New word list pre en ee Some ‘going to be on holiday. David and Jenny were very excited. They were going to Kariba with Daddy and Mummy, Chipo and Tatenda were going to stay with Aunt Siphiwe. Elesh had gone tohhis granny. Seseuressezazacvureecesceseany ¥ ‘Only Nicola was not going away. Her mother worked all day in town. Her big sister and father worked all day. Nicoia did not want to stay at home every day all by herself.At first she looked at her books and she coloured some pictures. She played with her dolis and played on the swing, But soon Nicola had had enough of all her toys and games. One afternoon she sat quietly until Mummy ‘came home from work. “Mummy,” said Nicola. “What can | do?” “Play with your new dolls,” said Mummy, “or you could colour a picture for me.” “Ohno, Mummy,” cried Nicola. “Ido that all doy. What can | do?” Mummy thought for a long time. “Come and sit with me here, Nicola,” she said at last. “I know why you have nothing todo. All your friends have gone on holiday, Only you are here for the schoo! holiday, Now, how would you like to come to my work tomorrow?" Nicola leaped up! She threw her arms round Mummy's neck. “Oh may I?” she cried excitedly. “Ilove going to work with you!" “Yes, you may come. But you must listen to ‘me and do as | say, Will you try to do that?” “Oh yes. | will do it, Mummy!” said Nicola, 2 he sow something shiny on the road. At ‘once he bent down to snatch it up. “Atlast have found more money,” said the cross old man. But when he looked at the money, he saw it was not money after all, It was a shiny broken mirror. The mirror was dirty. But the old man could see something in the mirror. He looked and looked. All he could see in the mirror was a cross old man. He saw a bent head and a sad face. “What have | done?" cried out the man. “Is this really me? | have such a cross old face. What good has it done me to look for money fon the road? Now | am old. | wish | was {young again. lwould not walk looking atthe road all my life!"" The old man threw away the broken mirror. He stood up tall. He looked at the sky andthe sun. Slowly he began to sing his old happy song. And he never looked down atthe road again!‘The young man shook his head slowly, “Now | shall always look for money on the ground. | may find more gold money like this.” So from that day the young man bent his. head. He no longer looked at the blue sky. He no longer looked at the fluffy white clouds as they sailed across the sky. He did not listen to one more bird singing a happy song inatree. He never saw any people any ‘more. His eyes looked only at the ground, They looked here and there, always looking for money Many years went by. The happy young man soon grew old. He was across old man. Noone could have thought thathe had once been a tall and happy young man. All the people knew the cross, bent old man. They thought he was rude for he never said “hello”. He never looked at people, He looked only at the ground. Allthrough the years, the bent old man never found more money. All he saw was brown stones and dirt. He saw old papers ‘and bad food that people had lost. But he did not find shiny gold money, until one day Nicola’s mother was a hairdresser. Her work was to cut ladies’ hair and dry itso that they looked lovely. Sometimes the ladies wanted to change the colour of their hair. Nicola's mother would make theladies’ hair the new colour. Nicola’s mother was a good hairdresser. She worked hard and many ladies in the town came to her to have their hair cut.Nicola loved going to work with Mummy. The other ladies chatted to her and let her help with some of the work. Sometimesthey would buy her sweets. Nicola liked to watch the ladies change as their hair was cut. She thought they each looked like anew lady. ‘So Nicola went the next day with Mummy. She puton anew dress andmade her shoes shine brightly, She was excited! No more staying at home all day by herself. Nicola skipped beside Mummy asthey went down the road. She was very happy. One of he ladies opened the door to let them in. Hello, Nicola!” she cried. "How goodto see you! We need a helper today. Mary is not well. Do you think you can help us by sweeping the floor today?” “Oh yes,” said Nicola, She felt pleased and own up to help the ladies work. ‘know how to sweep. | help Mummy at home. | will sweep the floor until it shines!” So Nicola fetched the broom and began to sweep the floor. She wanted ito be clean when the first lady came to have her hair cut. Soon the floor was clean and tidy, Slowly the tall young man picked up the ‘gold money. He looked at it as it lay in his hand. ‘What a foo! | have been!” thought the young man. “What a foolish young man | ‘am. | have been walking allthis time with ‘my head held high. | have kept my eyes looking up in the sky, only looked atthe sky and sun, at the trees and flowers. ! have never looked at the ground. Why! All this time | have not seen money lying on the ground. By thistimel must have walked away from so much money on the ground. All because my eyes looked at the ‘sky. | may have walked by money when | was busy singing a song. There is money! have not found because | have been saying hello to people.”The young man went on being happy. He held his head up high and looked at birds flying in the sky. One day as he was walking along, he sow something shine. it ‘was not the bright.sun. It was not the sun shining on some water. What could it be? “Something shiny on the ground?’ thought the young man. “What could that be?” So he turned around and walked back up the road, He looked down at the ground. Then he saw what was shining near the road. Itwas some shiny, gold money. All day Nicola worked in the room. She talked to the ladies who came in, She brought cups of tea for them to drink. And after the cut hair had fallen to the floor, she would sweep it up with the broom. The ladies stopped working at lunch time. Nicola’s mummy took her outto have lunch. “You have been very good today," she said, “You aremy big girl and my big helper. You may have a treat today. Would you like o milkshake with your lunch? You may have ‘any colour you want!" “Hmmm! What a lovely treat,” said Nicola gladly. "I would like a pink milkshake. like pink milkshokes best. Thank you Mummy,” Nicola had been such a good helper that ‘Mummy took her to work each day. Nicola ‘would sweep the floor, sweep up the cut hair ‘and bring cups of tea, Then she began to get tired of doing the ‘same things every day,“Mummy,” she asked, “may | change now? Iwant to do something else. Whatcan | do?” “Why don’t you play in the backroom?” her mummy said. “Some of your books are there and you can colour. After you have coloured, you can change again. Now, off you go because | om busy. This lady is changing the colour of her hair today.” The man and the money (Once upon a time there was a young man. He had golden yellow hair and biue eyes. He was tall and walked fast with his long iegs. He always sang o happy song as he walked along. He always smiled “helio to the people he saw. "What makes you so happy?” asked his friends. “Everything can make me happy!" he laughed. “!lookat the bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. | see the golden sun shining in the sky and these things make me happy! | hear a tiny bird singing ina green tree and it makes me sing a happy song. Oh! | don’t think | could aver be unhappy. His friends would shake their heads and smile sadly. They wished they could be happy too. “I would like to be happy like you,” said ‘one young man. “But must work hard. | must get lots of money. 1am too busy to be hoppy.””Do this 1 What did the king give the queen? 2 Write down what the queen was like. 3 Why did the queen take the necklace off? ‘4 What happened tothe necklace? 5 How did the king catch the thief? 6 Mark the vowels and circle the rules you know in these words: shall, slide, king, show, please, both, swim, token. 7. Make a list of words with long vowels and alist of words with short vowels: cake, sack, lid, bite, sell, pan foal, rod, beak, lump, tube. 8 How would you have tried to catch the thief? 9 Draw the thief. » Nicola walked slowly to the back room. She didn't really want to colour. But Mummy was very busy and Nicola had nothing else todo. As she went in, she saw lots of little tubes Suddenly Nicola did something naughty. She looked at the tubes. She looked at Mother in the shop. “I know what these ore,” thought Nicola. “These are tubes of colour for the ladies’ hair. Ithink! shall be a hairdresser, just like Mummy. shall be a hairdresser for my dolls.” Nicola picked up her two dolls. She washed their hair just as her mother did in the shop. Next Nicola sat the dolls on top of the table. “Today | shall cut your hair,” said Nicolo. “You must sit still so that | don't cut you! Then you will look pretty.” Nicola began to cut the dolls’ hair with some ‘small scissors, She cut and cut until the dolls had very little hair left. They did not really look very pretty after all.ain ht" said Nicola, “I don’t think you look so nice now! | think| know what to do now. You will look better if your hair is a different colour. ! did not cut it very well. lam sure | ean change the colour. | have seen Mummy doit.” Nicola picked up some of the tubes. She ‘opened them and pushed the tubes softly. Some of the colours came out of the tubes. Soon she had lots of paints with shiny colours coming out — purple, brown, black ‘and yellow. So the king wrote messages to tell all the People in the land about the lost necklace. “if anyone finds the necklace, | shall pay him lots of money,” said the king Butno one was able to find the necklace, No ‘one brought it to the king. No one came to get the money. One day the king said to the queen, “I think one of our