Community Helpers
BY: Marie Pitsenbarger
and
Marybeth Alemagno
First Grade
Table of Contents
Title Page
History
• Standard and Websites
• Activities 1 and 2
• Activity 3
• Activity 4
• Activity 5
People in Societies
• Standard and Websites
• Activity 1
• Activity 2
• Activity 3
• Activities 4 and 5
Geography
• Standard and Websites
• Activities 1 and 2
• Activities 3 and 4
• Activity 5
Economics
•Standard and Websites
•Activity 1
•Activities 2 and 3
•Activity 4
•Activity 5
Government
•Standard and Websites
•Activities 1 and 2
•Activities 3 and 4
•Activity 5
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities
•Standard and Websites
•Activities 1 and 2
•Activities 3 and 4
•Activity 5
Social Studies Skills and Methods
•Standard and Websites
•Activities 1 and 2
•Activity 3
•Activity 4 and 5
History Standard
Students use materials drawn from the diversity of human
experience to analyze and interpret significant events, patterns
and themes in the history of Ohio, the United States and the
world.
Websites
Additional Activities about Federal Holidays
http://www.teacherlink.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnescelebrations/federalholidays.html
Lessons on Heros
http://titan.iwu.edu/~9-11site/Webpages/LessonPlans/Hero%20Lesson.pdf
Firefighter Picture of 9/11
http://www.uwm.edu/People/closs/images/firefighters1024_768.jpg
President J. F. K. Picture
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=1899&rendTypeId=4
Amelia Earhart Official Site
http://www.ameliaearhart.com/
History Activities 1 and 2
ACTIVITY 1
Have the students research a president and their accomplishments. Discuss
the importance of President’s Day and remembering their achievements of their
president.
Materials:
• Books of biographies of presidents
• Pencil
• Paper
ACTIVITY 2
Materials:
• Large construction paper
• Calendar Template
• Crayons and Markers
• Pencil
Have students create a calendar with one community helper they have learned
and a brief sentence of the helper’s service to the community.
History Activity 3
ACTIVITY 3
Have each student complete a page for a class book on the heroes (police men,
fire fighters, nurses, and doctors) of 9/11. Have students fill in the following
sentence: ________ was a hero on September 11, 2001 because
_____________. Students will then draw a picture at the top of the page.
Materials:
• New York's Bravest by Mary
Pope Osborne and Steve Johnson
• Paper
• Crayons
History Activity 4
ACTIVITY 4
Students will read a book about Amelia Earhart and see one of the greatest
female pilots of her time. After studying about her the students will create a
poster explaining how a pilot is a community helper.
Materials:
• Book recommendation A Troll First-Start Biography: Young Amelia
Earhart: A Dream to Fly- Story by Sarah Alcott, illustrations by James
Anton
• Poster board
• Markers/ Crayons
• Pencil
History Activity 5
Activity 5
Have children create a personal timeline listing the community helpers they
have encountered through major events in their lives.
•Birth
•Doctor/dentist visits
•Schooling
•Pet/s visits to vet
•Any other encounters with community helpers
Materials:
•Parents help in determining events and times
•Photographs
•Pencil
•Crayon/Markers
•Long strips of paper
People in Societies Standard
Students use knowledge of perspectives, practices and products of cultural,
ethnic and social groups to analyze the impact of their commonality and
diversity within local, national, regional and global settings.
Websites
Community Helpers Theme
http://www.first-school.ws/theme/commhelpers.htm
Our Community Helpers
http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=5597
Jobs of Community Helpers Review Game
http://www.hud.gov/kids/whatsjob.html
Miller Construction Company
http://www.millerconstruction.com/
Pavers by Design
http://www.paversbydesign.net/
People in Societies Activity 1
ACTIVITY 1
Learning about community helpers, such as police officers, fire
fighters and hospital workers, and taking community field trips will help
students understand how they fit into their community and the world.
Identify important aspects of community and culture that strengthen
relationships within a family to create a family tablecloth for the
classroom
Materials:
•pictures of national symbols from all countries to represent
community helpers laminated and glued onto poster boards
•Books for researching different countries and symbols that represent
a community helper
•a light/plain tablecloth
•paint and paint brushes
•markers
•table to lay tablecloth out on
People in Societies Activity 2
ACTIVITY 2
Have the children look through ethnic cook books and see what recipe
they want to make. Have them create their own recipes by cutting out
pictures of food and glue them to their recipe card.
Children can then create names for their dishes and share their creation
and the cultural background
Materials:
• Glue
• Magazine pictures of food
• Large index cards/Construction paper (recipe card)
• Markers
• Cook Book
People in Societies Activity 3
ACTIVITY 3
After reading the folktale of Paul Bunyan we will discuss how
he was a community helper too because all lumberjacks are.
We will color this picture of Paul Bunyan and write
on the back what lumberjacks do.
Materials
•Folktale of Paul Bunyan
•Picture
•Lined paper
•Pencil
•Markers/Crayons
People in Societies Activities 4 and 5
ACTIVITY 4
The high school foreign language teachers will come and share how other
cultures communicate. We will learn simple greetings in many different
languages.
Materials:
–Foreign Language teachers
–Handouts of the different greeting pronunciations
ACTIVITY 5
The local construction company will send a foreman to show the children how
our culture uses wood, bricks, and other materials to build homes, while other
cultures use mud, sticks, and leaves to build their homes! Together we will use
materials to construct a home.
Materials:
–The Construction worker
–Popsicle sticks
–Twine
–Clay
Geography Standard
Students use knowledge of geographic locations, patterns and
processes to show the interrelationship between the physical
environment and human activity, and to explain the interactions
that occur in an increasingly interdependent world.
Websites
Your Neighborhood
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/k-2/neighborhood/index.html
Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/a_earlychildhood/newsletters/newsletterV02
N09.shtml
Community Helper Costumes
http://www.heirloomwoodentoys.com/Community-Helper-Dress-Up-CostumeCollection-pr-19816.html
Mapping Your Community
http://content.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/t/TeachNow_M
appingCommunity.pdf
Community Services and Maps
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeadult/IGLA/pdf/CommServiceGroup.pdf
Geography Activities 1 and 2
ACTIVITY 1
WHAT IS A COMMUNITY HELPER, ANYWAY?
Encourage children to work on a definition of “community helper.” This will be a
work in progress, constantly changing as children meet or learn about
community helpers. Compare each community helper against the definition.
(As the number of community helpers examined increases, the definition will
become more generalized.)
Materials:
•Chart paper
•Marker
ACTIVITY 2
Materials:
•Costumes and props
Children will dress up as a community helper and share with the class their
costume. They will explain why they are dressed that way and what that
community helper does to help our community.
Geography Activities 3 and 4
ACTIVITY 3
Identify symbols that can represent a community helper. Explain what a
symbol is and how they are used.
cross for a Doctor, apple for a Teacher, book for a Librarian, tooth for a Dentist,
star for a Police Officer, envelope for a mail carrier, fire for a Firefighter, bread
for a baker, etc.
Materials
•Chart paper
•Marker
ACTIVITY 4
Using the symbols we made in activity 1 have students create a map
of our town labeling the community helpers with our symbols.
Materials:
•Tag-board
•Markers
•Map of our town
Geography Activity 5
ACTIVITY 5
Visiting the a fire department!
Using the map of the town we made, we will plan route we will take
there and back. Such as turn left at the library, turn left at the stop
sign. This will help with giving directions to a location.
Materials:
•Our maps
•A step by step direction route on chart paper
•A marker to trace our route
Economics Standard
Students use economic reasoning skills and knowledge of major economic
concepts, issues and systems in order to make informed choices as producers,
consumers, savers, investors, workers and citizens in an interdependent world.
Websites
Hierarchy of Needs
http://www.union.umd.edu/GH/basic_needs/images/maslows_hierarchy2.jpg
Elementary Economics Lessons
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/elementary.asp
Additional Lessons on Economics
http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/BuilderV03/LPTools/LPShared/displayunit.asp?UnitI
D=1468
Economics Lessons Using Children’s Books
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/Econ_Geog.html
Econ-o-mania
http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/fellows/Medvetz/webquest/
Economics Activity 1
ACTIVITY 1
Identify the basic needs (food, safety, health) of human beings as a class. Determine
how these needs are met and the roles of community helpers in meeting these needs.
