My Life as a Plant

Materials

none

Instructions

l Clear a section of the classroom wall where the class tree will "grow."
l Start the class tree by attaching a brown construction paper sapling or
small tree to the wall at floor level.
What To Do
1. Engage the children in a discussion about how trees change through
the course of the year. Ask the children to describe the different things
they have noticed about trees at different times of the year.
2. Tell the children they will be making a classroom tree.
3. Show the children the sapling or small tree.
4. Give the children lengths of yarn to make larger "roots" for the sapling.
Attach sentence strips next to the sapling and "roots," writing the
names of those sections on the cards.
5. Invite the children to use more construction paper and yarn to make a
larger trunk, limbs, and so on, asking the children to name those parts
of the tree as they work. Label these sections of the tree with sentence
strips as the children work.
6. According to the season, invite the children to add or change the
leaves on the tree. Leave this tree up throughout the year and
periodically refer to it when discussing weather and the seasons.
Assessment
To assess the children's learning, consider the following:
l Can the children identify the season according to how the tree is
decorated?
l Can the children identify the various parts of the tree by name?