Engage grades 2-5 in coding an interactive story with speech recognition while committing to tree conservation. Perfect for Earth Day and Arbor Day activities.
How can thoughtful planning, design, and code make Growing Tree: Code Speech 🌱 work for its audience?
The through-line for every task in this lesson.
Students will be able to
Design a short interactive story featuring a tree using various images, backgrounds, and text.
Code speech recognition to help the tree grow within the story.
Write a 'Tree Keeper Promise' detailing how they will care for trees.
Key vocabulary
voice inputphotosynthesismodel
Assessment
Formative
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
Assess the published Growing Tree: Code Speech 🌱 with the analytic rubric.
The student journey
This is a build — not a worksheet packet
Every lesson runs like the story students are about to make: read it, write it, build it, polish it, publish it. The printables scaffold each stage — the published Elementari project is the destination.
1
📖
Read
Students read a short, high-interest passage — a real-world hook, not a dry textbook definition — to spark ideas for what they'll make.
📖Read Before You Build: Growing Tree: Code Speech 🌱
Trees need light, water, air, nutrients, and enough space to grow. Roots take in water and help anchor a tree, while leaves use light, water, and carbon dioxide to make sugars through photosynthesis. The voice-controlled growth in this proj…
SourcesUSDA Forest Service — TreesCode.org — Programming Concepts and Tool Documentation
In the studio, students bring the project to life — adding art and following the exact writing and coding steps shown below. The Studio Compass walks them through it, one step at a time.
🧭Studio CompassStep 1 / 6
Pre-Writing with Your Worksheet 📘
Think about what trees needs to grow. Draw your ideas and write a few words on how you will help your tree. Use the worksheet to help ( PDF or Google Doc ).
Key words — tap to learnon pronounce block
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 6 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Pre-Writing with Your Worksheet 📘~15 min
2Create Your Story Title 🌟~5 min
3Write About Tree Needs 🌱~5 min
4Help Your Tree Grow with Your Voice 🎤~10 min
5Make a Tree Keeper Promise 🌳~5 min
6Finish and Share Your Story 🤗~10 min
4
🔁
Polish
ongoing
Teacher and peer feedback pin right onto the project — students revise until it's ready to share.
Feedback on the project2 pins
🍎
Add one more sentence here so readers get the full picture.
👍 2Teacher
A
The interaction is clear — it helps the reader follow the project!
Test and debug a program or algorithm to ensure it runs as intended.
1A-AP-12
Develop plans that describe a program’s sequence of events, goals, and expected outcomes.
Also addressed1B-AP-13 · 1A-AP-15 · 1B-AP-11 · 1B-AP-17
ISTE
ISTE Standards for Students
11 standards
ISTE 1.4.a
Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts, or solving authentic problems.
ISTE 1.4.c
Students develop, test, and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
ISTE 1.6.d
Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
ISTE 1.5.d
Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
Also addressedISTE 1.3.a · ISTE 1.3.b · ISTE 1.1.c · ISTE 1.6.b · ISTE 1.6.c · ISTE 1.5.c · ISTE 1.3.d
AASL
AASL Standards Framework for Learners
3 standards
AASL I.A.1
Learners display curiosity and initiative by formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
Also addressedAASL I.B.1 · AASL I.B.3
NGSS
Next Generation Science Standards
1 standard
NGSS 2-LS2-1
Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
Full task-by-task mapping — including Depth of Knowledge — is in the answer key.
Differentiation & accessibility
Built to reach every learner
One lesson, three built-in paths — with accessibility baked into the materials, not bolted on afterward.
Extra support
Emerging readers & writers
Read-aloud and multilingual support in the Elementari build
Studio Compass highlights one task at a time — including the coding
Sentence frames and a word bank so it is never a blank page
On grade
The core lesson
The passage and storyboard exactly as written
Model answers and “look-fors” in the answer key
Self-check chips at every milestone
Ready for more
Extension & challenge
Challenge vocabulary and a real-world extension question
Deepen one existing page or interaction — without changing the required mechanics
A longer, evidence-based reflection prompt
Accessibility, built inPredictable step-by-step structureOne task at a time · Studio CompassHighlighted response areasLow-stimulation printMovement-friendly pacingDesigned so every student can design, write, and code — with ADHD, autism, and dyslexia in mind.
Questions
Teacher FAQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No coding experience needed. Studio Compass guides students through Guided Steps — each names the exact block and checks itself off — while you facilitate.
What devices does it work on?
Any modern browser — laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets. Nothing to install.
Do my students need an account?
No student email addresses required. You roster your class in a couple of clicks, and students join with a simple class code.
Is it standards-aligned?
Yes — each lesson shows national frameworks and supported state codes from your Standards setting, with specific standards and DOK levels called out in the answer key.
Can students work at different levels?
Built-in read-aloud, sentence frames, and task-level word suggestions meet students where they are, and the self-checking steps let each student work at their own pace.
How do students share their work?
They submit to you for review; you publish the best to your class showcase, each with a public link.
Ready when you are
Bring this lesson to your class
Import your class, assign in one click, and watch them build — the whole kit comes with it.
