Spotlight on Literacy #17- Anna's New Coat

Trading and Bartering:  Story #4
View and read along:  https://youtu.be/WbapXdZhU4Y -  

Anna's New Coat by Harriet Ziefert, with illustrations by Anita Lobel (Knopf, 1986, 1991 pb).  Anna's mother attempts to obtain a new coat for Anna, but she has little, if any money. Even if Anna's mother had the money, the goods are not available in the stores.  She gives the farmer an item in exchange for his sheep's wool.  Similar trades of goods for services are made throughout the process of spinning the  thread, weaving the cloth, and tailoring the cloth into a coat.  At the end of the  story, there is a gathering of all those who contributed to the coat.  Each is wearing the item Anna's mother traded.  If Anna's mother had sold her brooch or necklace, she could have used her money to purchase the goods and services that she needed.  Instead, she bartered goods for services.

This is an example of a person who barters (or trades) things she has (goods) for the work of someone who can do what she is not able to do. 

Fill in the blanks on this sheet.  Review the story if you need to.

For each of the tasks on this sheet, tell what thing (goods) that Anna's mother traded to the person who did the task for her.

Now that you have read all four of the stories what was the same about all of the stories; and what was different?

If you can find a copy of On Sand Island by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (HMH, 2003) read that story.  In this story Carl needed the materials to make a boat. 
If you can find this book read it and decide which of the earlier four stories are most like On Sand Island.

Note to teachers and parents: On Sand Island is out-of-print, but available in many libraries.  It is not available on YouTube.

In the early days people were self-sufficient in terms of all that they needed or wanted, clothes, food, and so forth.  Later bartering of services came into favor, and eventually people put a value on their goods or services and they began to trade or barter based on the worth of what was being offered and what was being requested. This type of bartering led to the development of our present day monetary system.

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 30). Spotlight on Literacy #17 - A New Coat for Anna.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-17

Spotlight on Literacy #16 - Pelle's New Suit

Trading and Bartering:  Story #3
View and read along:  https://youtu.be/j_buZpJAKAI -  

Pelle's New Suit by Elsa Beskow ( Platt & Munk, 1929; Harper, 1960; Scholastic , 1972 ).  Pelle (pronounced Pel lay) needs a new suit.
Pelle exchanges his services for the items or services that he needs to get a new suit.  He barters his service for the services of someone who can help him get the cloth and make it into a new suit.  Pelle is not able to produce all of these things for himself, he trades his own services for what he needs. For example, he weeds his grandmother's garden in exchange for her weaving the cloth.  

This is an example of a person who barters (or trades) his work for the work of someone who can do what he is not able to do. 

Fill in the blanks on this sheet.  Review the story if you need to.

For each of the tasks on this sheet, tell what service Pelle traded to the person who did the task for him.

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 29). Spotlight on Literacy #16 - Pelle's New Suit  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-16

Next pages available in the days that follow are

http://bit.ly/readingtrove-17 — A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert.  Illustrated by Anita Lobel. (Knopf, 1986) — bartering services for goods

You may wish to also locate a copy of On Sand Island by Jacqueline Briggs Martin - a final view of the system.

Spotlight on Literacy #15 - The Goat in the Rug

Trading and Bartering:  Story #2
View and read along:  https://youtu.be/nCek0vg9Fys - The Goat in the Rug by Geraldine as told to Charles L. Blood & Martin Link.  Illustrations by Nancy Winslow Parker (Knopf, 1986).
This is a tale similar to  A Navajo woman shears her goat, washes and cards the wool and so forth.  She searches the countryside for plants that will yield the colored elements to dye the thread.  However, the goat eats the plants, so the woman must purchase the dyes.  For the most part, though, this story is one of self-sufficiency.  She does have to rely on others for the dyes.  This story moves us one step closer to bartering/purchasing the goods and services of others.

This is an example of a person being self-sufficient, with just the exception of having to purchase the dye.

Fill in the blanks on this sheet.  Review the story if you need to.

