Josephine Lutton

2010
Josephine Lutton
Missouri Southern State University
12/15/2010

The Giving Tree:

 Brainstorm ideas

Josephine Lutton

The Giving Tree Literature Focus Unit

1. Literature Selection
Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York, NY. HarperCollins.
2. Theme
• The Giving Tree is an emotional story about a boy and a tree that selflessly provides him with
everything he wants. The story will be used to study the act of giving, and needs vs. wants,
and preserving nature. This story will allow students to engage in activities allowing them to
discover the true meaning of giving, along with the importance of elements of nature,
specifically trees.
1. Additional texts
Cherry, L. (1993). The great kapok tree. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.
Luenn, N. (1992). Mother earth. New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks
Seuss, Dr. (1971). The lorax. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.
Udry, J. (1956). A tree is nice. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Waldman, N. (1997). The never-ending greenness. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

2. Unit Plan—Planning Stage

Friendly letter
Persuasive text

3. Now for each activity include the following:

Activity 1: Read aloud
Perform a skit GLE: L1A03: Listen for enjoyment, information, to distinguish fact fromPair
opinion,
read Aand for Is
Tree directions
Nice and
Present a speech on ato complete a two- or three-step task.
gift compare and contrast it with
you have and how Objective:
you share Students will be able to listen to a read aloud and record in their
The reading
Giving Treelogs that
it with others they have received information, formed an opinion on, or enjoyed Brief summary
something fromoftherelated
text. text
Activity: The students will listen to me read The Giving Tree aloud. I will give them directions for
completing the questions on the Smart Board. When reading logs are all turned in, we will
regroup to discuss what we enjoyed about the book.
Technology Resources: The questions “What book did we just read” and “What did you like
most about it” will be projected on the Smart Board.
Activity assessment: Teacher observation will be used during the activity to monitor student
behaviors during the read aloud. Students will receive a + or – in their reading logs for the
completion of the questions from the Smart Board.
Read aloud
IntroductionPlus
to or minus
+ means= You followed the directions and completed the two questions in your reading log,
giving and needs
showing some knowledge of the text.
– means= You did not follow directions and either did not turn in your reading log with answers
to the questions, or they showed no knowledge of the text.

Activity 2: Friendly Letter

GLE: W3A03,b: Compose text emphasizing the format of diary/journal entries and friendly letters.
 Josephine Lutton

Objective: Students will be able to compose a friendly letter after reading the text The Giving
Tree.
Activity: The students will create a friendly letter for someone who has given them something.
They will use proper elements of a friendly letter including heading, greeting, body, closing,
and signature. The students will have an example of a friendly letter that I have created, but
they will be encouraged to be as creative as possible as long as their letter also contains the
proper elements.
Technology Resources: A friendly letter will be on the Smartboard and students will be allowed
to type their final copies on the computer.
Activity assessment: Teacher observation will be used during the activity to monitor student
work. Students will complete their letters independently they will be assessed using a
checklist to make sure each element is included.

Friendly Letter Checklist

Letter includes:
_____Heading
_____Greeting
_____Body
_____Closing
_____Signature
_____Proper Use of spelling and grammar

Comments:

(3pts each) Score out of 18 _____________________

Activity 3: Compare and contrast The Giving Tree with A Tree is Nice
GLE: R2C04,a-f: Use details from text to demonstrate comprehension skills previously
introduced, make inferences, compare and contrast, identify cause and effect, identify
author’s purpose, identify setting, character traits, problems and solutions, and story events.
Objective: Students will be able to compare and contrast story elements by completing a
graphic organizer after reading the text.
Activity: Students will pair read the text A Tree is Nice and then create a graphic organizer in
their reading logs comparing and contrasting it with The Giving Tree.
Technology Resources: Templates of different graphic organizers will be projected on the Smart
Board
Activity assessment: Teacher observation will be used during the activity to monitor student
work and responses. Students will each complete their own graphic organizers in their
reading logs and they will be graded using a checklist on the number of examples they
provide, along with the accuracy of those examples.

Compare and Contrast Checklist

Graphic Organizer includes:
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________ Provides 4 correct examples of comparing

________
________
________
________ Provides 5 correct examples of contrasting
________
________
________
________
________
________ Makes use of a graphic organizer template (Venn diagram, T chart, etc.)

