Trees in the Rainforest (All About the Rainforest #2)

Positives

• This lesson features fun books, videos, poems, and songs to help students learn all about the importance of trees.

• There are multiple activities that can be done as a whole group, in small groups, or independently through stations.

• Students have the opportunity to strengthen their writing skills and explore concepts through art.

• Scaffolding is provided throughout the lesson.

Additional Prerequisites

• This is lesson 2 of 3 in our K-2nd grade All About the Rainforest unit. 

• Teachers will need to source a hard copy of the book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry from their local or school library. The e-book is also available on Open Library. Open Library is a good source for finding e-books and for locating copies of print books available at local libraries.

• If choosing to use the station activities, teachers may need to source materials. 

• Teachers may need to take some time to familiarize themselves with the concepts of deforestation, the carbon cycle, and rainforests' role in slowing global warming.
  

Differentiation

• This lesson is designed to be taught over at least 2 days. It may be helpful to teach the Inquire section during ELA, the Investigate section during science, and the Inspire section for writing. This lesson can be spread out over more than 2 days if necessary.

• Teacher may choose to teach the lessons, use the station activities, or both.

• Teacher may substitute station activities that are relevant to the content being learned in the classroom.

• There are many built-in opportunities to scaffold and differentiate the lesson and activities.

Students will gain knowledge of what constitutes a rainforest, where rainforests are found globally, how they affect the carbon cycle, and how to safeguard them from deterioration and unrelenting logging. The lesson has passed our science review process after being thoroughly fact-checked.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.

Supporting Standards

• Visual & Performing Arts
  • Visual Arts: Standard 1 - Generating and conceptualizing ideas.
    • 1.5.2.Cr1a: Engage in individual and collaborative exploration of materials and ideas through multiple approaches, from imaginative play to brainstorming, to solve art and design problems.
    • 1.5.2.Cr1b: Engage in individual and collaborative art making through observation and investigation of the world, and in response to personal interests and curiosity.
• Science
  • ESS3: Earth and Human Activity
    • K-ESS3-3. Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of climate change and humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
• English Language Arts
  • Reading: Literature (K-12)
    • RL.CR.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
    • RL.CR.1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a literary text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
    • RL.CI.1.2 Determine central message and retell a sequence of events in literary texts (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
    • RL.CR.2.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of key details in a literary text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
    • RL.CI.2.2 Recount a text in oral and written form and determine central message (in literary texts, e.g. fables and folktales from diverse cultures).
  • Writing (K-12)
    • W.IW.K.2 Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts to convey ideas.
    • W.IW.1.2 With prompts and support, write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information.
    • W.IW.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information.

Note On Standards:

This lesson is aligned to SubjectToClimate standards. Review the aligned standards directly in the lesson plan document and teacher slideshow.