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One day, Polly brought something pretty home from school. She showed it to Peter.

She said, "See this wreath of red leaves. I made it. One of the big girls taught me how. I will teach you."

"All right," said Peter. "I have been waiting for you to come home. I thought that you would play with me."

"I will," said Polly. "Let us both hunt for red leaves. They have begun to fall from the trees.

"There are none under these trees in our yard. These are elms. See, their leaves are all yellow."

"I know where to get red leaves," said Peter. "Come down by the fence. The trees down there have red leaves. They have yellow ones, too."

"Yes, they have, Peter. Those are the trees that we tap in the spring. They are sugar maples."

"See," said Peter, "here are many red maple leaves on the ground. And here are many yellow maple leaves, too. And here are a few green leaves.

"I shall use some of the yellow ones in my wreath. They will be pretty."

Polly said, "I will make one wreath all yellow. This is the way to do it. Watch!

"Break the stem off every leaf. Then lay the point of one leaf over the bottom of another. Lay it over just a little.

"Now use one of the stems for a pin. Pin through both leaves. That will hold them together. Then you can pin on another, like this":











"I see," said Peter. "I can do it. First, I shall take a red leaf. Next I shall take a yellow leaf. It is a good way."

"Yes, it is, Peter. See my wreath. It is large enough. I shall wear it on my head. First, I must fasten the ends together. I will show you how to do it."

Polly took another stem-pin. She pinned the first leaf and the last leaf together. This made a circle. She put the wreath on her head. It fitted very well.

"Now I have a crown," she said. "So, of course, I am a queen. Finish your wreath and you may be a king."

Peter put his on his head. Then he made a larger one. He wore this around his neck.

"What are you doing now, Polly?" he asked. "Why are you making such a big one?"

Polly had made a very long chain of maple leaves.

She said, "I am not going to make this into a wreath. I am just going to keep on making a chain.

"I shall hang it on the fence. By and by, it will be so long that it will reach to Tim's house. You help."

Peter made short chains. Polly joined these to the long one. She hung the long one over the pickets of the fence. The red and the yellow leaves looked very pretty on the white fence.

"I believe I like autumn," said Polly. "I like to swing way up into the yellow elm leaves. I like to make wreaths.

"It is fun playing in the leaves. Only I do wish that they could stay on the trees always."

"Then you could not play in them," said Peter. "But most of them are up on the trees yet."

"I know that," said Polly. "But they keep falling down. See the wind blow them. Their stems are all loose. Look at our long chain."

"We can never make one all the way up to Tim's," said Peter. "I am going to stop until tomorrow. We can do more then."

"All right," said Polly. "It is getting dark anyway. We could not see much longer. I wish that night would not come so early. Let's go in."

When morning came, the children ran to look at their lovely chain. What do you think had happened?

Why, in the night, the red and yellow leaves had begun to curl up. They had begun to grow brown. The chain was no longer very pretty.

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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

Polly shows Peter how to make chains out of red maple leaves and yellow elm leaves, using stems as pins to hold leaves together. Peter and Polly make themselves wreathes out of leaves and wear them on their heads. Peter makes a necklace out of the leaves. Polly makes a long garland for the fence. When the children check their leaf chains the following day, the bright red and yellow leaves are brown and no longer very pretty.

Vocabulary

Maple Tree: A tree or shrub with colorful autumn leaves, grown for its beauty, its timber, or its delicious maple syrup. Its leaves may turn any of red, yellow, purple, black, orange, pink, magenta, blue and brown in the fall.
Elm Tree: A tall tree whose jagged-edged green leaves turn yellow and fall every autumn.
Leaf Stem: The stalk attaching a leaf to a tree
Chain: Identical items fastened together in a line.
Wreath: An arrangement of flowers, leaves, or stems fastened in a ring.
Garland: A wreath or chain of flowers and leaves, worn on the head or hung as a decoration.

Concepts

Trees are plants. Trees often have a central wood trunk supporting branches and leaves

Facts about trees:

  1. Trees are the oldest living things on Earth.
  2. All sorts of living things thrive in trees, including insects, lichens, birds, and squirrels.
  3. Trees make oxygen. Humans and other animals need oxygen gas to live. Breathe in and out, and thank the trees.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

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

Activity 2: Nature Walk

Objective:

Gather leaves and create chains, wreaths, and/or garlands.

Materials:

Leaves, paper, and colored pencils

Procedure:

  • With the help of an adult, venture outside to gather some leaves.
  • Remove the leaf stems and use the stems to pin the leaves together into a chain.
  • Make a chain, a wreath, and/or a garland out of the leaves.
  • See who can make the longest leaf chain.
  • Use colored pencils to sketch two of the leaves you found.

Review

Question 1

What color are the maple tree leaves in the story? What color are the elm tree leaves?
1 / 4

Answer 1

The maple leaves are red. The elm tree leaves are yellow.
1 / 4

Question 2

How do the children connect the leaves together?
2 / 4

Answer 2

Using the leaf stems.
2 / 4

Question 3

How are leaf chains and wreaths different?
3 / 4

Answer 3

Leaf chains are multiple leaves strung together in a straight line. Leaf wreaths are multiple leaves strung together to form a closed circle.
3 / 4

Question 4

How are leaf chains and wreaths similar?
4 / 4

Answer 4

They are both made of multiple leaves strung together.
4 / 4

  1. What color are the maple tree leaves in the story? What color are the elm tree leaves? The maple leaves are red. The elm tree leaves are yellow.
  2. How do the children connect the leaves together? Using the leaf stems.
  3. How are leaf chains and wreaths different? Leaf chains are multiple leaves strung together in a straight line. Leaf wreaths are multiple leaves strung together to form a closed circle.
  4. How are leaf chains and wreaths similar? They are both made of multiple leaves strung together.

References

  1. 'Tree.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

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