RESOURCES
GENERAL BARTER INFORMATION
Check out BarterStrategies.com for general information about all aspects of barter.
BARTER OR TRADE SITES
AssetFair.com for trading luxury or high-priced items or debts
BarterBart.com for general trading
Barterfest.net for general barter and auctions
BarterPalace.com for general trading
BarterQuest.com for general barter
BarterSwitch.com for general barter
CareToTrade.com for general and real estate trade (in beta test version)
CraigsList.org has a general bartering section for many cities
Favorpals.com for general barter and health care
GoSwap.com for vehicles and real estate
SwapAce.com for general trades, free items, and sales
SwapatHome.com for general trading with coupons as a form of scrip
SwapGiant.com for general trading
Swap-It-Now.com for general trading
Swap.net for general trading with scrip (membership fee)
SwapTreasures.com for general trades
TradeAFavor.com, a Facebook.com-based site for general trade
TradeAmericaOnline.com for general barter in the U.S.
TradeAway.com for trading vehicles and general items (allows auctions and cash sales)
TradeGlobalOnline.com for general barter outside the U.S.
TradeYaInc.com for general barter (with a membership and transaction fees
Trashbank.com for general barter and cash sales
U-Exchange.com is a general barter site for goods, services, and residential real estate
USwapIt.com for general trading
GRASSROOTS / DIRECT EXCHANGES / BARTER CLUBS
antoniopuri.com/Art4Barter.htm, the site for Art4Barter (paintings, sculpture, photography, and other art available through barter)
Barter4Kids.com is the Web site for the barter clothing exchange in Willow Spring, North Carolina
FloridaBarterBanque.com, located in mid-Florida, for business and individual barter
Grace Hill Settlement House has a time bank at www.gracehill.org
Hubbell Trading Post is a working U.S. government-run trading post for Native American goods that accepts barter (nps.gov/hutr/index.htm)
IthacaHours.org is the site for the barter system set up in Ithaca, New York
MadisonHours.org is a time bank in Madison, Wisconsin
Meetup.com is a searchable Web site with barter groups as well as other community groups that might have barter activities
Michigan Barter Marketplace (www.mibartermarketplace.com. )
musee-solomon.com, for the artist Pablo Solomon, who trades his paintings, drawings, and sculpture
PaulGlover.org, for information about starting a community barter system such as the one Paul Glover started in Ithaca, New York
St. Louis Barter (StLouisBarter.com)
TimeBanks.org for information about starting and managing a time-bank barter system
HOME OR VACATION BARTER SITES
AllStates1031.com is an intermediary that handles barter real estate exchanges for clients nationwide
DomuSwap.com for trading real estate
ExchangeHomes.com for permanent trades
Federation of Exchange Accommodators, www.1031.org, or (215) 564-3484 (maintains a list of firms that can assist with 1031 barter property transactions)
4homex.com for global home exchanges
GoSwap.org for real estate trades
HomeBase-hols.com for holiday trades
HomeExchange.com for swapping homes on vacation
HomeLink.org for swapping homes on vacation
OnlineHouseTrading.com for real estate trades
RealEstateExchange.com for real estate trades
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
IRTA.org is the International Reciprocal Trade Association
NATE.org is the National Association of Trade Exchanges
BARTER EXCHANGE CHAINS OR FRANCHISORS
International Monetary Systems (imsbarter.com) ITEX (itex.com)
SPECIALTY BARTER
BookMooch.com for books
Bookswap.com for textbooks
CellSwapper.com to trade your cell phone
CellTradeUSA.com to trade your cell phone contract
Favorpals.com for general barter and health-care trades
Kidzoodle.com for trading and auctioning children’s items
PaperbackSwap.com for books
Points.com to swap frequent flier miles from one airline to another
Rehashclothes.com for clothing, accessories, and books
SwapALease.com for trading your car’s lease for another lease
Swapnstuff.com for trading DVDs, CDs, books, textbooks, and video games to earn points
SwapTree.com for books, movies, CDs, and games
TheSwap.com for homeschool curriculum materials
TotsSwapShop.com for children’s items
VeggieTrader.com to buy, sell, or trade produce
BABYSITTING CO-OPS
BabySittingCoop.com to learn more about how to set up your own co-op
BabysitterExchange.com to learn more about how to set up your own co-op
HelpingHero.com to purchase software to calculate points in a co-op
FLEA MARKETS/SWAP MEETS
BlossomSwap.com for trading plants and bulbs
Classic Bicycle Swap meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at ann-arbor-bicycleshow.com
Craftster.org to organize swap meets of craft projects
Swap.bead-patterns.com for trading beads
Swap-bot.com lets users organize their own swap meets
Swap Meet in Riverdale, Utah, at motorvu.com
BARTER CONTRACTS
Docstoc.com has a downloadable barter contract that can be used at no cost at http://www.docstoc.com/docs/2836850/barter-agreement
MONEY VERSUSBARTER LESSON PLAN
| Grade Level 2nd Grade | Length of Lesson 50 minutes |
- I. Prior Knowledge
To assess the students’ prior knowledge, have students complete a crossword puzzle. The crossword puzzle assesses the students’ understanding of the economic vocabulary words. The across and the down columns give the students the definition of the vocabulary words. The students’ vocabulary words or answers will be in a key box. The students will figure out which economic vocabulary word fits with the correct definition. This activity allows the students to review the economic vocabulary words that will be discussed throughout the unit.
