It can be hard to find a book to read around the holidays that doesn’t completely revolve around a specific holiday. This week we are spotlighting Night Tree because it is a great book to read around the winter holidays without a heavy focus on Christmas. Instead, the focus of this story is on a family and their heartwarming tradition. A read aloud like this allows all students to contribute to the discussion because of the focus on traditions. - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
In the story Night Tree by Eve Bunting, a family sets out into the forest on Christmas Eve. They have a box and a lantern with them as they make their way through the dark, cold forest. Eventually, they arrive at a tree and realize it has grown since last year. The two children begin decorating the tree with popcorn string, fruits and seeds they have made. Once the tree has been decorated, the family sits down on a blanket and warms up with hot chocolate as they admire the tree. They’ve decorated the tree in hopes that animals will come and eat off of it.Â
Students will love hearing about this family's unique Christmas Eve tradition!
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
You’ll have plenty to do on those long winter days in the classroom if you’re working with The Night Tree. It can be used to teach reading comprehension strategies, vocabulary, social emotional concepts, and get students writing.Â
- The Night Tree is told by a narrator making it a great way to teach point of view.Â
- Examine the setting of the book with students. Consider the time, place, and season.
- Encourage students to write narratives about their own traditions.Â
- Students will enjoy creative writing activities that go along with the story.
- Teach a lesson on homophones with examples from the book.
- Discuss the various prepositions found in the story.Â
- Lead a class discussion on patience and compassion.
Â
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIESNO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30Â writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
The winter is always a busy time for teachers, especially in December. It can feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done. You won’t have to brainstorm writing prompts or discussion questions with these activities because we’ve done that for you.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
- Red and Lulu by Matt Tabares
- The Animals' Santa by Jan Brett
- Santa Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
