The Giving Tree

Topic/ Aim: Students will identify materials/products/foods that come from trees and how they
use these items in their own daily lives.

Curriculum/ Academic Areas Involved:

• Science:
○ Living environment: trees

• English/Language Arts:
○ Reading comprehension
○ Responding to literature
○ Writing
○ Speaking
○ Social interaction

• ESL:
○ Vocabulary
○ Using English for listening, speaking, reading and writing

Standards:
 Content:

New York State Learning Standards:

➢ English/ Language Arts

ELA Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding

Key Idea 1
Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data,
facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using
knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.

Key Idea 2
Speaking and writing to acquire and transmit information requires asking probing and
clarifying questions, interpreting information in one’s own words, applying information
from one context to another, presenting the information from one context to another, and
presenting the information and interpretation clearly, concisely, and comprehensibly.

ELA Standard 2: Language for Literacy Response and Expression

Key Idea 1
Listening and reading for literacy response involves comprehending; interpreting, and
critiquing imaginative texts in every medium, drawing on personal experiences and
knowledge to understand the text, and recognize the social, historical and cultural
features of the text.
ELA Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As
listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues
presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they
will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English
language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on
experiences, ideas, information and issues.

ELA Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction

Key Idea 1
Oral communication in formal and informal settings requires the ability to talk with
people of different ages, genders, and cultures, to adapt presentations to different
audiences, and to reflect on how talk varies in different situation.

➢ The Arts

Standard 1: Creating, Performing, and participating in the Arts

Key Idea 1
Students will make works of art that explore different kinds of subject matter, topics,
themes and metaphors. Students will understand and use sensory elements,
organizational principles, and expressive images to communicate their own ideas in
works of art. Students will use a variety of art materials, processes, mediums, and
techniques, and use appropriate technologies for creating an exhibiting visual art work.

➢ Science
Standard 1 – Living Environment
Living things are both similar to and different from
each other and nonliving things.

 ESL

Goal 1, Standard 1:
To use English to communicate in social settings: Students will use English to participate
in social interactions.

Goal 1, Standard 2:
To use English to communicate in social settings: Students will interact in, through, and
with spoken and written English for personal expression and enjoyment.
Goal 2, Standard 1:
To use English to achieve academically in all content areas: Students will use English to
interact in the classroom.
 Goal 2, Standard 2:
To use English to achieve academically in all content areas: Students will use English to
obtain, process, construct, and provide subject matter information in spoken and written
form.
Goal 3, Standard 1:
To use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways: Students will use the
appropriate language variety, register, and genre according to audience, purpose, and
setting.
Goal 3, Standard 2:
To use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways: Students will use nonverbal
communication appropriate to audience, purpose, and setting.
Goal 3, Standard 3:
To use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways: Students will use appropriate
learning strategies to extend their sociolinguistic and sociocultural competence.
Objectives:
Content:
• Students will participate in watching The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein on
the computer.
• Students will complete a response to literature to the story The Giving Tree.
• Students will participate in brainstorming (creating class charts) materials/
products that come from tress based on prior knowledge, the two internet
websites and The Giving Tree.
• Students will identify and cut out pictures from magazines of
products/objects/foods that are made/come from trees.
• Students will label the objects/products/foods (that are produced by trees) that
they pasted to their poster board.
• Students will share and discuss their posters with their classmates.
• Students will write a response to the question: what products do trees give us?

ESL
Listening:
• Students will listen to the story The Giving Tree being read in English.
• Students will listen to their classmates in English.
Speaking:
• Students will use English to communicate.
Writing:
• Students will write using English vocabulary.
Vocabulary:
• Want
• Need
• Giving

Instructional Materials:
• The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein
 • computer – blog site
• magazines
• scissors
• glue and tape
• teacher example
• markers
• teacher example
• poster board (5 – one for each group)
• lined paper
• pencils
Modifications:
• Cultural: students may not have climbed trees in their native county or it may
have been inappropriate to swing from them.
• Visual: picture cards of the vocabulary and products/materials of things we get
from trees.
• Example: Teacher created poster
• Teacher modeling

Day 1:
Activities to Prepare Student for Lesson:

1. Activate Prior Knowledge: Have any of you ever climbed a tree? What about at the
park, what do you notice about the trees? Have you even gotten anything from a tree?

2. Review Background Knowledge: We have been talking about trees this past month.
We learned the different kinds, the part of a tree, what tress need to live and where to find
trees. Now, it are going to learn some things that tress give to us.