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 28). Spotlight on Literacy #15 - Goat in the Rug.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-15

Next pages available in the days that follow are

 http://bit.ly/readingtrove-16  — Pelle’s New Suit by Else Beskow. (Gryphon House, 1993) — bartering services for services

http://bit.ly/readingtrove-17 — A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert.  Illustrated by Anita Lobel. (Knopf, 1986) — bartering services for goods

You may wish to also locate a copy of On Sand Island by Jacqueline Briggs Martin - a final view of the system.

Spotlight on Literacy #14 - "Charlie Needs a Cloak"

Trading and Bartering: Introduction
We can learn about the origin of monetary system by reading the following stories.  Think about the plot in terms of the system of barter that takes place.  After  the bartering system, it is just a small step to think about the evolution from bartering to exchanging goods and services for money — the evolution of our monetary system.

Trading and Bartering:  Story #1
View and read along:  https://youtu.be/zclyZ2FzELE -

Tomie dePaola's Charlie Needs a Cloak (Simon, 1973; Aladdin, 1988 pb).  Charlie shears the wool of his sheep, cards, washes, and spins it into thread.  He dyes the thread and weaves the thread into cloth. Using the cloth, he cuts and sews his own cloak.

In this story Charlie does all the tasks to make his cloak.  This is an example of a person being self-sufficient.

Fill in the blanks on this sheet.  Review the story if you need to.

If you wish to print this, click on the image.

Think and write:
Check out what the mouse is doing on each of the illustrations.  Write or tell his story.

For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 27). Spotlight on Literacy #14 - Charlie Needs a Cloak.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-14

Next pages available in the days that follow are

http://bit.ly/readingtrove-15 — The Goat in the Rug by Geraldine, as told to Charles L. Blood and Martin Link.  Illustrated by Nancy Winslow Parker. (Four Winds, 1980; Aladdin, 19) — self-sufficient

 http://bit.ly/readingtrove-16  — Pelle’s New Suit by Else Beskow. (Gryphon House, 1993) — bartering services for services

http://bit.ly/readingtrove-17 — A New Coat for Anna by Harriet Ziefert.  Illustrated by Anita Lobel. (Knopf, 1986) — bartering services for goods

You may wish to also locate a copy of On Sand Island by Jacqueline Briggs Martin - a final view of the system.

Spotlight on Literacy #13 - Origami Birds

It's spring time — a time to watch the birds and flowers bloom.  A great time to use our reading skills to figure out how to make some birds of our own.  Here are directions for making some folded birds.

Origami is the traditional Japanese art or technique of folding paper into a variety of decorative or representational forms, as of animals or flowers.

You can use the birds to make a bird mobile if you wish -- but for now, here are the directions for making birds.

You will need some 6x6 inch square pieces of light weight paper (or if you can get origami paper that is the best).   But using what you have in the house works too.  Just cut into square pieces.

And then follow these directions to create your flock of birds.  These pages can be printed and stapled into a book.

If you want to make a mobile you will need some string and a stick of some sort (a clothes hanger will work too), add some string for hanging and then hang your birds from the stick (or hanger).

If you want to learn how  to create some other animals or birds you may want to visit the Origami Instructions and Diagrams page on the Internet at https://www.origamiway.com/.

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 27). Spotlight on Literacy #13 - Origami Birds.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-13

Spotlight on Literacy #12 - Observing Trolls

One of our favorite stories by Tomie dePaola is Helga's Dowry: A Troll Love Story.  In some places in the world when a man and woman get married, the woman's family pays the man a dowry — money and goods that reward the man for agreeing to take care of the woman.  If the woman is poor, she is likely not going to have a very big dowry. 
In Helga's Dowry, Helga is an orphan and doesn't have anyone to pay her dowry.  She expects to marry Lars but ...
When Lars agrees to marry Inge, because she has a larger dowry, Helga sits herself under a bridge. That is when she decides to do something about the dowry. So what does Helga do?  She sets out to do something about earning her own dowry. But it is also when someone else notices Helga. 

As you read or view the book, watch carefully to see who sees her under the bridge and who is watching her every time she goes down the hill to earn more of the dowry?  At the end of the story you will know who has been so interested in Helga and her work ethic — too bad for Lars.

