Emergency drills are an important part of every school year. Fire drills, lockdown drills, earthquake drills, and tornado drills help keep students safe. But for English Language Learners (ELLs), these drills can be confusing, overwhelming, and even scary.
Disclaimer: In this blog, the terms ESL students (English as a Second Language), ELLs (English Language Learners), and ML (Multilingual Learners) are used interchangeably. While “Multilingual Learners” is becoming the more widely accepted term, “ESL students” and “English Language Learners” are still commonly used in various contexts. My aim is to be inclusive and clear to all readers, regardless of the terminology they are familiar with.
If you've ever had an ESL student freeze during a fire drill, look worried during a lockdown drill, or ask lots of questions afterward, you're not alone. The good news is that a little preparation can make a huge difference!
Why Are Emergency Drills So Stressful for ESL Students?
Imagine hearing a loud alarm and everyone around you suddenly stands up and rushes out of the room. Now imagine that this is happening in a language you are still learning.
For many multilingual learners, emergency drills can feel frightening because they may:
- Not understand the teacher's directions.
- Be unfamiliar with words like lockdown, evacuate, shelter, or all clear.
- Feel anxious because they don't know what will happen next.
- Come from countries where emergency situations may have been real and traumatic.
- Struggle to remember several verbal directions at once.
Even students who seem comfortable speaking English may have difficulty understanding fast directions during a stressful situation.
Visual Supports Make a Big Difference
One of the best ways to prepare ESL students is to teach emergency routines before the drill happens.
When students know exactly what to expect, they feel calmer and more confident.
Instead of relying only on verbal explanations, visual supports give students something they can see, remember, and refer back to.
Simple pictures, sequencing activities, and visual stories help students understand:
- Why we practice emergency drills
- What will happen during the drill
- What they should do
- What they should not do
- What happens when the drill is over
Make Emergency Procedures Easy to Understand
That's exactly why I created my Emergency Safety Drills Visual Story Books & Activities resource.
This resource helps young learners understand emergency routines using clear visuals, simple language, and engaging activities. It covers the four most common school drills:
- Fire Drill
- Lockdown (Intruder) Drill
- Earthquake Drill
- Tornado Drill
Instead of wondering what's happening, students learn each step ahead of time.
Here's How I Use This Resource in My Classroom
When I know an emergency drill is coming—or even at the beginning of the school year—I like to prepare my students before they ever hear the alarm.
First, we read one of the visual story books together. The story explains what the drill is, why we practice it, and exactly what students can expect before, during, and after the drill. This helps take away a lot of the fear because there are no surprises.
Next, we talk about the important safety vocabulary. We practice words like alarm, lockdown, evacuate, all clear, and shelter. The picture vocabulary cards make these new words much easier for my English learners to understand and remember.
Then, I introduce the visual routine poster and expectation cards. We go through each step together and discuss what students should do. I keep these visuals posted in the classroom so students can look back at them whenever they need a reminder.
After that, we complete the sequencing activity. Students put the steps of the drill in the correct order, helping them remember exactly what happens from start to finish.
Finally, we use the Do & Don't picture sorting activity. Students sort safe and unsafe behaviors while we talk about why each choice is important. This opens up great classroom discussions and helps reinforce the safety expectations in a hands-on way.
By the time the real drill happens, my students already know what to expect. Instead of feeling scared or confused, they feel prepared and confident because we've practiced the routine together in a calm, supportive way.
Build Confidence Before the Alarm Rings
The goal isn't to scare students—it's to help them feel prepared.
When students already know what the alarm sounds like, where they need to go, and what they should do, the drill becomes much less stressful.
Instead of feeling confused or anxious, they can focus on following the routine safely.
A few minutes of preparation today can help your students feel calm, confident, and ready all year long.
If you're looking for an easy, no-prep way to teach emergency procedures in your ESL classroom, my Emergency Safety Drills Visual Story Books & Activities resource was created to help make safety routines simple, predictable, and easy for every student to understand.
Need a ready-to-use back-to-school community-building lesson? Check out this blog post!
Would you like to get more freebies, exclusive deals, ESL tips, crafts, and classroom culture ideas? Sign up for my weekly newsletter!
){kind=link}
0 Comments