Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

Title/Author: Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa by Jeanette Winter
Suggested Time to Spend: 4-5 Days (Recommendation: two sessions per day, at least 20 minutes per day)
Common Core grade-level ELA/Literacy Standards: RL.K.1, RL.K.3, RL.K.4, RL.K.7, RL.K.9; SL.K.1,
SL.K.2, SL.K.5; L.K.1, L.K.4
Lesson Objective:
Students will answer questions about details in the story, Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A true Story from Africa.

Teacher Instructions
Before the Lesson
1. Read the Big Ideas and Key Understandings and the Synopsis below. Please do not read this to the students. This is a
description to help you prepare to teach the book and be clear about what you want your children to take away from the
work.
Big Ideas/Key Understandings/Focusing Question
Determination and following through on an idea can make a difference.
Synopsis
This true life story is about Wangari Maathai, who decided to make a big difference in her hometown by planting trees. After
the trees in Kenya had been destroyed to make room for buildings and industry, she brought green trees back to her home by
giving the village women seedlings to start planting their own trees to replace the destroyed trees. The government told her
she was wrong and that women couldn’t make a big change like this. However, she still worked hard to return the green trees

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

to Kenya. Wangari paid the women for each seedling that lived for at least three months. This proved to the government that
women could make a difference and just how big of an impact they could have on the environment.
2. Go to the last page of the lesson and review “What Makes this Read-Aloud Complex.” This was created for you as part of the
lesson and will give you guidance about what the lesson writers saw as the sources of complexity or key access points for this
book. You will of course evaluate text complexity with your own students in mind, and make adjustments to the lesson pacing
and even the suggested activities and questions.
3. Read the entire book, adding your own insights to the understandings identified. Also note the stopping points for the text-
inspired questions and activities. Hint: you may want to copy the questions vocabulary words and activities over onto sticky
notes so they can be stuck to the right pages for each day’s questions and vocabulary work.
Note to teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs): Read Aloud Project Lessons are designed for children who cannot read yet for
themselves. They are highly interactive and have many scaffolds built into the brief daily lessons to support reading comprehension.
Because of this, they are filled with scaffolds that are appropriate for English Language Learners who, by definition, are developing
language and learning to read (English). This read aloud text includes complex features which offer many opportunities for learning,
but at the same time includes supports and structures to make the text accessible to even the youngest students.

This lesson includes features that align to best practices for supporting English Language Learners. Some of the supports you may see
built into this, and /or other Read Aloud Project lessons, assist non-native speakers in the following ways:

 These lessons include embedded vocabulary scaffolds that help students acquire new vocabulary in the context of reading.
They feature multi-modal ways of learning new words, including prompts for where to use visual representations, the
inclusion of student-friendly definitions, built-in opportunities to use newly acquired vocabulary through discussion or
activities, and featured academic vocabulary for deeper study.

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

 These lessons also include embedded scaffolds to help students make meaning of the text itself. It calls out opportunities for
paired or small group discussion, includes recommendations for ways in which visuals, videos, and/or graphic organizers
could aid in understanding, provides a mix of questions (both factual and inferential) to guide students gradually toward
deeper understanding, and offers recommendations for supplementary texts to build background knowledge supporting the
content in the anchor text.
 These lessons feature embedded supports to aid students in developing their overall language and communication skills by
featuring scaffolds such as sentence frames for discussion and written work (more guidance available here) as well as writing
opportunities (and the inclusion of graphic organizers to scaffold the writing process). These supports help students develop
and use newly acquired vocabulary and text-based content knowledge.

The Lesson – Questions, Activities, and Tasks

Questions/Activities/Vocabulary/Tasks Expected Outcome or Response (for each)

FIRST READING: The goal here is for students to enjoy the book, both writing and
Read aloud the entire book (or chapter) with minimal pictures, and to experience it as a whole. This will give them
interruptions. Stop to provide word meanings or clarify only when some context and sense of completion before they dive into
you know the majority of your students will be confused. examining the parts of the book more carefully.
SECOND READING:
The setting of the story is where the story takes place. On page 1 Wangari lives under an umbrella (or covering) of green trees.
what can we learn about the setting after reading and looking at She lives in the country of Kenya, near Mount Kenya (a tall
the illustration? (show on map) mountain near the city of Nairobi).

