KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

PROFESSIONAL SEMESTER PROGRAM
LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate: Erin Crawford Date: April 22, 2019

Cooperating Teacher: Mrs. Lisa Gross Coop. Initials: ___________
Group Size: 12-15 students Allotted Time: 30-40 minutes Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject or Topic: Gov. – Introduction to Community Helpers (Day 1) Section: 931

STANDARD: (PA Common Core):

 5.3.K.C - Identify roles of fire fighters, police officers, and emergency workers.
 CC.1.2.K.B - With prompting and support, answer questions about key details in a text.
 CC.1.2.K.L - Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes)

 Students will be able to identify what a community and community helper are.

II. Instructional Materials

 Helpers in my community by Bobbie Kalman
 White board
 White board markers
 Exit ticket
 Pencils
 Bulletin board images
 Larger printed images of community locations for bulletin board reference

III. Subject Matter/ Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, new content)
Prerequisite Skills
 Basic fine motor skills
 Ability to follow rules to a game
 Ability to participate in group discussions

Key Vocabulary
 Community- a place where many people live and work together
 Community Helpers- people who make communities cleaner, safer and healthier

Big Idea
 There are different community helpers that provide services.

New Content
 Community
o What it is and that we all live in one.
 Community Helper
o What they do in the community
o Examples of community helper jobs
IV. Implementation

A. Introduction –
 Introduce pictures of places in a community. Show students the images and ask them to name the
places. Once named put them up on the bulletin board to build our classroom community.
 Tell the students that, “Today we are going to be starting a new group of lessons but first I have a
question for you. Turn and talk, about different people who work in the community.”
o Allow time for students to talk and then share their ideas.
o Listen for different jobs that can be tied into community helpers.
 Thank the students for sharing all of the jobs they thought of and then tell them that today we are
going to start learning all about community helpers!

B. Development –
 Begin by introducing the book Helpers in my community by Bobbie Kalman. Discuss the title
page and title with the students. Ask them to turn and talk about anything they notice.
o Allow time for students to share.
 Then begin reading the story, stopping periodically throughout to discuss.
 Read page 4
o After reading stop and define for the students what a community is and what a
community helper is. If needed reread the parts that correlate with each part and then
write the students definitions on the board for them to see.
o Ask students if they have any questions about what a community or community helper is,
if so clarify.
 Read page 5
o Explain to the students that the jobs that are listed on this page are types of community
helpers because they help the community stay cleaner, safer and healthier.
 Tell the students that you are going to skip a couple pages to focus on the community helpers we
are going to be exploring this week.
 Read page 14
o Ask the students to turn and talk about what type of community helper we just read about
on page 14. After tell the students that medical workers are community helpers because
they help to keep us healthy and safe.
 Read page 15
o Explain to the students that another type of medical worker is a dentist.
o Ask the students to turn and talk about what a dentist does. Then have the students share
their ideas.
o Ask the students why they may think a dentist is a community helper. Turn and Talk.
 Pause here to ask the students if they have any questions so far.
 Read pages 16-17
o Tell the students that these workers are even more types of medical workers and that they
will help rescue people and keep them as healthy as they can until they get to a doctor.
 Read page 18
o Before reading, ask the students to turn and talk about what type of community helper our
book talks about next. Then have them share.
o After sharing read page 18 about firefighters.
 Read pages 20-21
o Tell students that police officers are community helpers because they help keep our
community safe.
o Ask the students to turn and talk about what a police officer does, then share.
  Ask students if they have any questions, answer if they do.
 Ask students to turn and talk about the different types of community helpers we read about today.
After discussing, have students share aloud what community helpers they remember reading
about and write them on the board. The three that need to be on the board are medical workers,
police officers and firefighters.

C. Closure –
 Tell students that over the next couple of days we are going to explore more about the community
helpers we just read about and wrote up on the board. Tell them we will play games, do crafts and
even dress up and write about our favorite community helpers!

D. Accommodations / Differentiation -
 On the exit ticket, there are images for students who need a visual reference with a picture. The
questions and answers will also be read aloud.
 Larger images of community locations will be shown to students so they are able to see from a
farther distance what the image is and will be able to make more of a connection for a realistic
picture.

E. Assessment/Evaluation plan
1. Formative - Students will complete the exit ticket presented at the end of
lesson and turn it in for a check or minus. A check is given if completed correctly and a minus if
it is not completed correctly. In the additional notes, write down if a student answered any
questions incorrectly, so you know what to review the next day.

2. Summative

V. Reflective Response

A. Report of Students’ Performance in Terms of States Objectives

Student Objective- Students will be able to identify what a community and community helper are.

Today was the first day of our community helpers unit. The goal of today was to build the
background knowledge of the students about what a community is and what a community helper is. The
students discussed appropriately during turn and talks and were able to talk about their community and
community helpers that we discussed. Below is the evaluation of their exit ticket assessing them on
communities and community helpers:

AM- 11 out of 11 answered both questions correctly (one needed guidance)

PM- 13 out of 13 answered both questions correctly (one needed redirection)

After looking over both classes responses, it is apparent to me that they understand what a
community is and what community helpers are, or that they are able to identify a community helper.
Throughout the week, these ideas will be reviewed at the beginning of each class.

B. Personal Reflection
1. How clear was I in my instruction? Was it engaging?
After discussing with my cooperating teacher, I believe I was clear in my instruction on
communities and community helpers. The students were able to recall what was being discussed
throughout the lesson and they were also consistently engaged in turn and talks. The students were able to
discuss each community helper in focus and what some of their jobs may entail, from the story we were
reading.

2. Was I able to pace my lesson to fit the allotted time?

I was able to fit my lesson into the allotted time. My maximum time was 30 to 40 minutes and I
remained around the 30 minute mark for both classes.

3. How could this lesson be improved?

I feel as though this lesson overall, went well. My cooperating teacher and I discussed altering the
definition of community helpers to say healthier instead of better. I had been saying healthier when
discussing the lesson with her but it was not represented in my plans. I also think, if some way time
allowed it would be interesting to build the community classroom map together with the students to place
building imaged around the same location, such as a fire department next to a student’s house as it is in
real life.

VI. Resources

Kalman, B. (2010). Helpers in my community. New York, NY: Crabtree Publishing Company.

Standard in practice: What it looks like in my classroom – 5.3.K.C. (n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2019,
from http://www.pdesas.org/ContentWeb/Content/Content/31011/Documents and Manuscripts

Image of Lesson
 Exit ticket

Name: _____________________________________

1. Circle the picture that shows a community.

2. Circle the picture that shows a community helper.