Comments:

Total out of 10 points__________

Activity 4: Persuasive text

GLE: W3A03: Compose narrative, descriptive, expository, and/or persuasive texts using
appropriate text features.
Objective: Students will be able to compose a narrative text by listening to a read aloud of The
Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Activity: The students will create a persuasive paragraph that provides an argument for or
against chopping down trees. The paragraph must also include support for that argument with
at least four reasons why they have formed this opinion.
Technology Resources: Definitions for argument and support will be projected on the Smart
Board, along with examples of each.
Activity assessment: Students will complete a persuasive paragraph independently on whether
or not they believe trees should be chopped down. The paragraphs will be graded on content
and accuracy. I will use a rubric to assess whether or not students have formed an argument
and provided the correct number of supporting details for that argument.

Persuasive Text Rubric

1 Try a little 2 You're on your 3 Terrific Job

harder way

Creates Argument is not Argument is stated, Argument is stated

stated. but is either not and your stand on the
an
correct or related to issue is apparent.
argument the topic.

Example of Example does not relate Example somewhat Example completely

support #1 to the argument at all, or relates to argument. relates to the
is not included. argument.
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Example Example does not relate Example somewhat Example completely

to the argument at all, or relates to argument. relates to the
of support is not included. argument.
#2

Example Example does not relate Example somewhat Example completely

to the argument at all, or relates to argument. relates to the
of support is not included. argument.
#3

Example Example does not relate Example somewhat Example completely

to the argument at all, or relates to argument. relates to the
of support is not included. argument.
#4

Uses Paragraph has multiple Paragraph has a few Paragraph has no

spelling and grammar spelling and grammar more than 2 spelling
correct errors errors. or grammar errors.
grammar
and
spelling

Comments:

Total out of 18 points:_________

Activity 5: Summary of related text

GLE: R1H03,i: Apply post reading skills to demonstrate comprehension of text: summarize.
Objective: Students will pair read a related text and create a summary of the text.
Activity: The students will work in small groups (4 students) to read a related text. Once the
group has finished reading, each student will write a summary of the text they read in their
reading logs.
Technology Resources: A list of related texts and where they can be found in the classroom will
be projected on the Smart Board
Activity assessment: Teacher observation will be used during the activity to monitor group
progress on the reading of the book and responses in reading logs. Students will complete a
summary independently on the related text and the summary will be assessed for completion
and accuracy using a + or -.

Plus or minus
+ means= You followed the directions and completed the summary in your reading log,
showing some knowledge of the text.
– means= You did not follow directions and either did not turn in your reading log with a
summary of the text, or they showed no knowledge of the text.
 Josephine Lutton

Activity 6: Discussion on giving and needs

GLE: L1A03: Demonstrates listening behaviors (e.g. prepares to listen, listens without
interruptions, maintains eye contact).
Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate listening behaviors while listening to me and
their peers during a class discussion.
Activity: I will introduce the topic of needs (physical, social, and emotional) as students listen I
want them to form opinions on needs they have. I will also ask them to think of ways we as a
class can give back and help others that are less fortunate than us.
Technology Resources: A graphic organizer of the three different types of needs will be
projected on the Smart Board during the discussion to help students see the difference in
needs.
Activity assessment: As we discuss, I will monitor students to make sure that they are following
along with what I am saying, staying quite, and keeping their hands to themselves. They will
receive completion points for the discussion if they are quiet and manage to contribute or
show interest in what others are saying.

Completion Points
Received if student is focused, showing eye contact from time to time, remain quiet, and
contribute or show some form of interest or awareness during the discussion.
Not received if student is clearly not focused, disruptive, or does not contribute or show any
interest during the discussion.