servants has taken the necklace. Now he is lying so that we don't catch him. But | think can trick him!” So the king called all the servants together again. “My friends,” he said. “I want to tell you that | know who the thief is. He is in this very room with us. You can all see who he is. He is the one with straw in his hair.” When the king said this, all the people began to lookateach other. The thief’s hand went slowly to his head. The king was watching carefully, “Theres the thief!” he shouted, pointing to the man. “Catch him at once!”” So the king’s soldiers got the foolish thief. And the queen got her beautiful necklace back.Nicola putthe colours on her dolls’ hair. She put the shiny paint on with her hands. Her dolls did not have much hair left and Nicola got paint all over their faces. Soon Nicola was finished. She looked at her hands. She looked at her dolls. What a mess she had ‘made! Shiny paint all over her hands and her dolls. Paint coming out of the tubes onto the table. Just then, Mummy walked into the back “Nicola! What have you done’ Mummy. “What a naughty girl you are! | have told you about these tubes. Look at your messy dolls! Look at your messy hands. This paint does not wash off with water. Your hands will stay messy until the colour comes off by itself, Your messy hands will tell you not to be naughty again!” " shouted Do this 1 Why did some of the children go away? 2 What work does Nicola’s mother do? 3. How did Nicola help the ladies? 4 What did Nicola find in the back room?§ Why wae Mather angry? 6 orsays erwhen ithas a wat the beginning: work. Find orin these words. ‘work, worm, world, word, worth. 7 ysometimes says the long sound of e. Put yat the end of the words and read them bab... Pupp.» pret... 8 What do you want grow up? 9 Draw Nicola sweeping the floor. become when you “No one is near the river. lam in the river nearby and I can see if anyone comes to take my necklace.” ‘The queen stayed in the water for along time. It was lovely and cool. She swam and ‘swam. She did not think about her new necklace, She did not look at her towel. She was too busy swimming. At last the queen felt cool enough. She got out of the cool water. She went to get her towel to dry herself. “Oh!” cried the queen in surprise. She looked at her towel. The necklace had gone. Sholooked all aroundtoritbut she could not dit fow angry the king will be,” thought the queen. “Where could it have gone? Who could have taken it? How shall | ever get it back again?” The queen rushed back to tell the king. He was not angry with her. He was angry that someone had taken the beautiful present. He called all the servants together. He asked them if anyone knew anything about the necklace. But all the servants shook their heads. They all said they knew nothing.‘The queen was so pleased with the necklace. She showed it to all her friends. She always put on the necklace. She took it off only when she had a bath. Then the necklace was safe with one of the queen's servants. After her bath, the queen put on the necklace again. One day the queen was very hot. How hot itis today,” she said. "I don’tknow howto get cool!” “Why don’t you go for o swim in the river?” said the king. “The water will be cool and you will soon be cool too.’ “Yes, | shall!” said the queen. “That good idea. | shall like a swim in the river. So the queen walked down to the river. No ‘oneelse could swim with the queen. She had to swim all by herself. Just as she was getting into the water, she thought of her new necklace, “1 must take this off,” she said to herself. “Ido not want my beautiful necklace to get. wet.” So the queen put the necklace down by her towel. “Itwill be safe here,” she thought. Rescue at the swimming pool twas nearly the end of the holidays. All the children had come home again. They liked to play together and go out together. One hot, sunny day all the children fetched their bicycles. They chased each other round the garden and raced on their bicycles. Soon they were hot and tired“How Iwould love something coldto drink,” said David. “Let's ask Mummy if we may have a cold orange drink.” “I have @.good idea too," said Nicola. “Let's ‘sk ifwe can goto the town swimming pool. We could all goon our bicycles. Then we could jump into the water.” All the children rushed to osk their mothers. Soon they were on their way to the ‘swimming pool. They each had a bottle of cold orange drink to drink at the poo!. They each had a swimming costume and a fluffy towel for drying themselves. The boys’ costumes were just like shorts but the girls had pretty costumes. When they got there, they had to pay to go into the pool. Then they went to change into their swimming costumes. There was achange-room forthe boys and a change-room for the girls. They put their clothes in the rooms and put on their bright costumes. ‘They all rushed out with their towels. They put their