I used this lesson, with much success, in sixth grade language arts classes. We had done interdisciplinary activities before, so the students were able to appreciate that economic concepts could be introduced in a fable and folk tale unit.

If teaching multiple classes, one following the other, it would be a good idea to create multiple sets of the bartering and money cards as resorting can be time consuming.

The bartering activity gives the students an opportunity to get up out of their seats and interact with classmates. This can be noisy, but worth it when you hear them discussing how much fun they had in class to other students during lunch.

I taught this lesson to my fourth grade students to explain the concept of barter and the role that money can play in a society. The story that accompanied the lesson was a little strange(a hen needs butter to "grease" a roosters throat since he has a seed stuck in it) but got the point across to students. The trading cards were well organized with coded numbers and symbols so that the teacher and/or student could easy see if the correct trade was made. I chose to copy the "ONE GREEN" cards onto green construction paper so that they were not confused with the other cards, and so they looked like "money". Be aware that "Visual 2" under #9 in the Procedures section is not listed in the materials section, but is actually "Activity 2".

This lesson is good to teach students about barter and the role of money in our economic system.

Cant wait to actually implement this lesson. sounds great!