Look at the illustration on page 1. An umbrella is something used

for protection from the sun and rain. How are the trees like an The trees are like an umbrella because they are covering
umbrella? Wangari, the animals, and the houses.

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

On page 2, what is Wangari doing? What is Wangari and her

mother doing? Wangari is watching the birds in the forest. Wangari and her
mother are in the forest, gathering firewood for cooking.
On page 3, how does Wangari help her mother?
Wangari helps harvest (or gather) the sweet potatoes,
sugarcane, and maize (corn).
On page 4, what does the author tell us about Wangari?
The author tells us that Wangari shines (or does well) in school,
she grew tall like the trees in the forest, and she won a
scholarship (money) to study in America.
On page 4, look closely at the illustration. How does the author
help us to see how Wangari’s home in Kenya is different from On the Kenya side of the water we see Mount Kenya, trees, and
where she ended up in America? an animal (giraffe). The ground is a brown/reddish color. On the
America side of the water we see tall buildings. The ground is a
blue color.

Reread and look at the illustration on page 5. There are no more trees near Mount Kenya.
On page 5, how has the setting changed?

Reread page 6 and look at the illustration on this page.

Why were the women hauling firewood miles and miles from The women were hauling firewood miles and miles from home
home? because all the trees (near Mount Kenya) had been cut down.

Reread the second sentence on page 6.

On page 6, what does author mean by “barren land”? Barren land means “where no crops grow.”

Earlier in this story, the author told us that Wangari watched the
birds in the forest where she and her mother went to gather Wangari asks, “And where are the birds?”
firewood for working. On page 6, what question does Wangari
ask?

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

On page 7, How is Wangari feeling? How does the illustration help Wangari is feeling sad. In the illustration (picture), Wangari has
us understand how she is feeling? a tear in one of her eyes. She is not smiling and she does not
look happy.
Reread page 7.
On page 7, how does the author help us understand how she is The author lets us know that thousands (a large number) of
feeling? What does Wangari say that makes you think she is feeling trees have been cut down to make room for buildings. Wangari
that way? wonders if all of Kenya will become a desert (as tears fall).

On page 8, what did Wangari decide to do to solve the problem in Wangari decided to replace some of the lost trees by planting
this true story? nine seedlings in her own backyard.

Reread page 9.
On page 9, What does the word nursery mean? A nursery is a farm for baby trees.

On page 9, how does the illustration let us know that things are In the illustration we see row after row of tiny trees in the place
changing in this true story? of the lost trees.

THIRD READING:
On page 10, What does Wangari do to let us know she wants to Wangari convinces (gets the women to believe) that planting
plant more trees? trees is a good thing and she gives each woman one seedling.

Reread the quote in the second sentence on page 10. Wangari wanted the village women to know that their life will
On page 10, what did Wangari want the village women to know? be better when they have trees again. The village women may
not have to travel as far to get firewood for cooking.

On page 10, what does Wangari mean by saying, “We are planting Wangari means that planting the seeds will bring hope that
seeds of hope”? there will be more trees and hope that they will live better.

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

Reread and look at the illustrations on page 11-12. The women spread out or went out over the village to plant the
On pages 11-12, how did the village women help Wangari? tiny trees in long rows.

On page 12, how did the author describe the long rows of tiny The author describes the long rows of trees as a “green belt
trees? stretching over the land.”

On page 13, what did the men do? Why did the men do that? The men laughed at the women. They laughed at the women
What did the village women do? because the women were not trained to take care of the forest.
The women did not pay attention to the men who laughed at
them and kept planting trees.

On page 14, what does Wangari do for the village women who Wangari gave the village women money for each of the
planted trees? Why is this important? seedlings that were still living after three months. This was
important for the village women because this was their first
time earning money.

Reread page 15.

On page 15, what was the word (message or news)? What does the The word (message or news) was that the green [trees] were
author want us to know about the word (message or news)? returning to Wangari’s village. The author wants us to know that
the message or news was traveling fast (just like the wind blows
through the leaves).