towels on the grass and raced each other to the side of the pool, The water was clean and blue, 2 The foolish thief Once upon a time there was a great king in India, He had a beautiful wife. The king loved the queen very much. One day, to show how much he loved her, he gave her a present. It was a beautiful necklace. The necklace was made of gold and silver. The king paid a lot ‘of money for the necklace. The queen puton the necklace. She looked even more beautiful“Oh Grandfather,” said Tatenda. “David and | have been foolish too! We have been like Stork and Jackal. If we go on, we won't be friends any more. | think I shall be kind to, David tomorrow, and | shall tell him the story of Stork and Jackal Do this 1. What games did David like best? 2 Who told Tatenda the story? 3 How did Jackal trick Stork? 4 What did Stork do to Jackal? 5 What do you think Tatenda should do? 6 Acsound with a long vowel has ke. ‘Acsound with a short vowel has ck. ‘Write these sounds with both endings and see what words you make: TO. Wei we: bake 7 Match the opposite words. wise weak happy foolish strong unhappy everything —_nothing 8 Draw Stork and Jackal, “Watch me dive in,” shouted David. “I can dive and swim under the water.” David went in head-first. His arms pointed into the water and he pushed with his feet. a splash he went under the water. “lean dive tao,” said Nicola. “You dive in first and then I'll come after you.” said Tatenda, The little children watched all the splashes ‘as the big ones dived in.“Lam too little to dive,” said Jenny. “I shall climb in slowly and when | am wet | shall jump ot eat Hike jumping and splasi So the three stayed where they could stand. The water was cold and they splashed and tried to swim. A\little baby was at the swimming pool. Her ‘mummy was [ying inthe sun. The baby saw a pretty butterfly, She wanted to catch it ‘She began to craw! cfterit. She crawled and crawled. The butterfly flew to the side of the pool. The baby crawied to the side of the pool Suddenly she slid off the side into the cold water. She could notswim because she was only a baby. She was very frightened and began tocry loudly. David and Tatenda saw the baby slide into the pool. As quick as lightning they swam over to her. They lifted her up out of the cold water and held her tightly, “Don't ery, don’t cry now,” said the boys. They walked to the side of the pool. Nicola ran to fetch her warm towel for the baby. “Why don’t youeat your food?” asked Stork. “Don't you like meat after all? Oh dear! Then! shall eat it up for you.” So Stork ate up Jackal's food. Jackal knew that Stork had been nasty to him. But he knew that he had been nasty first. There ‘was nothing he could do. So he went home. “Why could we not be kind to each other?” hhe thought. “Stork was my best friend. But now we do not like each other. How foolish we have been!”“Thank you,” smiled the Jackal. “I would like to come for supper!” So Stork went home. He began to make the supper. He had lots of meat and soon made good food. ‘When Jackal came to Stork’s house he could smell the supper cooking, “Anal” he thought. “Foolish Stork! He was tricked last night. Yet tonight he is going to give me meat for supper. How funny he looked last night. So funny trying to drink the soup from a flat dish!” Just then stork called Jackal to come to eat supper. “Here is some lovely meat," he said. “You do like to eat meat, don’t you?” “Mmm! Yes, | do," said Jackal. Then Jackal ‘saw what Stork had done, He had put the good meat into a bottle. It was a bottle with long thin neck. It was just big enough for Stork’s long, thin beak to fit inside. Stork began to eat the meat. But Jackal just sat and looked sadly ot the bottle. He could see the food and smell it but he could not eat it. Still the cold frightened baby cried, She wanted her mummy but she could not talk. The children putthe warm towel around her. Just then the baby’s mummy ran over to them. “Oh, thank you! Thank you!” she cried, “You rescued my baby! | did not see her go to the water. You rescued her for me! How. foolish | was. | did not look after my baby.” “We were glad to help her,” soid Tatenda. “We could see she was too little to swim. We rescued her as quickly as we could!”Do this 1 Why did the children want to swim? 2 How did David get into the water? 3 What did the baby see? 4 Who fell into the pool? 5 Who rescued the baby? 6 Find this rule in these words: old. cold, bold, sold, gold, fold, hold, told, golden. 7 Write sentences using these words: rescued, butterfly. 