ELA Lesson: Love Song for a Tree
Lesson Plan
1 hour 45 minutesGrades9, 10, 11, 12English Language Arts
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Written by Diandra Jones
About this lesson
In this lesson, students learn how trees are invaluable allies in our fight against climate change and utilize the power of music to honor a tree in the form of a love song.
Step 1 - Inquire: Students brainstorm characteristics of love and acts of appreciation towards something.
Step 2 - Investigate: Students examine the invaluable role of trees in our lives, spend time with a tree outside, and contemplate ways in which trees “show love” to us and our planet.
Step 3 - Inspire: Students explore the power of music to express love and write a love song to a tree.
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Positives
- This lesson aligns with Hawai'i's Nā Hopena A'o HĀ-BREATH Framework.
- Students examine nature through the lens of a universal human emotion: love.
- Social, Emotional, Ethical Learning (SEEL) skills are reinforced and extended to their natural environment.
- Students use the often underutilized medium of song to connect with nature and impart the importance of nature, ultimately granting an experience that is more impactful and memorable.
- Familiar pop songs are used as tools to explore the concept of love for nature.
- Students are granted creative freedom and can use their own musical, poetic, and artistic skills to explore an important issue.
- Students walk away with a heightened sense of the importance of nature, our dependency upon nature, our indebtedness to nature, and our responsibility to “love” and protect nature.
Additional Prerequisites
- Teacher may want to preview the videos and listen to any unfamiliar songs prior to teaching the lesson.
- Teacher can create a separate list of appropriate love songs.
- Students should have a basic understanding of the structure of verses and chorus in songs.
Differentiation
- This lesson could align with a science class discussion of the carbon cycle, the role of trees in absorbing carbon dioxide, or the overall importance of trees to our planet in our fight against climate change.
- Music teachers could extend this lesson and focus on tonality or musical patterns found in love songs.
- This lesson could be taught across English language arts and music classes. Students could write the lyrics in ELA class and set it to music in music class.
- Students can choose their own school-appropriate love song and analyze the song according to the five categories: lyrics, keywords and phrases, descriptive language, feelings, instruments, and structure.
- As an extension, students can conduct their own online research to see current updates on the ‘ōhi’a tree and what is being done to save them.
- The initial draft of students’ original love songs can be assigned for homework.
- Students may choose to respond to only one of the initial journal questions.
- Students may write one verse of a song or only the chorus.
From the scientist review
Students will learn about the significance of trees in mitigating climate change through this lesson. In order to emphasize the need of protecting both humans and nature, they will identify common native trees in Hawai'i, give descriptions of those species, and create songs. We assessed the lesson materials, and we found that they were credible from a scientific standpoint.
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About the teacher writer
Diandra Jones
Teacher
Diandra Jones is an educator, interdisciplinary artist, and author with 23 years of teaching experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education and English Literature from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago. Since beginning her teaching career in 2003, Diandra has taught Dance, English, Visual and Performing Arts, and Physical Education to students in grades 6–12 and adult learners across the United States, West Africa, and the Caribbean. She is also the author of Irma Was Here, inspired by her experience surviving the eye of Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands in 2017. Through her work as an educator, artist, and writer, Diandra empowers learners of all ages to explore creativity, resilience, and the power of storytelling across disciplines.
