Lesson Plan Title

Inventing What I Want.

Guiding Question

What do I want and what do I need?

Grade Level

First Grade

Learning Target(s)

·        Reasoning

Specific Objective(s)

·        Given an exercise designing an invention and a discussion about needs and wants, students will be able to explain if their invention is a need or a want.

Special Considerations

·        These lessons incorporate group work and it is assumed that the students have had prior instruction and practice working in small groups.

Lesson Preparations

See materials list below.

EALRs

(Economics) 1.1 Understand that the condition of scarcity requires people to choose among alternatives and bear the consequences of that choice

GLEs

(Social Studies Framework) E1.1.1a:  Recognize that wants exceed available resources.

Total Time Allotment

Three days

Materials Needed

·        Large paper

·        Crayons, markers, etc.

·        5 images of a mixture of “wants” and “needs” (enough copies so each group of three students has all five pictures)

Room/Student Arrangement(s)

·         Students work at their own desks except during sharing time or when working with partners.  Students will sit on the rug during class discussion time.

Teaching Procedures

Pre-Assessment

·        Have students draw a picture of something they need and something they want.

Opening and Learning Activities

DAY 1: 

·        Lead students through an imagination exercise, imagining something new, that no one has ever made before.  Ask them to picture what it looks like, all of the parts, how it works, etc.  Then have students open their eyes and spend time drawing and illustrating, and writing explanations of their idea. 

·        As a class, go over term “invention” and what it means.

·        Have students share their inventions with the rest of the class.

DAY 2: 

·        (TPS) Have students think about if any new inventions have come into their lives recently.  Then have students share and brainstorm with a partner about new inventions.  Finally, have students share with the class.

DAY 3: 

·        Refer back to the inventions they designed, and ask students if these inventions are a “want” or a “need.”  Have them go to one side of the room if their invention is a want, and the other if it is a need.

·        Discuss “wants” vs. “needs.”  Guide the class to definitions (a want is something that you cannot live without, etc.).  Issues may come up about something being both a want and a need.  We may need to develop a new category for “both”

·        Split class into groups of three and give each group five pictures.  Have them decide if each one represents a want or a need.  Report out to large group.

Post-Assessment

·        Give student pictures to match up and glue into the proper column of “want” or “need”

Accommodations

(A sample of accommodations)

Learning Style/Learning Disability

Specific Accommodations

Visual learners

Illustrate invention, examine pictures of needs and wants

Auditory learners

Discuss, answer and ask questions

Kinesthetic learners

Walk to sides of the room to indicate need or want

ESL students

Partner up with peer/teacher who speaks the same language, teacher can help translate for English-dominant students.

Students with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Shared reading space is not cluttered, rules and guidelines are clearly stated and restated, each student has personal space, enact management plan when necessary during the read aloud (preferably individual plans with discrete ways of letting students know they have to calm down or change behavior)

Students with self-regulation problems

Lead students through relaxation time before circle time. 

Students with auditory memory problems

Re-state directions and during activity follow up to clarify directions.