by: Kim Goschinski Jessica Neuhardt EDE 417 Our Community Helpers by: Kim Goschinski Jessica Neuhardt EDE 417

Our Community Helpers! Grade level: 1st Lesson: to educate the students about the different community helpers and the roles that they play in the community

Objectives Students will: Identify different community helpers Develop an understanding of the roles they play in the community Use technology to explore community helpers and their responsibilities to the community

Activities Activity #1 who are community helpers? Activity #2 A trip to the fire station Activity #3 guest speaker- police officer Activity #4 A trip to the post office Activity #5 which community helper would I like to be? Follow up activity

Activity #1 Who Are Community Helpers? Materials: Book, All About Things People Do, by Chris Rice and Melanie Rice Papers with prompt, “If I were a community helper, I would be…”, “I would be _____ because” Pencils Crayons Felt board with community helpers, uniforms, and appropriate props Click to return to activities page

Activity #1 (Cont) Lesson: Teacher will read All About Things People Do to the class. Afterwards, during whole group instruction, the students and teacher will discuss the different types of community helpers. The students will then work in pairs at the felt board and successfully match the felt people with the appropriate uniform and props. While the students are waiting for the felt board, they will work individually on writing their response to the prompt paper and include an illustration.

Activity #2 A Trip to the Fire Station Materials: Signed permission slips for the students to attend the field trip Pretend fireman hats for each child Junior firefighters badges (printed the day before for each child) Paper or note cards for each student Envelopes Pencils and/or crayons Click to return to activities page

Activity #2 (Cont.) Lesson: Students will tour the local fire station. They will also have an opportunity to learn about the fire trucks at the station. When the students return from the field trip, they will each get a fireman hat and a junior firefighters badge. The students will write a thank you note to the firefighter and let him/her know their favorite part of the field trip. The teacher will collect the thank you notes and save them for a field trip later in the week.

Activity #3 Guest Speaker- Police Officer Materials: Writing paper or note cards for each child Envelopes Pencils and/or crayons Click to return to activities page

Activity #3 (Cont.) Lesson: A local police officer will visit the classroom and discuss with the students the many responsibilities that are involved with his/her job.

Activity #3 (Cont.) When the guest speaker leaves, the students will write a thank you letter thanking him/her for the visit and telling their favorite part of the presentation. The teacher will then collect the letters and save them to take to the post office the next day.

Activity #4 A Trip to the Post Office Materials: Thank you notes written to the police officer that visited the classroom. Thank you notes written to the firefighter for the tour to the fire station. Signed permission slips for each child to take the field trip. Click to return to activities page

Activity #4 (Cont.) With a post office worker as a guide, the students will tour the post office and see what types of jobs are necessary to help communities receive and send mail. The students will give the postal workers the thank you letters that they wrote earlier in the week to the police officer and the firefighter.

Activity #5 Which Community Helper Would I Like to Be? Materials: DVD-Ricky's Room: Community Helpers "The People Who Make Your Neighborhood Great“ Uniforms and appropriate props/tools that represents community helpers jobs Click to return to activities page

Activity #5 (Cont.) Lesson: The teacher will show the students the DVD which will help summarize the week and touch on additional community workers. In this episode of the PBS series, Ricky, the friendly blue rhinoceros, along with his little sister, Nicki, and his cousin, Harold, learn about important people in their community, including police officers, firefighters, mail carriers and more. After watching the video, the students will have an opportunity to dress up in their favorite community helpers uniforms and role play the jobs using provided props.

Click to return to activities page Follow up Activity The follow up activity can be used to review this weeks lesson and the objectives. The activity creates a good transition into the next lesson on maps. Click to return to activities page

Follow Up Activity (Cont.) Materials: Classroom computers Neighborhood map with questionnaire Pencils Paper

Follow Up Activity (Cont.) Lesson: The teacher will review community helpers and review map keys for the follow up activity. The students will have an opportunity to work in pairs on the classroom computer using the on-line webquest to review community helpers. The students will then be given a map and questionnaire and will work in small groups to answer the questions and locate a minimum of 5 community helpers on the map.

Links Miss Renee’s Kindergarten Pad- an online resource for early childhood educators, parents, and students, includes community poem. http://lilteacher.com/communityhelpers.html A+ Educational Videos- videos for home schooling, learning, and achievement, includes DVD for lesson. http://www.aplusvideorentals.com/listing.asp?ID=3639 edhelper- an online resource for earlychildhood educators, parents, and students, includes map link for this lesson. http://www.edhelper.com/community4_1_1.htm Scholastic community club includes interactive activities for students. Link also has the firefighters badge needed for this lesson. http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/firefighter/index.htm Webquest- an online resource for early childhood educators, parents, and students, includes interactive activities for students. http://homepages.ius.edu/JLOI/Community%20Helpers%20Web%20quest.htm

Poem from lilteacher.com “In My Community” In my community you will find helpers of most every kind— firefighters, doctors, teachers, too, police officers and vets at the zoo. In my community you will find helpers of most every kind. Poem from lilteacher.com