Lesson 1: Learning About Community Helpers
Sub Question: What are examples of jobs in the community?
I. Objectives:
II. Materials:
- "Community Helpers Journal"
- Main activity materials:
- Squishy ball
- SMART Board
- Link to "What is my Job?" song: http://www.preschooleducation.com/shelper.shtml
- Community helper guest speakers from local VA community, either in person or via Skype: farmer, doctor, firefighter, builder, teacher, and cook.
- Weebly site (located on the tab under "Community Helpers" --> entitled "Virtual Field Trip")
- Main activity materials:
III. Procedures:
1. Begin with students seated in a large circle on the floor. Holding the squishy ball, ask students “Who can tell me what they want to be when they grow up? We are going to share using the squishy ball, so please remember to raise your hands in order to receive the ball. Once you have shared, if you are a girl you pass it to a boy, and if you are a boy, please pass it to a girl. Let’s give our eyes and ears to whoever is holding the ball.”
2. Once all students who wanted to share have gotten the chance, put squishy ball away and redirect students’ attention to you. “Thank you everyone for sharing, I think you have some fantastic futures in front of you based on all those great ideas! The reason I asked you about what you would like to be when you grow up is because we are going to begin to learn about the different types of jobs that people do.”
3. Hold up the Reading A-Z "Community Helpers" book and say, “There are many people in our community who help others, such as doctors, builders, teachers, cooks, and farmers. We call them community helpers because they provide a service to us!” Read the book.
I. Objectives:
- Lesson Objectives: - Students will be able to differentiate between the jobs of a farmer, doctor, firefighter,
- builder, teacher, and cook.
- VA Social Studies SOL K.6: The student will match simple descriptions of work that people do with the names of those jobs.
- VA Science SOL K.7: The student will investigate and understand basic needs and life processes of plants and animals. Key concepts include b) plants need nutrients, water, air, light, and a place to grow to survive;
- VA English SOL K.8: The student will expand vocabulary.
- VA English SOL K.10: The student will demonstrate comprehension of nonfiction texts.
- VA Visual Arts SOL K.10: The student will use motor skills (e.g., pinching, pulling, squeezing, twisting, pounding, rolling, folding, cutting, modeling, stamping) to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.
- VA Health SOL K.1: The student will explain that the body is a living and growing organism. Key concepts/ skills include
- VA Health SOL K.4: The student will identify sources of health and safety information. Key concepts/skills include
- c) individuals, including school nurses, family members, health care personnel teachers, school counselors, and public safety officials.
II. Materials:
- Students:
- "Community Helpers Journal"
- Main activity materials:
- > Farmer: ask parents if their child could bring in a trowel or small shovel of some kind from home.
> Doctor: Each student will require a plastic bag, 5 Band-Aids, 2 gauze pads, 1 pair of plastic gloves, and an index card with emergency numbers.
> Firefighter: All materials provided at fire station
> Builder: Each student will need a birdhouse kit
> Teacher: Students can utilize classroom materials for their lessons.
> Cook:: 1 square of parchment paper, 1 cup of sauce, 1 cup of cheese, and sturdy plastic cup to act as rolling pin
- Teacher:
- Squishy ball
- SMART Board
- Link to "What is my Job?" song: http://www.preschooleducation.com/shelper.shtml
- Community helper guest speakers from local VA community, either in person or via Skype: farmer, doctor, firefighter, builder, teacher, and cook.
- Weebly site (located on the tab under "Community Helpers" --> entitled "Virtual Field Trip")
- Main activity materials:
- > Farmer: 2 packets of eggplant seeds and 2 packets of cucumber seeds, topsoil & shovel
> Doctor: School nurse should be able to provide tools such as a stethoscope and maybe a blood pressure monitor
> Firefighter: All materials provided at fire station
> Builder: Birdhouse kits for each of the adults
> Teacher: Students can utilize classroom materials for their lessons.
> Cook:: 1 square of parchment paper, 1 cup of sauce, 1 cup of cheese, measuring cups, and sturdy plastic cup to act as rolling pin for modeling in addition to pizza dough to be divided among students.
III. Procedures:
- Introduction (10 min)
1. Begin with students seated in a large circle on the floor. Holding the squishy ball, ask students “Who can tell me what they want to be when they grow up? We are going to share using the squishy ball, so please remember to raise your hands in order to receive the ball. Once you have shared, if you are a girl you pass it to a boy, and if you are a boy, please pass it to a girl. Let’s give our eyes and ears to whoever is holding the ball.”
2. Once all students who wanted to share have gotten the chance, put squishy ball away and redirect students’ attention to you. “Thank you everyone for sharing, I think you have some fantastic futures in front of you based on all those great ideas! The reason I asked you about what you would like to be when you grow up is because we are going to begin to learn about the different types of jobs that people do.”
