If you have accessed this area of the SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com Web site, it is probable that you have a child or children in your class with asthma and/or allergic disease.

It is also likely that your school nurse or another school staff member suggested that you come to this Web site to download important information concerning the management of your students' conditions.

You will find here many basic tools for helping your students learn to manage their asthma or allergies.

If you have questions regarding the use of the items you find in this section, please don't hesitate to ask your school nurse for help. That's what she/he is there for!

Asthma & Physical Activity in the School

This is a downloadable booklet from the National Institutes of Health. It is a straightforward, easy-to-read guide designed to encourage physical activity for students with asthma.

Pages 1-13 provide a very good guide for coaches and physical education instructors.

Go to: Asthma & Physical Activity in the School

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Asthma Awareness Curriculum for the Elementary Classroom

This is a wonderful downloadable program for the elementary school teacher. This program makes it easy to integrate an asthma lesson into your regular curriculum on body systems.

The lessons in the Asthma Awareness Curriculum are easily integrated into a comprehensive health education curriculum and/or into science as it relates to body systems and the environment.

The lessons also can be integrated into social sciences as they relate to getting along with others and learning about community resources. Also included are suggestions for math, art, and language arts activities.

Go to: Asthma Awareness Curriculum for the Elementary Classroom

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Reference: How Asthma-Friendly Is Your School?

The following is a simple checklist concerning asthma awareness and preparedness that teachers and coaches should have the opportunity to review.

It is followed by a list of resource organizations for parents and school staff.

Please print this out and place it on a prominent bulletin board, or suggest it for your school's staff newsletter or school paper.

Go to: Reference: How Asthma-Friendly Is Your School?

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Model Letter to Physical Education Instructor from Physician/Parent

This is a model letter to the physical education instructor from the parents and physician of your student with asthma and/or allergies.

Once you have identified a student with asthma, you can work with your school nurse to send this letter to your student's parents and physician along with the form titled Report from School Nurse to Primary Care Physician.

This form should be filled out by the student's parents and physician, and then returned to school as a guide for the physical education instructor and a sign of commitment to co-care between your student's coach, physician, and parents.

Download: Model Letter to Physical Education Instructor from Physician/Parent

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Train the Teachers Guide

In order to mount a successful Allergy Awareness program, one person—a school nurse, administrator, or teacher—should take primary responsibility for the project. That person can contact community resources, set up a committee of appropriate teachers, and serve as the central distribution point for the lesson plans and other materials. This guide includes:

1. A brief discussion seminar that the leader can use to familiarize participants with the project
2. A set of journalism assignments for students to complete regarding allergies
3. A set of letters to community participants and parents
4. Questionnaires designed to elicit information about personal allergy history from students and their parents

Download: Train the Teachers Guide*
Download: Journalism: School Newspaper Assignment*
Download: Allergy History Questionnaires *
Download: Letter to Administrator †
Download: Letter to Teacher †
Download: Letter to Community Resources †
Download: Home Allergy Trigger Survey*

*Adobe Acrobat is required to view and print these files. Get it here.

†Editable Rich Text Format (RTF) document that can be opened with most word processing programs (eg, Microsoft Word/AppleWorks).

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Tar Wars Presentation Materials

Targeting fourth- and fifth-grade students, Tar Wars is a one-time, one-hour classroom presentation on smoking prevention. It requires minimal preparation and follow-up. The program can be implemented at any time during the school year, and the scripted lesson plan can easily be incorporated into your classroom’s daily curriculum.

Link to: Program Guide & Other Presentation Materials, English

Link to: Program Guide & Other Presentation Materials, Spanish

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Health Teacher With WebMD®

HEALTHteacher.com is an online, alternative approach to improving school-based health education.

HEALTHteacher.com provides a comprehensive, sequential K-12 health education curriculum that consists of almost 300 lesson guides that meet National Health Education Standards and provide skills-based assessment methods.

The Web site is designed to address the significant health and behavioral issues facing today's youth and their classroom teachers.

HEALTHteacher.com covers nine areas of health concern, including:

• Alcohol and Other Drugs
• Community and Environmental Health
• Family Health and Sexuality
• Injury Prevention
• Mental and Emotional Health
• Nutrition
• Personal and Consumer Health
• Physical Activity
• Tobacco

The multiple lessons offered are designed with appropriate content for:

• Grades K-1
• Grades 2-3
• Grades 4-5
• Middle School
• High School

Please recommend HEALTHteacher.com as a valuable resource for educating students about health issues to the staff members at your school.

Link to: HEALTHteacher.com.

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ALA: Open Airways for Schools

The American Lung Association's Open Airways for Schools is a program designed to empower 8- to 11-year-old children and their parents to manage asthma.

It has been proven that children who participate in Open Airways for Schools have fewer and less severe asthma attacks, improve their academic performances, and have more confidence in their abilities to take more steps to manage their asthma.

While asthma strikes children of all backgrounds, minority groups are disproportionately affected. Open Airways is now available with both English and Spanish language text on the handouts and posters.

In addition, it is the goal to implement the Open Airways program in Spanish in all schools where there is a need to educate Spanish-speaking children who have asthma.

The Open Airways program consists of six lessons, which are taught during the school day. Each lesson is 40 minutes long and is designed to be easy for trained volunteers or school staff to present.

Included in the packet are a detailed curriculum, an instructor's guide, and posters and handouts.

To arrange for an Open Airways program in your school, contact your local American Lung Association or call 1-800-LUNG-USA.

Link to: Open Airways for Schools.

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EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit

In order to help improve indoor air quality problems in school buildings, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools Action Kit.

This kit helps school personnel identify, solve and prevent indoor air quality problems in the school environment.

Through the use of a 19-step management plan and checklists for the entire building, schools can also lower their students' and staff's risk of exposure to asthma triggers.

The checklists cover the building's ventilation system, maintenance procedures, classrooms (especially animals and mold) and food service areas.

Included in the kit is a Coordinator's Guide, which explains the fundamentals of indoor air quality in schools and procedures for improving the air inside the schools.

The kit also contains checklists, a background informational piece for staff, a problem-solving wheel to identify potential indoor air quality causes and solutions, a guide for health professionals and a 30-minute, two-part video covering the ventilation checklist and a school's implementation of IAQ Tools For Schools.

For more information or to download the entire IAQ Tools for Schools Kit, click on the link below.

Schools (or school districts) and non-profit groups may receive a copy of the IAQ Tools for Schools Kit at no cost simply by faxing a request on school or company letterhead to IAQ INFO at 703-356-5386. For more information, please call IAQ INFO at 1-800-438-4318.

Link to: the EPA Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Kit.

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