Crisis Management

How Do You Manage a Crisis?

Communication and cooperation are critical determining factors when a person is faced with a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions. On April 19, 1995, the unimaginable became reality when one of the most recognizable structures in downtown Oklahoma City came crashing down on the streets below. Organizations were created to protect this nation in times of catastrophe; however, the United States had never seen such a deadly terror attack on its own soil.

Training and preparedness are also a critical element in understanding how to deal with a crisis. This lesson analyzes how federal, state, and local agencies work together to save lives using the Incident Command System (ICS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS). The combination of communication, cooperation, training and preparedness helped save hundreds of lives during the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing and continue to prove that in times of disaster, our state and country know how to react.

Lesson Summary

In this lesson, students will analyze the management efforts of key organizations during the aftermath of the Federal Building bombing.

• Essential Questions: How do we overcome the impossible? Who takes over when the unthinkable happens in our country?
• Time frame: 2-3 class periods of 45 minutes
• Subject(s): Social Studies and English

Materials Needed

• Pencil
• Notebook Paper
• Poster Paper (to use with 4 corners strategy)
• Crisis Management Card Sorting Handout (Teachers need to cut each square out, 1 per group)
• Crisis Management RAFT Handout
• Frayer Model (Blank for students)
• Frayer Model OKC example (Teachers use this as the model for Frayer Model)
• Teacher Tip: Make more than one copy of anything you model so kids can pass it around and get a closer look. This allows visual and kinesthetic students to pay more attention to the model.

Lesson

Students will use 4 corners to examine how important specific characteristics are during a crisis.
Lesson Prep: The teacher will take large sheets of paper and hang them up in the four separate corners of the room. These papers will have one term written on each sheet: communication, organization, intelligence, and courage.

1. Teacher will show a short video clip (2-3 minutes) of the Alfred P. Murrah Building bombing.
2. After viewing this clip, students will be asked to stand up at their desk and walk to one of four different corners, which represent the character trait they believe is the most important during a time of crisis.
3. Students will discuss the reason for their choices aloud.

Students will research organizations that are responsible for citizens’ safety during a crisis.

1. Students will visit each website and research the function of each crisis management organization. Students should be allowed to take notes about each organization.
2. In a group of 5, students should choose which website they would like to research and each write down different facts from that specific site.
3. Students will then discuss and share information with each other and create one single fact sheet which will explain the function of each organization.

Students will use the card sorting strategy to analyze major crisis organizations.

1. Students will work together in groups of 2-5, using the card sorting strategy.
2. In this strategy, students will determine the functions and missions of each of the five major crisis management organizations.
3. Teachers may allow students to complete the strategy on their own or give the groups a set amount of time to complete the assignment.

Students will use the Tweet Up strategy to summarize the background/overview of major crisis organizations.

1. Students will read the background/overview information on crisis management. Students can do this in groups of 2.
   Teacher Tip: Teachers should be aware of the peer on peer skill sets and align strong readers with students that may struggle.
2. Once finished, students will then write a summary called a Tweet-Up. A Tweet-Up is a summary that uses no more than 140 characters. Characters include spaces, letters, numbers, and symbols. The hashtag must be the most important idea in the reading section.

Students will use the Role, Audience, Format of Writing, and Topic (RAFT) strategy to create policies and written responses to address a major crisis.

1. Students will complete a writing assignment using the RAFT strategy.
2. Once students choose a role, audience, format of writing, and topic, they must then create a written product based off the information they have just learned about crisis management organizations.
3. Once the assignment is completed the teacher can have students share their written responses (optional).