The theme to Jenn Steinher’s lessons during the opening weeks of the school year is unlike any she’s taken with her Emerson Elementary second-graders.
Several of the books and reading units as well as videos her students have poured over in the last three weeks have centered on germs and proper hand-washing — both important lessons in the era of COVID-19.
“We always talk about hand-washing, especially during flu season time,” Steinher said. “But this is next level.”
To help her students understand why hand-washing (as well as social distancing and wearing face masks) is so important, Steinher includes germs in her lessons — what they are, how they spread, how they can make you sick and how hand-washing makes them go away.
“Since they are younger, you never know what information is going to stick and what they need to be exposed to a few times before they understand,” she said.
On Friday, she led another lesson in germs, starting with a read-aloud among students on a book about hand-washing. They talked about and demonstrated steps to properly clean their hands.
Steinher conducted a science experiment where she poured water onto a plate and sprinkled pepper on the water to represent germs. She applied soap on the tip of the finger then dipped it into the pool of pepper water. Once the soap hit the water, the pepper scattered away — much to the awe of her students.
“Did the soap scare the germs away?” she asked them.
“Yes!”
“Just like real soap, right?” she said.
After the experiment, the students designed their own germs with construction paper and wrote hand-washing tips (“Wash hands with soap and water and scrub hands for 20 seconds.” “Wash your hands after the bathroom.” “Don’t touch your T-Zone or else you’ll get sick.” ) — all of which would be part of a display in the hallway to educate their peers.
Friday’s lesson and corresponding activities were new for Steinher, who wanted to help her students establish good habits especially with their return to the classroom.
“It’s a little bit more difficult because we’re spaced further away and washing hands is more important than ever so I thought it was important to teach them about germs,” she said.