Culturally Responsive Online

Lesson Plan:
Wangari’s Trees of Peace
Jenna Fenstermaker and Bella Schafer
“We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process
heal our own--indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity,
beauty, and wonder.”

-Wangari Maathai
Summary of Wangari’s Trees of Peace by Jeanette Winter
Wangari lives in beautiful Kenya where trees are bountiful and
the soil is rich for harvesting. She leaves Kenya to study in
America, but when she returns to Kenya she notices that there
are no trees left in her village. The land is barren and nothing can
grow anymore in the dried out soil. Wangari is inspired to take
action, so she plants nine seedlings and nurses them until they
become trees. She decides to plant even more and start a
nursery, passing along this movement to more women in her
village. More and more women start joining the tree planting
movement, even though the government tries to stop them and
companies keep cutting trees down. Over a couple decades,
more than 30 million trees have been planted in Kenya, with
more African countries following in Wangari’s footsteps.
Social Justice Topic
World peace through nature restoration.

● Wangari received the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her movement.
 ELA Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4

Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and feelings clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5

Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1

Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small
and larger groups.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.1

Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a
reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.
Learning objectives
Content objectives:

SWBAT describe the events, characters, and settings of a story

SWBAT create relevant illustrations to support the claims in their letter

Language objectives:

SWBAT write a letter with an introduction, body, and conclusion to a community or

school leader about fixing an environmental issue

SWBAT discuss world peace through naturalization with their classmates

Activities
1. Activate prior knowledge by asking students what they know about forests and
deforestation (define key vocab terms: forest, deforestation, environment)

2. Ask students how they feel about trees being chopped down to make way for new
buildings. Questions: “What do you think the impacts are of cutting down trees? Is it
a good thing or a bad thing? Have you ever witnessed this? Can any of us do
anything about it?” (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4)

3. Read the book aloud to the class, asking key questions and verbalizing thoughts to
model active reading comprehension. (On this page I notice….., This illustration
shows me….., Hmmm, I wonder what the main character is trying to achieve?.....)
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4)
Activities
4. Have a group discussion using online learning discussion rules, asking questions: “What did the main
character achieve? Where did this story take place? What do you think happened next? How would
you feel if someone cut down all the trees in your neighborhood?” “What else do you notice in your
neighborhood that harms the environment?” (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1,
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.4)

5. Students will participate in a think-pair-share discussion on what they can do to take action in the
community. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1)

6. Relate the issues students discussed to writing a letter, and discuss an introduction, body, and
conclusion to students. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.1)

7. Have students write a letter to the school or a community leader about planting more trees (or
another environmental issue) and why it’s important to them. (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.1,
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.5)
Social Justice Action
Students will write a letter to the community about why planting more trees is
important, and be sent a packet of seeds to plant. They will also be told to share
this story with their friends and family, and encourage them to buy seeds to plant.
With the actions of our class, the word about Wangari and her trees will spread like
wildfire, and Wangari will have the recognition she deserves in the community.
Accomodations:
● Students will get a PDF of the book we will be reading, so they can complete
the activities.
● Students will also get a packet, including questions about the story (which we
will be discussing in class), as well as a letter template, instructions on what to
write, paper, and an envelope to complete the letter activity.
● The meeting will be recorded, so students who have internet access but have
to miss class will have access to the activity.
● For ELLs/students with lower English proficiency, a letter template will be
provided that students can use if they wish. We will also be discussing
definitions of vocabulary that’s important to the story and encourage the use of
these new terms in their letters.
Assessment
Formative:

● Discussion about the key details in the text, and how the story makes the
reader feel.
● Think-Pair-Share about what students can do to help the environment in their
own community.

Summative:

● Letter to the school or community with drawing that supports their message in
the letter. The letter should contain an introduction, body, and a sense of
closure.