Erin Wheeler/Community and Citizenship/November 4, 2015----Lesson #2 (of 4)

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TOPIC: The importance of responsibility in community and the characteristics of

community workers.
a. Vocabulary: Community- where a person lives, works, and plays.
OBJECTIVE(S):
a. Given characteristics of a community worker, TSWBAT identify the title of the
occupation to 100% accuracy or teammate satisfaction.
b. Given teacher instruction, TSWBAT recognize workers in their own communities
through class discussion to teacher satisfaction.
c. Given teach instruction, TSWBAT explain the importance of workers in the
community by participating in class discussion to teacher satisfaction.
STANDARDS:
a. PA History Standard 5.2.2.A: Identify and explain the importance of
responsibilities at school at home and the community.
b. PA History Standard 5.2.2.D: Explain responsible community behavior.
c. PA Economic Standard 6.2.2.A: Identify goods, services, consumers, and
producers in the local community.
TEACHING PROCEDURE:
As students transition into this lesson, have Ms. Strawhun lounge and sleep in the chair
in the front of the room.
a. ANTICIPATORY SET/INTRODUCTION (5 minutes)
1. Good morning boys and girls! Ms. Strawhun and I were here in your class
last Thursday and Ms. Strawhun introduced our topic to you! Can
someone raise their hand to tell me what you learned about with Ms.
Strawhun? (Expect answers like rural, urban, community). Community,
thats right!
2. Now we learned a definition of community and it had three parts. Write
Community is where a person ________, _________, and ________. on
the board. Who remembers.. wait. Ms. Strawhun. What are you doing?
3. Ms. Strawhun will open her eyes from her nap and say that she is enjoying
being a part of the classroom community. She is in the classroom, so she is
enjoying the benefits of it, like sleeping in the soft beach chair. She taught
that a community is where you live. Now wait a minute Ms. Strawhun.
Boys and girls. Give me a thumbs up if you think that if Ms. Strawhun
stays up here and sleeps in that chair she is part of this classroom
community. ____, youre giving me a thumbs down. Why is Ms. Strawhun
not part of the community? She is living there right? That was the first part
of the definition. Write live in the first blank. But there are still two more
parts though!
4. Who can raise their hand and tell me the other two parts of the definition?
(Works, and Plays). Write these in the remaining blanks. Excellent job
remembering! Ms. Strawhun, living in the classroom does not mean you
are part of the community, but you also have to do things like work! The
students in this classroom have responsibilities, or jobs to do. Can
someone raise their hand and tell me a job that you might do in this

Erin Wheeler/Community and Citizenship/November 4, 2015----Lesson #2 (of 4)

classroom (line leader, calendar, work hard, listen to directions). See Ms.
Strawhun, each of these students work hard, and it is your responsibility to
help be a teacher! If you help work in the community, then you can enjoy
the benefits!
5. Today, we are going to be talking about responsibilities in the community
and different jobs that people might have in the community. These jobs are
important because it is the hard-work that everyone puts in that makes the
community a nice place to live!
b. DEVELOPMENT (12 minutes): Transition to the rug. Start by inviting down
students who have a birthday In January, February, or March. Then April, May,
June, and July, then the rest of the year (or smaller groups if need be.) Have the
students sit around the beach chair in a spot where they can see me.
1. Today we are going to talk and read a book about workers in our
community, and we are going to discuss their responsibilities. This book is
called Helpers in my Community and it is written by Bobbie Kalman.
Start reading the book.
2. On page 4. A community is a place where many people live, work, and
play together. We talked about this definition last time. Who are the
helpers in your community? Lets brainstorm a list of examples of
community helpers that you already know of. Raise your hand if you can
tell me the name of a worker in your community. Write down all of the
ideas on a large brainstorm chart. How about a worker in a rural
community? What about an urban one? Do you think the jobs are always
different, or some of them are the same? Yes, some jobs are needed no
matter where you live. Awesome job! Now lets keep reading to find out
more about what the responsibilities of these jobs are.
3. On page 6. Can I have a volunteer to be our builder for right now? Okay
____, come and stand here in the front. I want you to hold this hammer
and put on this construction hat. You are our builder. Read the rest of the
page. Why is _____ important to our community? Awesome job! Thank
you ____, you can have a seat!
4. On page 10. I know that all of you have had a lot of teachers, including
Mrs. Barr. Ms. Strawhun and I are going to become teachers of our own in
a few years.
5. On page 11. Can I have another volunteer to come up and be our librarian
now? Thank you for volunteering! I would like for you to hold this stack
of books. Can someone raise their hand and tell me the name of the
librarian in your school? Thats right! Her job is very important! Does
anyone else know the name of a different librarian that is not in the school,
but in our community? Thats right, Ms. Heather is librarian in the
community who has the same important job. A librarian gives everyone
the opportunity to read, and being able to read is very important! The
librarian also has the responsibility to make a safe and fun environment for
the people who come and visit the library.

