Lesson Q4 L1 – Who Helps Us Grow?
Lesson Overview
Quarter 4 · Unit 10: Planning to Share · Week 1 · PreK–K · Lesson length: 20 minutes
Essential Question: Who helps us and our plants grow?
Lesson Focus: Children name people at school and home who help them (cooks, custodians, office staff, families) and choose who the class will share microgreens with at the end of the quarter.
Why It Matters: Starting the capstone by noticing helpers builds gratitude and a sense of community. Choosing who to share with gives the whole quarter a purpose children understand: we grow food to give.
Teacher Note: Make photo cards of school helpers ahead of time (ask permission). Record the class’s chosen helpers for the Market Day invitation list in 4.15.
Source: New lesson — New for this series (Quarter 4).
Standards & Learning Targets
Student Learning Targets
Learning Targets — students will be able to
- Name people who help me.
- Tell how they help.
- Help choose who we will share with.
Key Vocabulary: helper · community · share · thank
Materials & Teacher Prep
Materials Needed
- Photo cards of school helpers
- Family helper pictures children bring or draw
- Chart paper: Our Helpers
- Dot stickers for voting
- Student Workbook page 4.1
Teacher Prep Checklist
- Take photos of helpers with permission.
- Make a helper chart with picture spaces.
Lesson Flow & Timing
| Engage · 3 min | Explore · 8 min | Explain · 4 min | Elaborate · 3 min | Evaluate · 2 min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who helped you today? | Meet school helpers | How do they help? | Vote who to share with | Draw a helper |
Phase 1 · Engage — The Hook
Teacher Talk
Plants need helpers to grow — that’s us! And we have helpers too. Who helped you today? Let’s meet the helpers at our school. Practice helper out loud with the class, pointing to an example as you go.
Ask Children: “Who helped you today?” “How does our cook help us?”
PCM Differentiation
Thinker (thinking voice): Thinkers can match each helper to their tools (broom, ladle, keys).
Harmonizer (feelings voice): Harmonizers can tell how they feel when someone helps them.
Phase 2 · Explore — Play & Partner Time (Kagan)
Cooperative Structure
Kagan structure: Mix-Pair-Share. Children mix around the room, pair up at the signal, and share one helper; movement and new partners keep energy high. (See the Teaching Reference for the structure’s steps.) Say the word share together and point to an example of it.
Step-by-Step
- Step 1 — Meet the helpers (3 min): Show each photo card; children say the helper’s name and what they do, acting out the job.
- Step 2 — Mix-Pair-Share (3 min): Children mix, pair, and tell a partner one person who helps them at home or school.
- Step 3 — Vote (2 min): Children place a dot sticker next to helpers they want to share microgreens with at Market Day.
Teacher Moves During Explore
- Name helpers respectfully with titles.
- Ask, “How would school be without them?”
- Record the vote results.
Phase 3 · Explain — Talk It Over
Mini-lesson — Community helpers. Ask children how each school helper helps us; echo two or three answers, then name helper, community, and share on the class helper chart.
- Helper: a person who does something good for others.
- Community: the people around us at school and home.
- Share: give some of what we have to others.
Key Message: Many people help us every day, and we can help them back by sharing what we grow.
Check for Understanding — Ask Children: “Who is a helper at our school?” “How can we thank them?”
Phase 4 · Elaborate — Student Product & Differentiation
Student Product
The class helper chart shows the vote; each child draws a helper on the workbook page. (Student Workbook page 4.1.)
Differentiation: PreK and Kindergarten
PreK: Children point to helpers in photos, act out a job, and vote with a sticker.
Kindergarten: Children tell how two helpers help and explain their vote choice.
ELL Support: Photos with names and actions; frame: “___ helps us by ___.”
Phase 5 · Evaluate — Closure, Exit Ticket & Assessment
Exit Ticket
Ask each child about today’s lesson, “Who Helps Us Grow?” — each child may answer by saying, pointing, or showing (no reading or writing):
- Who helps you at school?
- How can we say thank you?
Answer Key / Look-Fors: Children name a helper and suggest sharing or saying thank you. Kind language is the look-for.
Expanding Circles — how does this connect to… Self — my family helpers • Classroom — our class helpers • School — school staff • Community — community helpers like firefighters • World — helpers everywhere
Formative Assessment
- Meets (3): Names helpers and tells how they help and how to thank them.
- Approaching (2): Names one helper with photo support.
- Not Yet (1): Not yet naming helpers — walk to meet one helper together and say hello.
Extend & Looking Ahead
- Extension: Invite one helper to read a story to the class.
- Looking Ahead: Next lesson we learn about recycling and why it matters.