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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Cite this page as:

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.