On page 16, look at the illustration. How does the author help us The illustration show us women planting trees near small
better understand that women from other villages, towns, and houses (or huts) and tall buildings.
cities were planting rows of seedlings (small trees)?

On page 17, What is the man doing in the illustration? Why? The man is cutting down the old trees. He is cutting down the
old trees to make room for more buildings.

Reread the quote from Wangari on page 18. The author tells us that Wangari stood tall (like an oak tree) to
On page 18, what else does the author tell us about Wangari? protect the old trees.

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

On page 19, give some examples that tell us what the men did The men did not agree with Wangari. They hit her with clubs,
when Wangari blocked them from cutting the trees down? called her a troublemaker, and put her in jail.

Reread page 20. Wangari is standing tall in jail. She feels that she is right even if
On page 20, look at the illustration. What is Wangari doing? How she is alone.
does she feel?

FOURTH READING:

Read pages 20-21.

Wangari used the word “alone” to express her thoughts. On page The author tells us that talk (or discussion) of the trees spread
21, What does the author tell us to let us know that Wangari is not over all of Africa.
alone?

On page 21, how does the author describe how the talk He compared the talk to the ripples (or waves) in Lake Victoria,
(discussion) of the trees spreads? the largest lake in Africa.

On page 22, what did the women do to let Wangari know she was The women planted even more seedlings in longer and longer
not alone? rows in places where there were no trees.

Reread and look at the illustration on page 23.

On page 23, what is the umbrella of green? The “umbrella of green” are rows of trees that have grown.

On page 24, look closely at the illustration. How have things In the illustration, there are trees, birds, women carrying
changed? Why have things changed? firewood, an animal, and houses (or huts). Things have changes
because the trees have grown.

On page 24, how does the author tell us about the village women? The author tells us the women were walking tall with their
Why are they the village women walking taller with their backs backs straight. They are walking this way because the trees
straight? have grown and they don’t have to walk as far with the

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 Atlanta Public Schools Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story From Africa Recommended for Grade K

firewood.

On page 25, what information does the author give us to let us The author tells us that sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and maize
know the land is no longer barren (not able to produce fruit or (corn) are growing again in the soil (ground).
vegetables)?

On page 26, how does the illustration help us to understand that Wangari is standing in front of the world with trees around her.
Wangari’s trees and the women who planted them were well
known?

Reread pages 27-28.

On pages 27-28, how does the author let us know that this is a true The author tells us that if we were to climb to the top of Mount
story? Kenya today, we would see millions (a very large number) of
trees growing below the mountain.

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FINAL DAY WITH THE BOOK - Culminating Task
 Task for after students have only read Wangari’s Trees of Peace:
o Ask students, using pictures and words to complete a timeline of the plot. They should include at least 5 plot events in
their timeline.
 Task for after students have read Wangari’s Trees of Peace and For You Are A Kenyan Child:
o Ask students to complete a Venn diagram comparing the two stories.
o Consider having students compare the
 Characters (How are they alike and different?)
 Setting (Where does each story take place?)
 Problem/Solution (What happens and how is it alike or different?

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 Vocabulary
These words merit less time and attention These words merit more time and attention
(They are concrete and easy to explain, or describe events/ (They are abstract, have multiple meanings, and/or are a part
processes/ideas/concepts/experiences that are familiar to your students ) of a large family of words with related meanings. These words are likely to
describe events, ideas, processes or experiences that most of your
student will be unfamiliar with)

