Education guide Tiny Tree
WELCOME TO OUR EDUCATOR GUIDE
Please have patience as we figure out the new format for these Virtual Field Trips. We intend to keep adding material to this guide as we go in response to what you tell us is helpful. We also know that you will adapt these simple ideas and wrap them into your classroom with creativity and charm. You know your particular group of students so please use and adapt any of these ideas as you see fit.
Building the Omega Rocketship
Join Matt and Dad from The Tiny Tree and build your own Omega Rocketship. Check out the video above and collect stuff that you find around the house or classroom for your building materials. Use your imagination and get creative. Over and out!
Content Standards
See all of the Common Core and Hawaii Content and Performance Standards that relate to this production with a quick download.
DIFFERENCES ARE STRENGTHS
THE TINY TREE is about cooperation, about nurturing others and about celebrating differences. This study guide includes activities related to each topic, to help you extend the experience of watching the play into creative learning experiences in your classroom.
BEFORE SEEING THE SHOW: Engage your students in a discussion about the main themes.
Cooperation
o Who has a friend? What do you like to play with your friend?
o Why is it good to play with a friend?
o How do you make your friend feel happy? What makes your friend feel sad?
o Raise your hand if you help your mom or dad. How do you help them at home?
o Raise your hand if you have a brother or sister. How do you help your brother or sister?
Nurture
o Raise your hand if you have a baby brother or sister. How does your mom or dad help your baby brother or sister? What makes your baby brother or sister feel happy?
o How do you help you baby brother or sister? What does your baby brother and sister like to play with you?
o What does your mom or dad do to help your baby brother or sister grow big and strong?
Differences
o Please stand up if…
You are a boy. You are a girl.
You are 4 years old, 5 years old, etc.
You like to swim. You like to play at the beach. You like to play in the park.
o Now, please tell me one
A ‘NEW WORLD’ ADVENTURE
After seeing THE TINY TREE, engage your students in a brief discussion about adventures. What kind of adventure did the characters in the play go on? Where did they go? How did they travel? What did they discover when they got there? What did they do in this new place? How was the adventure fun?
After the discussion, guide the students to help you create an adventure story. To begin, pretend that the adventure is for the students. Ask…
Where: Where do they want to go? What kind of a place or world would be new for them?
How: How will they travel together?
What: What will you discover at this place? What might happen? Who might you meet? What kind of creatures might be there?
Why: Why is this a fun place to visit? What can you do in this new place that you can’t do in real life?
Once finished, as an extension, read/tell the story out loud and have the students act it out as you tell it.
RELATED READING/FICTION
On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole
Where Once There Was a Wood by Denise Fleming
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
The Tree by Dana Lyons
Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
RELATED READING/NON-FICTION
How a Seed Grows by Helene J. Jordan
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle