A full day: firefighters and fire safety from "Community Helpers" (Age 4) · Arc Builder showcase

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Age 4 · 4 weeks

Recognize & Act

Community Helpers

A full day: firefighters and fire safety · Week 1, Thursday

Key question: what do firefighters need to do their job?

Morning Meeting (20 min): read George and the Firefighters by Margret Rey.
Literacy (20 min): talk about what questions the class can ask the firefighter when they come to speak. What is the difference between a question and a comment? Write a list of what the children want to know about being a firefighter.
Math (40 min): each child copies their home phone number and address, and 911. Talk about how these are important numbers to know in case of an emergency.
Inquiry Centers (40 min): draw fire with yellow and red chalk on black paper, then spray it with water bottles. Blocks with community-helper vehicles. Dramatic play with community-helper costumes.
Enrichment (20 min): a firefighter visits the classroom with firefighting equipment.

Materials

Poster paper and markers · Address and phone cards · Yellow and red chalk, black paper, spray bottles · Costumes and vehicles

Cognition: number recognitionCharacter: empathyWellbeing: fire safetyCommunity: civic duty

A whole preschool day: firefighters, fire safety, and the questions the class will ask their visitor.

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Age 4 · 4 weeks

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What is a map? · Week 3, Wednesday

Key question: how do mail carriers know where to go?

Morning Meeting (20 min): read Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney and recite the class's mail carrier poem.
Literacy (40 min): a cardboard box turned into mail slots, one per child. They write notes to friends and put them in each other's mailboxes.
Math (40 min): sorting mail by numbers. Number paper mailboxes 1 to 10; children match index cards with dots or numerals to the right mailbox and deliver the mail.

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How could we clean up an oil spill? · Week 6, Wednesday

Daily big idea: there is more than one way to solve a problem. The class already wrote its shared problem statement: the problem is ___; a good cleanup needs to ___.

Literacy (15 min): revisit the 'what we know about the problem' chart and reference images of real cleanup tools: booms that corral oil, skimmers that lift it, sorbents that soak it up.
Math (15 min): finalize the fair test. How exactly will we judge which method works better? Count droppers of oil removed, rate the water 1 to 3 for clearness, or compare how clean the feather looks.
Inquiry Centers (25 min): each group sketches two cleanup approaches, labels how each is meant to work, and gathers materials from the supply table: cotton balls, sponges, spoons, string, a drop of dish soap, paper towels, mesh.

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Age 4 · 4 weeks

Engage & Serve

Community Helpers

Performance task: Raising money for a cause · Engage & Serve, final week

Children decide what community organization they want to help, then raise money or food for it. They make the signs and flyers for their fundraiser and count the money.

Assessment: observation during play, children dictating what they have learned, student reflection, developmental checklist.
Rationale: a culminating activity that gives the children an opportunity to contribute and feel engaged in being community helpers themselves.