Lesson Plan: The Survivor Tree

The Survivor Tree by Marcie Colleen

“One September day, the perfect blue sky exploded. Dust billowed. Buildings crumbled. And underneath it all, a tree sprouted green leaves in its distress. Pulled from the wreckage, the tree saw many seasons pass as it slowly recovered far away from home. Until one day, forever scarred and forever stronger, it was replanted at the 9/11 Memorial.

This story of the real Survivor Tree uses nature's cycle of colors to reflect on the hope and healing that come after a tragedy—and assures readers of their own remarkable resilience.”

Linda

Linda Szakmary has five decades of experience working as a classroom teacher, a district curriculum writer, a district facilitator of K-5 writing, and as a county K-8 literacy coach. She now works for Sullivan and Orange-Ulster BOCES as a content specialist. A poetry advocate and a lover of words and children’s literature, she has been a presenter at several state-wide conferences on vocabulary and writing. Currently, she is working with the staff developers of Mossflower to study intermediate vocabulary instruction within a reading workshop. Linda lives in Stone Ridge, NY where she enjoys gardening, yoga, reading, and rooting for the Yankees. You can often find her on a beach searching for sea glass.

Previous
Previous

The Trouble with Heroes: WORD JOY: Honoring the 25th Anniversary of September 11th

Next
Next

Revealing Roots: A Simple Guide to Teaching Morphology with Confidence Part 3