3. Hold up the Reading A-Z "Community Helpers" book and say, “There are many people in our community who help others, such as doctors, builders, teachers, cooks, and farmers. We call them community helpers because they provide a service to us!” Read the book.
* Engaging student interest;
4. Say “Over the next six days, we are going to learn about one new community helper per day! Every time we will begin by meeting a new community helper either in person or by Skyping with them. Are you ready to meet your first visitor? Great, now when they come in, we need to give them our full attention because they are going to describe the job they do. Please hold your questions until the end, and remember how to be respectful!”
5. At this point each day, one of the prearranged community helpers such as a farmer for example, will introduce themselves to the class either in person, or by Skyping with them on the SMART Board. The visitor will briefly describe their occupation, by talking about where they work, what they wear, tools they uses, and tasks they perform.
7. Go over the main activity for the day as designated in the table below. At this point each day, students will participate in a hands-on activity that incorporates the work typically done by that day’s community helper, using school resources. Another faculty member can be asked to direct students in the activity, encouraging students to think about the roles of the adults within their school community as well. Invite the community helper visitor to participate in the activity as well if he/she has the time. While students are participating in main activity, ask the teacher’s aide or a volunteer to take pictures of each child during the experience for later purposes.
4. Say “Over the next six days, we are going to learn about one new community helper per day! Every time we will begin by meeting a new community helper either in person or by Skyping with them. Are you ready to meet your first visitor? Great, now when they come in, we need to give them our full attention because they are going to describe the job they do. Please hold your questions until the end, and remember how to be respectful!”
5. At this point each day, one of the prearranged community helpers such as a farmer for example, will introduce themselves to the class either in person, or by Skyping with them on the SMART Board. The visitor will briefly describe their occupation, by talking about where they work, what they wear, tools they uses, and tasks they perform.
- Instructional Strategies (25-30 min depending on the main activity for that day)
7. Go over the main activity for the day as designated in the table below. At this point each day, students will participate in a hands-on activity that incorporates the work typically done by that day’s community helper, using school resources. Another faculty member can be asked to direct students in the activity, encouraging students to think about the roles of the adults within their school community as well. Invite the community helper visitor to participate in the activity as well if he/she has the time. While students are participating in main activity, ask the teacher’s aide or a volunteer to take pictures of each child during the experience for later purposes.
8. At the conclusion of the main activity each day, students will reflect on their experiences in their "Community Helper Journals" by drawing/writing. The journal is designed so that in addition to openly reflecting, students are focusing on the tools, tasks, and location of each occupation. When photos from the activity are developed the next day, students can then tape them into their journals, to help them make connections about their personal experiences.
--->Extension Opportunity: When deemed appropriate based on level of student understanding, additional pages are included in the journal, as seen by the Venn Diagram below to help students compare and contrast among the various community helpers.
--->Extension Opportunity: When deemed appropriate based on level of student understanding, additional pages are included in the journal, as seen by the Venn Diagram below to help students compare and contrast among the various community helpers.
9. While students are recording their thoughts, start conversations with some students in
which you use the following prompts to support reflections and high-level thinking:
> What are you thinking right now?
> Were you able to make any personal connections to the type of work we did today?
> How would you describe the job of a (insert community helper)?
> Did you learn anything knew about that job?
> Did it seem similar to any other jobs you know about?
> How did the activity help you understand that job better?
10. Invite students to take part in a think-pair-share. Say, “Now that we have finished reflecting about our time with the community helper, I’d like you to please turn and talk with a neighbor and share one thing you learned about this community helper today.” Invite some pairs to share their thinking, in order to gauge students’ understanding.
OR
Provide closure by teaching children the "What is my job?" song seen below, by way of the SMART Board:
What is My Job? (Sung to: "Are you sleeping?")
What is my job?
What is my job?
Can you guess?
Can you guess?
[_________________]
Ex. I help people get well.
[_________________]
Ex. I help people get well.
Who am I?
Who am I?
*Other verses: I can fix the water pipes. I deliver letters. I make tasty meals for you. I keep your pets healthy. I can teach you new things. I can help if you get lost.
11. Depending on time, use the SMART Board to connect to the Weebly site entitled "Virtual Field Trip". Select the tab of the community helper that was explored for that day to further summarize the learning.
--->Extension Opportunity: According to level of student understanding, the Weebly site can also be used for the entire class or on and individual basis for students to deepen their comprehension for a specific occupation by utilizing the activities it provides.
* Connections to other lessons;
12. Provide 2 visual clues to the class about who the community helper will be the following day, and invite students to share their guesses and reasoning behind them.
which you use the following prompts to support reflections and high-level thinking:
> What are you thinking right now?
> Were you able to make any personal connections to the type of work we did today?
> How would you describe the job of a (insert community helper)?
