Lesson Title:​​ Community Helpers 

Grade Level:​​ 1st grade 

Approximate length of time:​​ ~45 minutes 
Curriculum area:​​ Social Studies and Language Arts 
Objectives: 
Social Studies: 
● Standard 1 (Culture):​​ Students will recognize and describe how schools and 
neighborhoods are both similar and different. 
● Objective 2: ​Recognize and identify the people and their roles in the school and 
neighborhood. Explain how these roles change over time. 
● Indicator b: ​Explain the roles of the people in the neighborhood (e.g., police officer, 
firefighter, mail carrier, grocer, mechanic, plumber, miner, farmer, doctor, and 
tribal leader).  
Language Arts: 
● Writing Standard 1:​​ Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or 
name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the 
opinion, and provide some sense of closure. 
● Speaking and Listening Standard 2: ​Ask and answer questions about key details in 
a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. 
Personal Objectives:  
● Help students realize the importance of community helpers and the variety of jobs 
they do.  
● Help students recognize community helpers and their tools or things associated 
with their job. 
Essential Question/s:  
● Are community helpers important? Why or why not?  
● What services do community helpers provide? 
Materials:​​ Whose Hands Are These? By Miranda Paul, Community Helper Word Cards, 
BINGO cards, BINGO item descriptions, skittles or m&ms (for BINGO), bowls, Community 
Helpers Matching Worksheet, What Community Helper Do You Want To Be? Worksheet, 
scissors, glue 
Accommodations: 
● Use of pictures ​and​ words for students who are learning English as another 
language. 
 
Phase I: Engage, Explore (and Explain) (10-15 minutes) 
● Ask students if they know what a community helper is. 
● List answers on the board. 
 ○ A ​community helper​​ is a person who performs some job that helps improve 
the overall well being of the community. Community helpers are very 
important; they keep the community safe and healthy, make life better for 
the people in the community, and help the community function more 
efficiently.  
● Ask students to think of examples of community helpers. 
○ The clerk at the grocery store, the local farmer, and the mail carrier are all 
examples of community helpers. 
○ Police officers, firefighters, even teachers. 
● Put Community Helper Word Cards on the board. (Police officer, firefighter, 
teacher, doctor, mail carrier, farmer, grocery store clerk, garbage collector, etc.) 
● Ask students how some of those community helpers help the community and what 
services they provide. 
○ Farmers grow crops and/or raise animals. 
○ Cooks make delicious meals.  
○ Police Officers keep our communities safe. 
○ Scientists explore, study, and figure out how our world works. 
○ Mail carriers deliver our mail. 
○ Firefighters also keep us safe. 
○ Dentists clean our teeth and fix our cavities.  
○ Physicians (Doctors) help people stay or become healthy. 
○ Teachers help their students learn. 
○ Custodians keep our schools and buildings clean. 
○ Reporters share information. 
○ Trash collectors keep our communities clean. 
● Read ​Whose Hands Are These?​ Book by Miranda Paul to students.  
● Pause to ask questions and scaffold while reading. 
● Point out the Farmer, Police, Doctors (Physicians), and Teachers.  
Phase II: Explore, Explain, & Extend (Guided Practice) (10 minutes) 
● Talk about the responsibilities of community helpers and their uniforms and tools 
they use. (Specifically Farmers, Police Officers, Doctors, and Teachers.) 
● Farmers: 
○ What do Farmers wear? 
■ Jeans, long sleeve shirts, boots. 
○ What tools do Farmers use? 
■ Tractors, rakes, barns. 
● Police Officers: 
○ What do Police Officers wear? 
■ Police hat, badge, tool belts. 
 ○ What tools do Police Officers use? 
■ Handcuffs, stop signs, walkie-talkie/radio. 
● Doctors: 
○ What do doctors wear? 
■ Stethoscope, lab coat. 
○ What tools do Doctors use? 
■ Thermometers, bandages, shots, stethoscope. 
● Teachers: 
○ What do teachers wear? 
■ Regular clothes 
○ What tools do Teachers use? 
■ Books, markers, chalkboard, pencils.  
● Play “Community Helper BINGO” to help students become familiar with 
community helpers’ tools, uniforms, and things associated with their job. 
● BINGO: read description of item. Choose item randomly by pulling out of a bag or 
bowl.  
● Play 1-2 rounds of BINGO so students get familiar with community helpers’ tools 
and things associated with that community helper. 
● Allow students to speak with each other at their tables about what they think the 
answer is. Have them answer as a class before moving on.  
● Example: Item description: “This is something teachers read to their class.” Have 
students talk at their tables and then say “When I count to 3 I want you to call out 
the answer. 1, 2, 3!”  
Phase III: Extend/Explain/Evaluate (Independent Practice/Assessment) (10-15 minutes) 
● Have students do an independent matching worksheet. (Similar worksheet as the 
BINGO card, so they will have seen it before and should be familiar with it.) 
● In addition to the matching worksheet, have students write answers to the 
questions on the back of the page about community helpers and their jobs. (One of 
the questions is “What does a farmer do for the community?” And a student may 
answer: They grow food.) 
● If students finish the independent work early, have them write about a community 
helper they would like to be when they grow up, what that community helper does 
for the community, and what tools they use. When they are finished writing they 
may draw a picture. (This worksheet may be used for homework as well.) 
   
