Charlie Needs a Cloak
Charlie is a shepherd, and everyone says he needs a cloak. Charlie and his sheep produce this good using capital, natural, and human resources, as he shears his sheep, cards and spins the wool, weaves and dyes the cloth, and sews a beautiful new red cloak. Charlie does not specialize, but prefers to do all of the work himself.
Economic Concepts
- Productive Resources
- Producers
- Goods
- Specialization
- Natural Resources
- Human Resources
- Capital Resources
Grade Levels
- Primary (K-3)
Related Subjects
- Multicultural
- World History
Teacher Tips for Using this Book
Online Lesson, Charlie Needs a Cloak
http://www.kidseconbooks.com/html/charlie_needs_a_cloak.html
Students read the book and discuss the economics concepts through a set of questions and answers.
Lesson 1, Charlie Needs a Cloak
from Using Economics to Teach Children’s Literature
Students discuss the story. They learn about the different productive resources (natural, human, and capital) that Charlie used. Then they complete worksheets to classify the resources. They find that Charlie does not specialize in his production. He does all of the production steps himself (unit production).