Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources for The Giving Tree

Use The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein to strengthen your students' comprehension skills, build their vocabulary, and help them understand how words work.

Beloved for generations, the parable of The Giving Tree gives young readers ample opportunity to think deeply about the author's broader reasons for writing this story. The simplicity of the characters and events also makes this text a good fit for supporting lessons on retelling and summarizing, and making inferences.

Explore lesson plans and activities to help you teach with The Giving Tree in the drop down below.

Identifying the Author’s Purpose with The Giving Tree

The first page of Identifying the Author's Purpose with The Giving Tree

Identifying the Author’s Purpose with The Giving Tree

Though the author's message in The Giving Tree is not clearly stated, young readers will be able to interpret and discuss the various messages they identify through the emotional connections they make with the book.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
L.1.6,RF.1.1,RF.1.2,RL.1.10,RL.1.2,RL.1.6,SL.1.1b,SL.1.2,SL.1.3,W.1.5,W.1.8
TEKS Alignment
1.10A,1.10B,1.10C,1.10E,1.13D,1.13E,1.1A,1.1C,1.1D,1.6A,1.6E,1.6G,1.6I,1.7B,1.7C,1.7D,1.7E,1.7F,1.8A,1.8B,1.8C

Making Inferences with The Giving Tree

The first page of Making Inferences with The Giving Tree

Making Inferences with The Giving Tree

This book and lesson plan work well for showing students how making inferences can enhance comprehension. Even though "the tree is happy," readers will need to connect to their own emotions in order to infer what else the tender Giving Tree might be feeling.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
L.1.6,RF.1.1,RF.1.2,RL.1.1,RL.1.10,RL.1.7,SL.1.1b,SL.1.2,SL.1.3,W.1.5,W.1.8
TEKS Alignment
1.10E,1.13D,1.13E,1.1A,1.1C,1.1D,1.6A,1.6E,1.6F,1.6I,1.7B,1.7C,1.7D,1.7E,1.7F,1.8B,1.8C,1.9C

Retelling & Summarizing with The Giving Tree

The first page of Retelling & Summarizing with The Giving Tree

Retelling & Summarizing with The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree is ideal for readers who are beginning to practice retelling and summarizing to deepen their understanding of a text. It's simple for readers to identify the characters, events, problem and conclusion, and the illustrations clearly match up with the events in the story.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
L.1.6,RF.1.1,RF.1.2,RL.1.1,RL.1.10,RL.1.2,RL.1.3,RL.1.7,SL.1.1b,SL.1.2,SL.1.3,SL.1.5,W.1.5,W.1.8
TEKS Alignment
1.10A,1.10E,1.13D,1.13E,1.1A,1.1C,1.1D,1.6A,1.6G,1.6I,1.7B,1.7C,1.7D,1.7E,1.7F,1.8A,1.8B,1.8C,1.8D,1.9C

Blends with The Giving Tree

The first page of Blends with The Giving Tree

Blends with The Giving Tree

This word work lesson plan and set of teaching resources use The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein as a springboard for instruction focused on blends.

By anchoring word study to the text, students will benefit from seeing how initial consonant blends are used inside of the text before engaging in both guided and independent practice with blends.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Vocabulary Connections with The Giving Tree

The first page of Vocabulary Connections with The Giving Tree

Vocabulary Connections with The Giving Tree

This set of vocabulary development resources for The Giving Tree highlights the words that are most important for students to know and understand while reading the book. Through engaging in fun word games, matching words to definitions and pictures, and practicing how to categorize words, students will develop the vocabulary necessary to comprehend this story and many others.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Running Record with The Giving Tree

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Running Record with The Giving Tree

Use this Running Record to assess oral reading fluency with The Giving Tree. Track meaning, structure, and visual accuracy using the first 100 words of the text to determine whether or not this book is a good fit for the readers in your classroom.

Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Cause and Effect Matching with The Giving Tree

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Cause and Effect Matching with The Giving Tree

Read The Giving Tree then have some fun matching cause and effect sentences from the book. By using these cause and effect cards, students will demonstrate both their comprehension of the text and their understanding of cause and effect relationships in hands-on and interactive way.

This resource includes matching/sorting cards and a sorting mat for four cause and effect sentences in The Giving Tree. Each cause card is marked with a square and each effect card is marked with a circle, making it easy to support students who struggle with matching cause and effect relationships.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Cause and Effect Sentence Stems with The Giving Tree

Thumbnail for Cause and Effect Sentence Stems with The Giving Tree

Cause and Effect Sentence Stems with The Giving Tree

Understanding cause and effect is a key comprehension and language skill. The text structure of The Giving Tree includes several examples of cause and effect relationships, making it easy to use as a springboard for modeling or independent practice.

This simple resource includes four sentence stems. Each sentence stem presents an effect. Students will use what they know about the book to fill in the cause of the effect.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Writing with The Giving Tree

Thumbnail for Writing with The Giving Tree

Writing with The Giving Tree

The BookPagez extension activities are a great way to push student engagement beyond the pages of the text. Try using this activity with early finishers, with students who show a deeper connection with the text, or as a center activity.
Common Core State Standards Alignment
TEKS Alignment

Identifying the Author’s Purpose with The Giving Tree (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Making Inferences with The Giving Tree (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Retelling & Summarizing with The Giving Tree (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

Writing with The Giving Tree (Spanish)

  • Student Practice Page and Answer Key
  • Reader's Notebook Prompt
  • Graphic Organizer

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About the Book

The cover for the book The Giving Tree
Title: The Giving Tree
Author: Shel Silverstein
Genre: Fantasy
Themes: Bullying, Friendship
ISBN: 9780061965104
Publisher's Summary:
"Once there was a tree...and she loved a little boy." So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein. This moving parable for all ages offers a touching interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return. Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk...and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave. This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation.
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