8 Write how you feel when you get intoa swimming pool. 9 Drawtwo small pictures forthe story. “Oh, my friend Stork,” said the sly Jackal. “Why don't you eat your supper? Do you not lke the soup? Welt | shall eat it myself!” So sly Jackal quickly ate up the soup. Poor Stork had no supper. He was very hungry but he said nothing. He went home and thought of how he could get back at Jackal. The next day, Stork went to find Jackal, “Would you like to come to my house for supper?” he asked.Itwas an unkind idea but Jackal thought he would do it anyway. He went to see his friend Stork. He was sly and quiet. He asked Stork to come to his house to have supper ‘the next night. Then Jackal ran home. He thought of his friend Stork. Stork had long legs. He had a Jong pointy beak. Stork liked to eat small fish that he got with his long beak. So Jackal began to make supper. He made the best soup that he could. He put all kinds ‘of good food into the soup. It was just the kind of soup that Stork would like to eat. Jackal got everything ready, He waited for Stork to come for supper. When he brought the soup, Stork felt very hungry. He could ‘smell the good soup and he was glad to have some supper. But Jackal had been sly and nasty. He put the thin soup onto a flat dish, Jackal smiled a sly smile. Stork looked at the flat dish. He watched Jackal lick up all the soup in his flat dish. Stork put his beak into the dish. His beak was so long that he could not eat the thin soup. © Who can walk on water? After the children had finished swimming, they lay down on their warm, fluffy towels. ‘The sun was shining and soon they were ‘warm again. They chatted about the rescue at the side of the pool. ‘When they went home, they told Daddy all ‘about the rescue. Daddy wos very pleased that they had been quick and helpful. ‘Now | shall tell you a story,” said Daddy. Tell me, which one of you can walk on top of the water?” “Oh, Daddy!” said Chipo. “No one can walk on water. You would always go under!” “But now | shall tell you about someone who did walk on the water. And this story is Out a rescue too. Sit around here and listen carefully to this story that really happened,” said Daddy, One day Jesus had been very busy. Many sick people came to be made well. Many people came to listen to the stories Jesus told. After they had gone home, Jesus felt very tired. He told his friends to go in the boat across the lake. Jesus needed to be by himself to pray.All the men wentto the boat on the lake. They climbed in and started to go across the fake to the other side. They thought Jesus would go across the lake in another boat. When the men had been on the lake a short time, a strong wind began to blow. "Q00-000-00," roared the wind. It blew harder and harder. Up and down went the boat on the water. Splash, splash came the water into the boat. Crash, crash went the boat on the rough water. ® “Oh, Grandfather,” said Tatenda. “You know. You are wise and you can see that both of us are unhappy. But what shall | do?” “Listen to this story,” said Grandfather, slowly. “You two boys make me think of these two animals in this story. Listen and see what you think: ‘Once upon atime there was a sly jackal. ‘One day he felt cross with his friend, the stork. Stork would not do all the things Jackal wanted to do. So Jackal had an idea.What should | do? ‘One day Tatenda came home feeling very ‘angry. twas Saturday. Butit had not been a good day. He had been cross with David. David had been angry with him. Tatenda did not know what to do. So he went to see Grandfather. “Tell me all about it," said Grandfather, "What happened? You two boys have been such good friends for so long. And now you ‘ore angry. You keep arguing. Something is not right.” “Well,” said Tatenda, "David knows that | can‘t play word games. He likes to stay inside and make up words with the games. Buthe doesit so he can winall thetime. Sol thought of « way to get him back, When he ‘comes to play here, | won't play word games. | will make him play ball games. It's because | am better than he with a ball, so! can win.” “Are you happy doing that?" asked Grandfather. “Do you tike being nasty to {your best friend? Do you think he likes being nasty to you?” ‘Suddenly the boat crashed hard onto the rough water. Bump! — Splash! So much water splashed into the boat. The men tried ‘to throw the water back into the lake. More water splashed in again. Louder and louder the wind blew. “The boatwill go down!” shouted one of the men."We shall never getto the other siden such a bad storm. The water is too rough. ‘The windistoo strong. We shall all go down under the water. No one will ever find us! ‘Oh, dear! What shall we do?” Just then one of the men shouted out in surprise. He pointed over the side of the boat. All the friends looked across the lake. What was Peter pointing ot? What could he see out there? Was it another boat to rescue them? Alll the men looked out across the water. ‘Suddenly they saw what Peter could see! Their faces went white with fright. Some of ‘them fell down into the boat, What could they see? Why were these big men so afraid?There was a man walking on the water. But everyone knows that people cannot walkon water! Who can this be, walking on the water? Just then, they heard a voice. It was the voice of someone they loved. It was the voice of Jesus. “Do not be afraid,” he called. “Itis!! Do not be frightened because you see me walking on the water!” Some of the men looked at Jesus again, They wanted to see ifit really was Jesus. Some were still oo frightened to look. They stayed down in the boat. Fy 6 Make new words: start each word with some and add the other piece on the end someone. ‘some where body thing how 7 Find the rule le: cradle, ite, middle, puddle, kettle, nibble, saddle, pebble, 8 Has this story helped you? How? 9 Draw Cedric Cedar in the field.