The Banana Tree Close-Read Guide for ELD Students
A close-reading worksheet built around James Berry's short story "The Banana Tree," in which Gustas tries to save his prized tree during a hurricane. It guides students through three analytical levels (inspection, analysis, and interpretation) and asks them to track sensory imagery and the symbolic meaning of the tree, with the original text aimed at upper-middle and high school readers, so it works best with heavy scaffolding for emerging English learners.
“Can you modify this for level 3 ELD students based on WIDA Can-Do descriptors for writing and reading- students are in 7-9th grade.”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a multi-day close read: preview the story with the image and key vocabulary, then have students complete Level 1 (inspection) with sentence frames before moving to analysis and interpretation.
- Discussion question: What details show that the storm is dangerous, and how does Berry's word choice make you feel that danger?
- Scaffold for emerging ELD learners: provide sentence starters ("The author says ___, which shows ___"), a bilingual glossary for terms like hurricane, symbol, and sensory, and paired reading with teacher modeling of one paragraph.
- Extension for advanced students: have them explain how the banana tree could symbolize something bigger in Gustas's life and support the claim with two quoted passages.
- Estimated time: about 45 minutes per level, or roughly three 45-minute sessions for the full guide including discussion.
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Try Diffit for free“Can you modify this for level 3 ELD students based on WIDA Can-Do descriptors for writing and reading- students are in 7-9th grade.”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a multi-day close read: preview the story with the image and key vocabulary, then have students complete Level 1 (inspection) with sentence frames before moving to analysis and interpretation.
- Discussion question: What details show that the storm is dangerous, and how does Berry's word choice make you feel that danger?
- Scaffold for emerging ELD learners: provide sentence starters ("The author says ___, which shows ___"), a bilingual glossary for terms like hurricane, symbol, and sensory, and paired reading with teacher modeling of one paragraph.
- Extension for advanced students: have them explain how the banana tree could symbolize something bigger in Gustas's life and support the claim with two quoted passages.
- Estimated time: about 45 minutes per level, or roughly three 45-minute sessions for the full guide including discussion.
The Banana Tree Close-Read Guide for ELD Students
A close-reading worksheet built around James Berry's short story "The Banana Tree," in which Gustas tries to save his prized tree during a hurricane. It guides students through three analytical levels (inspection, analysis, and interpretation) and asks them to track sensory imagery and the symbolic meaning of the tree, with the original text aimed at upper-middle and high school readers, so it works best with heavy scaffolding for emerging English learners.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free