by Shel Silverstein

Before reading/watching
1. Use the words below to name the different parts of a tree.
twig branches roots trunk leaves




2. Use Google and find images for the types of trees listed below. How
do you call these in your mother tongue?

TYPE OF TREE

TRANSLATION
cypress
pine tree
oak
birch
olive tree
palm tree
walnut tree
fir tree

3. A) How are trees essential to us? Discuss your answers with the class.
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B) Name as many products as you can that come from trees or parts
of trees.
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READ/WATCH
Read the story here or listen to the story here.
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. Who wrote the story?
2. Who are the main characters?
3. What did the tree give the boy throughout the years? What for?
WHAT THE TREE GAVE REASONS FOR GIVING IT







4. How has the boy changed throughout the years? Give examples.
5. What could the boy do for the tree?

FURTHER QUESTIONS

1. What is the theme of this story?
2. Choose adjectives from the table below to describe the two
characters. Explain your choice.
selfish reliable shy ambitious
giving immature selfless innocent
sensitive worried rude greedy

3. The boy and the tree are also used metaphorically in the story. What
kind of symbols are they?
FOLLOW UP
Choose one of the following
1. Write the story from the point of view of the tree.
2. Who is the giving tree in your life? Create a presentation of this person
3. Create your own drawings, record the story and use utellstory.com to
upload it.



TEACHERS NOTES AND KEY
BEFORE READING/WATCHING
1 AND 2: LET THE STUDENTS SEARCH THE INTERNET FOR THEIR ANSWERS
3A) absorb carbon dioxide, make paper, generate oxygen, make a garden and rest,
offer shade, offer fruits
3B) Students name as many as possible. Answers may include: books, pencils,
clothes, jams, spices, furniture, cosmetics, newspapers, musical instruments,
cork, vitamins, ice cream etc. Check answers here.

READ /WATCH
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. Shel Silverstein
2. The boy and the tree
3.
WHAT THE TREE GAVE REASONS FOR GIVING IT
leaves To play king of the forest
branches To swing/to build a house
apples To eat/to sell and make
money
trunk To climb/to make a boat
shade To sleep
stump To sit

4. The boy plays with the tree and gets its leaves and fruits to play and eat.
His needs are these of a child. Later he becomes more materialistic and
starts to think like an adult. He needs money and later a house and a boat
to sail away. At the end of his life, however, he needs a quiet place to sit
and rest. He realizes the real meaning of life.
5. The boy could water the ground, clean the area around the tree, prune it
to enhance its health, protect its fruits from wild animals and diseases,
recycle and protect it from people who want to cut it down and build
FURTHER QUESTIONS
1. Unconditional love and being selfless. Also, could be the way to maturity
and appreciation of little things in life.
2. Students feel free to express their opinion.
3. They could symbolize nature and the way it is being treated my Man, a
mother and her child, two lovers, two friends.

Eleni Tsagari
www.esl-cake.blogspot.gr