Needs and Wants, Earth Day and Arbor Day Smartboard Mini-Unit

This is a unit on Needs and Wants created by our first grade team to align with the common core standards for first grade. This unit also has lesson and activities incorporated for Earth Day and Arbor Day, since we teach this social studies unit at that time of year. It starts out introducing what a needs and wants are, and then discusses earning money, goods and services, saving and spending, taking care of the Earth, and the importance of trees. Throughout the unit we use the following books: Do I Need It?, or Do I Want It?, The Quiltmaker’s Gift, A Chair for My Mother, The Wump World, Michael Recycle, The Giving Tree, and The Lorax. There are also links to online books/resources at PebbleGo, as well as BrainPop Jr. Videos, and related songs and videos on You Tube. Vocabulary words in the unit: needs, wants, pollution, goods, services, recycle, reduce, reuse. *Note-for PebbleGO links to online books you do need a password/subscription to log into them first for access (our school has their own subscription to them). I hope this helps you as you develop or enhance your social studies curriculum!