Erin Wheeler/Community and Citizenship/November 4, 2015----Lesson #2 (of 4)

6. On page 16. I want all of you to turn to a neighbor and tell them one job
that you think an emergency helper has to do. I heard a lot of great
answers, such as rescuing people from danger and bringing hurt people to
the hospital!
7. On page 20. Raise your hand if you have met or you know a police officer.
Very cool. ____, who do you know? That is awesome!
8. On page 23. Give me a thumbs up if you as students think that you could
be a volunteer in the community. Thats right, you absolutely can! Raise
your hand if you have an idea of one way that you could volunteer to
make your community a better place. (Answers could include recycling,
picking up trash, or raising money to help other people.) Those are great
ideas! I know that all of you will be great citizens, because you are so
responsible.
9. One person who wasnt in our book was a mayor. Can someone raise their
hand and tell me what a mayor is? Thats right, a mayor is the person who
is the leader of the council, who make decisions for the community. Can I
have a volunteer to be our mayor? Great, I would like you to hold this key
to the city! It is _____'s job as mayor to be an example of a good citizen.
Raise your hand if you know that name of the mayor in Grove City. His
name is Randy Riddle, and though he is the mayor, he is also a volunteer.
He does not get paid for his job. Some mayors do, but some do not. It is
important that we have this role though because they are so important to
the community. They have to make sure everyone is treated fairly and that
their needs are met. _____, what would your first action be if you were
mayor! Very creative idea! Thank you, you can go sit down.
c. GUIDED PRACTICE & INDEPENDENT PRACTICE (18 minutes)
Transition back to their seats for the example. Select students to return to their
seats who are being quiet and following directions.
1.
Now class, we are going to play a game that involves discussing
the responsibilities of the jobs that we just talked about. Raise your hand if
you have heard of or played the game Headbandz. Okay, well what we
are doing will be similar to that. I am going to break you into small
groups, and each team member will have a job taped to their back, so they
cannot see what it is. It is the job of the other team members to give hints
to that player that describe what the job is so he or she can guess it. The
biggest rule is that you cannot say that actual name of the job. However,
you can give hints to help the person guess what they are. Examples of
good hints cold be: what they might wear, things that might carry, where
they might work, and what they might do. Write these four examples on
the board. Ms. Strawhun and I are going to play an example round now.
2.
Ms. Strawhun, can you come to the front of the room please? Now
I want you to face the rest of the class. Boys and girls, lets pretend that
this word was taped on Kaylees back. Write Astronaut on the board.
There will also be a picture, which might look like this. Draw a picture on

Erin Wheeler/Community and Citizenship/November 4, 2015----Lesson #2 (of 4)

