My Favorite Community Worker

Learning Context

Goals/Purpose:
• Check the students’ understanding of community workers.
• To have the students write a sentence about a community worker.
• Provide an opportunity for the students to use the word wall.
• To have the students draw a picture of a community worker to match their sentence.

Essential Question:
• How do community workers help us?

Enduring Understanding:
• Students can put what they know into writing.
• Pictures are a way to express knowledge.

Guiding Questions:
• What are community workers?
• Can you name the community workers we have learned about?
• Which is your favorite community worker?
• How does that community worker help people?

Objectives:
• The student will be able to use the word wall.
• The student will be able to write a sentence about community workers.
• The student will be able to draw a picture of a community worker that you wrote about.

Grade Level/Ability:
This learning experience is designed for a kindergarten class. There are 23 students in this classroom. There are 11 male students and there are 12 female students. In this inclusion classroom, eight of the students have IEPs. Three of the students are waiting to receive services. Some of the documented disabilities include Cerebral Palsy, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Mental Retardation, Language Delays, and Emotional Disturbances. Six of these students receive speech instruction on a daily basis. Four of these students receive PT and OT on a routine basis. There is a large range of ability levels in this classroom. Several of the students perform above the expected level; while others are not yet meeting benchmark goals.

Overview of What Students Need to Know:

In order for students to successfully complete the objectives of this learning experience, students need to:
• use the word wall to correctly spell the names of the various community workers.
• draw a picture of a community worker.
• use proper punctuation and capitalization.

The Final Product
of this learning experience requires the students to:
• follow oral directions.
• Write a sentence using the sight words
• draw/color a picture of a community worker.
• Read their sentence to the instructor.

Classroom Rules and Management

This classroom utilizes a specific behavior management system. Refer to Attachment A to view a copy of this behavior management system. Students receive violations, for failure to comply with the list of rules. If more than five violations are given, the student receives a note that must be signed and returned by the parent.

The way in which the students are taught also influences the behavior management system in this room. Students are instructed in small groups. This allows the teachers and aides in the room to better manage the classroom behaviors. On a typical day, there are two teachers and two teachers assistants. The students are divided into groups. The groups rotate to each one of the adult’s stations. In this way, they are taught different parts of a particular lesson in small groups. To view the set up of this classroom, refer to Attachment B. Not only were the students expected to comply with the classroom violation system, a specific set of rules was utilized during the implementation of the community workers unit. Refer to Attachment L to view these rules.

Within the small groups, a token economy system is used. After each mini-lesson, the students can earn up to three stickers to put on their sticker boards. They can receive stickers for: not getting any violations, finishing their work, and being a good worker.