The Giving Tree / L’arbre généreux

by Shel Silverstein

Whole-school sequence developed by Ann Gordon and June Bouchard

ÉcoleQuarterwaySchool

Family Literacy Week - January 2012

Rationale / purpose:

-To introduce the power to transform: key points from the text plus the reader’s thinking to create a new thought.

-To review and practice summarizing a story.

Targeted Skills: summarizing, synthesizing, thinking, listening, speaking, predicting, writing.

Resources:

-Text: The Giving Tree / L’arbre généreux by Shel Silverstein.

-Scaredy Squirrel / Frisson l’écureuil by Mélanie Watt

-Reading Power by Adrienne Gear

-Handout

Background:

-This year, we are looking at “the power to transform”, the last of Adrienne Gear’s “reading powers”.

-“Transforming combines and builds upon all four previous reading powers: it is the accumulation of the connections, the questions, the inferences, and the visual imagery combined to create the new thinking”. (p.98)

-We will include a writing component as we move into writing strategies.

Monday – Session 1 – Writing a summary – teacher model.

You will need: Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt, Elmo or overhead projector, handout “Merge your thinking” (8 ½ x11), laminated poster “To summarize” / “Pour résumer”.

  1. Read Scaredy Squirrel to your class.
  2. Talk about summarizing – what does it mean?

To summarize:
-Tell important ideas / facts.
-Tell in a way that makes sense
-Don’t tell too much. / Pour résumer:
-Rapporte des idées et faits importants.
-Dis-le de manière logique.
-Sois bref.

“While summarizing is the first step in synthesizing, it is certainly only a part of it. I now see summarizing as 2D (two dimensional) reading – information from the text made smaller. But synthesizing can be interpreted as 3D reading – key points from the text, plus the reader’s thinking to create a new thought. When we synthesize, we

add another layer to our reading: that other layer is our thinking, our background knowledge and our experiences.” (p. 98)

Summarizing = 2 dimensional
Synthesizing = 3 dimensional
  1. Refer to provided “example for modeling” and develop a new one with your class using your Elmo.
  2. REFLECTION: What is important about summarizing?

Ideas from the book + Thoughts in our heads = Transform

(Summary) (Thinking)

Tuesday - Session 2 - Introduce The Giving Tree/ L’arbre généreux:

This is an excellent fictional story to help demonstrate the power to transform. It also provides a context for teaching children to summarize a story because it has a very clear beginning, middle and end.

  1. Before reading- prepare: Tell the students you are going to read them a book entitled The Giving Tree. Remind students to pay attention to the sequence of events in order to help them summarize the story like we did yesterday with Scaredy Squirrel. Discuss that all stories have a beginning, a middle and an ending.
  2. Before reading – think: Have you ever been given a special gift? Have you ever given a gift to anyone? How did you feel?
  3. Before reading - predict: Show cover of book “Can you predict what the book might be about by looking at the cover?”
  4. During reading – guide and think – guided discussion: use the following suggestions to guide the thinking as you read the book.

-“And every day the boy…”: Why do you think the boy comes to visit the tree every day?

-“King of the forest”: How do you think a king of the forest feels?

-“When he was tired…”: Do the boy and the tree seem like friends to you? What makes you think so, or not? Do you have a best friend that you share and play with like the boy and the tree?

-“…very much”: Do you think you could really be friends with a tree? [Notice the initials carved on the tree.]

-“but time went by…”: what’s happening to the little boy in the story? [He grows up.]

-“…and the boy grew older…” Notice the carving now – another person.

-“Can you give me some money?” Do trees have money? No. The tree gives the boy what he does have. The tree is making the boy happy. Do you think the boy will be happy?

-“apples…” Why do you think the tree was happy?

-“house…” The tree still loves the boy but he doesn’t have a house to give him – he gives him what he does have.

-“…the tree was happy.” The tree was happy once again, but where did the boy go?

-“boat…” Just like the apples = money, branches = house, trunk = boat, the tree thought that the most important thing was to make the boy happy because she loved him – it made her happy to see him happy.

-“…but not really.” Why do you think the tree wasn’t REALLY happy this time?

-“nothing left…” What do you notice about the boy and the tree now compared to the beginning of the story? [Notice the carving.]

  1. REFLECTION – transform:

“Reading a story can sometimes change the way we think about ourselves, think about the world, or think about other people.” (p.103)

-Class discussion: after reading this book, has your thinking been affected? How? Why or why not?

-How has your thinking about the boy changed through the story?

-With older students, you might want to open a discussion on whether this story is about “selfless giving” or about “selfish taking”.

Wednesday – session 3 – moving into writing:

You will need: “Merge your thinking” worksheet, either 11x17 or 8 ½ x11; Elmo (if doing group write), the book; “To summarize / pour résumer” posters.

  1. Brief review of Monday’s activity with Scaredy Squirrel, and how to write a summary – “accessing prior knowledge”.
  2. Depending on your group or grade level, there are different ways to approach this activity:

-Use large “Merge your thinking” poster and do a class group write: THINK & SHARE.

-Put students in pairs – each pair shares ideas to summarize and transform using the same form or smaller version of the form: PAIR – THINK – SHARE.

-Each student works individually, with a sharing session at the end: THINK – WRITE – SHARE.

  1. REFLECTION: Discussion - how has our thinking changed after reading the book?

Thursday – session 4 – Art Project:

Here are a few suggestions of art projects that would blend well with the week’s theme. You can access them (and more!) at the following links:

1. “Black and White Tree Study” – details on line:

2. “Winter Trees Art Project” – also from Deep Space Sparkles:

3. “Trees of Life” from Artsonia – you must be a member to access this web page:

See also attached lesson plan on this particular project.

Friday – session 5 – Actual Family Literacy Day:

-Read-in in the gym around 1:30.

-PJ Day with Buddy classes – parents invited to join in.

-Answer of literacy trivia for that day.

-Draw for Family literacy activity – 2 winning families.

-Reading by teacher-librarian of a special book linked to The Giving Tree – book to be scanned ahead of time and ready on Power Point for presentation to the whole school: Picture a Tree by Barbara Reid.

Possible extensions:

- Google “The Giving Tree” and investigate the wealth of lesson plans and other suggestions of activities that you can do using this book.

- Check Adrienne Gear’s chapter on “The Power to Transform” – there are many black line masters that could lend themselves to activities using The Giving Tree.

Other activities during the week:

-Daily literacy trivia each morning on PA system: 3 questions – primary, intermediate and staff.

-Literacy activity at home to involve families.

From Artsonia lesson: