Community Helpers Unit
Community Helpers Unit
Resources for Community Helpers Unit
Getting Started
Which community helpers will you study? Before starting a unit on community helpers, it would be helpful for planning if you decide which occupations you would like to concentrate on. For my unit, we study the following community helpers:
- Doctors and Nurses
- Chefs, Bakers, and Cooks
- Astronauts
- Soldiers
- Teachers
- Dentists
- Mail Carriers
- Police
- Artists
- Firefighters
Special Speakers: Invite special speakers to your room to discuss what they do for a job. Collect information about your own classroom families and invite parents to come in and discuss their jobs. Local police and firefighters are almost always available for school visitations. :o)
Community Helpers Power Point Introduction: This presentation was made by one of my friends, Courtney Brown. She has so graciously allowed me to post it on this page for others to use. Enjoy! Click below to download:
- Community Helpers Hats Presentation - (.ppt format)
Sponsored Links
Literacy Activities
Each day of our community helpers unit is focused on one occupation/helper. This is the format that I use each day as a part of our unit:
- Read a story about the focus community helper.
- Do a language arts activity focused on the community helper.
- Do a special activity involving the focus helper (make hats, listen to a special speaker, dramatize, play a game, etc.).
The following activities are focused on each helper listed.
Doctors and Nurses
- Make a Doctor/Nurse's Bag: As a fun extension activity, make a doctor or nurse's bag and fill it with items that a doctor or nurse needs. To make the bag, you will need a sheet of construction paper for each child in your class. Fold the paper in half the wide way (like a greeting card) and punch holes around three edges leaving the top open.
Attach a piece of yarn to the end corner and have the children lace it around to make a "bag". (Photos will be coming soon!) Give each child a copy of the the printable below and have them color and cut. Place the items in the bag and you have a complete doctor/nurse's bag - ready to use for pretend play! Click below to download printable items for the bag.
- Printable Items for Doctor/Nurse's Bag - (.pdf format)
- Make a Nurse's Hat: As a part of your lesson, have each child make a nurse's hat. Download the printable nurse's hat below and attach it to a construction paper band.
- Printable Nurse's Hat - (.pdf format)
- Coloring Pages: Doctors and Nurses
Chefs, Bakers, and Cooks
- If I Were a Chef Writing Activity:
- Printable Writing Activity "If I were a chef..." - (.pdf format)
- Make a Chef's Hat: As a part of your lesson, have each child make a chef's hat. Download the printable chef's hat below and attach it to a construction paper band.
- Printable Chef's Hat - (.pdf format)
- Coloring Pages: Food and Chef
Astronauts
- Coloring Pages: Astronauts and Space
Soldiers
- Coloring Pages: American Symbols and Soldiers
Teachers
- Coloring Pages: Female Teacher and Male Teacher
Dentists
- Coloring Pages: Dentists and Dental Health
Mail Carriers
- Make a Mail Carrier's Hat: As a part of your lesson, have each child make a mail carrier's hat. Download the printable mail carrier's hat below and attach it to a construction paper band.
- Printable Mail Carrier's Hat - (.pdf format)
- Coloring Pages: Mailman and Mailwoman
Police
- Make a Police Hat: As a part of your lesson, have each child make a police hat. Download the printable police hat below and attach it to a construction paper band.
- Printable Police Hat - (.pdf format)
- Coloring Pages: Police
Artists
- Coloring Pages: Painter
Firefighters
- Make a Firefighter's Hat: As a part of your lesson, have each child make a firefighter's hat. Download the printable firefighter's hat below and attach it to a construction paper band.
- Printable Firefighter's Hat - (.pdf format)
- Coloring Pages: Firefighters and Fire Safety
Writing
Shared Writing
- Make a "Helping Hands" Wreath: Before the activity, cut out a large hollow O shape (for the wreath) from construction paper or posterboard. Use an Ellison cutter to die cut about 20 hand shapes out of colored construction paper or have your students each cut out a hand from a reproducible. Collect the hands and get ready to brainstorm. Ask your students to brainstorm a list of community helpers and write each of the helpers on a hand. After all of the hands are filled, hand them out to your children. Take turns gluing the hands onto the wreath. When finished you will have a beautiful wreath made from "helping hands".
- Hand Reproducible - (.pdf format)
- Make a Helping Hands Venn Diagram: Compare two different community helpers.
- Helping Hands Venn Diagram - (.pdf format)
- Brainstorm a list of community helpers that you will study during the week. Each day, as you study a single community helper, add to the list by brainstorming items that the helper might need to do his/her job.
Independent Writing
- Helping Hands Writing: Make a predictable chart programmed with the sentence frame: "A ___ helps us _____." Fill in the chart with each child's answer in a differerent color marker than what you used to write the sentence frame. The next day, read over the chart and cut apart the sentences and give each child the sentence they completed. Give each child a copy of the reproducible available below and instruct them to fill in the sentence fram on the reproducible and draw a picture. Bind together to make a class book.
- Helping Hands Writing Page - (.pdf format)
Songs and Poems
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All Around the Neighborhood All around the neighborhood, The driver on the bus, The girl and her mother, The butcher gives a letter, The carrier asks the barber, The trash collector stops, Firefighters join the police, All around the neighborhood, All around the neighborhood,
What Can We Send in the Mail? What can we send in the mail? Oh, we can mail a letter. Repeat second verse, replacing "letter" with other words such as valentine, package, postcard, birthday card, etc.)
Doctor Day My father said, "It's doctor day,"
Five Police Officers Five police officers, standing by the store,
Keep Working When there's a job that's very hard,
Many Jobs There are so many jobs to do. For any kind of job you choose, |
What Will You Be? Doctor, dancer, office clerk, Barber, farmer, animal vet, Work with people, Driver, diver, fighting fires,
Community Helpers Song Firefighters help in many ways, Mail carriers help in many ways, Teachers help in many ways, Policemen help in many ways,
The Doctor in the Clinic The Doctor in the clinic. The doctor takes a nurse...
To The Hospital To the hospital, to the hospital,
In the Mailbox In the mailbox, in the mailbox, In the mailbox, in the mailbox,
The Florist The florist arranges the flowers. Flowers, flowers!
We Need a Plumber Pipes can carry water to |
Related Units
Printables
- Printable Construction Worker's Hat - (.pdf format)
- Printable Farmer's Hat - (.pdf format)
Resource Links
- Online Early Reader Books for Community Helpers - from Scholastic (AWESOME!)
- Heroes in My Community Unit Plans with Printables - from Georgia Learning Connections
- Great Coloring Pages for Community Helpers - from Coloring Book Fun
- Community Helpers Activities - from First-School
- Early Childhood Community Helpers Unit - from San Bernardino County Schools