Lily Learns about Wants and Needs

$Lily Learns about Wants and Needs book cover$

Grade 1
4 skill lessons

Math

Skill lessons

The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1Want or Need: One Rule, Two Groups
2Dad's List and What Comes Home
3Line the Two Groups Up
4Count the Needs, Count the Wants

Math + reading

Math through the reading

The same book, entered through a sentence it prints. Change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it.

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Reading

Reading and language lessons

The same book read as a text. What a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how the writing is put together - no mathematics.

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Skill lessons

4 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1. Want or Need: One Rule, Two Groups Concept · Sorting a set of things into two groups by a rule the book states

The book gives one sentence that defines a need and then runs that definition over twelve things, putting the word want or the word need on every one of them. Children take twelve cards for those twelve things and test each card aloud against Dad's rule before it lands on a mat. What the sort teaches is that a group is settled by a test and not by liking: the child who wants the ice cream and the child who does not both put it on the same mat, because the rule asks whether you have to have it and not whether you would enjoy it. Every card is tested, nothing is left in the deck, and the two mats together hold the whole set.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Hear the rule and say it back (4 min)
Listen to Dad's rule and say the whole thing back before anyone touches a card: a need is something we have to have. Each child in the group says it out loud, then puts a hand flat on each empty mat, needs on the left and wants on the right. No card comes out of the deck until every child has said the rule.
Word preview: need, want
A need is something we have to have
2. Watch Dad test the bike (5 min)
Hear what Dad does with the bike Lily says she needs. He does not say no to it. He asks what the bike is for, finds the need sitting underneath it, and then checks whether Lily already has a way to get that. Say the two parts back to your partner: the need is exercise, and the old bike already does it. Then say what that leaves the new bike as.
Word preview: exercise
We all need to exercise, but you can ride your old bike or do other active things.
3. Test all twelve cards (7 min)
Take the twelve cards one at a time, hold each one up so the group can see it, and run Dad's test on it out loud before it lands: do we have to have this? A yes card goes on the need mat, a no card goes on the want mat. Keep going to the last card even when one mat already looks full, because every card gets tested and no card goes back in the deck untested.
4. Check each card against the book (4 min)
Turn the cards over one mat at a time while the teacher reads the book's own line for each thing. A card that disagrees with the book slides across to the other mat. Say out loud which cards moved and which word in the book moved them.
But it's a want, not a need.
And we need toilet paper.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Hear the rule and say it back (3 min)
Say Dad's rule back before you touch a card: a need is something we have to have. Every child says the whole rule, then puts a hand on each empty mat.
Word preview: need, want
A need is something we have to have
2. Test all twelve cards (6 min)
Hold each of the twelve cards up and run the test out loud before it lands: do we have to have this? Yes cards go on the need mat, no cards on the want mat, and every card gets tested right down to the last one.

Three levels

Support: Work with six cards instead of twelve, three of the things Dad calls needs and three he calls wants, and keep both mats exactly as they are. The child still says the rule before every card and still runs the test out loud. What comes off is how many decisions are queued up behind the one being made, not the decision itself.
At Grade: All twelve cards, both mats, the test said aloud before each card lands. Where two children disagree about a card, the group stops and the teacher reads the book's line for that thing before the card moves.
Extension: Hand the group four cards the book never labels: a skateboard, roller skates, bowling and mini golf. The book puts all four in the story and never says want or need about any of them, so the group has to run Dad's test itself and say which part of the rule settled it. A card the group cannot settle goes on the line between the mats, and they say what the book would have had to tell them to move it off the line.

English learners

The cards carry themselves: a picture of milk is milk on the first day, and a child can place every card without a word of English. The hard part is that this book turns two verbs into two things you can hold. Many languages mark needing with a verb ending or a modal and have no noun to point at, so a need as an object on a mat is new even for a child who uses the idea daily. Rehearse two frames and use only these two all lesson: we have to have it, and it is a want, not a need. Accept a card placed with the single word want or need as a complete answer. Invite a child to argue a card in their strongest language and report only which mat and which of the two words.

Materials

Two sorting mats per group, one headed NEED and one headed WANT
Twelve picture-and-word cards, one for each thing the book calls a want or a need: a new bike, exercise, a new raincoat, a visit to the dentist, ice cream, milk, vegetables, toilet paper, root beer, help from doctors, medicine, a TV in a hospital room
Word cards: need, want