Page 3 - harvest– to gather ripe crops

Page 1 – umbrella – a cover for protection against the sun and rain Page 3 – maize – Indian corn
Page 1 – shadows – the land within a certain limit Page 3 – soil – a layer of the ground or land
Page 2 - watches– to keep one’s eye on; keep in view Page 4 - shines– to do very well
Page 3 – rich – filled with natural resources Page 4 - scholarship– money given to a student to help pay for the
Page 6 – barren – producing little or no plant life cost of school
Page 7 – wonders – to want to know or be curious about Page 6 - hauling– pulling or dragging with effort
Page 8 – seedlings – a young tree or plant grown from a seed Page 6 - crops– plants and vegetables that can be grown
Page 8 – root – the part of the plant that usually grows underground Page 7 – desert – a place with dry land and few plants or trees
Page 11 – spread – to scatter or send forth Page 8 - replace– to put in the place of
Page 15 – word – a message; news Page 9 - nursery– a place where plants are grown
Page 15 – green – an area with plenty of grass or trees Page 9 - space– an empty area or place
Page 18 – oak – tough, hard wood Page 10 - convinces– to cause to accept or believe
Page 20 – talk – to speak about Page 12 - belt– a long strip of land
Page 20 – earth – ground; land (the same as soil) Page 13 - foresters– people who plant and take care of the forest
Page 13 - ignore– pay no attention to
Page 14 - earnings– money received as pay for doing something
Page 15 - rustling– to act or move energetically

Extension learning activities for this book and other useful resources

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  Read the quote at the beginning of Wangari’s Trees of Peace: “The earth was naked. For me the mission was to try to cover it
with green.” Help students to grow something green (i.e. grass or bean sprouts). This will help them experience some of
Wangari’s happiness at seeing progress toward a long term goal.
o http://www.education.com/activity/article/The_Grass_Always_Greener/
 Create a classroom tree over the course of reading the book. Display a tree trunk and cut out green leaves for students. On
these leaves, invite students to draw pictures and write words describing how they are making the classroom a better place.
This might include acts of kindness toward others, how they have managed to keep the classroom safe or tidy, etc. Add leaves
to the tree trunk every few days, so students can see the tree growing.
 Help students build background knowledge about how trees grow by watching informational videos or reading informational
texts. Note: This is particularly supportive of English Language Learners
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl2bNGmF1Js
o From Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini

Note to Teacher
 The book includes an Author’s Note about Wangaari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement. The author frequently
references Africa, but the work of the Green Belt Movement focused primarily on Kenya. More information can be found
here: https://www.greenbeltmovement.org/who-we-are/our-history
 Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest in Africa. Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, near
Nairobi, just south of the equator. Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. The lake was named after Queen Victoria by
the explorer, who was the first European to discover it.

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 What Makes This Read-Aloud Complex?

1. Quantitative Measure
Go to http://www.lexile.com/ and enter the title of your read-aloud in the Quick Book Search in the
upper right of home page. Most texts will have a Lexile measure in this database.

Most of the texts that we read aloud in K-2 should be in

the 2-3 or 4-5 band, more complex than the students
770L can read themselves.
2-3 band 420-820L
4-5 band 740-1010L
2. Qualitative Features
Consider the four dimensions of text complexity below. For each dimension *, note specific examples
from the text that make it more or less complex.

“Barren land…no birds” “Replace the lost trees…”

“Planting trees is a good thing” “30 million trees where
“We are planting seeds of hope.” there were none”

“Right is right, even if you’re alone.” “Women hauling wood for miles and miles” “Our lives will
be better when we have trees” “Women plant long rows
of seedlings” “ Women walk tall, their backs straight”
Meaning/Purpose Structure

“Umbrella of green trees” Language Knowledge Demands

“…she grows tall, like the trees in the forest” “…in the shadow of Mount Kenya…” “…climb to the very
top of Mount Kenya…”
“..like a green belt stretching over the land”
“…harvest the sweet potatoes, sugarcane, and maize from
“…like the wind rustling through the leaves” the rich soil” “…planting tiny trees in long rows…”

“…stands as tall as an oak” “…ripples in Lake Victoria”

*For more information on the qualitative dimensions of text complexity, visit

http://www.achievethecore.org/content/upload/Companion_to_Qualitative_Scale_Features_Explained.pdf

3. Reader and Task Considerations

What will challenge my students most in this text? What supports can I provide?
The author uses similes throughout the story. It may be helpful for the teacher to explain how similes
compare two things that are normally not alike (e.g. a person and a tree) and that many similes use the
words like or as.
The meanings of many words used in the story will have to be provided.
How will this text help my students build knowledge about the world?
This true story will help students understand how trees made life better for the people who live in
Kenya as well as the process for making positive change in the world.

4. Grade level
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 What grade does this book best belong in? Use as Read Aloud in kindergarten.

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