Name___________________________________
Directed Reading Activity
Split Cherry Tree
Eliciting Prior Knowledge
1. Is education important? Explain your opinion.
2. Does parental influence determine education’s impact on a child? Explain using specific
examples.
3. Many books and movies directly or indirectly discuss education. What are some
examples in which education has changed a person, relationship, or community?
Explain.
Purpose
Read “Split Cherry Tree” to discover if education can change the characteristics of a person.
Discussion
1. Discuss whether education can change the characteristics of a person. Support your
opinion with at least one example from the text.
2. How are Pa’s original views about education shown through his thoughts and actions?
How does this affect his relationship with his son? Find a passage from the story to
support your interpretations.
3. Examine the following quotes and explain whether they show signs of change. Then,
chose a quote to third quote that discusses this same theme and explain.
a. “I’ll never be able to make him understand about the cherry tree.”
b. “Lettin’ you leave your books and gallivant all over th’ hills. What kind of school
is it nohow!”
c. Choose your own and explain.
4. Think about if education (or lack thereof) has affected or changed a person you know.
Explain in detail your example and reasoning.