After the Storm

We are very fortunate in Richmond, VA.  Hurricane Sandy left us relatively unscathed.  She was not so kind to our friends to the north.

We have weathered many storms in our area - thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and snowstorms.  We have had to deal with downed trees, power outages, washed out roads, missing roofs, car accidents, and even lost lives.  When it's all over, we dust ourselves off and carry on.  Back to the grind.

But we forget that it's not always that simple for our little ones.  It isn't so easy for them to shake off the fear and worry and put it all behind them.  They have been kept up all night listening to the roaring wind and pounding rain, or had to evacuate their home, or had damage to their property.  Even if they don't see destruction first hand, they see it on TV.  So scary for an itty bitty!

My students often return to school after a storm or natural disaster and they cannot concentrate on the task at hand because they haven't yet worked through their feelings of fear, worry, or helplessness.  I certainly can't teach fractions when the kids are afraid the roof might blow off the school!

So I created a few discussion and writing activities to help us work through a few things before we move on when we return this week.  Here are a few sample pages.  (The pack is 12 pages.)  Click on the picture to download it for free:)

Hope it helps!
~Nikki

Nov. 1, 2012 

I just happened across this today, hosted by The ESOL Odyssey-

Please link up if you would like to donate to teachers who lost materials in the storm!