Community Helpers! Exploring Community Helpers with Kids!

FREE Resources Exploring “Community Helpers”

It is happening! When is the last time a song kept playing over and over again in your mind? As I start to write this post all I keep singing in my head is the song from Sesame Street, “Who are the people in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood. Oh, who are the people in your your neighborhood…” As a little girl I watched a lot of Sesame Street and perhaps this is where meta-cognition entered as to when I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Although I appreciate Sesame Street, this post is filled with other great resources about community helpers.

There are so many amazing community helpers, like chefs, teachers, archaeologists, firefighters, construction workers, scientists, pilots, mail carriers, reporters, doctors, dentists and policeman, just to name a few.

I have researched and gathered some resources you might want to add to your lesson planning about firefighters, dentists and police officers. Here are some online books, videos and free printables. There is so much out there to explore and this is only a small drop in the YouTube bucket. Enjoy!

Books and Community Helpers

When I am in teacher mode, I don’t like wasting any valuable teaching time. When it is time for snack it is also time to watch a Read With Me Book online. The more books kids are exposed to the more they will want to read. Who doesn’t love to eat a good snack in front of the tube. Always learning, always productive, and always pre-watched.

Fire Truck

The first read aloud book is called “Fire Truck” by Ivan Ulz. This book was originally sold with a CD. It is read in song and shares a little boys imagination of what his life would be like if he was a fireman. I don’t think this is available for purchase anymore, and I am so happy that YouTube can preserve these wonderful books.

Officer Buckle and Gloria

Next, is one of my favorite books about how police officers are good community helpers, “Officer Buckle and Gloria” written by Peggy Rathmann; this book is a Caldecott Medal Book, too. “Besides the beguiling story, the affable illustrations of the smiling Gloria, the accidental mayhem in the background, and the myriad safety tips … In this book Rathman brings a lighter-than-air comic touch to this outstanding, solid-as-a-brick picture book.” — Publisher’s Weekly“A five-star performance.” — School Library Journal – Excerpt from Amazon

This book is also a wonderful book to use at the beginning of the year, when designing the classroom rules.

Just Going to the Dentist

This book about a trip to the dentist is so sweet! It is called “Just Going to the Dentist” by Mercer Mayer. It is an older book and the only thing that I can see that has really changed is we don’t spit into the bowl at the dentist office anymore. Thank goodness! This reading is by Ocean House Media and is super cute!

Videos and Community Helpers

Videos are wonderful for reinforcement on many topics. Here are three of my picks for this community helpers post, about firefighters, dentists and police officers.

I Want to be a Firefighter

The first video is one in a series for young learners called “Kids Dream Jobs- Can You Imagine That?” Kids love seeing other kids on the screen. This episode is about a little boy, Jack, who imagines himself as a fireman.

Visit the Dentist

The next video is from SciShow Kids. It was produced in part by the Minnesota Department of Heath about the importance of visiting the dentist. I chose this video because dentists are really important in the community helpers study. The message of the video is two-fold; dentists are essential to the community and it is important to have kids take care of their teeth to avoid cavities.

Police Officer Song

The third video is a short song about what police officers do, intended for younger children. The video was created by KidBoomers for preschool children and helps kids learn what officers do and who to call in an emergency.

Additional FREE Resources

The last few resources are from some of my peers at Teacher Pay Teacher. Even if you are not a traditional classroom teacher, any caregiver can download free and/or purchase these teachers created resources from the TpT website.

This wonderful “Community Helpers Word Wall Packet” is cute and colorful. There are nine different community helpers (including firefighters, dentists and police officers) with five words/terms per community helper. Teacher Rae differentiated this as well, by adding pictures for emergent readers. Colorful, fun and FREE! WOW! Thanks, Teacher Rae!

Jamie Knudson made this adorable little reader with 20 community helpers. Wonderful for emergent readers. This freebie can be used many different ways. When I looked at this, the first thing I thought was I would print these a bit smaller, laminate them and use them for circle time. Playing with these at circle time and then having the booklet as a reinforcement just works! Nice job Jaimie Knudson, THANK YOU!

Wow! Wow! Wow! This freebie is 65 pages and features 17 different community helpers including firefighters, dentists and police officers. This resource can be used in multiple ways and V Anderson has made differentiation easy for any caregiver of young learners. This resource rocks, thank you V Anderson!!!!

My final pick is from Kari Bolt Clip Art. She has graciously given away some of her clipart that can be used for crafting time with kiddos. Make hats and badges with your kids. Kids LOVE to create things like this and this is a perfect supplement for community helpers. She includes directions and two versions; one black and white and one color. Totally, cool! Thank you Kari Bolt Clip Art!!!

If you like these free resources please consider following these teacher lesson creators. They are always developing new and cool things, for you and I, to use with young learners.

Thank you for taking the time to read and explore this collection of free community helpers resources.

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