Total out of 5 points__________

Activity 7: Share a poem on trees or giving

GLE: S2A03: Speak clearly, stay on topic, and use appropriate volume and pace when sharing
ideas.
Objective: Students will be able to demonstrate proper speaking behaviors by sharing a poem
with the class.
Activity: Students will go through resources in the classroom, or search the internet to find a
poem on trees or giving that they would like to share with the class. They will have a day to
select their poems and we will present them during reading the next day. Poems will be
saved in a folder on the computer and I will combine and bound them all to make a class
poem book on giving and trees.
Technology Resources: Students can search for their poems on the internet and save a copy of
the text in a folder on the server that will allow me to gather them to create our class poem
book.
Activity assessment: Teacher observation will be used during the presentation of the poem, as
well as a rubric that monitors the student’s to choose a poem related to the topic of tree or
giving, speak clearly, use appropriate volume, pace, and eye contact.

Speaking rubric
 Josephine Lutton

1 Try a little 2 You're on your 3 Terrific Job

harder way

Stays on Poem was in no way Poem somewhat Poem related to the

related to the topic of related to the topic of topic of trees or giving.
topic trees or giving. trees or giving.

Speaks Mumbled or Mispronounced a few Spoke clearly

mispronounced words words during presentation throughout the
clearly
throughout the majority of of the poem. presentation and had
the presentation of the less than 2
poem. mispronunciations.

Uses Volume was projected too Volume was projected Volume was projected
softly. We couldn’t hear strong, but we had in a way that the class
appropriat you. trouble hearing you in could all hear.
e the back.
Volume

Pace You spoke much too You spoke at a normal You spoke at a normal
fast or way too slow speaking pace for speaking pace throughout
during most of your most of your speech, the speech.
speech.
with a couple of slip-
ups.

Eye Made no eye contact Made a few attempts Eye contact was
with the audience. at making eye contact frequent throughout
contact Head was down with the audience. presentation of the
throughout the
poem.
presentation of the
poem.

Comments:
Total out of 15 points_________

Activity 8: Present speech on individual “gifts”

GLE: S2A03: Speak clearly, stay on topic, and use appropriate volume and pace when sharing
ideas.
Objective: Students will be able to effectively communicate an idea to the class using
appropriate speaking techniques.
Activity: The students will present a brief speech they have created that explains to the class a
“gift” they believe they possess. They should also address how they are sharing that “gift”, or
how they intend to.
Technology Resources: An example of a “gift” I believe that I posses along with how I share it
will be projected on the Smart Board.
Activity assessment: Teacher observation will be used during the presentation of the speech, as
well as a rubric that monitors the student’s ability to stay on topic, speak clearly, use
appropriate volume, pace, and eye contact.
 Josephine Lutton

Speaking rubric

1 Try a little 2 You're on your 3 Terrific Job

harder way

Stays on Presents “gift”, but Presents “gift” and Presents “gift” and
rarely stays on topic. briefly goes off topic. stays on topic
topic
throughout the entire
speech.

Speaks “Gift” or explanation of Either your “gift” or you Both your “gift” and
use was unclear. explanation was unclear. explanation on use or
clearly
intended use of it
were clearly
presented.

Uses Volume was projected too Volume was projected Volume was projected
softly. We couldn’t hear strong, but we had in a way that the class
appropriat you. trouble hearing you in could all hear.
e the back.
Volume

Pace You spoke much too You spoke at a normal You spoke at a normal
fast or way too slow speaking pace for speaking pace
during most of your most of your speech, throughout the speech.
speech.
with a couple of slip-
ups.

Eye Made no eye contact Made a few attempts Eye contact was
with the audience. at making eye contact frequent throughout
contact Head was down with the audience. speech.
throughout the
speech.

Comments:

Total out of 15 points__________

1. Groupings

Whole-class
Read aloud
Discussion on to giving and needs
Small-group
Compare and contrast The Giving Tree and A Tree is Nice
Create/present a skit

Individual
Write a friendly letter
Write a persuasive text
 Josephine Lutton

Present speech on a your gift

2. Schedule

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

• Introduction • Minilesson on • Minilesson on • Minilesson on • Search
to giving and friendly compare and persuasive internet or
needs letters contrast text classroom
• Read aloud • Discussion • Paired • Read aloud texts to find
and grand on giving reading of A of The Lorax a poem on
conversation thanks Tree is Nice and grand trees or
on giving • Reading logs, • Reading logs, conversation giving to
• Add to the rough draft of compare and on preserving share with
Word Wall friendly letter contrast A nature the class.
• Reading logs, • Use Tree is Nice • Reading logs, • Type poem
graphic computers to to The Giving compose in Word, or
organizer of type final Tree persuasive copy and
needs and copies of text on why paste from
wants letters trees should the internet.
or shouldn’t
be chopped
down