- II. Goal
To explain or demonstrate how people trade and barter.
- III. Learner Outcomes
Before the group discussion, the students will complete an economic vocabulary crossword puzzle with 75 percent accuracy. (Knowledge & Comprehension)
During a whole class activity, the students will participate in a game of trade and bartering with no errors. (Application)
After the whole class activity, the students will complete a poster that will name what they were able to barter or trade, with 80 percent accuracy. (Application)
During an individual activity, the students will complete a worksheet and explain any difficulties they had with trading. The goal is 80 percent accuracy. (Evaluation)
- IV. Procedures
- Preassessment/Vocabulary crossword puzzle (Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Logical)
- Before the lesson, hand the students a vocabulary crossword puzzle to complete.
- Differentiation: Allow the students to work in teams of two. This will allow students to work together to figure out the answers. Students who are stronger in reading can work with those who struggle with reading and vocabulary.
- This vocabulary crossword puzzle will assess the students’ understanding of the economic vocabulary words to be discussed throughout the unit. They include barter, trade, money, cash, exchange, buy, sell, value, goods, services, currency, scrip, wants, needs, and fairness.
- Give the students ample time to complete the preassessment.
- Read aloud The Ox-Cart Man/book discussion (Interpersonal, Linguistic, Spatial)
- 1.Begin the book by asking a question.
- “Have you ever made anything to sell?” (Knowledge)
- 2.After the book is finished, ask the students a series of questions.
- “What were some of the things the man and his family made?” (Comprehension)
- “What were some of the things the man and his family grew or collected?” (Comprehension)
- “What other items did the farmer sell?” (Comprehension)
- “What did the farmer get at the market in Portsmouth?” (Comprehension)
- 4.Write all their answers on a whiteboard so the students will be able to reflect on them later on throughout the lesson.
- 1.Begin the book by asking a question.
- Discuss economic concepts: natural resources, exchange, and barter (Linguistic, Interpersonal, Logical, Spatial)
- Explain what natural resources are to the class.
- Make a list of the natural resources from the book.
- Explain what trade, barter, and exchange are.
- Explain the new vocabulary by telling the students stories.
- “Almost everyone has traded something at some time. If you brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, but you’re tired of peanut butter and jelly, you might trade for your friend’s turkey and cheese sandwich.”
- “What are some other things people sometimes trade for?” (Analysis)
- “When you trade for something else, we say you have exchanged these items. Do you remember the word exchange?” (Knowledge)
- “One way to exchange things is to barter them. A long time ago, before money was invented, people would use barter to get the things they needed that they couldn’t get for themselves. One person might have loved to fish. He fished all day long. He had lots and lots of fish, but he really wanted some milk and cheese items, although he didn’t have a cow.”
- “How could he get milk or butter or cheese?” (Analysis)
- “The man with the fish could find a man with a cow and barter with him.”
- “What do you think they might exchange?” (Synthesis)
- Large group activity: Trading and bartering game (Interpersonal, Spatial, Linguistic, Logical, Bodily-Kinetics)
- Group four to five students into separate “countries” that will be bartering.
- Appoint a leader of each country.
- Have students cut and paste their flag onto the country’s poster.
- Each student will then write the name of their country and the names of their fellow citizens.
- Each student will pick one item they would like to have for their country.
- Each student will list the item obtained on one side of the poster, labeled sell.
- The students will then work with their team to decide what they would like to barter and trade for with the other countries.
- Remind them that they should pick items that would be beneficial for survival, that is, yarn (clothing), bread (food), tea (beverage), wood (shelter).
- Allow ten minutes or so for trading.
- Students will list each item they bartered for on the other side of the poster, labeled bought.
- Individual activity/The Trouble with Trading worksheet (Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Logical)
- Explain the individual activity to the students.
- Hand out a worksheet to the students that asks the following questions: Did you have enough items to trade to get everything you wanted? Were some items more popular than others? Did you have trouble getting people to trade with you at times? Why? Were some items more valuable than others? Why? Why is barter harder to use than money?
- Allow plenty of time for students to finish the worksheet.
- Closure-sharing (Interpersonal, Linguistic)
After this activity, the students will be given time to share and to talk about the difference between bartering (or trading) and money.
Lesson plan provided by elementary educator Tara Stitzel of St. Louis, Missouri.
- Preassessment/Vocabulary crossword puzzle (Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Logical)
Sample Barter Agreement
Trade Tracking
