Read a book illustrating the different careers of community members. One good example is "On the Town: A Community Adventure" by Judith Caseley. Use the illustrations of community members and their workplaces to highlight what each person does. For example, the book you choose may have a picture of a police officer outside a patrol car or police station, or perhaps directing traffic. Use these images to talk about the career and how vital it is to the community. This can be done likewise with a nurse or doctor pictured in a hospital.
Have children draw or build a model of a community, with a post office, police station, firehouse, city hall, hospital, school and whatever other building or workplace they know of in their own community. Have the children draw the people who work at those places as well.
Ask the pupils to draw the career person they want to be when they grow up. Have them think about their reasons for making that choice while they are drawing. Have each pupil share what community member he wants to be when he grows up, and his reasons for making that choice.
To close the lesson, print out pictures or find book illustrations of careers not as readily apparent in the local community. For example, print out pictures of people in military service who keep our country safe. Or print a picture of the governor or the president to talk about political careers. Other examples of less visible careers include airline pilot, flight attendant, trucker, computer programmer, movie director and musician.