Charlie Needs a Cloak Unit Study

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Charlie needs a new coat. This story takes the reader and listener through the entire coat making process as Charlie shears the sheep, cards and spins the wool, weaves and dyes the cloth, and finally sews a new coat.

Enjoy the lessons created for this book; they are found in our free Charlie Needs a Cloak unit study download.

Thanks to Candace Crabtree for writing this Charlie Needs a Cloak unit study and sharing it with us.

Charlie Needs a Cloak Unit Study

Here are a few sample lessons from the Charlie Needs a Cloak unit study:

Language Arts: Words with Multiple Meanings
Read the very first sentence in the book, “Poor Charlie!”
Discuss why your child thinks Charlie might be “poor.” Does this mean he isn’t rich? Or can it mean something else? At the end of the book discuss what your child now knows about Charlie. Discuss other words that have more than one meaning. Poetry and Nursery

Language Arts: Sheep Nursery Rhymes
There are lots of nursery rhymes that include sheep. Learn some of them together this week with your student. Your student can make a book of the following Nursery Rhymes. Read the rhymes to your student (and discuss as appropriate). Read this book frequently this week; student love to look at books they have made!

Science: Natural Dyes
Charlie chose pokeweed berries to dye his coat. If you have an opportunity for nature study this week, go outside and collect items that may produce color. Bring a few of each item inside. Try rubbing your items on paper (berries, leaves, flowers). Do any of them produce color?

Try some of these dyes, too (for dyeing, you may want to use an old sock or scrap of fabric or even something else). Have your student hypothesize what the final color outcome will be for each dye. Use the prepared dye chart to record predictions. If your student is too young to write, simply let him color the square with a crayon (in the color he think the item will be dyed). After the items are dyed and dry, go back to your chart. Was your student right? Let him add the answers for the outcomes.

Also, you may want to let two items soak in the same color dye for different time periods. Which one will be lighter? Which one will be darker? Let your student discover these things with as little prompting from you as possible.

Beet Juice Dye
Mix 1 cup strained juice from canned beets, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water.

Grape Juice Dye
Mix 1 cup purple grape juice, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water.

Yellow Onion Dye
In a pot, mix 1 cup yellow onion skin (about 2 onions’ worth), packed loosely, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water.
Boil mixture for ½ hour, cool to room temperature, strain out the onion skin.

Red Cabbage Dye
In a pot, mix 1 cup red cabbage leaves, torn and loosely packed, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water.
Boil mixture for ½ hour, cool to room temperature, strain out the cabbage leaves.

Math: Counting
Count the sheep on each page of the story. You could also count the pokeweed berry bushes on the page where Charlie dyes the yarn.

Your student could also find and count the mice hidden throughout the illustrations.

To access all of the lessons in this unit study, grab an easy-to-print file at the end of this post.

Charlie Needs a Cloak Printables

In addition to the unit study lessons, this Charlie Needs a Cloak download also includes these printables:

Charlie Needs a Cloak Word Find
How Did Charlie Get His Cloak? Layer Book
Word Tile Pages
Natural Dyes Science Page
My Book of Nursery Rhymes
Sheep Family Names Tri-fold Book
Sheep Lacing Card
Jesus Is the Good Shepherd Coloring Page

How to Get Started with the Charlie Needs a Cloak Unit Study

Follow these simple instructions to get started with the Charlie Needs a Cloak unit study and printables:

Buy a copy of the book, Charlie Needs a Cloak, or check it out from your local library.
Print the Charlie Needs a Cloak unit study
Choose the lessons you want to use with your student (a highlighter works great for this).
Choose and prepare the printables you want to use with your student.
Enjoy a week of book based learning with your student.