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

2. Dad's List and What Comes Home Application · Applying a two-group rule to a short list and counting each outcome

At the store Lily reads four things off Dad's shopping list and the book puts a want or need word on every one of them. Children lay those four out as cards, hear the rule Dad set for the day, and send each card either to the cart or back to the list. Then they count both. The book never prints either number, and the counts a class lands on are three in the cart and one left behind. Pushing the two piles back together to check they still make four is where the sort stops being a game about liking things and turns into two numbers a child can be wrong about.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the four things off the list (4 min)
Listen while the teacher reads Lily's turn at the shopping list, then lay the four cards on the table in the order Lily reads them: milk, vegetables, toilet paper, root beer. Say each one out loud as you put it down. Four cards and no more, because these are the four Lily names.
Word preview: list
At the store, dad took out a shopping list.
Mom always says I need to drink my milk and eat my vegetables.
And we need toilet paper.
Dad, you wrote root beer in big red letters.
2. Send each card to the cart or leave it on the list (6 min)
Hear the rule Dad set for the day and run it on one card at a time. A card that is a need goes on the cart tray. A card that is a want stays on the list sheet. Say the rule out loud before you move each card, so everyone hears which word decided it rather than watching your hand.
Word preview: only
Good try, but today let's only spend money on things we need.
But it's a want, not a need.
3. Count the cart and count what stayed (5 min)
Count the cards on the cart tray, touching one card for each number word, and say the number you land on. Then count the cards still on the list sheet and say that number. Write nothing down. Say both numbers to your partner and find out whether they got the same two.
4. Put the two numbers back together (5 min)
Slide the cart cards and the list cards into one pile and count the whole pile. Check it comes out the same as the four you started with. Then set the cart cards above the list cards, one under the other, and say which group has more and how many more, moving the cards to show it instead of saying it from memory.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Send each card to the cart or leave it on the list (4 min)
Take the four cards Lily reads off the list and run Dad's rule on one at a time. Needs go on the cart tray, wants stay on the list sheet, and you say the rule out loud before each card moves.
Word preview: only
Good try, but today let's only spend money on things we need.
But it's a want, not a need.
2. Count the cart and count what stayed (5 min)
Count the cart cards, touching one for each number word, and say the number. Then count what stayed on the list and say that number. Say both to your partner and see whether they agree.

Three levels

Support: Keep all four cards but lay the cart tray and the list sheet side by side and read the book aloud a second time while the child holds the cards. The child moves a card the moment they hear the word need or the word want in the read-aloud, so the rule does not have to be held in the head while the hand decides. Both counts still happen afterwards with the cards still in front of them.
At Grade: Four cards, the rule said aloud before each one moves, both counts said out loud, and the check back to four.
Extension: Ask what the cart would hold if Dad had said also instead of only. The group moves the root beer across, counts the cart again, and says which of the two numbers changed and by how much. Then ask which single card the whole difference sits on.

English learners

Cart and list are the two words this lesson cannot do without, and both are easy to show: point at the tray, point at the sheet. The word only is the one that will slip. In this sentence it does not mean a small amount, it means nothing else, and a child who hears it as a small amount will put the root beer in and be untroubled. Say the rule with a flat hand sweeping the wants away as you say only, every single time. The frame to rehearse is this is a need, so it goes in the cart, and its partner this is a want, so it stays. A child may count and reason in their strongest language and report only the two numbers in English.

Materials

Four list cards: milk, vegetables, toilet paper, root beer
A tray marked CART and a sheet of paper headed LIST
Word cards: only, cart, list

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

3. Line the Two Groups Up Representation · Showing two groups as matched rows and reading which row runs longer

Two mats tell a child which pile is bigger only if the piles are tidy, and a heap of eight next to a heap of four can be read wrong. Children rebuild the sorted cards as two straight rows that start level with each other, walk two fingers along them together until one row runs out, and put a counter on every card left over the end. The four counters are the answer to how many more, and they were reached by matching one card to one card, never by taking one number away from another.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Build the two rows (6 min)
Take the sorted cards and lay them out along the two lines of tape, the need cards on the top line and the want cards on the bottom. Both rows start at the same end and every card sits the same short gap from the one before it, so the rows can be read against each other. Nothing is counted in this step. Before you start, hear the question the finished rows are going to answer.
What is something you want but don't need?
2. Match the rows card for card (6 min)
Put one finger on the first card of the top row and one finger on the first card of the bottom row, then walk both hands along together, one card at a time. Every card you touch with both hands at once is a matched pair. Keep going until one hand runs out of cards, then stop and leave the other hand exactly where it stopped.
Word preview: match
3. Count what runs past the end (4 min)
The want row runs out first. Count the need cards that have nothing under them, touching one card for each number word, and say the number out loud. Drop a counter on each of those cards so the group can check your number without counting again.
4. Say what the two rows show (4 min)
Say it both ways with your hand on the rows: there are more needs than wants, and there are fewer wants than needs. Then say the number of counters on the top row. Last, hear the book's own question and answer it from your rows rather than from your head.
Word preview: more, fewer
What does your family need besides healthful food and water?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build the two rows (5 min)
Lay the sorted cards out along the two lines of tape, needs on the top line and wants on the bottom, both rows starting at the same end with an even gap between cards. Nothing is counted yet.
What is something you want but don't need?
2. Match the rows card for card (4 min)
Walk one finger along each row together, a card at a time. Cards you touch with both hands at once are matched. Stop when one hand runs out and leave the other hand where it stopped.
Word preview: match

