Make a Plan to Spend, Save, and Share
The theme this year is “Make a Plan to Spend, Save, and Share.” This series will help students learn about making choices, financial planning, creating a money plan, and the importance of saving and sharing.
In The Four Money Bears by Mac Gardner, students will learn how budgeting fits into making a money plan. This book lays out how spending decisions connect to saving and investing goals, and how these choices impact one’s ability to give. In It’s Not Fair by Caryn Rivadeneira, students follow the decision making process of a character as she decides how to spend her money. This story provides students the opportunity to assess how spending decisions impact goals, like saving for a purchase, or sharing financial resources with others. In The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric and Jean Edelman, students can think critically about how financial decisions are made. This rhyming story reminds us of the importance of generosity and charity after all our spending and saving goals are accomplished.
Personal Finance Theme Overview
The Four Money Bears - How Does Budgeting Help us Reach Short- and Long-Term Goals?
It's Not Fair - How Do Spending Decisions Impact Money Goals?
The Squirrel Manifesto 
- How do we Decide How Much to Spend, Save, and Share?
Additional Lesson Planning Resources
The lessons above are meant for use by the school librarian during a 40-minute instructional time. Teachers who wish to expand on the librarian activities may use this resource list to create longer, more detailed lesson plans.
