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Summary and Objective
Students will understand:
• that an item that is produced, manufactured, or made for purchase and use is called a product or good. These goods can be classified into those we need and those we want.
• that animal fibers (wool) and plant fibers (flax and cotton) have been used throughout history to produce cloth, (a good) which is then manufactured into other usable goods.
• that the steps in the process of turning plant and animal fibers into cloth remains much the same throughout history, while the tools used in the production have changed greatly with demand and advances in technology.
• that in the past, families would produce by hand many of the clothing items that members needed, whereas now most clothing items are manufactured in factories and purchased fully-made in stores.
• that people in the past used trade and barter in exchange for goods they needed. As jobs outside the home became more prevalent, people were paid for their work with money and used it to buy goods they needed.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Day 1
The teacher will read "Charlie Needs a Cloak" by Tomi de Paola (ISBN 0590441884), and "A New Coat for Anna" by Harriet Ziefert (ISBN 9780394898612).
Step 2.
Make a Venn Diagram on the board with the title of each story on one side or the other. Students will then compare and contrast the stories.
Comparisons: Both characters needed outerwear for warmth. The steps in the cloth and coat production were similar in both stories even though they took place during different time periods. In both stories it took a long time for the coat to be produced because it was made by hand. Contrasts: Charlie needed a cloak. Anna needed a coat. This illustrates a time period difference.
Charlie produced the cloak independently because he had the fiber and the tools and the skill available to him.
Anna’s mom had other people produce her coat because she did not have all the aspects of the production at hand herself. This suggests a time period and location difference.
Anna’s mom made trades or bartered in order to pay for her coat. This illustrates a time period difference.
Step 3.
The students will generate two lists, written down by the teacher:
1. Sequencing the steps in the process of making cloth as illustrated in the books.
2. Listing goods used daily that are made of cloth (discuss needs and wants)
Step 4.
Day 2
Briefly review the Venn diagram and lists generated the day before from the stories.
Step 5.
Tell the children that you are going to show them real tools that were used in the past in a person’s household for the purpose of producing cloth. The students' job will be to match the tools to the steps in the process of cloth making. Show the following pictures chosen for this activity: Hand Cards, Great Wheel, Flax Wheel, Niddy Noddy, Tape Loom. Ask students to think about how each tool is used. What parts move? How it is powered? Who would use the tool? Show the children the Spinning Equipment picture and ask where they think this room is. Also ask why there is so much spinning equipment in one room.
Step 6.
Show the students the video clips of the tools from above being used. Go to http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/home.html.
Click Activities, choose Video Demonstrations of Early American Tools and choose the following:
1. Hand Cards
2. Great Wheel
3. Niddy Noddy
4. Tape Loom.
Then read pages 63-66 of "Little Jack of All Trades with Suitable Representation Part I". Discuss the section on weaving with the students. Ask them to describe from their observations: how each tool is used, how each tool is powered, how many people are needed to operate the tool. How much cloth do they think can be made in one hour or one day using these tools?
Step 7.
Show the students the fabric order for Orlando Ware’s store. Discuss that this is an order for 6 1/2 yards of fabric. (Use a yardstick to measure that amount for students) Have them consider the time someone would have to be paid for, if they were making that amount of cloth with hand-operated tools. Discuss the saying, “Time is money!” Ask students what they think it means.
Show the picture of the Old Green River Mill that was bought by Colonel William Moore who turned it into a cotton mill in 1791. Ask the students: why was the mill built so close to the Green River? Why build a mill and use water to power the tools inside?
Use the Lowell Article regarding cotton mills to illustrate how the building of water-powered mills created many jobs. This increased the amount of cloth available for purchase and put money in the pockets of people who could then buy more goods. As necessary, explain that the water powered the spindles and looms.
Discuss how the changes in population, employment and the demand for cloth resulted in changes in how cloth was produced.
Step 8.
Access the Cotton Counts website. Show the students the tools used now in modern cloth production. Ask: how is cloth production different today? What is used to power modern machinery? What advantages and disadvantages are there to modern cloth production? Which would you like better, the new or the old way of making cloth?
Follow-up activities could include research on how the production of other goods has changed over time.
A wonderful book that links to wool production is Weaving a Rainbow (ISBN 9780689851698)
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