of experience in the field of English as a Second language and has taught a wide variety of students of different levels and cultural backgrounds.