I Like Trees Because..

Kindergarten
Rose Wagner
Standards and Benchmarks
Writing
W.K.5 With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions
from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
W.K.8 With guidance and support from adults, recall information from provided sources
to answer a question.
Science Content Standard 2
Exploring systems, order, and organization in our natural and designed world are
integral to understanding the scientific disciplines and their interdependence
Materials List

Lined writing paper

Pencils
Glue
Scissors
Magazines, newspapers, and printed clipart
Poster board with a large outline of a tree
Assorted tree fruits and tree nuts
Paper plates

Anticipatory Set
Provide each child with some mixed fruits and nuts on a paper plate. Ask the children if
they know what the plate, food, and desk top have in common. Give them time to think
about it while they eat. Then discuss how they all come from trees.
Objectives

Teacher
o Affective- Students will discuss the list of products that come from trees
(see attached list) and the importance of trees.
o Psychomotor- The class will construct a large collage of a tree by gluing
pictures from magazines to a tree cut out of a poster board.

o Cognitive- Students will describe what they learned about trees and why
they like them in a short response paper with an illustration.
Student
o I will talk about why trees are important.
o I will write a few sentences and draw a picture about why I like trees.
o I will add details to my writing to make it easier to understand.

Input

Students will discuss the list of products that come from trees after eating a
snack from trees and going through the attached list.
Students will help construct a large tree collage of tree products, by cutting
pictures out of magazines and gluing them to a poster board cut into the shape
of a tree.

Rationale for the two objectives is:

Students gain a better understanding of the world around them if they study a variety of
organisms, both microscopic and macroscopic. Through the study of similarities and
differences of organisms, students learn the importance of classification and the
diversity of living organisms. The understanding of diversity helps students understand
biological evolution and lifes natural processes (e.g., cycles, growth, and reproduction).
Structure, function, body organization, growth and development, health and disease are
important aspects to the study of life. The study of living systems provides students
important information about how humans critically impact Earths biomes.

Students will write a short response paper with an illustration on what they have
learned about trees.

Rationale for this objective is:

Students cite specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation of a text.
They use relevant evidence when supporting their own points in writing and speaking,
making their reasoning clear to the reader or listener, and they constructively evaluate
others use of evidence.

Modeling

I will start the discussion on trees by telling students that their snack (apples,
oranges, pears, and nuts) and plate come from trees.(verbal)
I will cut a tree product from a magazine and glue it to the cardboard tree.(visual
and verbal)

I will write I like trees because my favorite dessert is peach pie. I like trees
because they provide shade in the summer on the board. (visual and verbal)

Check for Understanding

The teacher will check the pictures students are adding to the collage to make
sure they are a tree product. (summative)
Have each students hold up the pictures they have chosen to the class and the
class can give a thumbs up if they agree or a thumbs down if they disagree.
(formative)
During the discussion, students will be asked if they can think of something that
comes from trees. (formative)
The teacher will read the writing and illustrations created by students to make
sure they are writing about what they have learned about trees. (summative)

Guided Practice
Students will go through magazines and pictures to find items that come from trees.
They will then take turns sharing them with the class and gluing them to a large poster
board that will be cut into a tree. Students can continue doing this until the tree is full.
For high level learners, they will be challenged to find several different types of products
(examples furniture, food, and fuel). For low level learners, the teacher will walk around
and provide support while students are going through magazines (asking questions like
do you think this is made from wood?). The collage will be used to create a bulletin
board. (multiple learning styles are covered in objectives)
Independent Practice
Students will write one to four sentences with an illustration with the sentence starter, I
like trees because.. They will be instructed to use information they have learned in
todays lesson or any previous lesson on trees. For high level learners, students will be
asked to do two to four sentences with an illustration. For low level learners, students
will be asked to write one or two sentences with an illustration, and the sentence starter
will be written on their papers for them. (multiple learning styles are covered in
objectives)

Closure
Students will share their writing with the class and then the writings will go on the
bulletin board with the tree collage. The teacher will summarize what products the
students learned about that come from trees.

Assessment
The pictures chose to glue on the trees.
The completed handwriting page.