Tree Maps

Do you use tree maps in your classroom?   I have been using them in mine and they really help the students organize their thinking and comprehension of the stories we read.  Sometimes we do them together.  You can do them in small groups or even individually.   You can see the progression of the students' thinking as you read the map.  They started out pretty concrete and simple with their thinking:  is sad, mad; can pick corn; has a hoe, a grinder, etc...  But then they were able to move past that to deeper level thinking for each category.  I loved that one said the Little Red Hen can eat in front of the animals!  Same thing happened in the has category- start out simple, then move beyond that with has no more work to do!  They did a fine job, but hadn't ever come up with the one word I wanted them to think about- lazy.  So on that one word, I tried to direct their thinking by mentioning what kind of friends she had.  Still, they weren't sure so I told them it started with the /l/ sound.  One little guy raised his hand and shouted out " loser friends" just so proud of himself!!  Which to be honest is true if your friends watch you do all this hard work and never once offer to help until it's time to eat.  We decided that maybe we would rather write lazy though instead. :)

I was inspired by the Little Red Hen I found from Pattie at Pattie's Classroom.  Aren't these just adorable?  I don't have long with my students, so I don't like to spend much time on cute stuff.  I modified them a bit and these took only a couple of minutes to make.  Most of the pieces were already cut for them so they could just glue and go read!