the great kapok tree, lynne cherry, conservation, education, princeton university, teacher resources, nkcc reading corner, amazon rainforest

The Great Kapok Tree
The reading corner, a Northern Kenya Conservation Clubs project, engages children with active storytelling. The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry tells a tale of a man who wants to cut down a tree in the Amazon rainforest. While he is sleeping, creatures and humans from the forest beg him to not cut down the tree.  Although this story takes place in the Amazon rainforest, it has similar implications to the situation in Kenya, and everywhere throughout the world. This book teaches students the need to conserve all parts of the environment, and how their actions have impacts beyond what meets the eye. At the end of the story the reader asks comprehension questions for the students to think about. This story connects to the lessons in the curriculum at https://www.mpalalive.org/classroom, about the environment and the human-wildlife connection. Specifically, The Great Kapok Tree connects to Unit 5: Lesson 4: Food Chains, and Unit 5: Lesson 4 : Extension 1 Web of Life.