Little Tree

Teaching gives us the great pleasure of reaching out to young learners who are vastly different from one another. Some of our students are bold and confident, while others are more cautious and avoid risks at most costs. Little Tree, by Loren Long, will connect to your risk averse students by introducing them to a forest full of trees and animals whose diverse personalities mirror the students in our own classrooms.. Some trees immediately grow and change without fear or prodding. However, Little Tree enjoys life just as it is. He loves his little forest and the way his leaves cool him in the heat of summer. He wants things to stay the same, so when the seasons change, Little tree holds tightly to his leaves when all of the other trees begin to lose their foliage. He is afraid. Through thoughtful use of dialogue (in all of the ways we teachers want to help students use dialogue), the forest animals encourage Little Tree to drop his leaves so he can grow.  Careful placement of ellipses across pages invite page turns, which is sure to inspire young writers to try on this feature in their own writing. As seasons come and go, Little Tree resists dropping his leaves. As he does, he is unable to grow in the “just right” ways trees grow. Will Little Tree drop his leaves and take a risk in order to reach his full potential? Little Tree is a great SEL (Social Emotional Learning) book building and maintaining a safe learning community for learners.

Mentor Text Ideas- Ellipses; SEL; Dialogue