Jessica Draney Grade 1 Social Studies/Sociology Objectives: 1. Students will identify community workers and what tools they use in our community by successfully completing a concentration game, matching community workers with a tool they use. 2. Students will choose one community worker and demonstrate knowledge of that worker by writing about the things they do, the tools they use, and how they help us. They will also draw a picture of this worker. Materials: Community worker pictures, concentration board and game pieces, paper, crayons, and pencils. Procedures: 1. Who would help you if: ~your house was on fire? ~you needed help finding a book? ~you were lost? ~you wanted to mail a letter? ~you needed to know how to add? ~you wanted to recycle something? We have been studying about neighborhoods and communities. Today we are going to learn about some helpers who work in the communities, the things they do, the tools they use, how they help us, and vocabulary words that deal with that worker. (Put pictures of community helpers up on the board as you explain who they are, what they do, the tools they use, and how they help the community.) Have student volunteers write the names of the community helpers as each one is mentioned on the board, then write the key vocabulary word and tools they use under each heading. 2. Mini Lesson: Fire Fighters ~ People who are trained to put out fires. ~ First people to help in a disaster. Work can sometimes be dangerous. ~ Firefighters use long hoses to spray water on fires. They save people and animals from fires. They teach us about fire safety at school. ~ Vocabulary Word: Fire Safety is learning how to be prepared to stop fires from starting. ~ What is Fire Safety? Police Officers ~ Keep our communities safe by protecting people and property from criminals. They make sure that everyone obeys the law. ~ Vocabulary Word: The law is a set of rules that a community lives by. ~ Job can also be dangerous. They use guns, handcuffs, and radios to talk to each other. They help us by protecting us from crime and teach us about drugs and crime. ~ What are Laws? Mail Carriers ~ Make sure that mail goes to the right people and gather mail that people send. Vocabulary Word: Mail Pouch is a bag with a flap over the top that can carry 35 pounds of mail. ~ Mail Carriers help the community by bringing and gathering mail. ~ What is a Mail Pouch? Dentist ~ Show people how to properly floss and brush teeth to prevent disease. ~ They also straighten teeth and sometimes make replacements for teeth. ~ They use a dental chair that can be adjusted to fit each patient. Vocabulary Word: X-ray Machine takes pictures of people's teeth to show cavities and diseases. What is an X-ray Machine? Sanitation Workers ~ Keep our neighborhoods clean. They pick up garbage and recyclable materials such as newpapers, cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic, and glass containers. ~ They use big garbage trucks to carry the trash to land fills where it is discarded. Vocabulary Word: Recycle means to take garbage and change it so that it can be used again. What does recycle mean? Teacher ~ Helps us to learn the things we need to know to be successful in life. ~ Use textbooks, computers, and pictures to teach their students. ~ They work very hard and spend a lot of time preparing and giving lessons to help their students learn. Vocabulary Word: Success means to achieve something that you want to accomplish. What does Success mean? These are not all of the community helpers, but they are some that we can easily recognize. All of these people help us in some way. Why is it important that we have community helpers? 3.Guided Practice: Place the concentration poster board game on the chalkboard so all the students can see it. Play the game Community Helpers Concentration as a large group. Divide the class into two teams. One student from each team will come up one at a time and turn cards over on a poster board to try to find matches. There will be 12 cards and 6 matches possible. Other team members may give advice to this person to help find matches. ~ The object of the game is to find a match between the picture of a community helper and the tool that they use in their job. (These cards include a police officer and a whistle, a fire fighter and a hose, a teacher and a chalkboard, a sanitation worker and a garbage truck, a dentist and cleaning tools, and a postal worker and stamps for letters.) ~ Give points to each team for correct matches. For an extra point, the team must identify the vocabulary word for that worker. ~ During this time it is important for the teacher to give appropriate feedback and make corrections if necessary to check for student understanding. 4.Independent Practice: After the concentration game, give each student a piece of paper and have them write the name of one of the community helpers then list the things about that worker that they can remember. For example, if a student chose a Fire Fighter, he or she would list the things they do, the tools they use, how they help us, and explain the vocabulary word that goes with that worker. They will also draw a picture of this worker. Evaluations: 1. Have the students share their pictures with the class by explaining them and reading the information they have written about the community workers. 2. The teacher will assess the learning that has taken place by monitoring the concentration game and observing the sharing activity of the pictures and information the students have listed about community workers. Return to Index