Helga's Dowry, a Troll Love Story, by Tomie dePaola. Read by Jill, at Little Scandinavia, in Elkhorn, Nebraska.  https://youtu.be/L9F8CV42ZLE

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 23). Spotlight on Literacy #12 - Observing Trolls.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-12

Spotlight on Literacy #11 - We're Going on a Babar Hunt

Finding Babar -

Babar is an elephant character in books by Jean De Brunhoff, and in books by Laurent de Brunhoff. He snuck into  Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann.  View the book and read along: Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann | Children’s Read Aloud Story at https://youtu.be/VUMeBH6TXEY.  

See if you can find Babar.

We are going on a hunt — a hunt for hidden images in books.

 If you find Babar - tell us where in the comments below.  We'll post the answer there sometime in the future - in case you can not find him.

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 23). Spotlight on Literacy #11 - We're Going on a Babar Hunt.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-11

Spotlight on Literacy #10 - Being a Builder

It is fun to build things.  Here's a story about Maxine who builds things.  She takes apart objects and makes a float for the class pet parade.

Made by Maxine by Ruth Spiro, with illustrations by Holly Hatam (Dial Books, 2018). ISBN: 9780399186295.


Until June 2020 you can hear the author Ruth Spiro read her story on YouTube at https://youtu.be/93cE9QwsiMA.

Raid your family's recycling bin and see what you can repurpose to build something new. Or if your household has marshmallows (any size) and any of these items you can build towers, buildings, constellations, shapes, and other things that you can imagine.

Now let's see what you can make.

Teachers/parents:  To learn more about the author and her other books go to https://ruthspiro.com/.  

And if you have access to Jacqueline Briggs Martin's book, Bim, Bam, Bop and Oona, with illustrations by Larry Day (University of Minnesota Press, 2019) you may want to read that book too.

Check out the blog post "Being Good With Gizmos and Gadgets" 

at http://bit.ly/gizmos-gadgets for more ideas about building and creating.

Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. (2019). Bim, Bam, Bop …. And Oona. Illustrations by Larry Day. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN-13/EAN: 978-1517903954
Spiro, Ruth. (2018). Made by Maxine. Illustrations by Holly Hatam. Dial Books. ISBN-13/EAN: 978-0399186295

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 22). Spotlight on Literacy #10 - Being a Builder.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-10

Spotlight on Literacy #9 - Math Literacy

Spaghetti and Meatballs for All! A Mathematical Story by Debbie Tilley and Marilyn Burns (Scholastic, 2008).  View and read along with Glennan Saraceno at https://youtu.be/jN_GmgeU5cw.  

Cut eight pieces of paper into 2 inch x 2 inch squares.  Find markers of some type to represent chairs.  I will use buttons. (You could use mini cookies, bottle caps, or even a small lego piece -- anything to pretend we have a chair at the table).  Pretend the paper is a table and place one chair (the button) on each side of each table.  There should be 32 chairs for guests to sit at. Four at each table.

In the story as each new guest arrived they pushed tables together to make room.  Actually they were making fewer places to sit each time they moved a table or tables together.  Pretend new guests come.  Push a couple tables together.  How much room is there for chairs now?  Tell your own story about people coming to your house for dinner.  Move the tables and chairs.  See how moving the chairs changes the number of chairs that can be put at each table.

And does it matter if we put the tables in one long row or put the tables in a larger square?

The outside edge of the tables is called the perimeter.

Make your own drawings and write the problems.
How many sides x 2 feet = perimeter.

Each person needs 2 feet to sit at the table so, perimeter divided by 2 = the number of people that can sit at a table.

Try these problems:

1. Put all eight tables together, how many chairs or people will fit at the tables?
2. Put four of the tables together, how many chairs or people will fit at the tables?
3. Put two of the tables together, how many chairs or people will fit at the tables?
4. If each table is by itself, how many chairs or people will fit at the tables?
5. Can you think of any other way to arrange the tables?
6.  What arrangement allows the most people to sit at the eight tables?
7. What arrangement allows the least number of people to sit at the eight tables?

Answers:

1. (18) 1 on each side of the table, and one at the 2 ends = 18
2. (10) 1 on each side of the table, and one at the 2 ends  x 2 (sets of tables) = 20
3. (6) 1 on each side of the table, and one at the 2 ends x 4 (sets of tables) = 24
4. (32) 8 tables x 4 = 32
5. 
   
