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    Peter and Polly Series by Rose Lucia Peter and Polly by Rose Lucia    

Lesson 10: The Stone-Wall Post Office

lesson image


Around Peter's house is a beautiful field. This is Mr. Howe's hayfield. You can find it on the map at the bottom of this page.

The children like this field. All the year round, it is a pleasant place.

In the spring they find blue violets here. In the summer, they watch the birds that make nests in the tall grass. In the winter, they slide here on the crust.

At the farther side of the field, there are some trees. These are butternut trees. In front of the trees is a stone wall.

Peter and Polly like to play by this wall. Sometimes they play that it is a post office.

The holes in the wall are the boxes. There is a box for everyone in the village. Peter has more than one box, and so has Polly.

The children take turns being the postmaster. If Peter is the postmaster, Polly calls for the mail.

The real post office is in their father's store. So they have often seen Mr. Howe put the mail into the boxes.

They use little sticks for the post cards. Leaves are the letters. Stones are the packages. Sometimes the boxes are full of mail—especially Peter's and Polly's.

Often they play that it is Christmas time. Then the boxes are full of packages. It is fun to guess what is in each package.

One day Peter said, "There is a knife in this package. I like it. There is a hammer in this package. I will build a house with it.

"There is a game in this package. Will you play it with me, Polly? And, Oh Polly! There is a pony in this package! That is what I wish for most of all."

"But, Peter, a pony is too big to be in your post office box. It would not come by mail."

"Then Santa Claus will bring it," said Peter. "If I get it, I do not care how it comes."

One day the children saw that the butternuts were falling.

Polly said, "Let's pick up all we can. We will put them in our post office boxes. When they are full, we will bring your cart. Then we can take the nuts home. We will crack them next winter."

So they filled the boxes with nuts. The nuts were still green. The children stained their hands with them.

While they were playing with the nuts, they saw two squirrels. These sat in the trees above them. They watched Peter and Polly with their bright eyes, and scolded them a great deal.

"They want our nuts," said Polly. "But we have put them into our post office boxes. We will keep them."

The next day the children went for their nuts. They took Peter's cart with them. What do you think they found?

Why, they found their boxes empty! The nuts were all gone!

"Someone bad has been here," said Peter.

Polly laughed. "You always say that, Peter. I think it was those squirrels. And I don't care, because they need the nuts to eat this winter."

"I don't care, either," said Peter. "I think we forgot to lock our boxes."

"Perhaps we did," said Polly. "But I guess the squirrels thought the boxes were theirs. When they called for their mail, they found the boxes full. How pleased they must have been! Let's pick up more nuts for them."

So the children again filled the post office boxes with nuts. Then they went home and left them for the squirrels.

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    Peter and Polly Series by Rose Lucia Peter and Polly by Rose Lucia    

Lesson 10: The Stone-Wall Post Office

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Peter and Polly play post office. The mailboxes are holes in a stone wall. The mail is leaves or rocks. The children decide to fill their post office boxes with butternuts. The squirrels scold the children while they work. The next day, when Peter and Polly return to their post office, their nuts were gone. The squirrels have taken the nuts. The children fill the mailboxes back up with nuts for the squirrels.

Vocabulary

Hayfield: A field where hay is being made.
Post Office: A place to send and receive paper mail and packages.
Post Office Box: A box to hold mail for a particular order.
Scold: To express anger for a fault.
Butternut Tree: A type of walnut tree, also known as white walnut.

Concepts

In the story, the children gather butternuts from butternut trees. Trees have several parts including roots, trunks, branches, and leaves.

  1. Roots stretch down into the soil to collect water and nutrients.
  2. Trunks are the main woody stem of the tree.
  3. Branches are woody stems that split off from the main trunk.
  4. Leaves are flat, green or other colored blades attached to a stem.
  5. Trees also grow seeds and fruits.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Morphology of a Tree

Objective:

Sketch the main parts of a tree.

Materials:

Pencil, paper

Procedure:

  • Examine the labeled picture of the tree below.
  • Point out and recite aloud the labeled parts of the tree, including the leaves, branches, trunk, and roots.
  • Sketch your own tree.
  • If you are able, draw the arrows and names of the parts on your tree drawing.

Review

Question 1

What do Peter and Polly do with the old stone wall?
1 / 5

Answer 1

Peter and Polly use the old stone wall as a post office.
1 / 5

Question 2

What do Peter and Polly put in their mailboxes?
2 / 5

Answer 2

Peter and Polly put leaves, rocks, and butternuts in their mailboxes.
2 / 5

Question 3

Why do the squirrels scold Peter and Polly?
3 / 5

Answer 3

The squirrels scold Peter and Polly for taking the butternuts and placing them in the stone wall. The squirrels want the nuts for themselves.
3 / 5

Question 4

What do Peter and Polly do when their beechnuts disappear?
4 / 5

Answer 4

Peter and Polly replace the missing beechnuts with new beechnuts.
4 / 5

Question 5

Who took the beechnuts?
5 / 5

Answer 5

The squirrels took the beechnuts.
5 / 5

  1. What do Peter and Polly do with the old stone wall? Peter and Polly use the old stone wall as a post office.
  2. What do Peter and Polly put in their mailboxes? Peter and Polly put leaves, rocks, and butternuts in their mailboxes.
  3. Why do the squirrels scold Peter and Polly? The squirrels scold Peter and Polly for taking the butternuts and placing them in the stone wall. The squirrels want the nuts for themselves.
  4. What do Peter and Polly do when their beechnuts disappear? Peter and Polly replace the missing beechnuts with new beechnuts.
  5. Who took the beechnuts? The squirrels took the beechnuts.

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