Presenters: Major:

Valorie Seger, Allison Carlson, Liberal Studies

Jazmin Sanchez, Becky Broussard,
And Natasha Shayakhmetova

The Giving Tree

By: Shel Silverstein
Published: October 7, 1967

Student Age and Grade:

● 8 years old-3rd Grade

Learning Objectives:
● Explore and use language to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different
purposes including questions and answers, discussions, and social interactions.
● Listen to or view knowledgeably while demonstrating appropriate social skills of audience behaviors
(e.g., eye contact, attentive, supportive) in small and large group settings; listen to the comments of
peers and respond on topic adding a connected idea.
● Identify and relate to character traits, including discussion of morals and emotions expressed in the
story.
● Develop and distinguish their own point of view based on the story.

Standards:
● RS-3-2: Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the
central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
● RS-3-3: Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their
actions contribute to the sequence of events.
● RS-3-6: Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

Lesson Steps:
● Introduce the book, including title, author, date published.
● Read and act out the story, including props and overhead projector.
● Use discussion questions to review the story and develop themes and ideas further.
● Incorporate the story into other lessons and subjects, using different questions and worksheets.
● Eventually the students will be able to read and act out the story themselves.

Questions:

1. Some critics of the book argue that the book encourages selfishness, narcissism, and
codependency. In what ways can you argue that this is true? Untrue?
 2. What do you think about the way the story ends? Would you say it has a
happy ending? A sad ending? Do you think that it’s important for young
readers that the stories they read have happy endings? Why it why not?

3. Since its release The Giving Tree has raised many questions in commentary. Does it
symbolize a codependent relationship? Is it about parenthood and loss? Is it a warning against
giving too much? Is it a lesson on giving your all? There lacks a consensus on the main point
of the parable. What do you believe it is? Explain.

4. In the story the tree gives up all of her natural resources so the boy could be happy, but in the
end of the story she says she has nothing left to give. To what extent does this symbolize the
way we as a society use our natural resources?

Sources:
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
School.nyc.gov
Msu.edu
(Margalit, Ruth. 2014, Nov. The Giving Tree at Fifty: Sadder Then I Remember, The New Yorker, newyorker.com)
(May, Ashley. 2013, Nov. Charity and the Giving Tree. Humane Pursuits. humanpusuits.com)
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/159174168064980817/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/159174168064980816/
https://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/152278031131125995/
https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/signs-symptoms/developmental-milestones/developmental-
milestones-for-typical-second-and-third-graders