Teaching Children About Community Workers

Lesson Plans for Teaching About Helpers in the Community

Nov 13, 2009 Jackie Parsons

Teaching children in Kindergarten and Grade One about the people that work in the neighbourhood can be fun with these great lessons ideas.

A child needs to learn about the neighbourhood he or she lives in and who helps to make the community a better place. Teaching children about the men and women who help to protect and keep the community a thriving neighbourhood is important to learn.

Teachers should take the time to review the community helpers in the neighbourhood. The community helpers in a neighbourhood are: police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, dentists, postal workers, ambulance attendants, teachers, hair dressers, gas station, grocery and clothing store employees.

Community Helper Books

Teachers should see the school’s librarian or visit the local library and locate books about community helpers. Here are some titles to look for when looking for books:

  • Community Helpers From A-Z by Bobbi Kalman [Crabtree Publishing Company, 1997]: This book is about all the community helpers that make the neighbourhood safer, cleaner and a pleasant place to live.
  • Keeping you Safe: A Book About Police Officers by Ann Owen [Capstone Press, 2004]: A great book about police officers and the role they have in a community.
  • A Day in the Life of a Firefighter: Level 1 by Linda Hayward [Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2001]: This is an early reader for young students about a day with a firefighter and the job of a firefighter.

Community Helpers Activities

KWL Chart Activity: As a class discuss what do the students know about community workers. Record the list of community workers on chart paper. Ask the question “What do the students want to learn about community workers?” and record answers.

Pictures of Community Helpers: Teachers will need to have pictures of various community helpers. These pictures will help during class discussions of uniform and equipment needed for a particular job.

Invite Community Helpers: Invite a police officer, firefighter, doctor, letter carrier or dentist for a classroom visit. Have students ask questions about the job and its responsibilities.

Field Trip: Plan a field trip to the local Post Office, Fire Hall, Police Station or City Hall.

Community Helpers Art Activities

Community Helper Website: This website has really good ideas for classroom art activities. From making a fire truck egg carton craft to address printing practice sheets. This site is a very good resource for simple and easy art projects.

Mailbox Activity: Cover a 2L milk or juice container with construction paper. Glue on a large Popsicle stick with a red rectangle flag on the top to the side of the box.

Traffic Lights: Give student a piece of black construction paper. Have student cut out three circles. (red, yellow and green) Glue circles in the order of a traffic light. Print name at the bottom using a white crayon.

Learning about the workers in the community is very important unit in the early years classroom. Many children may never have had to opportunity of meeting a firefighter or been able to sit in a police cruiser car. Children should be given the opportunity to meet people who make the neighbourhood clean, safe and a healthy place to live.

Solski, Ruth. Community Helpers. Canada: S&S Learning Materials, 1992.

The copyright of the article Teaching Children About Community Workers in Primary School is owned by Jackie Parsons. Permission to republish Teaching Children About Community Workers in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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