Three levels

Support: Start with six cards, three on each line, so the child walks a match that comes out even and sees what even looks like before meeting a row that does not. Then add one need card to the top row and walk it again. The matching rule and the two-finger walk never change; only the number of cards does.
At Grade: The full rows, eight need cards against four want cards, matched card for card, with the four unmatched cards counted and covered with counters.
Extension: Cover both rows with a cloth and ask how many cards are on the floor altogether. The group cannot touch a card, so they have to start from the longer row and keep the count going: eight, then nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Then uncover and check by counting the cards.

English learners

This lesson can be run almost silently and still be right, which makes it the safest place in this book for a child new to English: the two-finger walk shows what more means without a sentence. What has to be taught is that English says more and fewer about two different things here, and that the two sentences describe one picture rather than two. Build both on the wall as a pair, more needs than wants directly above fewer wants than needs, and have children say them one after the other with a hand on each row. Take a comparison offered in a child's strongest language and ask only for the number in English.

Materials

Two lines of floor tape, long enough to hold eight cards in a row, starting level with each other
A pot of counters, at least four per group
Word cards: more, fewer, match

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

4. Count the Needs, Count the Wants Fluency · Counting sets of up to twelve with one number word per card, and counting on

The book hands a class twelve nameable things and no numbers at all, which makes it a clean set to count. Children count the need cards and the want cards separately with one touch and one number word per card, say the last number again on its own so it becomes the answer rather than the end of a chant, and then reach the whole set by keeping the count going from eight instead of starting again at one. Counting the same cards a second time in a different order and landing on twelve again is the part worth the minutes.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Count the need cards (6 min)
Slide the need cards one at a time from the mat to a counting line, touching each card as you say the next number word. One touch, one number, and no card is touched twice. When the mat is empty, say the last number again on its own, because that is how many there are. Your partner then counts the same line from the other end and says whether they landed on your number.
A need is something we have to have
2. Count the want cards (4 min)
Do the same with the want cards: touch, say the next number, and slide. Say the last number again on its own. Then drop that many counters into your cup, so the number is still there to point at after the cards have moved.
Dad said, special treats are okay sometimes, but a treat is a want, not a need.
3. Count the whole set without starting over (5 min)
Leave the need line where it is and say its number first, out loud, with your hand over the whole line. Then touch the want cards one at a time and keep the count going from that number instead of going back to one. Say the number you land on and hold up the cup to show how many number words you added.
4. Count it a second way and land on the same number (5 min)
Push all the cards together, spread them out face up, and count them again in any order at all, sliding each card away as it is counted so none gets counted twice. Compare the number with the one you landed on last step. Tell your partner what you notice about counting the same cards in a different order.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Count the need cards (5 min)
Slide the need cards one at a time to a counting line, touching each as you say the next number word, then say the last number again on its own. Your partner counts the line back the other way and checks the number.
A need is something we have to have
2. Count the want cards (4 min)
Count the want cards the same way, touch and say and slide, then say the last number on its own and drop that many counters into the cup.
Dad said, special treats are okay sometimes, but a treat is a want, not a need.

Three levels

Support: Count the four want cards first, because a short line finished correctly is worth more here than a long one lost halfway. Then take the need cards in two goes: slide five across and say five, then keep going with the rest. The touching rule and the say-the-last-number-again rule stay exactly as they are.
At Grade: Both groups counted separately with one number word per card, then the whole set reached by keeping the count going from eight rather than starting again at one.
Extension: Dad skips the root beer. Take that card out of the twelve and ask how many cards are left, then ask how many of those are wants. The group has the cards in front of them and may check by counting, but ask for the answer before they do.

English learners

Counting words are among the first English a child picks up and the sequence itself usually transfers straight across, so a child may already be able to count to twelve in two languages. Two things do not come free. English says the last number again to mean how many, and a child who chants to twelve without that repeat has not answered the question yet. And keeping a count going from eight, rather than restarting, is a habit and not a word. Rehearse one frame, there are ___ need cards, and let a child count aloud in their strongest language as long as one touch lands on one number word, then give the total in English.

Materials

Two sorting mats per group, one headed NEED and one headed WANT
Twelve picture-and-word cards, one for each thing the book calls a want or a need: a new bike, exercise, a new raincoat, a visit to the dentist, ice cream, milk, vegetables, toilet paper, root beer, help from doctors, medicine, a TV in a hospital room
A pot of counters, at least four per group
A paper cup per pair
Word cards: count, altogether, same

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.