Community Helpers

Theme Materials List

Books Related to Theme: Books in English Community helpers from A to Z / By Bobbie Kalman Percy's neighborhood / Stuart J. Murphy. Police officers on patrol / by Kersten Hamilton ; pictures by R.W. Alley. Keeping you safe: a book about police officers / Ann Owen; illustrated by Eric Thomas. Officer Buckle and Gloria / Peggy Rathmann. Traffic pups / by Michelle Meadows ; illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Safety / Karen Durrie. A day in the life of an emergency medical technician / by Heather Adamson. A day in the life of a firefighter / by Heather Adamson; consultant, Rob Farmer. A day in the life of a police officer / by Heather Adamson Fireman Small [kit] / written and illustrated by Wong Herbert Yee. Jeffrey Lee, future fireman / by Marcia Leonard; pictures by Ann Iosa. Fireman Sam DVDs What you do is easy, what I do is hard / by Jake Wolf ; pictures by Anna Dewdney. Books in Spanish Bomberos al rescate / Bobbie Kalman

Police officer = El polica / Jacqueline Laks Gorman ; photographs by/fotografias de Gregg Andersen. Quiero ser polica / Dan Liebman. Ki-Kids. Cocineros = Chef [DVD videorecording] Policeman = Policas / Indican Pictures Bomberos al rescate / Bobbie Kalman.

Materials: Puppets: Policeman, Fireman, Emergency Technitian, and a K-9 Officer Play Costume: Policeman, Fireman, EMT (Emergency Medical Technician), doctor, librarian, teacher, crossing guard, veterinarian costumes. (hat, coat, badge, books, whistle) Role Cards: Pictures of community helper on the front, and roles they play in the community on the back. Paper Crayons Markers Colored pencils Vocabulary Related to Theme Community Helpers Neighborhood Policeman Fireman Tribal Police Helper Engine Siren Badge

First Responder Emergency Medical Technician Emergency 9-1-1 Smoke detector Emergency Exit Stop, drop, roll Police car

Fire engine Address Phone Number Parents real names Your name Nickname Allergies

Welcome and Brief Overview of Six Early Literacy Skills Hello Song: (if you can, find a song. If you cant, use Hello, hello, hello and how are you? Im fine, Im fine, and I hope that your are too) Song: Down at the Station Down at the firehouse Early in the morning, Hear the fire alarm bell Ringing high and low. See the firefighters Jump into the fire truck

Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo! Off they go! Im a Police Officer (Tune to Im a Little Teapot) Im a Police Officer Dressed in Blue. If you have a problem, Ill help you. Call me on the phone At 9-1-1, And Ill be coming On the run! Story Time: Before reading, ask children what they know about community helpers? Read Police Officers on Patrol / by Kersten Hamilton or Community helpers from A to Z / By Bobbie Kalman While reading, be enthusiastic, positive, and ask children throughout book how they are feeling about the reading. After reading the book: ask children if there are other community members they can think of? Engage in questions with children. Asking question about their neighborhood, community helpers around them will engage in the reading.

Six Early Literacy Skills Connection o Print Motivation: Excited about reading both fiction and non-fiction books to children. o Narrative Skills: While reading with emotion to enrich the text, children will be asked during the reading engaging and thought provoking questions to stimulate their minds. Children will be able to participate in a role playing activity in which they must act out a community helper. o Vocabulary Skills: During the reading, point out specific words children at the play date need to be aware of and define them during the reading. There are also notecards with the word and picture available for the children to pass around and look at after the reading. o Print Awareness: While reading, reader will follow the words on a pagedemonstrate left to right and top to bottom. If available, have a Giant book when reading the story to model this behavior. Also, during the activity, children will have role cards which have pictures and the names of community helpers and their roles in the community. This will help children become aware of print. o Letter Knowledge: When parents take their children home, they will have activities available to help them differentiate what is alike and different fruits, vegetables, letters and numbers. When reading the book

Community helpers from A to Z / By Bobbie Kalman, children can begin to distinguish between how letters look and their sounds. o Phonological Awareness: Able to hear and play with sounds in words. Children will be engaged in hearing and playing with sounds through singing during the play date. Model Activities: Interview with a Community Helper: Children will have the privilege to meet a Police Officer, Firefighter, or Emergency Medical Technician at their play date. The community helper will open with an introduction of who they are, what they do in our community and how they help children. They will lead a discussion and have a Q&A time with the kids. Children will be exposed to a positive outlook at the community helpers and their role in our neighborhoods. It allows for children to feel safe to ask for help and how to ask for help. They will be exposed to key phrases and words that will help them and their safety in the future. Getting firsthand stories and advice from a community helper is a great way for children to become more active and knowledgeable about safety and their community. o If the community helper is not available, have a puppet show. Use the same questioning and discussion with children as if the community helper were there. Utilize books and other resources available from the library to develop a script. Ideally a community helper would be available to come in for the play date. Community Role Play: On index cards or paper, there will be a picture of a community helper along with a description of the role the community helper plays on a daily basis in their neighborhoods. A child will volunteer to pick a card from the stack or hat and act out the community helper chosen. There will be costumes for the children to put on to help them interact with one another. After the children have worked through all the cards, they can then play out their roles during playtime. o They may free play together and take turns playing different community helpers. More community helpers are added such as doctors, veterinarians, teachers, county workers, construction workers, and other members in the community to give children a variety of roles to act. Write A Letter: Children will have the opportunity to write a letter or draw a picture to our local Milwaukee Police, Tribal Police or Fire Department. They may write a thank you letter, a letter asking questions of the officers, or what they have learned in the play date about our community helpers. They may also draw a picture that best reflects their feelings about the community helpers. These letters and pictures will be mailed to their correlating departments. If officers or fireman respond, the letters will be posted at the library.

Families engage in activities: o Guardians will help children role play, write a letter, paint a picture, and engage in discussion with the visiting community helper.

o Guardians will aid the learning and allow children to engage in social interaction with their peers. o Guardians will be given the website link to engage their children after the play date is completed. Interact with families modeling and discussing skills/behaviors. Guardians can practice literacy skills at home through reading about the community and community helpers. Volunteering or donating their unused toys to others at a shelter. Help promote positive behavior in their schools and at home. Closing Activity: Ask parents to help their children put away the costumes, paints and paper. Take the time to review vocabulary. Additional Story: If time permits, read an additional story, such as Bomberos al rescate / Bobbie Kalman or Traffic pups / by Michelle Meadows ; illustrated by Dan Andreasen. Goodbye Song Good Morning Song (The tune of Happy Birthday) Good morning to you! And how do you do? I am the doctor Healing people like you! Additional verses: I am the nurse, helping the doctor help you. I am the dentist, giving tooth care to you. I am the firefighter, fighting fires for you. I am the grocer, selling food to you. I am the police officer, solving crimes for you. I am the mail carrier, bringing letters to you. I am the carpenter, building houses for you. I am the teacher, teaching children like you. I am the librarian, lending books to you.

Its Such a Good Feeling/ By: Fred M. Rogers

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?...

It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood, A neighborly day for a beauty. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?... I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you. I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you. So, let's make the most of this beautiful day. Since we're together we might as well say: Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor? Won't you please, Won't you please? Please won't you be my neighbor Helpful Hints: Have the costumes organized and labeled for children to see. Explain each costume during the role play. Ask questions throughout the play date to engage the learners.