Big Idea Question: What Do We Need?

Grade: Kindergarten

Subject: Social Studies

Big Idea Question: “What do we need?”

Time Frame: 10-12 weeks

q  K.SS.3.1.1 Observe that all people have needs and wants.

q  K.SS.3.1.2 Recognize that people have limited resources.

q  K.SS.3.1.3 Describe some jobs that people do to earn money.

·  Share stories and pictures of one’s own personal life, and from school and create a Top Pocket Foldable labeled with “Needs”, “Wants”, “Money” and “Work/Jobs”. Use the foldable to collect examples of student work, illustrations and other items (K.SS.3.1.1; K.SS.3.1.2; K.SS.3.1.3; K.LA.2.1.3 ; K.LA.1.7.1; K.LA.4.4.1)
·  Dictate/write and illustrate chores/jobs performed at home or at school. (K.SS.3.1.3)
·  Illustrate something they need and tell why they need it. (K.SS.3.1.1)
·  Illustrate an item they want and tell why they want it. (K.SS.3.1.1)
·  Participate in “playing store”. Create price tags for different items. Take turns buying items from the store using pennies. (K.SS.3.1.2)
·  Illustrate a book of different jobs. (K.SS.3.1.3)
o  Hello, World! Macmillan/McGraw-Hill TIMELINKS Teacher’s Edition
Ø  Macmillan/McGraw-Hill TIMELINKS Student Practice and Activity Book
o  Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Leveled Readers
Ø  Cesar Chavez
Ø  A Class Bake Sale
o  Scott Foresman Reading Street Kindergarten Teacher’s Edition
o  Scott Foresman Trade/Big books
Ø  Bunny Day
Ø  My Lucky Day
Ø  One Little Mouse
Ø  Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Ø  If You Could go to Antarctica
Ø  Abuela
Ø  Max Takes the Train
Ø  Mayday! Mayday!
Ø  Messenger, Messenger
Ø  The Little Engine that Could
o  Pennies and Sticky Notes for price tags
o  Items to sell (students can bring items from home)
o  Paper
Before class, post a large sheet of paper to display an ongoing class KWL.
1.  Discuss the unit’s big questions: What do we need?
2.  Students brainstorm what they already know about wants and needs, and different jobs.
3.  Preview the unit activities with the class.
4.  Help students set personal and content goals for the unit. Personal goals could address working in groups, taking care of individual responsibilities within the group, etc.
5.  Use United Streaming Videos and/or The Big Idea DVD from Macmillan/McGraw-Hill to prepare students for the unit.
1.  Make the Top Pocket Foldable (M/MGH TE p. 71, 113) label each pocket, “Needs, Wants, Money, and Work/Jobs”.
2.  Read the story Bunny Day. As a class brainstorm different chores/jobs students perform at home or at school. After the whole group discussion, students will dictate or write a chore they perform at home and then illustrate the chore during center time. You can use the template and sentence ideas at the end of this document.
3.  Read the story Lucky Day. In the story, the fox needs to eat. He wants to eat the pig. The pig wants to manipulate the fox to give him things he wants: dinner, a bath, a massage. The fox works in order to get what he needs. Use the TIMELINKS Big Book and read the Rhyme and Chime: School Bake Sale (M/MGH TE p. 72). Our class wants to go to the zoo. Brainstorm ways students could earn money to go to the Tautphaus Park Zoo. Beforehand, you could talk to your principal about a fundraiser. Or, you could also ask parents to start brainstorming ways children could earn the money for the field trip by performing chores at home. Read the story The Class Bake Sale.
4.  Read the story, One Little Mouse. In the story, the mouse needs shelter. Read and discuss Unit 4, Lesson 1: Our Needs (TIMELINKS big book p. 38, M/MGH TE p. 74-75). Students will draw a picture of something they need and tell why they need it and then share with a partner or with the class. You can also use p. 37 of the M/MGH Student Practice and Activity book to name the needs next to each picture: shelter, food, and clothing.
5.  Read the story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Discuss the things that Goldilocks wanted: to try their porridge, sit in their chairs, and take a nap. Discuss the picture and read the definition for wants in the TIMELINKS big book p. 39 (M/MGH TE p. 76-77). Create a graphic organizer for Wants and Needs. Brainstorm as a class and categorize different things as wants and needs. Then ask students to draw a picture of something they want. They may share their picture with a partner or with the entire class. You can also use p. 38 of the M/MGH Student Practice and Activity book to draw things you want to wish for in the wishing well.
6.  You can also use Lesson1 from Unit 5 (TE p. 96-97 We Follow Laws) to guide a discussion about what rules/laws Goldilocks broke by going into the bears house when she was not invited.
7.  After reading Abuela, your class can discuss Cesar Chavez. Read the leveled readers from Unit 4 and use TE p. 71C-71D to guide your discussion.
8.  Read Max Takes the Train. In the story Max uses several modes of transportation to get to Zeke’s Palace of Ice Cream for a double chocolate whamburger. Discuss with students the fact that Uncle Bunny had to pay for the ice cream that they ate. Use Unit 4: Lesson 3 (TE p. 78-79; Big Book p. 40) to guide your discussion. Then students can set up a store. They can make price tags and take turns buying different items using pennies. You can also use p. 41 of the M/MGH Student Practice and Activity book to have students discuss saving money for things they really want in a piggy bank.
9.  Read the book, Mayday! Mayday! Discuss the Coast Guard and discuss why rescue workers are so important. Use Unit 4: Lesson 6: Many Jobs (TE p. 86-87) to guide your discussion about other jobs. Students could illustrate a book with different jobs. Students could earn money for doing classroom jobs for the week and use the money at the end of the week to buy something in the store.
10.  Read the book, Messenger, Messenger. The messenger works very hard to deliver different things all over the city. Read the TIMELINKS big book p. 41 (TE p. 80-81) Discuss with your students that people work to make money. Each child may draw a picture of some kind of work that they do at home or at school. You can also use p. 40 of the M/MGH Student Practice and Activity book to mark things kids do at home.
11.  Sometimes people work for money and sometimes people work to help people (Use graphic organizer on p. 71 I of the TE). Then read The Little Engine that Could. In the story many of the trains decide not to help but the little engine decides that it can help. Discuss ways students can help the Earth or at school or at home. Use Unit 2: Citizenship: Help the Earth (TE p. 26-27). You can also use p. 44 of the M/MGH Student Practice and Activity book and ask students to draw a picture of themselves helping the man.
1.  Use a rubric to grade students work.(There are several examples of writing rubrics in the Assessment book from Macmillan/McGraw-Hill TIMELINKS).
2.  Interview each student one-on-one. Ask questions to determine if they are understanding the Big Ideas: What do we need? What do we want? Why do we work?
1.  Discuss the unit’s big questions as a whole class: What do we need? What do we want? Why do we work?
2.  Share stories and pictures of need and wants and jobs and display a Top Pocket Foldable labeled with “Needs”, “Wants”, “Money” and “Work/Jobs”. Ask students to share their foldable with a partner or with the class. Encourage students to share the information with their family at home (K.SS.3.1.1; K.SS.3.1.2; K.SS.3.1.3; K.LA.2.1.3)

Here is a list of examples of different chores from Bunny Day. You can use HWT font installed on your computer and change the words so kindergartners can trace the words. Or you can post these chores on the board and student can copy.

make the bed

sweep the floors

water flowers

plant some seeds

pulling weeds

Name:_____

The bunnies do chores like______

that help their family.