People need ___________. A ___________ helps them by _____________.
Materials
• Tag-board
• Pencil
• Crayons/ Markers
Economic Activities 2 and 3
ACTIVITY 2
Children will categorize the jobs of various community helpers by the production of
goods or the service offered. Have them do a free write journal on how these
goods and services effect/benefit their community.
Materials:
- Chart for class categorizations
- Paper
- Pencil
ACTIVITY 3
Students will categorize objects as man-made or natural resources after learning the
difference between the two. Discuss with the class the scarcity of resources and
how that effects the community helpers who use those materials.
Materials:
- Chart for man-made and natural resources
- Paper
- Pencil
Economic Activity 4
ACTIVITY 4
Students will identify producers, consumers, goods and services targeted by
selected advertisements. They will also work with a group to identify
producers in their own community found in a local telephone book. As a
class the students will discuss their findings and determine which of people
they selected are community helpers.
Materials:
- Definitions of producers and consumers
- A few selected advertisements to discuss
- Local telephone books
- Paper
- Pencil
Economic Activity 5
ACTIVITY 5
Have each child select the job of a community worker. They should create a
product or offer a service according to their community helper. Each member
of the community (class) will set up shop or service area. Each student will
receive a problem which they need to solve through the help of their
community. The class must exchange or find means of obtaining goods and
services without money.
Materials:
-Paper
-Crayons/ Markers
- Props
-Individual Problems based on the community
helper positions that the class chose
Government Standard
Students use knowledge of the purposes, structures and
processes of political systems at the local, state, national and
international levels to understand that people create systems of
government as structures of power and authority to provide order,
maintain stability and promote the general welfare.
Websites
Community Club
http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/officer/makbadge.asp
Mayor of Bellbrook
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=Mayor+of&near=Bellbrook,+OH&fb=
1&view=text&cd=3&hl=en&latlng=39642103,84287750,9088378007191602798&ei=a5oeR-v8N4uKiwHP2J11
Bellbrook Police Department
http://www.usacops.com/oh/p45305/index.html
Our Community Helpers
http://comsewogue.k12.ny.us/~rstewart/k2001/Themes/community/helpers.htm
Drug Enforcement Agency
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htm
Government Activities 1 and 2
ACTIVITY 1
Have a Police Officer come in and talk to the class telling them what he
does to make their neighborhood a safer place. He will then pass out
police badges to all the students
Materials:
• Badges
• Police Man
ACTIVITY 2 “The Line Up!”
The Police officer will fingerprint them and
trace their outlines as if they had committed
a crime and the students will decorate them
Materials:
• White bulletin board paper
• Makers
• Crayons
• Ink (for fingerprinting)
Ms. Alemagno
Government Activities 3 and 4
ACTIVITY 3
The job of a police man is to ensure that everyone is following rules. In class
make a list of rules for our own classroom. Each day there will be a “police officer
of the day” to ensure everyone is following the rules.
Materials:
•Chart paper
•Marker
•Police badges from previous activity
ACTIVITY 4 “Visit to the Mayor”
The class will go together and visit the Mayor. On their trip
they will recognize symbols that represent democracy.
They will begin to learn what exactly a democracy is.
Materials:
•Clip boards to record symbols
•Pencil
•Bus to transport the students to the Mayor
Government Activity 5
ACTIVITY 5
After visiting the Mayor the children observed how a democracy is run.
Our classroom will conduct an election to decide classroom
responsibilities.
EX: Tyrone is good at sharing toys, Johnny is not. Tyrone should be
the leader of playtime. The class will decide who should be in charge
by a democratic vote.
Materials:
•Chart paper
•Marker
•Police badges from previous activity
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Standard
Students use knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in order
to examine and evaluate civic ideals and to participate in community life and
the American democratic system.
Websites
Good Citizen Test
http://www.goodcharacter.com/ISOC/Citizenship.html
The Five Themes of Citizenship http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr008.shtml
Additional Lesson on Citizenship
http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=constitution_day
More activities on The Judge: An Untrue Tale
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/RCActivities.asp?bookid=32
Books and Lesson Plans on Community Helpers
http://www.mesa.k12.co.us/2003/Departments/CommunityPartners
hip/Contextual%20Learning/Bonnie%20Teets/minibook%20lesson.
pdf
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Activities 1 and 2
Activity 1
Watch Citizenship in the Community. Have them write a list of the community
workers that they see or are discussed in the video. Hold a grand discussion with
the children about citizenship.
