Option 1: Use the Key Vocabulary: Level A student page to introduce or reinforce key terms used in this level. Refer to the Key Vocabulary: Level A teacher page for the correct responses.
Option 2: Deepen students’ learning beyond the classroom by sending them home with one of the Home Connections student pages to do with their family (see Home Connections below). Encourage students to share their home experiences with the class.
Option 3: After reading Trees, Leaves and Bark by Diane Burns (see Literature Connections below), collect and bring in a variety of leaves. Encourage students to sort them by shape, color, texture, and other attributes.
Option 4: Read aloud Underneath My Favorite Tree by M.L. Green (see Literature Connections below), and then invite students to create poems describing what they like about their adopted tree.
Option 5: After reading My Favorite Tree: Terrific Trees of North America by Diane Iverson (see Literature Connections below), exchange pictures of the class’s adopted tree throughout the year with a class in another region to see how trees differ in different places.
Home Connections
Parents and families play an important role in supporting science learning. Home Connections offer suggestions for activities to do at home that build on students’ in-class learning.
Literature Connections
Pairing classroom instruction with fiction and nonfiction resources supports content comprehension, expands student creativity, and provides real-world context. These Literature Connections enhance the concepts explored in the Treemendous Science! activities.
| Activity | ||
|---|---|---|
| Engage: Picture a Tree |  |
Babin, Claire. Gus Is a Tree. Enchanted Lion Books. 2009. Follow along with Gus as his dreams turn him into a tree in the forest. Imagine along with him how a tree feels and interacts with its world. Grades PreK–3. ISBN: 978-1592700783. |
| Engage: Picture a Tree |  |
Gerber, Carole. Winter Trees. Charlesbridge. 2009. Go on a walk through a forest covered in snow with a boy and his dog while they identify trees. You will find how to distinguish common trees with senses. Grades K–2. ISBN: 978-1580891691. |
| Engage: Picture a Tree |  |
Winter, Jeanette. Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. Harcourt Children’s Books. 2008. Follow Wangari’s journey to plant trees and restore forests in her hometown, Kenya. A true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, will inspire your students to see change. Grades K–4. ISBN: 978-0152065454. |
| 1: The Closer You Look |  |
Dek, Maria. A Walk in the Forest. Princeton Architectural Press. 2017. Explore the natural world and discover what forest has to offer in this engaging book filled with watercolor illustrations and poetic texts. Grades PreK–1. ISBN: 978-1616895693. |
| 1: The Closer You Look |  |
Hoose, Phillip and Hannah Hoose. Hey, Little Ant. Tricycle Press. 1998. When a young boy encounters a seemingly insignificant ant, he is faced with a tough decision: To squish or not to squish? As this funny, rhyming tale recounts the boy’s destructive desires (to squish!) and the ant’s pleading perspective (not to squish!), the young boy finds out he might have more in common with the little ant than he’d originally imagined. Grades PreK–2. ISBN: 978-1883672546. |
| 1: The Closer You Look
|
 |
Hopkins, H. Joseph. The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-loving Woman Changed a City Forever. Beach Lane Books. 2013. See how a little girl’s love for trees led her to make San Diego more green. Based on a true story, this picture-book-biography will plant inspiration in young readers. Grades K–5. ISBN: 978-1442414020. |
| 1: The Closer You Look |  |
Matheson, Christie. Tap the Magic Tree. Greenwillow Books. 2013. Through the life of an apple tree, find out how seasons magically change. Grades PreK–3. ISBN: 978-0062274458. |
| 2: To Be a Tree |  |
Burns, Diane. Trees, Leaves and Bark. Cooper Square Publishing Take Along Guides. 1995. This reference guide introduces young naturalists to trees, including identification information, educational activities, and fun facts that invite a close look at trees. Grades K–4. ISBN: 978-1559716284. |
| 2: To Be a Tree |  |
Gibbons, Gail. Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids. Little Brown. 2002. This picture books holds all the basic information about trees that kids need to know. As a bonus, it provides a guide on how to make a tree identification book. Grades PreK–3. ISBN: 978-0316309035. |
| 2: To Be a Tree |  |
Miller, Debbie S. Are Trees Alive? Walker Childrens. 2003. Learn about how trees live and grow from this poetic comparison of trees and humans. Grades PreK–3. ISBN: 978-0802788016. |
| 2: To Be a Tree |  |
Salas, Laura Purdie. A Leaf Can Be…. Millbrook Press. 2014. Find out about the many roles leaves play in this poetic exploration of leaves throughout the year. Grades K–2. ISBN: 978-0761362036. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Aston, Dianna. A Seed Is Sleepy. Chronicle Books. 2014. Learn about the intricate and astonishing world of seeds through detailed descriptions of different seeds and their journeys. Grades K–3. ISBN: 978-1452131474 |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Green, M.L. Underneath My Favorite Tree. PublishAmerica. 2008. Read along with this playful poem as Nadieya imagines all of her favorite things she would see underneath her beloved tree. Grades K–2. ISBN: 978-1604748581. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Hall, Kirsten. The Gold Leaf. Enchanted Lion Books. 2017. In the spring, among many shades of green, there is one gold leaf. Following the serial theft of this leaf, you will find nature’s wisdom. Grades PreK–3, ISBN: 978-1592702145. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Iverson, Diane. My Favorite Tree: Terrific Trees of North America. Dawn Publications. 1999. Explore 27 of the major native North American trees, along with the food, shelter, and their importance to our heritage. Grades K–3, ISBN: 978-1883220938. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Locker, Thomas. Sky Tree: Seeing Science through Art. HarperCollins. 2001. Travel through the seasons and learn about the passage of time in nature in this beautifully illustrated book. Grades K–4. ISBN: 978-0064437509. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Muth, Jon J. Hi, Koo!: A Year of Seasons. Scholastic Press. 2014. Join a bear named Koo and two human siblings as they challenge readers to stretch their minds with 26 haikus about the four seasons. Readers of all ages can enjoy not only the fun and frivolous haikus, but also the changing color palette of Muth’s watercolor art as it follows the seasonal transformations. Grades PreK–3. ISBN: 978-0545166683. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Stein, David Ezra. Leaves. Putnam Juvenile. 2010. Use this book to explore the falling leaves along with a young bear cub. Grades PreK–1. ISBN: 978-0399254970.
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| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Stewart, Melissa. Under the Snow. Peachtree. 2009. Learn how snakes, salamanders, carp, beavers, and other animals spend their days during the winter months. Grades K–2. ISBN: 978-1561454938. |
| 3: Adopt a Tree |  |
Udry, Janice May. A Tree is Nice. HarperCollins. 1987. This classic Caldecott Award–winning book teaches of the beauty of the everyday world and the many pleasures a tree provides. Grades K–3. ISBN: 978-0060261559. |
