Bring a story video into your literacy block and your SEL time in one ready-to-teach lesson.
The Tree That Remembered Spring is Episode 5 of The Stories Symbols Tell on Teach Between the Lines TV. Baba is an old tree at the heart of the forest who remembers everything that matters. When a storm takes his largest branch, he wonders whether his best springs are behind him. Then a tiny seedling named Safi asks, "Tell me about before!" Baba's memory of a summer without rain helps the whole forest save its stream, and he discovers that his stories still help others grow. The story is inspired by Sankofa (SAHN-koh-fah), the Adinkra symbol of learning from the past to build the future, from the Akan peoples of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.
What's inside (24-page printable PDF):
3 sessions of 40–45 minutes each, with timed video pause points and discussion questions
ELA focus: story order, character change, point of view, central message, nonliteral language and picture clues
SEL focus: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making
Common Core reading, writing and speaking standards (RL.3.1, RL.3.2, RL.3.3, RL.3.4, RL.3.6, RL.3.7, W.3.3 and SL.3.1), with grade 2 and grade 4 notes
Cultural background on Adinkra and Sankofa, with the traditional proverb, a pronunciation guide and teaching-with-care notes
A "pass-it-on circle" to open the SEL session
11 printer-friendly student pages: word work, story sequencing, a "Baba Then and Now" character chart, word pictures, picture clues, "Pass It On?" sorting cards, a writing planner, "The Story I Carry Forward" Story Tree and exit tickets
Differentiation for emerging readers, multilingual learners and advanced students
Writing rubric, SEL observation checklist, "Tell Me About Before" family take-home page and answer key
Works with the free video on Teach Between the Lines TV (11 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkqkX3GqKyI
License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please do not share, post publicly or resell.