Book 11: The Giving Tree

Standards:

K-4.1 Identify qualities of good citizenship, including honesty, courage, determination, individual responsibility, and patriotism.

K-4.2 Demonstrate good citizenship in classroom behaviors, including taking personal responsibility, cooperating and respecting others, taking turns and sharing, and working with others to solve problems.

Summary:

The giving tree is a book about a relationship between a boy and a tree. When the boy is little he loves the tree and spends all of his time beneath the tree in its branches. The boy grows older and no longer is small enough to swing from the trees branches. The boy comes to the tree asking for money and the tree says she has no money but that the boy might take her apples and sell them for money. The boy returns again and asks the tree for a house. The tree tells the boy she has no house but that he may cut down her branches and build a house. Then the boy comes to the tree asking for a boat. The tree has no boat to give the boy but she says for him to cut down her trunk and make a boat. The boy came back to the tree and the tree told the boy that she had nothing more to give him. So the boy sits on her trunk and the tree was happy.

Objectives:

The students will demonstrate being good citizens by donating their own non-material gift anonymously to the class.

Materials:

Book The Giving Tree by Shel SilverStein

Leaf shaped pieces of paper

Paper tree on wall

Pencils

Procedure:

1. The teacher will start the lesson by reading the book The Giving Tree to the class.
2. The teacher will ask the students if they understand what the message of the story is.
3. The teacher will talk to the students about the message of the book and how it is important to give to others.
4. The teacher will talk to the students about how giving to others is a part of being a good citizen of a community and how it is a great thing to give to others and share your gifts with others.
5. The teacher will explain to the students that they are going to make their own giving tree in the classroom.
6. The teacher will have the students go back to their desks and will hand each child a green construction paper leaf.
7. The teacher will explain to the students that she would like for them to write their non-material gift to the class on the leaf.
8. The teacher will give some examples to the students so that they understand what the assignment is.
9. The teacher will explain to the students that they could put that their gift to the class is to be a good student, a good friend, to help others in need, to say something when they see others doing a good job.
10. Whatever his or her gift is, the student should write it on the leaf and then place it on the tree that is on the wall of the classroom.
11. Once each student is done writing their anonymous gift to the class and placed it on the class giving tree, the teacher will read all of the gifts that have been given to the class and talk about how they all relate to the community and helping each other out.