TCNJ Lesson Plan

Community Helpers Day 6: Research

Student Name: Danielle Hutchinson

School Name: Hopewell Elementary

Grade Level: Kindergarten

Host Teachers Name: Ms. Bradshaw

Guiding and/or Essential Questions:

How can we use nonfiction texts to research facts?
Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge
Students understand the definition of community helpers. They are aware of the roles
and importance of various workers, including teachers, mail carriers, mayors, firemen,
policemen, and doctors. They have experience reading nonfiction texts. They have practiced
looking at images to gather information. They have yet to conduct formal research about a
specific question.
Standards:
6.1.P.B.1
Develop an awareness of the physical features of the neighborhood/community.

6.1.P.B.2
Identify, discuss, and role-play the duties of a range of community workers

CCSS.ELA.LITERACY.RI.K.1
With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

Learning Objectives and Assessments:

Learning Objectives

Assessment

The students will ask appropriate questions

about their assigned community helper by
drawing upon information learned from
previous class sessions.

The students will write their questions on their

research sheets. Teacher will assess for mention
of information touched upon in past classes, or
for insightful and relevant thoughts about the
profession.

The students will make use of nonfiction texts

relating to their assigned community helper to
find information to answer their chosen
question.

The students will look through the nonfiction

books that are in their assigned book bin. The
students will write the answers to their
questions in the appropriate places of their
research sheet. Teacher will assess for accurate
responses to their questions based on the
information included in their text.

Materials/Resources:
Mr. Bear: a stuffed animal
A letter from Mr. Bear
The community helpers job sign-up poster
At least 6 books relating to each of the community helper jobs (Teachers, Mail carriers, Mayors,
Firemen, Policemen, and Doctors). These books will each have a post-it attached to the back of it
with sample questions that can be researched using that book, to be used as a teachers guide.
Anchor chart made from the question-asking lesson
Research Sheets: with normal lines and with Fundations lines
School Bus Drivers: Community Helpers by Dee Ready

Plan for set-up/distribution/cleanup of materials:

The book bins and research sheets will be placed at the appropriate seats while students are

choosing their community helpers.

Lesson Procedure:
1. Lesson beginning:
The lesson will begin with students seated on the carpet. Once students are showing that they are
ready, the teacher will read another letter from Mr. Bear. The letter will state: Dear
Kindergarteners! I need your help! We need to teach our friends and family about community
helpers in three days! I think its time we did our own research on a community helper of our
choice! Your Friend, Mr. Bear.

 The teacher will announce, Mr. Bear is right! Community Day is coming up. Our friends and
families are going to me coming to Ms. Bradshaws classroom, so we need to teach them
everything we have been learning about community helpers!
The teacher will explain that every student will get to choose one job to do more research on and
present to their families. The teacher will emphasize that not everyone will get their first choice,
but its okay because everyone will still be able to learn about an exciting job. The teacher will
also explain to the students that they will be working in groups depending on which community
helper they choose. Today the groups will be making research sheets, and tomorrow they will be
making their anchor charts that they will present to their families on Community Day.
2. The teacher will reveal a sign-up chart, which will include images of the six professions that
have been studied and three Popsicle sticks under each. The teachers helper for the week will be
called up to choose a Popsicle stick from the jar. The student whose name is listed will be asked
to come up to the chart and place their stick under the job of their choice. This student will then
be asked to choose the next Popsicle stick. This process will repeat until all students have been
assigned a role.
3. As students choose their roles, another teacher will be asked to place a pile of each kind of
research sheet at each table (both the normal lined sheet and the Fundations lined sheet). They
will also put one of each of the chosen community helper books at each table.
4. The students will be called to move back to the tables once the teacher calls on their assigned
role. They will be asked to move by driving the car of your community helper. Each group will
sit at the table corresponding to the community helper that they have been assigned.
5. Once the students are seated, the teacher will ask the students to think back to how they
learned to ask questions in Jackies lesson about teachers. The students will be asked to raise
their hands and remind the class about some facts about asking good questions. The anchor chart
that was made for this topic will be shown as a reference.
6. The teacher will explain that each group will be working together to decide on one question to
research about their community helper. Then, the teacher will model proper researching
techniques. On the document camera, the teacher will show the students a sample research sheet.
Using bus drivers as an example, the teacher will brainstorm a question to find out: How do bus
drivers know where to drive? The teacher will write this on the correct spot on her research
sheet. The teacher will then model looking through a book bin, choosing School Bus Drivers:
Community Helpers by Dee Ready, and looking at the images to find the answer. In this picture,
I see that the bus driver is looking at a map. That must be the answer! The teacher will then
model writing the answer and drawing the corresponding picture on her research sheet.
7. The teacher will then instruct the students to talk within their groups about questions that they
want to research. They will be asked to brainstorm a few, and then decide on one question to
work on. The teacher will ask another teacher in the room to help her think of what we should
do if we cant agree on a question to model good compromising techniques. The teacher will
remind the students to be respectful of all of their groupmates ideas and to work as a team.
When researching, students will be encouraged to look only at the pictures, and not to spend too
much time decoding words unless it is necessary to answer their question.
8. The class will be allowed to begin thinking of their question and using the books at their table to
research it. One of the four teachers will each be assigned to assist one of the groups. Ms.
Bradshaw and Danielle will float between two groups. The books at each groups table will have
sample questions on the back of each book for the teacher to use as a guide when helping the

9.

i.
ii.

i.

students come up with a question. The teachers will scaffold the question asking, research, and
filling out of the information sheets.
Lessing ending:
Long closure:
Each group will have the chance to share their question, their book, and the answer with the
class.
Students will be given time to talk about their community helper role and share ideas for what
they will include on the anchor chart for Community Day.
Short closure:
One or two groups will be called on to share their question, the book they used to find the
answer, and the answer.
Key Questions:

What else is there to learn about this community helper?

Can you recall what we learned about question asking skills?
What do you notice about this picture? Do you think it can help us answer your question?
Can you explain what is happening in this book?
Do you agree with your classmates answers to their questions? Do you have any insights to add?
What other ways could you have found the answer to your question?
Logistics:
Timing:
The lesson will last approximately thirty minutes in total. Ten minutes will be allotted for
the introduction and choosing of groups. Five minutes will be allotted for the modeling of
research and instructions. Eighteen minutes will be spent filling out the research sheets and
finding the answers to the questions. The remaining two minutes will be spent on the closure.

Transitions:
To transition from the carpet to the assigned spot for each group, each profession will be
called and directed to their table. They will be asked to move by driving the car of their
community helper, for example, a firetruck or mail truck. To transition from the research
portion of the lesson to the closing, the students will be called to attention and asked to put down
their pencils.
Classroom Management:
The teacher will be sure to make expectations explicit and clear from the beginning of the
lesson. The teacher will remind students to continue showing respect to their peers, to the
materials, and to me for the entirety of the lesson. To call the students attention, the teacher will
yell, 1,2,3, eyes on me! To prevent students from becoming upset about their assigned

community helper, the teacher will emphasize that not everyone will get their first choice, but its
okay because everyone will still be able to learn about an exciting job.

Differentiation
Students assigned carpet seats are arranged so that those who are disruptive are
separated. Certain students, such as PM and NB, might be asked to sit on a chair in order to stay
focused. FB will be asked to sit close to the teacher so that she is not distracted by the objects on
the back shelves. Students who do not work well together will not be given the same community
helper group. For instance, LW and PH will be separated. AJ and CC will be separated as well.
Students who have trouble writing, such as CC and FM, will be placed in groups with higher
level students such as SO. Students will be given the option to choose between a research sheet
with normal lines, or with the Fundations lines, depending on their writing ability and readiness.
Advanced students, such as SO, might be given the chance to choose a higher-level text to
examine.