(Tune: "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer")

Mailmen deliver mail,
Nurses help us when we're sick,
Bankers deposit money,
Farmers raise cows, goats and chicks.
Doctors, teachers and police.
We all need them so.
Each does his important part
Always on the go.
Bus drivers, sales and firemen,
Couldn't do without them too!
Can't wait 'til you grow up, There’s so many jobs for you!

Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood,

In your neighborhood,

In your neighborhood?

Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood

The people that you meet each day?


Oh, the postman always brings the mail

Through rain or snow or sleet or hail.

He'll work, and work the whole day through

To get your letters safe to you.


Oh, the fireman is brave it's said

His engine shiny red.

If there's a fire about,

Well, he'll be sure to put it out.

If I were a baker
(pretend to put on a hat and apron)
What would I do?
Bake lots of cookies
(make a circle with thumb and forefinger)
For me and you.
(point to self and a friend)

If I were a secretary, (pretend to type and write on a notepad)
What would I do?
Answer the phone,
(hold pretend phone to ear)
"How do you do?"

If I were a veterinarian, (pretend to put a stethoscope in ears)
What would I do?
Care for your pet
(pretend to examine a cat or dog)
It's special to you.

If I were a dentist,
(look in mouth of friend)
What would I do?
Check those teeth
(pretend to drill or x-ray friend's teeth)
That's good for you!

If I were a hair dresser (pretend to comb a friend's hair)
What would I do?
Wash and trim your hair (pretend to wash & cut a friend's hair)
"Oh, pretty!" for you!

I'm a police officer
With my star,
I help people
Near and far.
If you have a problem,
Call on me,
And I will be there
One, two, three!

I'm a firefighter
Dressed in red,
With my fire hat
On my head.
I can drive the fire truck,
Fight fires, too,
And help to make things
Safe for you.

Five friendly firefighters standing near the door,
One washes the fire engine, now there are four.
Four friendly firefighters waiting patiently,
One fixes the hoses, now there are three.
Three friendly firefighters have a lot to do,
One climbs up a ladder, now there are two.
Two friendly firefighters exercise and run,
One cooks some dinner, now there is one.
One friendly firefighter-all the work is done,
This one goes to bed, now there are none.

Down at the firehouse

Early in the morning,

You can see our clothes

Hanging in a row.

When there is a fire,

We can dress real fast.

Boots, jackets, hats, gloves,

Off we go!

Dentist

If I were a dentist,
I know what I would do.
(Point to self.)
I'd tell all the children, "Brush your teeth."
(Imitate brushing teeth.)
"Keep a smile like new."
(Make a big smile and point to lips.)
And if a tiny hole should show,
I'd say, "Climb into my chair."
(Make circle with fingers.)
I'd make my little drill go buzzzzzzzzzz,
And put a filling there!
(Point to teeth.)

Mail Carrier Song (Tune: "My Bonnie lies over the ocean")

I get to sort the mail,
Then carry it to your home.
The mail comes from all over,
Like New York, Paris, and Rome.
Mail, mail, mail, mail,
I love to deliver the mail, mail, mail.
Mail, Mail, Mail, Mail,
I love to deliver the mail.

I'm a Helpful Doctor (Tune: "I'm a Little Teapot")

I'm a helpful doctor, Dressed in white,
I help people feel better, Day and night.
When you get hurt or sick,
Come see me.
I'll get you all fixed up, Just as quick as can be.

What is my job?
What is my job?
Can you guess?
Can you guess?
I help people get well.
I help people get well.
Who am I?
Who am I?

*Other verses:
I can fix the water pipes.
I deliver letters.
I make tasty meals for you. I keep your pets healthy.
I can teach you new things.
I can help if you get lost.

I want to be a carpenter and work the whole day long.
I'll use a great big box of tools; my arms are very strong
First, I'll saw and saw and saw, and cut the boards in two
Little boards and big boards-all kinds of boards will do.
I'll plane and plane and plane the boards for everyone is rough.
Back and forth I'll plane the boards until they're smooth enough.
I'll measure them and measure them - each one down to a T
And then I'll start to build a house for me up in a tree!

Teachers
(Tune: "Mary Had A Little Lamb")

Our teacher comes to school each day,
School each day, school each day.
Our teacher comes to school each day,
To help us learn and grow.
She smiles and helps us learn all day,
Learn all day, learn all day.
She smiles and helps us learn all day,
We're glad we come to school.

I'm a nurse dressed in white,
And I feel just swell.
When you are sick,
I help to make you well.
I give you shots,
And if you're afraid,
I fix you up with a big Band-Aid.
I'm a nurse dressed in white,
And I feel just swell.
Now you're well!

I'm a vet, I'm a vet,
I'm a veterinarian.
I take care of the animals,
And I treat them one by one.

I give shots, I set legs,
And sometimes I operate.
I take care of the animals,
'Cause I think they are just great.

Bring your dogs, bring you cats,
Bring your hamsters one by one.
I take care of the animals,
I'm a veterinarian.

Shared Reading
Nobody Listens to Andrew
by Elizabeth Guilfoile

In this story, a little boy named Andrew sees something in his room.   He tells his mother, his father, his sister and brother, and a neighbor--but nobody will listen.  Finally he tells them that there is a big black bear sleeping in his bed.  At last some police officers, firemen, the dog catcher, and the zoo keeper come to help Andrew. 

Day 1:  Introduce the title and author. Show the cover and discuss what the story might be about and whether it is real or fictional. Take a picture walk making sure to discuss the various people Andrew tries to get to listen to him. Read aloud for enjoyment.

Day2:    Reread the story.  Discuss who the main characters are and where the story takes place.  How would they feel if no one would listen to them?  What do they think happened to Andrew after the bear went to the zoo? What will the family do next time Andrew says something?

Day 3: Reread the story and discuss sequence of events.  What did each character have to do "before dark"? Discuss concepts of before and after.   Have students pantomime various two step sequences.  Guess what they are doing using words before and after.  Ex.  Before Lisa put on her shoes, she put on her socks. or  After Lisa put on her socks, she put on her shoes.

Day 4: Make a walking floor mural of the story.  Write the following lines on sentence strips:

1.  Listen Mother. (Daddy, Ruthy, Bobby, Mr. Neighbor)
2.  I saw something upstairs.  (make 4)
3.  It was in my bed.  (make 1)
4.  It was in my bed on the sun porch.  (make 2)
5.  It was black.  (make 1)

Glue each sentence strip on a long piece of butcher paper following the text pattern of the story.  Cut out five footprint shapes and tape them along side the paper.  (Color code them to identify words spoken to each character).  Have children follow the footprints to "read" what Andrew said to each person.

Day 5:  Dramatize the story.  Divide the class into groups- one child for each of the main characters. Reread the story with the groups of students reading/saying what the characters on the story say.

  Independent Reading

Level A
I am a Painter (Rigby)
At the Store (Wright)
City Lights (Wright)
Down to Town (Wright)
Shopping at the Supermarket (Wright)

Level B
Build Big! (Wright)
I Could Be (Wright)
In My Toolbox (Wright)
Sending Messages (Wright)
The Letter (Wright)
To Work (Wright)

Level C
Jan's New Fan (Rigby)
Call 911 (Wright)
Going to the Vet (Wright)

Little Readers

"We Get Mail!"
The pages have the text along the bottom, and a corresponding cut-and-pasted blackline images from a 'community worker' book.

The Cover:
The title, We Get Mail!, can be cut out and glued onto a royal blue construction paper cover.The cover can be decorated with canceled postage stamps the students bring from home. Attached to the spine of the book is a (red, white, or blue) string with a little envelope attached that will 'follow' the reader to each page and help mark his place.