“And he can do the same with me!” cried Nicola. “Even if | have a funny nose and if! feel shy sometimes, Jesus can be with me all the time and help me to be happy!” Do this 1 Who came into the field? 2 What did the soldier want to make? 3 Who was the man on the cross? 4 Why was Cedric Cedar happy? 5 What did Nicola find out? ‘One man called out to Jesus, "If itis really ‘you, Jesus, then tell me to come out to you on the water!” That man was Peter. He wanted to know ifit really was Jesus. Then Jesus called out just one thing. “Come,” he said, Peter looked right into Jesus's eyes. He held the side of the boat tightly. He put one foot over the side of the boat. He still looked into Jesus's eyes. Then he putthe other foot over the side of the boat. He was standing on the water! How surprised Peter was! Then, still looking at Jesus, he let go of the side of the boat.All the time Peter looked right into Jesus's eyes. He began to walk over to Jesus on top of the water. All the other men were watching Peter. Here ‘was something no one had ever seen! Two men walking on top of the water. They did not go down into the water. The wind still blew, the water stil splashed. Up and down, up and down went the lake. And Peter ‘walked across the lake os ifit was a floor. As Peter walked, he looked at Jesus. All the time he looked at Jesus he stayed on top of the water. Then suddenly Peter thought, “What am | doing? No one can walk on water! What am I doing?” He stopped looking at Jesus. He looked at the lake and at the water going up and down. He heard the wind blowing. And suddenly he felt cold water all around him. He was going down! Down, down into the cold water. Peter was very frightened because he could notswim. “Help me, Jesus!” he shouted out. 2 would never be sorry about being cut down. He knew that whenever people looked at him they would think of Jesus and God. Cedric was doing what he had always wanted to do, He was pointing people to God. "So many more people will see him now,” thought Cedric. “I'm so glad that Jesus could do something good with me!” “What a lovely story,” said Nicola when Daddy had finished. “Now can you see how Jesus can change you?” asked Daddy. "Yes, | think s0,” said Nicola. “Those trees didn’t like what they had become. Just like | don't like my nose. But because of Jesus, they didn’t care about it any more.” "Well done,” said Daddy. “You can see what the trees found out about Jesus. Jesus did not turn the manger into a beautiful cradle. He liked the manger just asit was. He didn’t turn the smelly little fishing boat into a great sailing ship. He was happy with the little boat, And the cross was the same. He ‘could make people think about God evenHow very sad Cedric was. He soon saw the ‘man who was to be put on the cross. He did not look as if he should be killed. The man had to carry the cross up a hill. How big and hard it was for him. ‘Some soldiers come to the man on the hill. They nailed him onto the cross. Cedric cried out, “Oh no! Don't kill this mant I don’t think he is bad. | don’t want a man to be killed on me! But the soldiers nailed the man on anyway. Cedric saw some people come to stand by the cross. They were friends of the man and they were very sad. Some were crying. ‘Suddenly the man was dead. At once the sky became as dark as night. Some of the people were afraid and ran back to their houses. “Jesus is dead,” Cedric. ‘one of the men near ‘Jesus!” thought Cedric in surprise. “Is this Jesus? He has died on this cross to help people. He has died here to help people become friends with God.” As soonas Peter called, Jesus pulled him ‘out of the water. Jesus rescued Peter from the lake to Jesus. “Why were you afraid of the storm?” asked Jesus. Peter did not say anything. He and Jesus walked back to the boat. All the men watched Jesus and Peter walk on the water ‘and climb back into the boat. eter stood on top of the water next ‘They saw how great Jesus was. They saw that he could do anything that he wanted to do. They loved Jesus very much. 2Do this 1 What things did Jesus do in the day? 2 Why did water splash into the boat? 3 What could Peter see on the lake? Why did Peter go under the water? Who rescued Peter? ed sometimes says id. Write ed at the end of these words and read them: want... hand..., land..., last fold..." coat..., wait..., toast 7 Make words: put ong into these words. Stress Venn Bene trol 8 What do you think about Jesus after reading this story? 