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Teaching by Topic: Sharing

Here are a bunch of tips, learning objectives, worksheets, and pre-built lesson plans to help you build your curriculum to teach students how to share money!

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Your students know the feeling they get when they share, and the same is true when they share, give, or donate their money. Whether you work with pre-K students or high schoolers, sharing is a critical part of money education. 

You can find many materials you need to teach sharing. Here are sharing lessons, worksheets, activities, games, and some essential tips. Sharing is a unique topic that doesn’t have many learning objectives in the National Standards for Personal Finance Education, so we skipped over that section for each grade level in this guide. However, we still find sharing money and charitable giving to be a valuable piece of every personal finance curriculum.

National Standards for Personal Finance Education

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Pre-K

Pre-K Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP Pre-K – Using Games in Money Education: In this lesson, students work together and have fun, learning to share and work as a team. They play various games, including lemonade stands, supermarkets, and fishing simulations.

Pre-K Sharing Worksheets

Pre-K Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to Pre-K Students

  • Tell students that sharing is a big part of life, including money.
  • Show them how they can use money to help others.
  • Emphasize the types of coins you use and play with as they share.

For more resources on other topics, check out our Pre-K Money Lesson Plans Center.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP Kindergarten – Choices: Students read stories with characters who choose kindness and share resources. They play games and complete activities that show the significance of decisions, including how to spend money.

Kindergarten Sharing Worksheets

Kindergarten Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to Kindergarten Students

  • Practice sharing every day.
  • Reward students who are “caught being good” and who share.
  • Connect sharing ideas to money and how donating can make you feel good.

For more resources on other topics, check out our Kindergarten Money Lesson Plans Center.

1st Grade

1st Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 1st Grade – Spending: Students learn to spend wisely and see how they can put their money into various pathways: spending, saving, and giving. They see that giving is part of people’s financial plans, and they continue practicing money counting.

1st Grade Sharing Worksheets

1st Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 1st Graders

  • Help students sort coins, helping kids identify them quickly.
  • Reinforce vocabulary and money values constantly (1 penny = 1 cent, 1 nickel = 5 cents, etc.).
  • Use real coins as much as possible.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 1st Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

2nd Grade

2nd Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 2nd Grade – Opportunity Cost: Your 2nd-graders learn that when they spend on one thing, they need to give up another, seeing that they need to balance sharing and spending. They read an engaging book and work together on different activities.

2nd Grade Sharing Worksheets

2nd Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 2nd Graders

  • Use partner work often, emphasizing that sharing is more than just donating money – it’s working toward a common goal.
  • Work on skip counting with higher denominations first (25, then 10, then 5).
  • Discuss budgets and how sharing can fit into spending plans.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 2nd Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

3rd Grade

3rd Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 3rd Grade – Division of Labor: Through a fun book about Henry Ford, students see how working on a shared task can lead to great successes. They complete an assembly line activity that shows how working together is effective.

3rd Grade Sharing Worksheets

3rd Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 3rd Graders

  • Have students reflect in writing often to understand their sharing motivations.
  • Explain that sharing ranges from giving small amounts to a friend to entire countries helping each other.
  • Use digital tools and apps to show how giving and donating are common.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 3rd Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

4th Grade

4th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 4th Grade – Managing Risk: Students read fables, including Aesop’s The Ant and the Grasshopper, to see how preparation is essential – but so is sharing with those in need. Students study emergency funds and complete activities that reinforce their sharing understanding.

4th Grade Sharing Worksheets

4th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 4th Graders

  • Show students that having a surplus of money is great, but they need to plan what to do with it.
  • Have students keep daily agendas and summarize their learnings frequently.
  • Have students work cooperatively, illustrating how groups and sharing can lead to good results.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 4th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

5th Grade

5th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 5th Grade – Credit and Debit: This lesson teaches students about credit and debit but also emphasizes money habits, including when and how much to donate. They see the positive and negative aspects of borrowing and lending money to others.

