Presentation
The presentation provides a step-by-step process for instruction. Trailheads are used to signify a slight change in direction of the lesson content and are opportunities to have open discussions among learners. Trailblazes are stopping points along the way to allow hands-on opportunities for learners to engage in an activity while exploring trees and the natural world.
Lesson plan
This ten-page guidebook gives details on learning objectives, materials needed, options for leading Trailhead discussions, and options for teaching Trailblaze activities. The curriculum can be taught in as little as an hour if no optional activities are conducted, or can be taught within other curriculum and learning objectives. Tell it to the Trees Curriculum is designed to be flexible and open-ended to guide educators in all settings while still focusing on the three key components of the curriculum and the three crucial values that make the curriculum effective and unique.
Background Information
The fifteen-page background information packet is a helpful tool to support any educator in understanding the material. Simple yet detailed, the background information will help educators feel confident and at ease in teaching the curriculum to their audiences. Whether it be in a formal K-12 classroom setting, an after school program, or even a summer camp session, anyone can feel prepared to teach after reading the background information.
The background information is in order with and aligned to the topics covered in the presentation. So whether you decide to teach one topic at a time over the course of several sessions, or you teach the curriculum in one block, you will have the knowledge to support learners and answer their questions confidently with the guide of the background information.
The topics covered in the background information include tree identification basics, telling stories of trees and their lives from tree rings, tree health and factors that impact tree health, factors that influence climate, how climate impacts trees, and brief information about citizen science.
Pre and Exit survey
Optional Pre- and Exit Surveys that were created with the original curriculum for the case study are provided to support program coordinators and teachers in documenting objectives that were met by learners during their interactions with the curriculum. These ready-to-print surveys are a useful asset when assessing learners' progress before and after engaging with the curriculum.
Whether documenting results for grant reporting or using the surveys as a grading rubric, these surveys support the educational format of the curriculum by providing data gathering tools that can quickly be analyzed.
In addition to a Likert Scale survey, a qualitative survey in the form of several short questions for both the pre- and exit survey are provided to assess learners.
Final Reflection
The last piece of the curriculum is the final reflection dialogue. This dialogue is read while the final slide of the presentation is projected or while learners are outside and able to quietly reflect on their journey through the Tell it to the Trees Curriculum. During the reflection, the themes of the curriculum are tied together as learners think back about their discussions and the activities they participated in while learning about trees, nature, and themselves. As a final parting thought, learners are encouraged to remember that when they feel scared, alone, angry, or uncertain, they can tell it to the trees to find empathy, resiliency, and hope.