The Pages:
1. Firefighters get mail.
2. Postal workers get mail.
3. Police Officers get mail.
4. Doctors get mail.
5. Road workers get mail.
6. Teachers get mail.
7. __________ gets mail.
(student writes name and draws a self portrait. There is a small envelop glued, address side down, so the flap is accessible. Inside is teacher's valentine to the child.)
8. But __________ do not get mail!
(student draws and writes the name of an animal.)

Adding
Dalmatian Spots

Label blank Dalmatian dogs with numbers 1-10.  Children add the correct number of spots.

Five Little Firefighters

Use a poem such as "Five Little Firefighters" to practice ordinal numbers.

Five little firefighters sleeping in their beds
The first one said "Put your helmet on your head!"
The second one said "Down the pole we'll slide"
The third one said "Get ready to ride!"
The fourth one said "Put your gas mask on your nose"
The fifth one said "I'll grab the hose!"
Then Woooo went the siren and out went the fire
And the five little firemen could finally retire!

Flame Patterns

Make patterns using red, orange, and yellow flame cutouts.

Ladder Counting

Take some masking tape and tape a ladder form to the floor, with each "step" about 1' apart.  Put the numbers 1-10 on index cards with a magic marker and tape them in the upper left hand corner of the rung/step. Use flash cards to have the student draw (or hand them any number).  They then have to jump "up the ladder" a step at a time, counting as they go, until they reach the number on their card. Students who are observing can help with counting to reinforce their numbers.

Stamp Sorting

Collect a variety of U.S. stamps.  Have the children sort by size, color, or picture (people, places, things).   Try some international stamps, too!

Lego Block Center

Put all legos on a large table for a center time activity.

Explain to children to think about the homes and buildings in the community that we have talked about. Now you want them to work together to build a community with lego blocks.

Each member at the table decides what building in the community they want to build. In addition, they have to work as a team to build a hospital.

Let the kids be as creative as they want! They can also build streets. If you have street signs they can put them in, too. They could make an area in the middle for a park or school!!

Fire Safety
Numeral Writing

Using a graph-like sheet with numerals 1-5 or 5-10 (or any numerals you are practicing) at the bottom, practice writing the numeral as rolled on a large foam dice. Roll the dice. Count the dots shown. Write one of the numeral that tells how many in the appropriate square. The numeral that reaches the top first will "Put The Fire Out!"
or win the game.

Dot The Dalmatian

Use black craft pom-poms or construction paper circles to do the Dalmatian. Give the Dalmatian the correct number of dots according to the numeral on his tail.

Pet Hospital
Dramatic Play

Dress up in white lab coats, and surgery scrubs and examine stuffed animals at the pet hospital. Use the sink for bathing, a child size table for examining, the child size stove became the C.A.T. scan or X-Ray machine. Have a waiting room with 3 chairs and a basket with Ranger Rick magazines to read. Add some gauze and real bandages to a Children's Fisher price Doctor Kit.   Have a "Doctor is In" sign and a "No Smoking" sign.

Mail Carrier

Make a big mailbox with a flag.   Make a mailbag from a brown grocery sack. Let the children write letters using special paper and envelopes with stamps. Have the dramatic play center set up as a post office complete with paper, envelopes, stamps,and rubber date stamps for children to use. Write a letter as a class,and mail it back to you, let children see how the mail actually comes. Remember to use the term mail carrier rather than mail man or postman.

Make a
Restaurant Menu

Need: markers, glue, magazines with pictures of food, construction paper.
Have children cut out of the magazines pictures of food and glue onto construction paper to create menus.
Children can "write" the names and prices underneath the pictures of these foods. Compile menu pages and place in the Dramatic Play area.

The Cook's Kitchen

Need: play dough, pictures of various foods, cookbooks, cooking utensils, medium-sized cartoon with flap that opens.

Put out play dough, box, and other props so children can create different foods. Then, children can become chefs by cooking them in the cardboard "oven."

Doctor's Office

Make headbands for doctors: white strips then a circle for the center that the children cover with pieces of tin foil for the light(mirror).