1. Literature Focus Unit Checklist

Text- The Giving Tree Date

Required: completed
_____1. Compare and contrast The Giving Tree and A Tree is Nice.
_____2. Summarize related text
_____3. Write a persuasive text
_____4. Write a friendly letter
_____5. Share poem on trees or giving
_____6. Present speech on your “gift”
_____7. Participate in read aloud
_____8. Participate in discussion on giving and needs

Optional (Choose at least 3):

 Josephine Lutton

______ Create a Family Tree

______ Complete a Character Map for one of the characters from one of the texts
you read.
______ Create your own poem on trees or giving.
______ Draw a picture from of something you visualized while reading one of the
texts.
______ Read a related text and state the beginning, middle, and end.
______ Create a poster in which you try to persuade others to read the book.
______ Compare and contrast a character from a story you read and you. How
are you alike? Different?
 Josephine Lutton

Summarizing Minilesson
Name: Josie Lutton
Grade Level: 3rd
Content: Summarizing
Lesson: Summarizing The Giving Tree to help comprehension

Content Objective(s):
After reading the book, students will be able to create summary using information they have gathered from the
text.

GLE: R1H3i
Apply post-readings skills to demonstrate comprehension of the text: summarize.

Modifications: Students will get to communicate with a partner.

Materials/Media/Resources:
Silverstein, S. (1964). The giving tree. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Anticipatory Set: Has anyone ever given a gift to someone? What did you give them? Why did you give
them that? Today we are going to read a story called The Giving Tree.

Instructional Input: Today we are going to be talking about summarizing. A summary is a brief recap of
piece of text you have read. We will use the words and the pictures to help us come up with a clear
summary of what we have read. Summarizing is important because it helps you remember and
understand what you have read.

Modeling/Demonstrating: Begin reading the story to the class, pointing out the characters (the tree and
the boy) as I read. From reading this much of the text, I have been able to identify a couple of main
characters I am going to write them on the board so that I can remember to include them in my summary.
Write the two main characters on the board. Continue reading the book. Pause after the boy tells the tree
he would like to make a boat. After reading this far, quite a few things have happened in the text. I am
asking myself why the tree keeps giving the boy all these things. Can someone tell me some of the things
the tree has given to the boy? Continue reading to the end of the book. If I were going to create a
summary of this text, there is a very simple sentence I can use to plug in the important information from
the text I just read. Write Somebody wanted but so on the board.

Guided Practice:
Point to the sentence on the board. From the text we have just do you think you can come up with
information from the text to complete this sentence? Turn to your shoulder partner and discuss things like
the main character, the problem in the text, and how it was resolved in the end. Walk around while they
are discussing and listen to the information students are sharing. Choose a student to share their
thoughts with the class. Will you share some of your ideas about the text with the class? “We decided
that the main characters were the tree and the boy and that the tree gives a lot in the story, but she runs
out of things to give eventually.” That is a very good. I like the way you used details from the text.
Choose another student to share. Does anyone else have anything that they could add to that? The boy
asks too much of the tree but we liked at the end how the boy came back in the end and didn’t want
anything from the tree. That is a very true. Now, I want you to go back to your seats and use what we
have discussed to write out a summary of the book in your reading journals. Make sure you write clearly
and use details from the text.

Checking for Understanding:

I will listen and watch closely as students brainstorm and talk about things they could include in their
summaries with their shoulder partners and again as we are wrapping things up. They should be able to
form an idea for a summary that makes sense and uses information included in the text.

Independent Practice:
 Josephine Lutton

Students will go back to their desks and get out their reading journals. You should be using the sentence
I wrote on the board: Somebody wanted but so. Circulate around the room as they work. When everyone
is close to be done allow them to share what they wrote with their shoulder partner. Ok, now help your
shoulder partner out- discuss what you wrote and why. Do your summaries use details from the text? Do
they make sense?

