What You Give Up
A 40-minute Kindergarten lesson on the idea that every choice costs you the thing you did not choose.
What You Give Up is a free 40-minute Kindergarten to Grade 2 social studies lesson plan for Common Core standard D2.Eco.2.K-2 — name what you gain and what you give up when you make a choice. It is timed across 5 sections, gives the exact wording to use where the wording carries the mathematics, names 3 misconceptions with the teaching move that addresses each, and ends with an exit ticket and a printable worksheet with its answer key.
- Grade:
- Kindergarten to Grade 2
- Length:
- 40 minutes
- Standard:
- D2.Eco.2.K-2
Kindergarten to Grade 2 · Economics
D2.Eco.2.K-2
Identify the benefits and costs of making various personal decisions.
Objective
Students will be able to name what they gained and what they gave up in a choice.
Students are successful when they can
- Names what they chose.
- Names what they gave up.
- Says whether it was worth it.
What you need
- Pairs of choice cards
- A two-column sheet: what I got, what I gave up
- The printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan
The lesson
Warm-up — one or the other
5 min- Offer the class two playtime activities, one only.
- Take a vote, then ask what the losing side missed.
Teach — the cost is the other thing
13 min- Write a real choice from the warm-up in the first column.
- Ask what was given up. Write it in the second.
- Say the idea plainly: the cost of a choice is the thing you did not pick.
- Do a second choice where the cost is small, and a third where it is large.
- Ask which of the three was hardest, and why.
“You chose the football. So what did you not get to do?”
Guided practice — fill both columns
12 min- Pairs take four choices and fill both columns for each.
- They mark the one with the biggest cost.
- They say whether it was still worth it.
Independent practice
8 min- Students complete the what-you-give-up page.
- Read each choice aloud.
Close
2 min- Give a choice. Take what was gained and what was given up.
What goes wrong, and why
Each of these is a reasoning error rather than carelessness. The fix addresses the reasoning.
Says nothing was given up.
Why: They are happy with what they chose, so it does not feel like a loss.
Fix: Ask what else they could have done with the same time or coins. There is always a second column.
Names the thing they chose as the cost.
Why: Cost and choice both name the same moment.
Fix: Two columns, physically separate. The chosen thing goes on the left every time.
Thinks a cost means the choice was wrong.
Why: Cost sounds like a bad thing.
Fix: Ask whether it was worth it. Every good choice has a cost too, and naming it is not regret.
If they are not there yet
- Two choices rather than four.
- Give what was chosen and collect the cost.
If they finish early
- Find a choice where the cost was bigger than the gain.
- Name the cost of a choice somebody else made.
- Say what a choice costs other people.
Exit ticket
You spent playtime on the bikes. What did you give up?
What to look for: Another named activity. 'Nothing' means the what-else-could-you-have-done prompt needs repeating.
Printable practice for D2.Eco.2.K-2
Free to print and copy, answer key included. Each sheet can generate a fresh set of problems for a retake.
- What Do You Give Up?Circle the best answer.
Questions about What You Give Up
How long does the What You Give Up lesson take?
40 minutes, split across 5 timed sections: warm-up 5 min, teach 13 min, guided practice 12 min, independent practice 8 min, close 2 min. The minutes are stated per section and add up to the stated length, so the plan can be cut or extended at a section boundary rather than abandoned halfway.
Which standard does What You Give Up teach?
D2.Eco.2.K-2 — D2.Eco.2.K-2, Economics for Kindergarten to Grade 2: “Identify the benefits and costs of making various personal decisions.” In plain terms, name what you gain and what you give up when you make a choice.
What do I need to teach this lesson?
Pairs of choice cards, a two-column sheet: what I got, what I gave up and the printable practice sheet linked at the end of this plan. Everything listed is either ordinary classroom equipment or a free printable from this site — there is nothing to buy and nothing to prepare beyond photocopying.
What mistakes should I expect in this lesson?
Three, each a reasoning error rather than carelessness: says nothing was given up; names the thing they chose as the cost and thinks a cost means the choice was wrong. The plan gives the thinking behind each one and the teaching move that addresses the thinking rather than the symptom.
How do I know whether the lesson worked?
The exit ticket asks: “You spent playtime on the bikes. What did you give up?.” Another named activity. 'Nothing' means the what-else-could-you-have-done prompt needs repeating. That tells you whether the class needs a reteach or a thirty-second conversation before you plan tomorrow.
Is there a worksheet to go with What You Give Up?
Yes — 1 printable D2.Eco.2.K-2 worksheet, linked at the end of the plan and free like the rest of the site. Each one comes with an answer key and 25 versions, so the practice after the lesson can be a different paper on every desk.
Is What You Give Up free to use?
Yes. The plan, its printables and their answer keys are free to read, print and photocopy for your own class, with no account and no email capture. It was last reviewed on 7 September 2026. Please do not resell it or republish it as your own.
Last reviewed 2026-09-07. Aligned to D2.Eco.2.K-2 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.