Have the children paint each the cupped areas of a egg carton (cut up one for each child) then poke a hole and put a piece of yarn through for their stethoscopes!

  Fire Engine

Precut circular and rectangular shapes from construction paper. Have the children glue the precut shapes on to a piece of construction paper to resemble a fire truck. They may add yarn or string for the fire hose and use straws to make a ladder

A Paper-fold
Dalmatian

Cut a white piece of construction paper into a large square. Fold corners over to make "Dalmatian ears." Create a large oval (from red construction paper) and snip a triangle above 1/4 of the way down the oval to fold over and create the fireman's hat. Decorate the Dalmatian with a face and dots, of course!

Mail Bags

When studying about postal workers, make mail bags using 2 pieces of construction paper. Punch holes around the edges and let children lace them with yarn. Cut the yarn long enough to have some left to make a shoulder strap. Write "US Mail" on one side and "(name)'s Mail Bag"
on the other.

A Doctor Collage

Use construction paper or cut out a medical bag shape. Have students glue items such as cotton balls, tongue depressors, cotton swabs, band-aids, gauze, etc. on their papers.

At the Dentist

Cut out a tooth shape from a piece of paper use dental floss for string painting .

Cut a tooth shape out of yellow paper and paint them using white paint and toothbrushes.

Fire Painting

 Using colors associated with fire (red, orange) squirt or draw thick lines on the paper and add a few drops of black paint here and there. Press clear plastic wrap onto the paper and squeegee the paint around. Pull plastic off of the paper using a strong vertical pulling action. (This will cause the paint to look like fire.) When paint is dry have the children glue a black cutout of a house (windows cut out) and/or a black cutout of a fire truck.

Fingerprints

Here are 2 ways to observe and collect fingerprints. Rub a pencil point several times on paper. Rub the child's finger in the graphite and stick a piece of transparent tape over it. Then stick the tape onto paper. After doing several of one child's fingers, observe that each print is the same. But everyone's prints are different.

Have child touch a metal box. Pour a line of powder at the edge of the box and "blow" gently. With a soft brush, very lightly brush over the box. Fingerprints will appear. Allow children to use magnifying glasses to examine prints.

Fire Fighting

sidewalk chalk squirt bottles water
Draw a pretend fire on the side of your house or garage with colored chalk. Use water-filled squirt bottles to put the fire out. Squirt, the fire will magically disappear.

Building Logs

Need: 1/3 cup peanut butter, 3 tablespoons honey, 1/2 cup crushed corn flakes, 1/2 cup quick oatmeal, 1/4 cup dry milk, chocolate sprinkles, measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowl, wooden spoon, baking sheet

Place the peanut butter and honey in a mixing bowl and mix well with the wooden spoon. Add the corn flakes, oatmeal and milk to the peanut butter mixture and mix well. Pinch off a small amount of the dough mixture. Roll the small amount of dough into 2-inch-long by 1/2-inch-wide logs. Place the sprinkles on the baking sheet. Roll the logs in sprinkles. Stack the logs on a plate on top of one another in a building formation. Serve the building as a yummy dessert.

What I Want To Be

Need: large white butcher paper, tracing crayon, crayons or paints, scissors

Directions: Have each child lie on a large piece of butcher paper and outline the body. When complete, have the children dress themselves in appropriate attire for what they want to be when they grow up. A firefighter? They will need a red suit, heavy black boots, and a firefighter's hat. A mommy? They might have a baby in their arms 
or at their side and wear pretty earrings and carry a purse. A doctor? They might have a white coat and wear a stethoscope. Cut out the life-size pictures and mount them for display.

Edible Fire Trucks

To make one:
Cover a graham cracker with red frosting.
Add two peanut butter cups for wheels.
Add on piece of Chex cereal for a window.
Add two whole pretzel sticks for a ladder. 
Add a red gumdrop for a light.
Eat and enjoy!!!!!

Community Helpers
Theme Unit

Members in a Community
Lesson

Number Scouts

Community Helpers Theme