5th Grade Sharing Worksheets

5th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 5th Graders

  • Switch groups around constantly, showing students that they need to learn to work with many personalities.
  • Focus on character, especially when students share.
  • Create shared goals for the entire classroom to strive for, rewarding the whole group.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 5th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

6th Grade

6th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 6th Grade – Surplus: This lesson combines history, economics, and personal finance to give students a deep understanding of the positive impacts of surpluses. They see how global trade rose from abundance, people shared with those that needed it, and how they can learn from these lessons.

6th Grade Sharing Worksheets

6th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 6th Graders

  • Bring up sharing throughout the day.
  • Link the money concepts of donating and giving to all subjects.
  • Have students present projects and assignments in front of the class, both to grow as speakers and audience members.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 6th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

7th Grade

7th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 7th Grade – Personal Finance: Students see how to budget in detail, including what to spend, save, and give. They spend substantial time learning to set goals, translating to increased personal finance success.

7th Grade Sharing Worksheets

7th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 7th Graders

  • Show students there are many forms of sharing, with different motivations to give.
  • Work on personal planning and accountability, including saving notes, listing daily agendas, and keeping binders.
  • Introduce the idea of charity, and guide them to what causes they believe in and can support later.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 7th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

8th Grade

8th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 8th Grade: Investing: This lesson covers many forms of investing, showing them that sharing can be part of someone’s financial plan. They learn the different risk levels of investment types, thinking about where donating falls on the spectrum.

8th Grade Sharing Worksheets

8th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 8th Graders

  • Use play money and exchange currency often, keeping students focused on maintaining their balances.
  • Work in groups regularly.
  • Emphasize the idea that there are also tax breaks besides the positive effects of sharing.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 8th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

9th Grade

9th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 9th Grade: Budgeting: Students see how budgets help control complicated financial situations, including how much they can donate or share. They build their budgets and present them to the class and need to include a component for sharing.

9th Grade Sharing Worksheets

9th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 9th Graders

  • Partner with other teachers and classes to expand networks.
  • Focus on confidence-building and sharing during this transitional year.
  • Have students create short and long-term goals with all of their personal finances, including sharing.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 9th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

10th Grade

10th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 10th Grade – Foundations of Economics: Students focus on incentives in this lesson, and teachers can work on sharing during the topic. Discuss why people share, what incentives there may be for donating, and create presentations to synthesize their understanding.

10th Grade Sharing Worksheets

10th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 10th Graders

  • Use online resources often, even if you don’t fully grasp the tools and apps – students do.
  • Keep a routine, including a section about sharing.
  • Get to know each student through conferencing, helping them clarify their financial pictures.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 10th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

11th Grade

11th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 11th Grade – Loans and Credit: Sometimes, sharing may be offering someone a loan or letting them borrow money. In this lesson, kids see the difference between the many types of loans, including educational, auto, and personal ones, seeing the pros and cons of each.

11th Grade Sharing Worksheets

11th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 11th Graders

  • Create detailed checklists for all of their progress, including budgeting – and sharing.
  • Have students collaborate on projects, exchanging ideas and understanding the power of group work.
  • Be as practical and applicable to real life as possible.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 11th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

12th Grade

12th Grade Sharing Lesson Plans

  • KMLP 12th Grade – Spending: In this lesson, students analyze their spending habits and money management, including how sharing and donating can factor into their plans. They read articles, break down how social media impacts everyday decision-making, and figure out how sharing and spending fit their budgets.

12th Grade Sharing Worksheets

12th Grade Sharing Games and Activities

Tips for Teaching Sharing to 12th Graders

  • Have students crunch the numbers, determining how much they can deduct in taxes from charitable donations.
  • Give them control, letting them teach specific money concepts they’re passionate about.
  • Challenge them to create in groups.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 12th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center.

About the Author

Peter Brown

Peter Brown is a National Board Certified teacher with over two decades of experience in the classroom. He loves working with students of all ages in many subjects, but particularly in practical areas like money education, to help kids achieve their goals. When he is not teaching or writing about financial literacy, you can find him surfing, hiking, skiing, or traveling to new places.

Last updated on: September 6, 2022