magical monthly reads

 the little tree by loren long

teeny tale:  

the little tree is a story about a tree who is afraid to let its leaves drop. season after season he holds on to his brown leaves staying small while all the other trees around him are growing and changing. many of the animals in the forest try to convince him to let them go and he still can’t. eventually, he gets the courage to let the leaves go, and he grows into a big tree. this is a beautifully illustrated book.

touchstone text:  character study for reading workshop, illustration study writing workshop  

turn and talk :

1. what do you think this story is mostly about?
2. why do you think the tree would not let it’s leaves drop?
3. what do you notice about the illustrations in this book. 
4. what did the tree realize or learn?

what might the little tree be thinking?

 what might the little tree be saying?













tiny tips:

• great book to use to study the illustrations
• how do the illustrations tells us more about the tree
• who are the characters in this story
• great book to retell using fingers first, then, next, last
• student’s could stop and jot the feelings of the tree during different parts of the story
• why do you think the author wrote this story
• we think this is a great book to talk about the author’s purpose

topics: courage bravery, friendship, change 

life lesson: don't be afraid of the unknown
believe in yourself!

happy reading!
jessica & laura & melissa

Trailer