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A Teacher’s Guide for Grades 3-5:

wishtree

Get to know Red โ€” a very special oak tree living at the center of a neighborhood that has welcomed newcomers and immigrants for many generations. Red tells the story of what happens when Samar, a young girl whose family settles in the neighborhood, is met with conflict and hate because of her Muslim identity; Red is compelled to help Samar feel more welcome in their community. We chose this novel for its thoughtful attention to some powerful social and emotional themes: welcoming others, resilience, community, and the immigrant experience. Students will find themselves relating to and being inspired by Redโ€™s storytelling; this curriculum will help students build connections between Samarโ€™s experiences and their own.

wishtree is the story of Red, an old oak tree who lives in a neighborhood that has welcomed newcomers and immigrants for many generations. Once a year, people hoping for a better life tie their wishes to the tree, in hopes they come true. Red watches over a number of animal friends and families, and some human ones, too, including a girl named Samar whose family has recently moved to the neighborhood. Samar is lonely and wishes she had a friend. But unlike Red, not everyone in the neighborhood is so welcomingโ€”
someone even carves โ€œLEAVEโ€ into the tree, sending a hateful message to Samarโ€™s family. Red has a plan to help Samar make a friend, and feel more welcome in the community.

Author: Katherine Applegate

Ourย Reading with Relevanceย teacherโ€™s guide breaks the novel into a series of thoughtful lesson plans. Each lesson is designed to support you to meaningfully explore the social and emotional themes of the dayโ€™s reading with your students, inspiring them to read deeply, think critically, talk openly, and write reflectively about topics that matter.

This teacherโ€™s guide includes:

  • A facilitatorโ€™s guide with tips and resources for implementing theย curriculum.
  • A map of Common Core Standards addressed through this program.
  • 11 individual lesson plans, including vocabulary, discussionย questions, journal prompts, extension activities, and allย handouts.
  • Two assessments to monitor student progress.
  • Regular checkpoints to help teachers assess their studentsโ€™ progress on ELA standards.
  • A culminating essay-writing unit.
  • An appendix with additional teaching resources and activities toย continue exploring this novel.

Pages:ย 80
Dimensions: 8.5โ€ x 11โ€

$150.00

Companion Student Workbook:

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