**Lesson Plan: Basic Economics (Needs and Wants)**
**Grade Level:** 1st Grade
**Duration:** 45 minutes
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### **Objective:**
Students will be able to distinguish between needs and wants and understand the basic concepts of economics.
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### **Materials Needed:**
- Chart paper or whiteboard
- Markers
- Picture cards or printed images (food, toys, clothes, shelter, etc.)
- Worksheet with pictures for sorting
- Scissors and glue sticks
- Storybook (e.g. "Those Shoes" by Maribeth Boelts)
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### **Introduction (5 minutes):**
1. **Greeting:** Welcome the students and briefly explain the topic of the day.
2. **Engage:** Read a short story that introduces the concepts of needs and wants, such as "Those Shoes" by Maribeth Boelts.
3. **Discussion:** Ask students to think about the story and share examples of what the characters needed versus what they wanted.
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### **Direct Instruction (10 minutes):**
1. **Define Needs and Wants:**
- **Needs:** Essential items required for survival (e.g., food, water, shelter, clothing).
- **Wants:** Items we would like to have but are not essential for survival (e.g., toys, games, candy).
2. **Examples and Non-Examples:** Use picture cards to show different items. Ask students to identify if each item is a need or a want. Place the cards on the board under the correct category.
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### **Guided Practice (10 minutes):**
1. **Class Activity:**
- Create two columns on the board titled "Needs" and "Wants."
- Hand out picture cards to students and ask them to come up one by one to place their card in the appropriate column.
- Discuss each choice as a class to reinforce understanding.
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### **Independent Practice (15 minutes):**
1. **Worksheet Activity:**
- Provide each student with a worksheet that has pictures of different items.
- Instruct students to cut out the pictures and glue them into the correct columns labeled "Needs" and "Wants."
- Walk around to offer assistance and ensure students are correctly identifying and sorting the items.
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### **Closure (5 minutes):**
1. **Review:** Summarize the lesson by revisiting the key points: what needs and wants are, and why it's important to distinguish between them.
2. **Discussion:** Ask a few students to share one need and one want from their worksheets.
3. **Homework Assignment:** Ask students to go home and create a list of items they have at home, and categorize them into needs and wants. Bring the list to class for the next day’s discussion.
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### **Assessment:**
- Observation during class discussions and activities.
- Review of the worksheet to check for correct categorization of needs and wants.
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### **Extensions (if time permits):**
- **Group Discussion:** Encourage students to discuss why some things everyone needs, and why people might want different things based on personal preferences or family choices.
- **Art Activity:** Have students draw their own pictures of one need and one want they have at home.
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**Note to Teacher:**
- Ensure that each student participates in the interactive parts of the lesson.
- Be sensitive to the different backgrounds and ensure that examples of needs and wants are inclusive and relatable to all students.