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2nd grade sub plans: social studies

A 2nd grade social studies block for a substitute: “Needs and Wants”, a 96-word nonfiction passage about money and choices, with 6 questions and an answer key, and a K-W-L sheet for before and after reading. 5 steps, from handing it out to going over the answers.

Checked October 30, 2026. Made from Peabody Teach's own passages, worksheets and brain break cards.

Make the whole day at 2nd grade ▸

The social studies block

Social studies: Needs and Wants

  1. Before reading, students fill in the first two columns of the K-W-L sheet: what they know about money and choices, and what they want to know. After reading, the last column: what they learned.
  2. Hand out “Needs and Wants”, a nonfiction passage of 96 words. Print 24: the student copy is in this packet.
  3. Read it aloud once while the class follows along with a finger. Then partners read it to each other in whisper voices.
  4. Students answer the 6 questions under the passage, in full sentences.
  5. With five minutes left, go over two questions out loud. The answers are on the key page: keep it with you.

📄 Needs and Wants (passage and key) · a K-W-L sheet

Break: Puppet string (45 sec, silent). Picture a string tied to the top of your head, pulling you up tall. Sit as tall as you can for five slow breaths, then let the string go slack and relax.

The sheets, on their own pages

Subbing 2nd grade

Second graders can work on their own for fifteen or twenty minutes, answer questions in sentences, and usually know the class jobs. A clear schedule on the board does most of the managing for you.

  • Write the schedule on the board first thing and cross off each block as you finish it.
  • Use partners for checking answers, not for doing them.
  • Have the extra-time sheet ready: early finishers are the start of most noise.

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