Literacy-The+Giving+Tree

Please let us know about suggestions, corrections, resources, etc. To join, contact: kphilli2@schools.nyc.gov Photograph of trees in Hoover Park, Briarwood, NY Combining Fiction and Non-Fiction, the units below include //The Giving Tree// and non-fiction reading on trees.

Karen has a Quick Time movie with music and trees of Briarwood. You can access it at: http://www.filedropper.com/treesintheurbanenvironment

To differentiate this mini-unit, selected students can do research on trees, identifying trees around the school, using the leaves and bark. See Renee Melendez' Giving Tree Unit and Perla Bautista's Giving Tree unit for research work below, and at "The Lorax - Ecology," see Hillary Aleshin's //The Lorax// unit nd Ms. Shyam's Ecosystems mini-unit.

Powerpoint of Days 1-3 of 5 days. •Warm Up/Motivation - **Watch movie on trees of Briarwood (Ask Karen to send this to you via transferbigfiles.com.** •**Read quotes, write, share out** •**Devise Big Ideas and Essential Questions, based upon wonderings and thoughts on quotes.**
 * Ag****enda – Trees in the Urban Environment**[[file:Quotes on Trees by Gibran Tagore Cather.doc]]
 * Day 1**
 * There is more information on trees in NYC and what we can do in the handbook below:**

 
 * Day 2**

•**Read Shel Silverstein’s //The Giving Tree//** •**//Use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast student’s and boy’s attitudes about and use of trees.//** • Shared Reading. **Read MillionTreesNYC quote about what we can do.** · **Students go back and revise graphic organizer.**
 * //Writing Matters Work Sheets: [[file:Writing Matters RTL_1 3a Writing BIs and EQs Hand-out DI.doc]][[file:Writing Matters RTL2_2a Find Evidence-Big Idea - EQ.doc]]//**

**Alternative reading: //The Lorax.//**

•**Read Achieve 3000 article, “Do Trees Help or Hurt?” or article, "Does Nature Need Our Help?"** •**Complete activity, thought question, and poll.** •**Extended Learning – Watch video about Urban Ecology and what students are doing in class. [|Middle School Students As Arborists] You have to register at VITAL PBS, or get movie from Karen.** •**Using your responses to quotes, the graphic organizers, work in groups and construct a presentation on trees.** Writing Matters' - Writing Poetry Worksheet on writing a "Surroundings" poem, edited for a poem about trees:
 * Day 3**
 * Day 4**

•**Day 5** •**Presentations with rubric.**



Ms. Bautista's and Ms. Melendez' mini-units include vocabulary and research on trees.

Nice pictures and graphics. This handbook has information on the parts of the tree, what trees do for us economically, environmentally, psychologically, and physically. It also describes what people can do to help the trees grow and be healthy.

ESL plan with Giving Tree and internet research.

4 Day Unit plan with Giving Tree and a non-fiction research project