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Needs and Wants

2nd grade nonfiction passage about money and choices: 96 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade nonfiction money and choices 96 words

Needs and Wants

People have needs and wants. A need is something you must have to live. Food, water, clothes, and a safe home are needs.

A want is something that is nice to have, but you can live without it. A toy, a game, and a treat are wants.

Families cannot buy everything they want. They have only so much money. So they must make choices. A family may spend money on food and a warm coat first. Later, they may save money for a new game.

Knowing the difference between needs and wants helps people choose well.

Questions

  1. What is a need? in the text

  2. What are two needs? in the text

  3. What is a want? in the text

  4. Why must families make choices? in the text

  5. A child needs a warm coat and wants a new game. Which should the family buy first, and why? think about it

  6. Why might a family save money? think about it

Words to know

need
something you must have to live, such as food and water
want
something that is nice to have but that you can live without
choice
picking one thing instead of another
save
to keep money to use later

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put need, want, choice and save on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 1 minute to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Needs and Wants"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 96 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.1. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 1 minute read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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