6. 8 tables set alone so that one person can sit on each of the four sides.
7. When all 8 tables are set end to end, two sides on six of the tables can not have people sitting at them; and two tables can only have three sides with people at them.

Use your paper pieces to show each arrangement; or just draw the arrangement on a piece of paper.

Teachers/parents:  If you wish more titles that feature mathematical concepts, you may wish to visit: Math Connections & Literacy. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/Math-Literacy

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 21). Spotlight on Literacy #9 - Math Literacy.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-9

Book Lovers: Get a Clue from Pryor Optimus

Read along!

Can you answer these questions?

1) Who is the author of this story?  That is the person who wrote the story

2) Who is the illustrator that created the pictures? 

3) Who are the three main characters in the story?

4) Which character do you not see in the illustrations?

5) Please draw a picture of that character? 

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Check your answers.

1) The author is really two people, Don and Audrey Wood.

2) The illustrator is Don Wood.

3) The three main characters are named in the title: the mouse, the strawberry, and the bear.  Really the strawberry is probably not a character as she is not living but she is a main object.

4) We do not see the bear.

5) So what does your bear look like?

Oh and the book it is of course:

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood, with illustrations by Don Wood (Child's Play, 1984).  To learn more about Audrey and Don Wood and their many books visit:  http://www.audreywood.com/

Spotlight on Literacy #8 - Find Flowers to Press

Find Flowers to Press

Poetry and stories that connect to flowers beg to be illustrated with a collage of dried flowers.  And now is the time to gather flowers to create some art.

April is a month when flowers begin to bloom.  Depending on where you live there might be violets (purple/blue or white), daffodils, jonquils, and other flowers such as irises.  There are many fun things to make with dried flower blooms but it takes 2-3 weeks to dry the flowers and then to make the art, bookmarks, or other objects.  To get ready for this, you might search for the flowers now, dry them, and in a couple of weeks we will be ready to create some fun art projects.  And to write or collect some favorite poems or stories to connect with our flowers.

1) Plan a flower foraging walk outside of your house.  

2) Take a plastic bucket to put your flowers in.  Pick only the blooms and a few inches of the stem.  Be careful not to disturb the entire plant.  And pick only where you are permitted to pick them. Try collecting the flowers on a sunny day when they will not be wet or covered with dew. 

3) When you get the flowers home, gently take the blossoms off the stems, and a few leaves / stems that you may want to dry/press.

4) Locate a very fat book, a telephone book, or two heavy objects such as two bricks.  Open the book, and put a piece of newspaper (or parchment paper) on the page.  If using objects such as a brick, put the paper on top of one of the bricks. 

5) Place the flower, face down on the newspaper.  Make sure it will be covered by the top of the book or the other brick. 

6) Put a piece of newspaper, or the parchment paper on top of the flowers and then close the book or put the second heavy object on top of the flowers.  If the flowers are not under the heavy object or are sticking out of the book they will not be pressed.

7)  The newspaper will help absorb the moisture from the flower so don't skip that part.

8)  We will leave the flowers for at least two weeks.

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 17). Spotlight on Literacy #8 - Find Flowers to Press.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-8

Spotlight on Literacy #7 - Collecting Family Recipes

Collect a Family Recipe

Uncle Steve makes wonderful chocolate chip cookies, and Aunt Suzi makes delicious pumpkin bars. Often grandmothers or grandfathers have favorite dishes that they bring for family potlucks or serve for holiday meals.   For the next couple of days make a plan to find recipes from your family.  Gather just one or create a cookbook for the family.  Perhaps even make copies of the cookbook and plan to gift other members of the family.

Think about a favorite food that you like that someone has made for you.  Write a letter or send a message to the person or you might want to phone and ask for the recipe.  Write the recipe down and collect information about the recipe.  Use these templates if they are helpful.

Use the recipe and ask an adult to help you make the recipe and share the results.

Teachers/parents:  If you wish more details regarding this activity lesson, you may wish to visit: Family Recipes: Publishing a Family Recipe Book. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/familyrecipebook

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For more learning activities visit http://bit.ly/mclinks101

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McElmeel, Sharron (2020, April 9). Spotlight on Literacy #7 - Collecting Family Recipes.  Reading Trove.  Retrieved from http://bit.ly/readingtrove-7