Closure:
Today we learned how to create a summary of a story, based on what we have read and the illustrations.
Then, we compared our summaries with the text to make sure they made sense. Creating summaries is
a very important reading skill that helps us use the text we have already read to create a shorter recap of
the text. Creating summaries causes us, as readers, to understand the text we are reading better and to
remember the important pieces of information.

Evaluation/Assessment:

Student’s summaries of the text will be graded using a rubric to see if their summaries were clear
and related to details from the text.

Students will use details from the text including character and plot to create a summary of the text they just read.

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575537 formDE http://w w w .rcam 0 %26%2D%5B%3

rubricgradepostf_ 0 0 rubricgradeeditf.c rubricshow c.cfm

NO NO no

465775 465776 465777

Summarizing
2857239
2857238 2857240
Proficient
Basic Advanced
2
1 3

Proficie
Basic Advanced
nt
1 pts 3 pts
2 pts
Clarifying Basic Proficient Advanced
Able to make a clear
Is not able to give a Is able to give a summary Is able to give a clear and
summary of what
clear summary of what of what happened in the well-written summary of
happened
happened in the text. 2857243 what happened in the text.
in the story. text.
2857242
2857241 Is able to give a c
Is able to give a p
Is not able to give
Summary Basic Proficient Advanced
Can make a
Student did not make a Summary is acceptable, Summary is acceptable and
summary based on
summary or summary but there are not details based on details from the
details from the text.
was not based on details from the passage to passage. Summary is based
2857244
from the passage. support the summary. on characters and the plot of
Student did not m The prediction is off topic. 2857246 the text.
2857245
Prediction is acce
Prediction is acce
 Josephine Lutton

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 Josephine Lutton

Minilesson Reflection

Through the process of writing minilessons this semester I have learned a great

deal about the components of teaching reading to students. Coming into this class, I

was extremely nervous about teaching reading and honestly unsure of what it would

entail. As we began discussing techniques, I became more comfortable with the idea of

teaching reading and was happy to see there are so many options as to how it can be

presented as well. By spending more time looking at the GLE’s for the Communication

Arts portion of curriculum, I also became more familiar with what is going to be expected

of me and my students as far as reading and writing goes.

Word walls are a great tool that we learned a lot about this semester and they

can easily be included when minilessons are presented to teach and aid in a multitude

of skills. They are a great tool to use to get students familiar with high frequency words,

and to use word identification and recognition skills. Word walls can also be organized

in many different ways so you could use phonics sorting skills, prefixes and suffixes,

words that rhyme, or just include words that need to be known in order to understand

the curriculum you are teaching.

As we discussed the five components of reading, I had something to base the

foundation of teaching reading on. I know now that in order to be good readers students

need to possess skills including: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary,

and reading comprehension strategies. I now believe that it is important to introduce at

least one of these components in the minilessons I teach. Students need to have a

great base in phonics in order to become successful readers in the future. We also

discussed basal readers and how they do a successful job in including the majority of

the skills students need to acquire, so they are extremely convenient. They also have
 Josephine Lutton

and downfall though and that is the fact that the text in each book is set a grade level,

so students who are struggling or excelling end up either struggling even more, or not

being challenged enough.

I am now also aware of the multiple ways that student’s can read, and that texts

that are above grade level should be included in classroom libraries. Also, that

rereading is something that should definitely be included in classroom lessons because

it is that familiarity with the text that allows students to work on building up their fluency.

A great way to do this is with familiar poems, especially those that are repetitive or

include words that rhyme. Reader’s Theatre and Shared Reading are also techniques

that I hope to use in my classroom, so that I can have all students engaged in the same

text at the same time and be able to informally observe where each of them is at with

their reading at the same time.

I also have learned the many ways in which a students’ reading can be

assessed. First, from the time we spent discussing running records and formal

assessment like DRA testing. And second with the discussion of rubrics and checklists,

I was able to gain a better understanding of how to accurately assess everyday reading

projects in the classroom as well.

Overall, with the completion of this course and the multiple minilessons we wrote

I am now more knowledgeable and comfortable with the expectations that will be

required of me as I begin teaching reading. I know techniques to base my teaching

around, and ways in which they can be presented and assessed in my future

classroom. I also now have plans for a wealth of activities that can be introduced to

present a wide range of topics.