Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree will love this post. It includes tons of free teaching ideas, resource recommendations, and information about the book.
With themes of joy and reusing, this Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree picture book by Robert Barry is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will quickly become one of your and your students’ favorite Christmas read alouds too!
Engage Your Students with Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree book companion to make lesson planning simple with Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Summary
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree is a heartwarming holiday story about kindness. When Mr. Willowby’s tree is too tall to fit in his house, he cuts off the top of it! A variety of people and animals then use the top, ultimately sharing joy around the forest. Children of all ages will enjoy this tale’s message around the importance of recycling, mindfulness of others, and joy to be spread to all.
Book Information for Elementary Teachers
What are the reading levels for Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree?
- Lexile® Measure: 660L
- Guided Reading Level: P
- DRA Level: 36 – 38
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 3.7 – 3.9
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written and illustrated by Robert Barry.
What genre is Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree?
It is a fiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 32 pages long.
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Lesson Plan Ideas
Each of our 600+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
Reading Comprehension Questions
The text-based Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree reading comprehension questions focus on:
- analyzing situations
- ask and answer questions
- sequencing
Literature-Based Social Emotional Learning Lessons
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- joy
- reusing
Grammar, Vocabulary & Word Study
- verbs
- contractions
- rhyme
Get the Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree Activities
You’ll receive all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
One Last Thing Before You Go… Grab this Free Reading Resource!
If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It includes:
- seasonal read aloud books lists for teachers
- printable reading logs to track students’ reading
- monthly reading challenges to motivate students to read more
It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