9 DrawPeter and Jesus walking on the water oon “No! No!” shouted Cedric. "How can this happen to me? Oh no! Please, please don't cut me down. The last thing | wantis to be a ross to kill a man, Please do not tke me from the field. | just want to lift my branches high up in the sky and point peopte to God. Please, don’t cut me down!” But the soldier did not hear Cedric cry out. He took out his sharp silver axe and began to cut Cedric Cedar down. He pulled the tree ‘away and made him into a rough cross.Cedric’s story Many years went by. Cedric Cedar stood all by himself in the field. He was as happy as could be. He was doing what he had always wanted to do. He grew big and strong. He lifted his branches high in the sky. He felt God's rain on his branches, heard the wind and saw the warm sun. When people came by, they looked up atthe enormous tree and ‘saw his branches pointing up to God. But not many people came into the field to see Cedric Cedar. One day a tall man came into the field, Cedric could see he was 0 soldier. A soldier of the king. What could a soldier want in the field? He walked up to Cedric and looked up, up into the branches. But he did not think of God. “Ithink this tree will do,” he said. “Itis big ‘enough to make a cross. | have to make a cross out of wood. Tomorrow aman will be killed. He will be killed on across. Now! shall cut this big tree down to make the cross.” How Cedric shook and shook when he heard this. A cross! A man wasto be killed. n Fun at the fair “Next week you will all go back to school,” said Elesh’s mother. “But we have a treat for you first. Tatenda and Chipo have someone staying with them. Aunt Siphiwe has come to stay, She said that she will take you to the fun fair.’ “To the fun fair!” cried Elesh excitedly. “Ooo! | love the fun fair. There are so many good things to eat there!” “Oh, Elesh!” said Chipo. "You always think of your food first! I ike all the rides best. But don’t like the fast rides very ‘much. | fee! a bit frightened. Jenny said, “I like the merry-go-round best of all the rides. | like to find a pretty animal on the merry-go-round. Then | Fide up and down and round and round."’ The next day Aunt Siphiwe took the three children to the fun fair. They went through town in a car. The fun fair was in big field near town. The car stopped near a big gate. All the children were very excited. They rushed to the gate with *iphiwe. “Wait her soid. “We must pay at the gate. After we pay we may go inside.” “Ohlook!” said Elesh suddenly. “There is something | ike to eat! Ice-cream! Please ‘may we buy some ice-cream, Aunt Siphiwe?” “Qoh yes!” cried the others. "We like ice-cream too. Ice-cream is good for you!” “The King of Kings has sailed on me!” he thought. “How glad | am tobe a boat. | do not want to be the great ship of a king. Now that Jesus is with me, | am hoppy!” Do this 1 What did the man want to make? 2 Forwhatis a manger used? 3 Which tree did the first man want? 4 Who was the baby in the manger? 5 Into what was Peter Pine made? 6 Why was Peter Pine surprised by the mon? 7. Write down what you want to be when you grow up. 8 Drawthe boat in the storm. n‘The man stood up. He looked at his friends. He looked at the storm "We shall not go down under the lake,” he said, Then he walked to the front of the boat, He stood up tall and held up his hand. ‘Stop! he cried in cloud voice. “Be still, be quiet!" he said to the water and the wind. At once the lake was quiet. The wind stopped blowing and the sun shone. Peter Pine was most surprised. Who was t man? Who could talkto the wind and water? Who could make them be still? Then Peter Pineheard that his name was Jesus. And he was so happy! Aunt Siphiwe. “There are many smail shops here. You may buy something totake home. ‘As we walk we can eat our ice-creams. ‘When we have looked at all the shops we shall go on some of the Just then they saw a funny clown. He had a big rednose and purple hair. Hehad strange clothes on and enormous shoes. In his hand heheld many bright balloons. Red balloons, silver balloons, long balloons and round balloons. Each child asked the clown fora balloon and gave him the money. The bright bolloons floated up in the air. As they walked around the shops, each child looked for something to buy. Elesh got some bags of hot indian food for his mother. Chipo got a basket with fluffy toy chicks inside. But Jenny could not find anything to buy. ‘Next they walked to the rides. Aunt Siphiwe paid for all the rides. First they went on the swings. Round and round went the swings. ‘To and fro swung the children. They laughed and tried to catch each other as they swung around. 