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Mother," said Polly, "can you make us a tent?"

"A tent?" asked mother. "What for?"

"To play in, mother. Some of the other children have tents. I should like one."

"Perhaps they bought theirs, Polly."

"Yes, they did, mother. But I thought that maybe you could make one. You do make us things."

"Perhaps I can, Polly. Let me see. Yes, I think of a way. Come and help me."

Mother went out into the back kitchen. She had some clotheshorses there.

She said, "Take hold of the end of this clotheshorse, Polly. We will carry it out of doors. It is quite heavy. But you can do it. Now here is a good place. We will stand it up. Let us go for the other."

"They are just the shape of some tents," said Polly. "How did you think of them, mother? But they are not quite right. They have no roofs."

"That is so, Polly. We will find something for roofs."

The two clotheshorses were set up side by side. Some old blankets and shawls were spread over them.

"Oh, goody, goody!" shouted Polly. "Now we have our tents. They are good ones, too. Thank you, mother."

"What shall we play?" asked Peter.

"Come into my tent, Peter. We will sit down. Guess what I thought of playing."

"Is it soldiers?" asked Peter. "Soldiers sleep in tents."

"No, but soldiers would be a good game. We can play that sometime. Guess again."

"Hunters," said Peter. "When father goes hunting and fishing, he has a tent."

"No, but that would be a good game. I shall remember that one."

."You tell, then," said Peter. "I cannot spend anymore time guessing."

"We will get mother to let us have something to eat. We will have a tent picnic."

"That is a good game, Polly. What can we have to eat? And can we have something to drink?"

"We can have bread and sugar, and bread and jelly. And maybe we can have cookies. Perhaps mother will make us some lemonade. It is quite a hot day."

"Let us ask her now," said Peter, "I am very hungry."

"Oh, oh, oh!" cried Polly. "I have thought of something better. Let us have lemonade to sell. We can charge two cents a glass. Perhaps somebody will buy."

"I should rather have the picnic," said Peter. "I told you that I am very hungry."

"But you like to keep store, Peter. You will like to play this."

"All right," said Peter. "Let us ask mother."

Mother said, "Yes." She went into the kitchen to make lemonade and sandwiches.

"May we take the four wooden chairs that are in the back kitchen, mother?" asked Polly. "We will put boards across them. They will be our counters."

Mother said, "Yes," again. So Peter and Polly made a counter in front of Peter's tent. Then, with the two other chairs, they made a counter in front of Polly's tent.

Mother gave them some clean glasses. She said, "You can use each glass only once. It is not right to let anyone drink out of a used glass. Polly, you may sell the lemonade."

"Then Peter may sell the sandwiches," said Polly. "He likes those best, so he will be glad. See, Peter! You have three plates full of sandwiches. Do not eat them all."

"No," said Peter. "I will leave a few to sell." And he sat down on the grass behind his counter.

After a few minutes he said, "I am getting tired of waiting for someone to buy. I am going to begin to eat my things up now."

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's mother helps them build tents out of two clotheshorses. Peter suggests that they might play soldiers or hunters. Polly suggests that they have a tent picnic, then decides they should instead sell lemonade. The children take four chairs and place boards over the chairs to make a counter. Peter and Polly's mother makes sandwiches and lemonade for them to sell.

Vocabulary

Clotheshorse: A frame on which washed clothes are hung to dry.
Soldier: A person who serves in an army.
Hunter: A person or animal who pursues and kills other animals.
Tent: A portable shelter often made from poles and fabric.
Picnic: An outing where packed food is eaten outdoors.

Concepts

In the story, Peter and Polly sell lemonade. Lemonade is made from citrus fruits called lemons.

Facts about fruits:

  1. Fruits come from flowering plants.
  2. Fruits have seeds. Seeds can grow into plants that grow additional fruits.
  3. Humans and other animals use fruit as a source of food.
  4. Fruits help the seeds of a plant spread. Animals eat the sweet fruit, sometimes carrying it long distances within their bodies. Eventually, the animals expel the seeds in their feces. The expelled seeds can grow into new plants.
  5. Did you know corn kernels are considered fruits? Beans and tomatoes are also 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: Examine and Sketch a Fruit and its Seeds

Objective:

Examine a piece of fruit. Sketch the outside and inside of the fruit, including the seeds.

Materials:

A piece of fruit, such as an apple, orange, or banana. Crayons or markers and paper.

Procedure:

  • Sketch the outside of your fruit.
  • Cut the fruit so that the seeds are shown. (Instructors may need to do this step if the fruit cannot be cut with a butter knife.)
  • Look for the seeds inside.
  • Sketch the inside of the fruit, including the seeds.
  • If you don't have a piece of fruit handy at home, sketch the apple and its seeds as shown below.

Review

Question 1

Why do the children get clotheshorses from their mother?
1 / 5

Answer 1

The children get clotheshorses from their mother to make tents.
1 / 5

Question 2

What does Peter want to play with the tents?
2 / 5

Answer 2

Peter wants to play soldiers or hunters.
2 / 5

Question 3

What does Polly want to play instead of soldiers or hunters?
3 / 5

Answer 3

Polly first wants to have a tent picnic, but later decides to sell lemonade.
3 / 5

Question 4

Why does it help plants when animals eat their fruits?
4 / 5

Answer 4

Animals eat the fruit, carry the fruit to new locations, and expel the seeds in their waste. This helps plants move to grow in new locations.
4 / 5

Question 5

What might happen if you plant a seed in soil?
5 / 5

Answer 5

The seed may grow into a plant that will produce more seeds.
5 / 5

  1. Why do the children get clotheshorses from their mother? The children get clotheshorses from their mother to make tents.
  2. What does Peter want to play with the tents? Peter wants to play soldiers or hunters.
  3. What does Polly want to play instead of soldiers or hunters? Polly first wants to have a tent picnic, but later decides to sell lemonade.
  4. Why does it help plants when animals eat their fruits? Animals eat the fruit, carry the fruit to new locations, and expel the seeds in their waste. This helps plants move to grow in new locations.
  5. What might happen if you plant a seed in soil? The seed may grow into a plant that will produce more seeds.

References

  1. 'Fruit.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

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