Social Justice Packet No. 20: Needs, Wants, and Gratitude

This packet is designed to help students explore the concepts of needs vs. wants and the value of gratitude through two stories on grandmothers and their grandsons. In Last Stop on Market Street, a grandmother teaches her grandson to find beauty in the people and places in his environment and to feel gratitude for what he has rather than longing for what he hasn’t. In Those Shoes a boy struggles with the dilemma of needs vs. wants when he wants the latest fashion footwear. He ultimately experiences gratitude for his boots and happiness when he is generous to a friend whose needs are greater than his. Although culturally generic in many respects, both books will enable children living in urban and culturally diverse settings to connect to the characters and environment and will open windows in understanding for readers who live in suburban or rural settings.