Will You Trade Me?

Chris, Myself, and Kristi with what we ended up with after our trade.

Today was our "Trade Fair". Our assignment for our Trade Fair was to create a "ware" for the class. I decided that I wanted to paint something. I enjoy painting and had the supplies to do so. I painted an abstract picture I titled "The Blocks" portraying the stress and fun of blocks 1,2, and 3. I was very confident of my ware, that is until I got to class. I began to feel as if my trade item was inferior. I looked around the room. I saw homemade jewelry, pillow, cupcakes, clipboard... all amazing.

Then it came time to trade. I immediately felt shy and nervous, something I rarely am. I saw things I wanted, but would they trade me? I was feeling exactly the way I was supposed to feel. The French and the Indians they traded fur, jewelry, gold, weapons, and tools. I began to understand how they must of felt. Others in class had more than one ware, so they were able to get more. Similar to the French, they had more valuable items, such as gold. They wanted fur, because fur meant you were wealthy. This is a great way to learn about trade in the past and how it still takes place today. I feel this is a great history lesson as well as economics and math. Other things that could be taught would be manners and respect and other social skills. I hope to implement this, as well as other hand-on activities, in my future classroom.