Community Helpers Matching File Folders 3 Levels Tools Jobs Special Ed

About this resource

Community helpers matching file folders where a student matches each helper to the thing that helper uses, drives, wears or works in: firefighter and hose, farmer and tractor, mail carrier and letter, teacher and book. The three levels are built differently instead of the same folder repeated. At Level 1 every piece fits every spot, so a student cannot put a piece in the wrong place. Level 2 adds a second helper, Level 3 adds four. Every folder comes with its own pieces, a tab label, a line on the data sheet and a star on the student's own chart, so the box is ready to run the day it is laminated.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (43 pages)

• 24 file folder faces, one to a page, in three levels, with 10 community helpers and 18 different pieces
• 6 Level 1 folders (errorless): one helper printed in every cell, five identical pieces
• 9 Level 2 folders (match from 2): two helpers, three cells each, six pieces
• 9 Level 3 folders (match from 4): four helpers, one cell each, four pieces
• 3 topics of 6 helper-and-thing pairs: Tools and Things (firefighter and hose, teacher and book, dentist and tooth, mail carrier and letter, chef and cake, police and flashlight), Rides and Places (firefighter and firetruck, doctor and hospital, farmer and tractor, mail carrier and van, teacher and school, police and car), More Helpers (nurse and ambulance, teacher and globe, chef and apron, astronaut and rocket, farmer and corn, firefighter and helmet)
• 4 piece sheets: 120 pieces, five to a row, every row one helper's piece, so cutting a row gives you one folder's pieces
• A Who Are the Helpers? sheet with one plain line about each of the 10 helpers to read aloud and the pieces that go with each
• Two read-along sheets for the student, nine pairs on each: a picture of the helper, a picture of the thing and one short sentence to read
• 1 student chart (My Folders): a star to color for each of the 24 folders
• 1 tab-label sheet: 24 labels with the level shape and the folder's helpers
• 1 data sheet: a line per folder, eight date columns, a count row per level
• 1 filled sample of the data sheet for an invented student, every number checked against the marks
• 1 progress summary: first tried, alone the first time, alone three days in a row, per folder
• 1 note home with a try-it-in-town list and lines for both directions
• 1 notes bank: starters for data notes, progress lines and the prompts you used
• Start Here, a named list of all 24 folders with the piece row each one needs, a put-it-together page with a drawn folder, and a box-lid card with the levels, the key and the move-up rule
• Hook-and-loop dot marks on every cell and every piece, so pieces fit any cell at the same spot

Three Levels, Built Differently

Level 1 is a true errorless folder: the helper is printed under every dot and all five pieces belong to that helper. Level 2 puts two helpers on one folder with three cells each; each piece has two places it could go. Level 3 puts four helpers on one folder; each piece has four places it could go. The level is marked with a circle, a square or a triangle, never a number, so students at one table are not comparing folders.

What The Pictures Are

Every helper and every piece is a Whimsy Clips picture with the word printed under it. A hose is the same piece at every level, so the pieces are supplied by helper rather than repeated for every folder.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A print PDF: print, laminate, cut, add dots. It is not a fillable PDF and it is not Google Slides or a PowerPoint file. The faces and pieces read best in color; every picture has a black-and-white twin on file and the teacher pages print fine in black and white. Fonts are KA Fonts; the file is secured so the art cannot be lifted out of it.

Who This Is For

Special education teachers, paraprofessionals and anyone setting up independent work stations who wants a community helpers unit that starts at errorless matching and steps up without changing the routine.

How To Use It

Prep once from the folder list. Hand over one folder and its pieces, say "Match," and wait. Mark one line per folder on the data sheet; when every folder at a level is done alone three days in a row, move up. The progress summary turns the marks into one line for a meeting, and the note home takes the same skill to the mailbox and the street.