WANTS and NEEDS and knowing the difference is a Kindergarten Standard of Learning in Virginia. It's sounds impossible, but it can actually be a really fun unit for kindergartners. They understand the concept of "want," so you really just need to help them think about what they need. I like to teach this unit between Thanksgiving and Winter Break.
What did the Pilgrims NEED?
The week before Thanksgiving we have the poem above. It's a play off the original "I Saw A Ship Go Sailing," but I tweaked it to talk about several standards. Obviously, the ship is the Mayflower, but we also added "it was full of things we NEED" referring to the Pilgrims. We talk about how the Pilgrims could only bring what they needed, there wasn't room for extras. So going into our Wants and Needs unit, they have background knowledge on what "needs" are.
What do you WANT?
As an introduction to our unit, we use the Black Friday ads to let them have fun with "wants." I put out the ads and they get a piece of paper to cut out 2 things they want for Christmas, their birthday, or as a special treat (depending on the beliefs in our classroom). Students are quick to say, "I want this" or "I want that." When they have finished the NEEDS, they are asked to share with the other students.
Bring it all together
Once they know what the Pilgrims "needed" and what they "want," we talk about the difference. Of course, we have a song to sing about "needs." The song is to the tune of "Three Bling Mice." This song introduces the concept of need to the students. Needs are what we MUST HAVE to to stay healthy and safe. In addition to shelter, clothes, and food, students are also taught we need visits to the doctor, medicine when we are sick, glasses, and even plenty of sleep to stay healthy.
Wants v. Needs
Using picture cards, we sort through wants and needs. We can even sort the needs into shelter, clothes, food, and other things to keep us healthy and safe. We can make tree maps for things we needs or things we want. We can use the cards to do many activities like ABC order and syllable sort. We can look at magazines and cut things that we need.
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