Shel Silverstein
Lesson plans for The Giving Tree and other works

| Biography and Background | | The Giving Tree | | Other works by Silverstein |

Biography and Background

Shel Silverstein
The author's official site. Don't miss "Ideas for Teachers and Parents," with link to printable activities.

Shel Silverstein
The author's Wikipedia page.

The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree
Summary, analysis, and 4 sets of discussion questions based on themes in the book.

Uses of Trees
After reading The Giving Tree , students identify how trees are used and create leaf rubbings.

Other works by Silverstein

A Moment in Time
Students study poems to see how punctuation, line length, rhythm and word choice can be used to create a memorable moment. This lesson uses "Writer Waiting" by Shel Silverstein, "The Base Stealer" by Robert Francis and "Foul Shot" by Cory Bogner. Copies of the poems are available at the site. This lesson is designed for middle schoolers.

The Missing Piece
Summary, analysis, and 3 sets of discussion questions based on themes in the story.

Seuss and Silverstein: Posing Questions, Presenting Points
"Working in small groups, students select and read books or short stories by Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. Each group then prepares critical thinking questions and leads a class discussion about the issues raised in the story. Students use the interactive Literary Elements Map to explore the conflict in their selected texts."

Shel Silverstein
Activities to support several poems. Scroll down to find copies of "The Sitter," "Come Skating," "Crowded Tub," "Examination," "Batty," "Wavy," "Tell Me," "Hard to Please," "Channels," and "Loser." This lesson is designed for 5th and 6th graders who are English Language Learners; many of the activities are appropriate for native speakers, too.

Writing Poetry like Pros
This extensive set of lessons includes an activity using Silverstein's "Jumping Rope".