Circle Time with Ms. CeCe’s “Helpers in Our Community”
Begin the community worker lesson by sharing Clothesline Clues to Jobs People Do, and Whose Hands are These?: A Community Helper Guessing Book. Both books are interactive, exploring many jobs in the community – and are good choices to introduce the art center project, and set the stage for dramatic play. After sharing, sing CeCe’s “Helpers in Our Community” (the tune of “I’ve Been Working On the Railroad”). Helpers in our community work in many ways! Helping, caring and listening too. Yes! Thank you for all you do!
Community Helper Centers
(Next, introduce community helper centers in the classroom.) In the art center you may choose and design your own community worker. (As an example, present a blank figure template – made of construction paper and attached to a large craft stick.) At gathering time we will play games and have a puppet show with our workers. In our dramatic play area we will have paper and envelopes – you may make stamps and mail your drawings – our postal worker will deliver them. In our block corner we will be building roads for our community helpers (add people and community helper vehicles).
Gathering Time with Community Workers
Community worker clues
A fun way to present the community helper guessing game? Children’s workers are clipped to an eye level clothesline with brightly colored pins. Children stand by his or her worker. The teacher then asks questions about each worker. What does your helper need for his or her job: equitment, tools, office supplies? How does your community worker help people? After giving classmates clues, friends around the circle take turns in a guessing game.
Patterns with our workers
Could we make a pattern with our workers? Invite children to make a pattern using an eye level clothes line and colorful pins (teacher may make the first pattern).
Community helper puppet show
Close with a community helper puppet show. Children take turns as the audience and characters of this community worker dramatic performance!