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

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Cite this page as:

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

Share this page by using this link: http://bit.ly/readingtrove-16

Cite this page as:

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

Share this page by using this link: http://bit.ly/readingtrove-15

Cite this page as:

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

Share this page by using this link: http://bit.ly/readingtrove-14

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.