3. Review vocabulary. Show students pictures of the vocabulary words.

Teaching Procedures:

1. After reviewing the vocabulary, call the students from the rug to the computer area.

2. Go to blog page: www.lindsayteach007.blogspot.com.

3. Introduce the story The Giving Tree by ShelSilverstein.

4. Show students the cover of the book and a picture of the author.

5. Explain to students that we will not be reading the story but watching an animated
version on the computer. Animated means a movie version.

6. Ask students to look for things that the tree gives the boy/man as we watch the short clip.
 7. Have a student hit play and make the clip full sized on the screen.

8. After the clip is over, call students back to the rug area.

9. On the board write down student responses to the question: what did the tree give to the
boy/man? Student may need examples to get them started. Expected responses: wood,
apples, shade, etc.

10. Discuss the events of the story and ask students their favorite part.

11. After the class discussion, tell students it is time for them to complete a response to
literature. They may write about their favorite part, the events of the story, or perhaps a
tree that they love.

12. Walk around and assist students as needed.

Summary/ Closure:

1. Pick 3 students to share their responses. Allow students to ask questions and discuss
students work.

2. Collect papers.

Day 2:
Activities to Prepare Student for Lesson:

1. Activating Prior Knowledge: Yesterday we watched an animated version of The Giving

Tree by Shel Silverstein. We learned that trees can give us a lot of things! Think back and
I will show you pictures from the book to help you remember, what things did the tree
give to the boy/man? Let's look back and review the class list of all the things the tree
gave to the boy/man.

Teaching Procedures:

2. After prior knowledge has been activated, call students over to the computer area.

3. Log on to: www.lindsayteach007.blogspot.com.

4. Scroll down to Student Presentation- The Giving Tree Day 2 where the two hyper links
are located.

5. Have a student click on one link at a time. Show the students the site and see if any
students can read off some of the item on the sites. Show the students examples. If
students aren’t aware of the materials show them a picture off of the internet.

6. Ask students to turn and talk with a partner about some of their favorite items that comes
from trees.
 7. Call students back as a group and ask them to share.

8. Record their answers onto the class list that has already been started yesterday.

Summary/ Closure:

1. Wow look at all these things we can get from trees! Trees sure are important. Why do
you think trees are important?

2. After the class discussion, hang up the chart on the board for students to refer back to.

Day 3:
Activities to Prepare Student for Lesson:

1. Activating Prior Knowledge: For the past two days we have been learning about some
products that trees give us. Let's look over our class list to refresh our memories.

Teaching Procedures:

2. After looking over the class list introduce today’s activity.

3. Explain to students that today we will be creating posters in our table groups. We will be
cutting out pictures from magazines of products/ materials that come from trees.

4. Explain to students that there are several to choose from but we must only cut out items
that have come from a tree. This means to plastic, metal, etc.

5. Show students teacher made example.

6. Tell students that they are to label each item that is on their poster just like the teacher
example.

7. Review student roles with the class, (students were assigned roles at the beginning of the
year): Facilitator: Will keep everyone on task and make sure everyone has a voice volume
of a #1.

Time keeper: Keeps an eye on the clock and will make sure the poster is done on time.

Presenter: Will present the final poster to the class.

Gofer: Will gather materials and put them away.

Recorder: Will label the materials/products on the poster.

8. Pass out 1 poster board to each group.

 9. Have students go back to their tables. Have the gofer gather supply boxes that have
scissors, pencils, etc in them.

10. Pass out magazines.

11. Allow students to begin working. Walk around and assist as needed.

12. Make sure the recorder is labeling the objects and group members are assisting.

13. When students are finished allow them to present their poster to the class. Review the
items on the poster with students, have students question items that don’t belong on the
poster (if any).

14. Allow students time to clean up.

Summary/ Closure:

1. On the board write the following question: What products do trees give us? Allow for a
short class discussion.

2. Give the students the following sentence starter: Trees give us…

3. Send students back to their seats to work. Have paper passes pass out paper and table
monitors get pencils.

4. Collect papers as students finish. Papers will be compiled together to create a class book
for the classroom library.

Assessment and Evaluation

Reflection Questions:

Were students able to identify objects/ products/foods that come from trees?

Did students write a response to literature?

Did students write about what they get from trees?

Did students complete a poster?

Did the students work together to create the poster?

Did each student follow their assigned group role?

Assessment: See Class Rubric