the board. Now here are some examples of hints that I can give Ms.
Strawhun. As you give each hint, point to the question you are answering
on the board. You wear a special suit. You carry a helmet. You explore
new places. Ms. Strawhun, do you have any guess about who you are?
Ms. Strawhun is still confused. Can a student raise their hand and think of
a hint that they can give Ms. Strawhun? Excellent hint! Can you guess
what you are now? Thats right, you are an astronaut!
3.
That was a good example of how to play, but watch for a bad
example of what to do. Mrs. Strawhun, your job rhymes with mastronaut.
She would know it right away! Try not to give hints like it starts with the
letter A or hints about the word, but try to only give hints that tell about
the job itself. Does anyone have a question about how to play?
4.
Now I am going to come around the room and place each of you in
groups of 4, but we will have one group of 5. Go around the room, and
group them in four according to desk location. The group of five will be
the group of desks in the back.
5.
Now, I am going to give each of you a number, and when I give it
to you I want you to hold it up with your fingers. Go around the room and
give each group member a number between 1 and 4. Now, today we are
talking about the importance of responsibility, and each of you are going
to have your own responsibility or job when we play this game. If I gave
you a number 1, your job is to come to the front of the room and grab a
piece of tape from myself. Write #1- Grab tape on the board. If I gave
you a number 2, your job is to use that tape to make enough tape balls for
everyone on your team, which will be four or five. Write #2- Make 4/5
tape balls on the board. When this job has been done, Ms. Strawhun will
come around and place all of the jobs on your backs so you cannot see
what they are. If I gave you a number 3, your job is to decide who will be
going first, second, third or fourth. Write #3- Whose turn it is on the
board. If I gave you a number 4, it is your job to clean up at the end of the
game and to throw the paper and tape balls away in the trash can when I
tell you to. Write #4- Clean-up on the board. To the one number 5, I
would like you to help number 4 in your group and also clean up. Does
anyone have any questions about the rules of the game or what your
responsibilities are? When the timer for 10 minutes goes off, I want all
talking to stop and eyes on me. If you finish early, I want you to raise your
hands, and Mrs. Strawhun will give you new cards. During this time, I
expect you to work together with your friends, and use inside voices,
otherwise you will not be able to continue playing the game. If you have
any questions about what one of the jobs are, you can ask your teammates
or raise your hand and ask a teacher. Any last minute questions? Okay,
number ones, you can come up and start your job, and when you have

Erin Wheeler/Community and Citizenship/November 4, 2015----Lesson #2 (of 4)

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your job taped on your back you can start to play! Start a timer for 10
minutes.
6.
Students will come up, get tape, and make their tape balls. Ms.
Strawhun and I will walk around and help tape on occupations. As the
game is played, we will walk around and make suggestions as to hints that
teammates can give other players. We will also give teams new cards as
needed.
d. CLOSURE (5 minutes)
1.
Use the quiet signal to help everyone refocus to you. Most likely, I
will count down and clap. I want you to turn to a friend next to you and
tell them what job you would like to be when you grow up, and what the
responsibilities of that job are. Walk around and listen to answers. I heard
some great responses!
2.
Would anyone like to share their job with the class? Yes, those are
important responsibilities! Now thumbs up if you think that job is as
important as maybe, being a doctor is, and thumbs down if you think they
are both important. Thats right! All jobs are equally important in our
community! They all help other people in the community, and by being
responsible, you will be able to enjoy the rights of being a citizen.
MATERIALS:
a. A board to write on or a large demonstration notebook
b. Markers
c. Helpers in my Community, by Bobbie Kalman
d. Hammer
e. Construction hat
f. Stack of books
g. Key to the City
h. Timer
i. Tape
j. Career cards
ADAPTATIONS/PLAN MODIFICATIONS:
a. ESL Management- Each of the career occupations will have a corresponding
picture printed on the card. Also, with every job discussed, there will be
corresponding pictures from the book and props to reinforce concepts. During the
game, she can be given the picture book read in class to find pictures that match
what her job might be.
b. Autistic support- During the story group time, the two students with Autism will
sit in their special designated seats so they can see the picture and be the most
comfortable. During the class, each with be assisted by their paraprofessional as
needed. If the students need to move around more, I will invite them up to assist
me in the front of the classroom.
c. More time- If there is more time, students will be asked to work with their
Headbandz teams to create a list of jobs that they see just inside the school
community that are important. Possible answers could be teacher, principal,

Erin Wheeler/Community and Citizenship/November 4, 2015----Lesson #2 (of 4)

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librarian, janitor, nurse, counselor, etc. Then they will talk in a group about the
responsibilities of each person and why they are important to the school
community. They can make a card to thank the staff for what they do. (Additional
materials needed: paper, markers.)
d. Less time- If there is less time, I will lessen the amount of time spent playing the
game to 6 minutes and close by reinforcing the importance of responsibility in the
community.
EVALUATION:
a. Formative: Students will have to describe characteristics of occupations during
the Headbandz activity, and Ms. Strawhun and I will be walking around to listen
in on comprehension. In addition, there will be opportunities to answer questions
in class and discuss the importance of responsibilities and work in the community,
which will help me to assess comprehension.
b. Summative: On the fourth day of this unit (this is the second day) a review
activity and test will be worth 10 points, with approximately 3 questions being
derived from this lesson.