> Did you learn anything knew about that job?
> Did it seem similar to any other jobs you know about?
> How did the activity help you understand that job better?
- Summary (5 min)
10. Invite students to take part in a think-pair-share. Say, “Now that we have finished reflecting about our time with the community helper, I’d like you to please turn and talk with a neighbor and share one thing you learned about this community helper today.” Invite some pairs to share their thinking, in order to gauge students’ understanding.
OR
Provide closure by teaching children the "What is my job?" song seen below, by way of the SMART Board:
What is My Job? (Sung to: "Are you sleeping?")
What is my job?
What is my job?
Can you guess?
Can you guess?
[_________________]
Ex. I help people get well.
[_________________]
Ex. I help people get well.
Who am I?
Who am I?
*Other verses: I can fix the water pipes. I deliver letters. I make tasty meals for you. I keep your pets healthy. I can teach you new things. I can help if you get lost.
11. Depending on time, use the SMART Board to connect to the Weebly site entitled "Virtual Field Trip". Select the tab of the community helper that was explored for that day to further summarize the learning.
--->Extension Opportunity: According to level of student understanding, the Weebly site can also be used for the entire class or on and individual basis for students to deepen their comprehension for a specific occupation by utilizing the activities it provides.
* Connections to other lessons;
12. Provide 2 visual clues to the class about who the community helper will be the following day, and invite students to share their guesses and reasoning behind them.
IV. Assessment:
V. Differentiation:
- Logical/Mathematical: The main activities incorporate mathematics skills such as calculating and reasoning for the hands on building project and measuring ingredients when making pizza. The Weebly site also appeals to this student's inclination towards logic games and puzzles.
- Visual/Spatial: The "Community Helpers Journal" allows this type of learner to process their understanding by drawing, which is further enhanced with the addition of the photos from activity.
- Interpersonal: Multiple opportunities for student interaction and collaboration are provided, as seen through the think-pair-share activity, the mini lesson conducted when becoming the "teacher", and working with teammates during the relay race fire simulation games.
- Body/Kinesthetic: Students who appeal to this intelligence will really gravitate towards the learning experience on a whole; each main activity is built around children interacting with concrete items that are authentic to the job being examined.
- Musical Rhythmic: Performing the "What is my job?" song facilitates students who learn best through music, by having them apply their knowledge in the verses.
- Naturalist: By exploring the job of a farmer against the backdrop of the school's garden, students of this intelligence will be able to utilize their love for working with items in nature. They will also be able to classify and label the tools of community helpers in their "Community Helpers Journal".
- Intrapersonal: Individually responding to the learning through the "Community Helpers Journal" give students the chance to become more metacognitive about the learning and enables children to develop their own opinions and feelings about the various jobs.
- One-on-one conversations - (Informal Formative): Gauging students’ responses while engaging them in one-on-one conversations utilizing the high-level questioning outlined above.
- "Community Helpers Journal" - (Formal Formative): Children’s "Community Helper Journals" will be looked over to see if students were able to take away the key characteristics of each occupation; specifically the tools, tasks, and locations.
- Response Cards - (Informal Formative): After students have gotten the chance to learn at least two or three different jobs, they can each be given a set of picture cards containing the images of each community helper. During the summary portion, the teacher can then pose questions or descriptions of jobs and ask students to hold up the card of the corresponding community helper. The same procedure can be done in reverse with the teacher first holding up the picture of a community helper.
V. Differentiation:
- Multiple Intelligences:
- Logical/Mathematical: The main activities incorporate mathematics skills such as calculating and reasoning for the hands on building project and measuring ingredients when making pizza. The Weebly site also appeals to this student's inclination towards logic games and puzzles.
- Visual/Spatial: The "Community Helpers Journal" allows this type of learner to process their understanding by drawing, which is further enhanced with the addition of the photos from activity.
- Interpersonal: Multiple opportunities for student interaction and collaboration are provided, as seen through the think-pair-share activity, the mini lesson conducted when becoming the "teacher", and working with teammates during the relay race fire simulation games.
- Body/Kinesthetic: Students who appeal to this intelligence will really gravitate towards the learning experience on a whole; each main activity is built around children interacting with concrete items that are authentic to the job being examined.
- Musical Rhythmic: Performing the "What is my job?" song facilitates students who learn best through music, by having them apply their knowledge in the verses.
- Naturalist: By exploring the job of a farmer against the backdrop of the school's garden, students of this intelligence will be able to utilize their love for working with items in nature. They will also be able to classify and label the tools of community helpers in their "Community Helpers Journal".
- Intrapersonal: Individually responding to the learning through the "Community Helpers Journal" give students the chance to become more metacognitive about the learning and enables children to develop their own opinions and feelings about the various jobs.
- Suggestions for other accommodations: