The Giving Tree

Kindergarten is so excited to welcome 2015! We are halfway through the school year, and it is hard to believe how fast time has been flying by. As we exit the holiday season and welcome new adventures, I found it appropriate to remind my students that even though Thanksgiving and Christmas are in the past, […]

Kindergarten is so excited to welcome 2015! We are halfway through the school year, and it is hard to believe how fast time has been flying by. As we exit the holiday season and welcome new adventures, I found it appropriate to remind my students that even though Thanksgiving and Christmas are in the past, it does not mean we need to lose sight of what is important in the world.
I decided to do something new with the students. Every year my class reads “The Giving Tree”. I normally do this lesson during the holiday season, but instead I decided to do it following the holidays. I wanted the students to hear the story and explain to me why it is so important to continue to give, even if the “giving” season has passed us by. My heart melted when I heard their take on the story. If you have never read the story, I highly suggest you come by and borrow it. It is a simple story that quickly reminds us of what the true meaning of life is. If five and six year olds can rationalize and understand the love that comes from the story, then I know it will hit home for many of us. The follow up lesson to reading the story, was to have my class pick “leaves” (pieces of paper) from our “giving” tree (the students made it out of construction paper), and on its leaves was a student’s name. The students were then instructed to make a picture for the person that they picked. After that, they went around and gave their selected person their “gift”. Their smiles were a sight to be seen, and I pray that Cate, Wrangler, Colton, Titus, Hannah, Baylee, Makala, Taysia, Anna Kate, Beth, Hunter, Gracie, Sawyer, and James all remember the lesson they learned today and carry it throughout their lives.
It is so awesome to see how a simple story can truly change the way we view the world and how quickly we are reminded of what is really important in our lives. Money, material objects, and social statuses run out and change, but family and love are forever… in the end that is what we rest upon.