 Resources  
 
● Book: ​Whose Hands Are These? : A Community Helper Guessing Book​, by Miranda Paul  
 

 
● Community Helpers BINGO cards  
● BINGO Item Descriptions 
● Community Helpers Matching Worksheet  
● What Community Helper Do You Want To Be? Worksheet  
● Community Helper Word Cards:  
https://www.prekinders.com/community-helper-word-cards/  
 
 
 
 
   
 
Community Helpers BINGO 
 
     
 

 
Book 
       
Stethoscope  Eggs  Chalk board  Thermometer 

   

 
  Police hat       
Vegetables  Pencil sharpener  Shot 
  Farm tools 

         
   
 
FREE  
SPACE 
     
 
Tractor  Barn  Police car 
Police badge 
 
 

       
   

   
Handcuffs    Medicine   
  Doctor’s uniform  Pencil 
Farm animals    

     

     
Desk     
Farmer hat  Band-aid 
Hay  Police uniform 
 
Community Helpers BINGO 
 
       
 
 

 
  Book   
Eggs  Vegetables  Hay  Farm tools 

     
 

 
Police hat   
  Tractor   
Stethoscope  Barn  Pencil 
 

         
 
 
FREE  
SPACE 

  Farm animals 
 
Police badge  Pencil sharpener  Shot 

         

   
   
Police car    Farmer’s hat   
   Desk 
Chalk board  Thermometer 

         
   

 
Medicine   
Handcuffs  Band-aid 
 
Doctor’s uniform  Police uniform 
 
 Community Helpers BINGO 
 
         
 

 
  Medicine 
  Farmer’s hat 
Chalk board   
Police uniform  Hay 
 

       
 

 
Police hat  Handcuffs 
 
Barn  Farm animals 
Stethoscope 
 

         
   
 
FREE  
 
SPACE 
 
    Desk 
Farm tools  Pencil 
Vegetables 
 

   
   
 

 
     
  Thermometer 
Book  Band-aid  Shot 
Eggs 
  

       
 

 
Tractor     
 
Doctor’s uniform  Police car 
Pencil sharpener  Police badge 
 Community Helpers BINGO 
 
       

   
   
    Police hat 
Police car  Band-aid 
Desk  Doctor’s uniform 
 

       
 

 
Medicine 
  Hay 
Barn  Police uniform  Police badge 

     
   
 
FREE  
  SPACE 
Handcuffs 
Tractor   
Shot 
  Pencil sharpener 

     
 

 
 
Farm animals  Book 
Pencil   
Stethoscope  Vegetables 
 

   

     
Thermometer  Chalk board  Farmer’s hat 
     
Eggs  Farm tools 
  
 
This is something teachers read to their class. (Book) 
 
Doctors use this to listen to your heart beat. (Stethoscope) 
 
Farmers collect these from their chickens. (Eggs) 
 
Teachers use this to write notes for the class to see. (Chalkboard) 
 
Doctors use this to test your temperature. (Thermometer) 
 
Farmers grow these on their farms. (Vegetables) 
 
Police Officers often wear these as part of their uniform. (Police hat) 
Teachers (and students) use this to sharpen their pencils. (Pencil sharpener) 
 
Doctors give these to you during flu-season. (Shot) 
 
Farmers use these to harvest crops. (Farm tools) 
 
Farmers drive this and use this to harvest hay. (Tractor) 
 
Police Officers use this to identify they are police officers. (Police badge) 
 
This is a building farmers sometimes have on their farm. They keep animals 
and/or tools inside. (Barn) 
 
Police officers use this to drive around. (Police car) 
 
Farmers sometimes have these on their farms. They use them for milk, wool, 
meat, eggs, etc. (Farm Animals) 
 
Police officers use these when they arrest someone. (Handcuffs) 
 
Doctors wear this when they go to work. (Doctor’s uniform) 
 
Doctors give this to you when you are sick. (Medicine) 
 
Teachers use this to write. (Pencil) 
 
Teachers have these in their classrooms and will sometimes grade papers 
while they are sitting at their__________.(Desk) 
 
Farmers grow this and feed it to their horses and cows. (Hay) 
 
Police Officers wear this as their uniform. (Police uniform) 
 
Farmers wear this to keep the sun out of their face. (Farmer hat) 
 
Doctors give this to you after they give you a shot or you if you are bleeding. 
(Band-aid) 
 Community Helpers Matching Worksheet 
Name: ___________________________ 
 

   
Farmer  Police Officer 

   
Doctor  Teacher 

 
   
Answer the questions below about different community helpers and their job. 
 
1. What does a farmer do for the community? What services do they provide? 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

2. What does a police officer do for the community? What services do they provide? 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

3. What does a doctor do for the community? What services do they provide? 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

4. What does a teacher do for the community? What services do they provide? 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_________________________________________________________________________________________ 

 
 
Cut out each item and glue it in the box with the community helper associated with that 
item. Example: The picture of the book would go in the same box as “Teacher” because 
teachers use books in their classroom. 
       
 

 
Book 
         
Stethoscope  Jail  Eggs  Thermometer  Chalk board 

   

 
Police hat   
     
Hospital   
Vegetables  Pencil  Shot 
  Farm tools 
  sharpener 

         
 

     
   
Tractor    Police car  Barn 
Police badge  Bandage 
  Markers 
 

       
   

 
  Handcuffs   Medicine   
Sick in bed     
Notebook  Doctor’s 
Animals  uniform 

       

       
Desk     
Farmer hat  Band-aid  Pencil 
Hay  Police 
uniform 
 
What Community Helper Do You Want To Be? 
Name: ______________________________ 
 
Write about a community helper you want to be when you grow up. What tools does that 
community helper use? What does that community helper do for the community? When 
you are finished writing, draw a picture the community helper you want to be when you 
grow up.  
 
________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Draw a picture of the community helper you want to be when you grow up: