TREE
Why Is This Strategy Useful?
TREE is a mnemonic device that helps students organize and structure their writing. Middle and
high school students can use this strategy to self-monitor their writing, with an emphasis on
elaboration techniques that include appealing to logic, use of personal anecdotes, examples,
beliefs, expert opinions, or cause-effect reasoning. This approach has been found to promote
writing skills of struggling writers of all grade levels with and without disabilities.
Description of Strategy
Teachers help students use the mnemonic acronym TREE as a framework for writing. It stands
for the following:
T—Topic sentence: Tell what you believe!
R—Reasons (three or more): Why do you believe this? Will my readers believe this?
E—Explain reasons: Say more about each reason.
E—Ending: Wrap it up!
This strategy can be taught in large or small groups. It may also be used as an independent
strategy for any student who needs help writing an opinion essay. The teacher can easily
present this strategy by introducing the TREE mnemonic with a chart and a rationale for each
element. It is important for the teacher to model the strategy, using a think-aloud procedure,
discuss the importance of positive self-talk during writing, and have each student write a list of
self-talk statements. After students memorize the steps and the positive self-talk statements, the
teacher should provide support as students implement the steps. After three or four essays, the
students should be able to shift to independent performance.
Research Evidence
At least one case study supports the use of this strategy. One third-grade student with learning
disabilities met with a writing teacher in a quiet area for 20-minute sessions, three times a week,
for five weeks. Together they read several short essays and identified in each the topic
sentence, reasons, explanations, and the ending. The teacher and student filled out a graphic
organizer for TREE for each essay they read together. Then they wrote opinion essays
together, using the TREE strategy. Finally, the student worked independently to produce opinion
essays. Five weeks after the student began the study, her writing had improved greatly.
Sample Studies Supporting This Strategy
Harris, K. R., Graham, S., & Mason, L. (2002). POW plus TREE equals powerful
opinion essays. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(5), 74–77.
This article features the work of the Center for Research on Accelerating Student Learning, a
Federally funded education research center in the U.S. The article describes the benefits of a
self-regulated strategy development approach for teaching elementary school students with
learning disabilities. It discusses how to write opinion essays and outlines the steps of the POW
plus TREE strategy of instruction.
INQUIRE summaries available at schools.nyc.gov/inquire
Study abstract and sample activity reproduced with permission, copyright © 2002 by the CEC, Inc.
www.cec.sped.org. All rights reserved.
Sample Activity
(Source: Harris et al., 2002).
Additional Resources
Shapes and colors in the three-TREE sandwich paragraph.
http://www.polk.edu/INSTRUCT/ALSS/kathy_r/tree/shapescolors.htm
INQUIRE summaries available at schools.nyc.gov/inquire
Study abstract and sample activity reproduced with permission, copyright © 2002 by the CEC, Inc.
www.cec.sped.org. All rights reserved.