This is the story of a tree’s life cycle, how it lived and was a home to many animals. This is a good book to use to introduce a tree unit or to be used to talk about animal homes.

Materials

• Tree trunk shape
• Collect a variety of leaves from different kinds of trees.
• 1 large pinecone per child, peanut butter, plastic knives, and a bag of birdseed.
• Collect a bag of leaves (green or colored) to use in dramatics, make sure that they are NOT poisonous.

Vocabulary

• Grand (outstanding and wonderful)
• Scurried (to run back and forth)
• Sowed (spread or plant seeds around)
• Bask (to lift up your head to the sun and feel its warmth.

Before Reading the Story

Bring in a variety of items that are made from wood or trees. Say, “Guess what all these items have in common?  They are made from trees!  Trees give of wood to make many things and also foods to eat”.  Talk to the children about what each thing is. Say thank you tree as you introduce each item. (paper, pencil, bowl, chair, book, cardboard, chocolate, many fruits, etc).   

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

Show the children the cover of the book and ask them if they know what the word grand means. Tell them that it means something or someone who is really wonderful. Ask them if they can think of what would make a tree really wonderful (It makes apples, I can swing on the swing that my Dad made on the branch, I climb the tree in my yard).  Introduce the story.

Language development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if they can recall any of the animals that lived in the tree. Can they think of any other animals that might live in a tree?

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Discovery

Bring in pictures or objects of things that come from a tree. (Things made of wood and also paper). Also pictures of animals that make their home in trees. Add parts of trees to the center for the children to explore (bark, seed pods, leaves, branch, birds nest).  Give the children magnifying glasses to look more closely at the tree parts.  Help them to name the various parts of the tree.  Talk to the children about the importance of trees.

Science/Scientific Skills & Method; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.  

Music and Movement

Have the children act out parts of the story. Ask them to show you what it looks like to sink your roots deep into the soil; reach your branches high into the sky, sway in the breeze and dance in the wind. Show what cracking looks like and falling down.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story. 

Put on the song If I Were A Tree video by Jason Mesches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mt79JW9u18

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Do the 5 Little Monkeys in the Tree finger play.

5 little monkeys swing from the tree,                        Hold up 5 fingers

Teasing Mr. Alligator, You can’t catch me!                Hold hands by ears making nah nahs

You can’t catch me!  You can’t catch me!                   Say in teasing voice with nah nahs

Slowly Mr Alligator comes,                                           Put hands together to make an                                                                                                                                         alligator head

Slow as slow can be                                                         Move alligator around

And snapped that monkey right out of the tree!       Snap hands

4, 3, 2, 1, 0 monkeys but Mr. Alligator is full.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.  AND Mathematics/Numbers & Operation; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Blocks

Remind the children that the blocks are made from wood and that wood comes from trees!

Art

Give each child a tree trunk shape and a variety of collage materials.  Let them decorate the trunks to represent a tree in various seasons or stages of its life. Or cut out 4 large trees about three feet tall and have the children work together to make classroom trees depicting the seasons.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.  AND Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other at creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic.

Writing and Library

Encourage the children to write with pencils today. As they write remind them pencils come from wood and wood comes from trees!

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials such as pencils, crayons, and computers.

Ask the children to write a thank you letters to a tree and illustrate. (Thank you for pears that I like to eat, Thank you for letting me climb on you, Birds thank you)

Literacy/ Early Writing; develops an understanding that writing is a way of communicating for varied purposes.

Sand and Water

Add pieces of bark to the water and pretend that they are boats.  How many small bear manipulatives can the child put onto the boat without sinking it.  Try adding leaves, can the bears float on these?

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.  AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination such as  building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Dramatic Play

Add a large bowl of leaves to the center and encourage the children to pretend that they are food.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.

Math and Manipulatives

Put out your other bag of leaves and let the children sort them in various ways.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; Shows growth in matching, sorting putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Outdoors

If you have a tree on your playground, go out and examine it. Look for signs of animal life. Look and ask the children to help the parts of the tree. Give the tree a thank you hug.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge if and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Let the children use the plastic knives to spread peanut butter onto the pinecones. Then have them roll the pinecone in the birdseed and attach a string. Hang these in a nearby tree as snacks for the birds.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; shows growing capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, set of directions or interactions, despite distractions or interruptions.

Transitions

As each child gets up to go to the next activity, ask them to say, “Thank you tree for ___________”.  Encourage the children to try to think of a variety of objects and foods that come from a tree.

Science/Scientific Skills Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

Have the children look around the room and name objects in your classroom that come from trees.  Remind them that things made from wood or paper are the products of trees.

Science/Scientific Skills Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

Dear Parent- Today we read a story about a tree and all the animals that lived in the tree.  Ask your child to help you name animals that might live in a tree.  Then ask your child what else does a tree give us? (Think of wood and paper products and foods).

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