Materials:
- Citizenship in the Community Video
-pencil
-paper
Activity 2
Read the book “The Judge: An Untrue Tale”
by Harve Zemach. Discuss the role of the judge
as a community helper. Discuss whether the judge provided fairness to those brought
before him. Create a venn diagram comparing how the judge helps the community
and the role of another community helper that has been recently discussed.
Materials:
-”The Judge: An Untrue Tale”
-Venn Diagram
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Activities 3 and 4
Activity 3
Review the role of a judge as discussed in activity 2. Discuss with the class the
meaning of “fairness.” Select one child to play the judge. Have the rest of the
children work in groups to demonstrate fairness through a skit. Give each
group a situation and have the judge determine whether the group was fair to
everyone involved.
Materials:
-Short description of a situation to be acted out
-Props
Activity 4
Ask the children what they would like to be when they grow up. Do they want to
be a community helper? Talk about the importance of demonstrating
citizenship traits in a future job such as trustworthiness, fairness, self-control,
and respect for those in authority. Have the students draw a picture of
themselves as a community helper demonstrating one of the qualities listed
above. May have to limit the class to a specific trait if the class is struggling.
Materials:
-Large paper for class list of positive character traits
-Paper or tagboard
-Pencil, crayons, or markers
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Activity 5
Activity 5
Discussion: Many community helpers such as police officers and teachers remind
us to show respect to one another. What does it mean to respect someone?
How can we show someone respect? Who should we show respect to?
Class Book: Create a class book titled “Respectful Citizens.” Review the term
citizen with the children. Have each student make one page for the book
filling in the blanks: I give ___________ respect when I _______________.
They may illustrate their page by drawing or selecting an image from the
computer or a magazine.
Materials:
- Tagboard or construction paper
- Pencil, markers, crayons.
- Hole Punch
- Magazines
- Yarn to tie book together
Social Studies Skills and
Methods Standard
Students collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple
sources to draw logical conclusions. Students communicate this information using
appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or multimedia form and apply
what they have learned to societal issues in simulated or real-world settings.
Websites
Fire Station Virtual Tours
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us//curriculum/vtours/fire/tour.html
Old Macdonald Had a Farm
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Macdonald-Farm-FrancesCony/dp/053130129X/ref=sr_1_6/002-47994660077660?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192825383&sr=1-6
Graphic Organizer
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=2985
Community Club
http://teacher.scholastic.com/commclub/
Software for kids
http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/1162713600/_i/15180511/1.jpg
Social Studies Skills and
Methods Activities 1 and 2
ACTIVITY 1 “Visit a local post office”
Discuss with children the role of mail carriers. Have children interview a mail
carrier with questions previously discussed in class. During the tour show
courtesy and respect and record the answers.
Materials:
-notebooks
-pencils
-list of interview questions
ACTIVITY 2
Have the children write a speech they can share orally with the class. The speech
will be written as if they are that community helper. Children will explain what they
do to help the community and how their job is important
Materials:
-note cards
-pencil
-books with information of a community helper
Social Studies Skills and
Methods Activity 3
ACTIVITY 3
We will read the book Old MacDonald Had a Farm and identify the main idea
on the worksheet below. We will then discuss the job of a farmer and how he
is a community helper.
Materials:
-Old MacDonald Had a Farm by: Frances Coney
-Main idea worksheet
-Pencil
Social Studies Skills and Methods
Activities 4 and 5
ACTIVITY 4
Students will together in a group setting and determine categories for sorting
the community helpers they have learned. Examples of categories could be…..
Health
School
Safety
Materials:
•Chart paper
•Markers
ACTIVITY 5
Have the children obtain information about community helpers using a variety of
resources, both orally(what they have learned) and visually(in books). Have
them create a memory card game of community helpers and what they each
one does to help the community. These memory cards will be used as a study
tool to help study for their community helpers test.
Materials:
•Index cards
•Pencil
•Variety of resource books