Be a Tree!: Classroom & Outdoor Story Time Activities

BE A TREE! CLASSROOM & OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Best Users: Public Librarians, School Librarians, Educators, Physical Educators, Home Learning
Best Audience: Children Grades 00-05

This stunning book is perfect to take under the trees for outdoor story time and spring and summer STEM, Art, and Movement!

ABOUT THE ACTIVITIES

There are endless ways to engage with Be a Tree! both in the classroom and in the great outdoors. Here are just a few!

Explore and Download individually below or grab this single-page menu of activity download options.
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: Menu of Activity Downloads (PDF)

Be a Tree: STEM Talking Points & Lessons
Award-winning STEM educator Suzanne Costner provides us with talking points and mini-lessons to root our read aloud in STEM. Additionally, she shares her favorite pre-existing lesson plans and online resources on trees. Look for a beautiful tree anatomy identification worksheet with Felicita Sala’s art!
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: STEM Talking Points & Lessons (PDF)

Be a Tree: STEM-Pathy
The book builds an empathy bond between the reader and trees. Drawing from Maria Gianferrari’s back matter, you can connect STEM study to social action with a list of suggested ways to protect trees. Pulling from the evidence that trees communicate with and aid each other, this hand-out also invites your humans to aid each other.
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: STEM-Pathy (PDF)

Be a Tree: Movement & Mindfulness
The books invites the reader to embody a tree. Yoga often uses the symbolism of trees and being rooted to the earth as the basis for movement and practice. Yoga instructor and middle grade novelist Lori Snyder offers movement and mindfulness prompts to accompany each page. With this guided activity, you can bring movement to your read aloud or carry the book into physical education classes.
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: Movement & Mindfulness (PDF)

Be a Tree: Art Project
In many of the illustrations, Felicita Sala shows us the visible parts of the tree —the trunk and branches and the invisible parts of the tree—the roots and fungi. This art activity, co-created with art educator Kelly McConnell, creates a tree out of hand and arm tracings and explorations of what parts of our lives are visible and invisible to others.
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: Art Project (PDF)

Be a Tree: Outdoor Story Time
This picture book cries out to be read under a tree. Jennifer Beach, a public librarian and Certified Professional Environmental Educator, offers some ideas to take this Story Time outdoors with movement, song, games, art, and STEM.
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: Outdoor Story Time (PDF)

Be a Tree: Event Sharing
If you are holding and event, feel free to download and adapt these tools.
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: Event Poster (JPG)
DOWNLOAD Be a Tree: Social Media Image (JPG)

Images © Felicita Sala

ABOUT THE BOOK

Be a Tree!
By Maria Gianferrari
Illustrated by Felicita Sala
ISBN-13: 9781419744228
Published by ABRAMS
Age Range: 4 – 12 Years

Stand tall.
Stretch your branches to the sun.
Be a tree!

We are all like trees: our spines, trunks; our skin, bark; our hearts giving us strength and support, like heartwood. We are fueled by air and sun.

And, like humans, trees are social. They “talk” to spread information; they share food and resources. They shelter and take care of one another. They are stronger together.

In this gorgeous and poetic celebration of one of nature’s greatest creations, acclaimed author Maria Gianferrari and illustrator Felicita Sala both compare us to the beauty and majesty of trees—and gently share the ways in which trees can inspire us to be better people.

“This book has the advantage of lyrical, accessible poetry and vibrant watercolors from an ever changing palette. The book consists almost entirely of double-page spreads, and each page turn but one yields images of trees or parts of trees—and many show gloriously diverse children and adults enjoying their time with, under, and among equally varied kinds of trees…Strong heartwood.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
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“Gianferrari writes a hymn to attributes shared by humans and trees, guiding readers through lessons to be learned from their arboreal brethren….By foregrounding living beings that exemplify grace, strength, and endurance, Gianferrari gives readers a new way to think about their individual and collective existences.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

THE GIVEAWAY WINNERS

We were utterly delighted to have had the opportunity to give away a copy of Be a Tree! to 20 educators, librarians, and literacy professionals. Our over-the-moon thanks to ABRAMS for this literacy donation!