K.6 OVERVIEW

The student will match simple descriptions of work that people do with the names of those jobs.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Read books about various community helpers.
• Read a story that shows clear examples and descriptions of jobs and helpers within a community. Students will later be asked to identify the jobs that were discussed in the story.
  -Prepare a large chart with the heading “Community Helpers,” and ask students to identify community helpers in the story. Add any helpers to the chart. This chart should be referred to often during this unit of study.
  -Students may name all sorts of community helpers. You may want to limit the focus of the unit to certain community helpers, such as teacher, doctor, builder, farmer, firefighter, and cook. If available, place a felt or paper cutout beside the words of the community helper to serve as a visual cue for the students. If cutouts are not available, simply draw a star next to those words that will be the focus during the unit.
  -Explain to students that they are going to give a report in front of the class about one community helper that they would like to be. Tell them that they should talk about this community helper with their parents and should dress up like that community helper on the day of the presentation. Explain that you would like for them to work with someone at home to complete sentences about the helper, and tell the class about their community helper on Community Helper Dress-Up Day. The students should bring their completed research report to school on Community Helper Dress-Up Day.
  -On Community Helper Dress-Up Day, encourage children to talk loudly and confidently in front of their peers. Use each child’s completed research report as a guide to prompt children as they give their brief presentation.
  -If your school has access to a digital camera, take a picture of each student as she or he presents the information about his or her chosen community helper. Proudly display pictures and research reports in your classroom or on your hallway bulletin board.

WEB SITES

http://www.first-school.ws/theme/commhelpers.htm
Here is a list of seven popular community helpers (for example, police, firefighters, and nurse), which includes activities for preschool and kindergarten students. Choose a community helper, career lesson plan, or theme to find activities that include easy instructions and a list of materials needed for the topic. You will find crafts, printable activities, coloring pages and related Internet links.

http://www.lfelem.lfc.edu/resources/sstudies/kinder/communhelpers.html
This is a kindergarten WebQuest.

http://teachers.teach-nology.com/themes/social/comm/
There are lesson plans, interactive sites, and more at this Web site.

http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/preschool_themes/community/community.html
The Web site includes science activities, songs, cooking, games, and more about community helpers.

http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/comm.html
Songs and art activities are available here.

http://www.innovative-educators.com/area.asp?area=Hardcover+Books:+Community+Helpers+%26+Transportation
Check out the literature recommendations and connections.

LITERATURE LINKS

Match simple descriptions of work that people do with the names of those jobs

Maynard, Christopher.
Jobs People Do. No city: DK Publishing, 2001.
This book offers text and photographs of real people at work as well as authentic detailed costumes that present the key aspects of over 50 occupations.