2The next ride was in an aeroplane. The little aeroplanes were bright colours and they could go high in the sky. Elesh flew round with Jenny, and Chipo took Aunt Siphiwe. "Hold on tight!” shouted Elesh. “We are flying to the moon! Here we go! Up went the little aeroplane. When the ride was finished, they all climbed cout of the aeroplanes. “| want to fly a big aeroplane when | grow up.” said Elesh. “Maybe''ll fly to the moon!” ‘Suddenly Jenny stopped. She pointed ‘across the field and her eyes were shining. For a long time Peter Pine sailed on the lake near the field. He did not like being a smelly little fishing boat, He didn’t ever like the rough men who worked on the boat. He Jidn't like the wet nets for the fish. ‘Now | shall never be a great ship for a king,” thought Peter Pine. But one day something happened. ‘One day all the men got into the fishing boat. They began to sail across the lake. One of the men fell asleep at the back of the boat. ‘Suddenly a strong wind began to blow. The lake became very rough and water splashed into the boat. Peter Pine thought he would soon go down under the water. All the men were afraid and quickly tried to throw the water out. All but one man who was ask in the rough storm. Atlast the other men woke him up. “Do something!” they cried. "Don’t you care if we all go down in the lake? How can you sleep! Come and help us.” ©“Oh no! Oh no!” cried out Peter Pine. His branches began to shake and shake. “Please don’t cut me down! Please, please don’t make me into a fishing boat. | want to be agreat sailing ship for aking. |don'twant to be alittle fishing boat. | would be all smelly from the fish. Please, please don't cut me down.” But the man could not hear Peter Pine. He walked over to the tree with the big shiny ‘xe and began to cut. He cut and cut until Peter Pine fell down. Then he took the tree “Whats it, Jenny?” asked Aunt Siphiwe. “Is that really a merry-go-round?” asked Jenny excitedly. “I love the merry-go-round best of all. Please, please may we have a ride on it?” “What a good ideo,” said the others. They ran quickly to the man by the merry-go- round. Jenny looked at all the lovely animals on the merry-go-round. She saw horses and cows, a pink pig with black eyes ‘anda white lamb. Then she saw the one she ‘wanted to ride on. It was an enormous rooster with bright tail feathers and shiny eyes."Ohh, he looks like Mr Rooster at the farm,” said Jenny. The children had a lovely ride. As soon as the merry-go-round started, some music began to play. It was like the wind blowing the trees, and water rushing along arriver. Jenny thought that the lovely painted ‘animals were singing too. She held onto the proud rooster. She didn’t want her ride ever to end. Atlastthe music stopped. The animals went slower and slower until they stopped. Slowly the children climbed off their ‘nimals. Jenny felt as if she was waking up froma lovely dream "Goodbye, Mr Rooster, thank you for my ride," said Jenny softly as she held him round his face. Then Jenny saw what she wanted to buy, It was a tiny merry-go- round. And there was a bright rooster just like her Mr Rooster. The tiny merry-go- round played music just lke the big one. “Now | shall always have a merry-go- round,” she said. “That ride was like a magie ride.” “Oh my!” thought Tilly. “lam so happy now! | have the King of Kings lying in me. | ‘am a cradle for the Prince of everything. | don’t care about being a manger any more, because Jesus came to stay with me!” Cedric Cedar and Peter Pine lived on inthe field. They saw a bright star one night and heard the angels singing. They saw th shepherds going to the cow shed. They didn’t know about Jesus. ‘Some years after Tilly had gone, another ‘man came into the field. He held a big axe in his hand and he looked at the two trees. ‘ ‘Ineed a tree to make a fishing boat. My old fishing boat is no good now. Itis old and smelly. Too much water comes into it now. | need to make a new ishing boat.” He looked at the two trees growing there. ‘hat one is no good for me,” he said, pointing to Cedric Cedar. “It is an enormous tree and the wood is much too hard and it will not float nicely on the lake. This tall tree will be just right.” And he walked up to Peter Pine.‘The man pulled Tilly Thorn back to his house and he made a new manger. He put straw and cows’ food into the manger. Soon the cows came to eat the food. Poor Tilly was as sad as she could be. “Now my dream will never happen,” she thought sadly, “I shall never be a cradle for prince. lam an old manger! | don’t like being a manger.” But one night something happened. Aman. ‘anda woman came into the cow shed. Tilly was in the cow shed. They puta tiny, new baby in the manger because there was no bed for him. A bright star shone that night. Angels sang and shepherds came to see that baby. All because that baby was Jesus. rs ‘The three tired but happy children went home to bed. Do this 1 Where were the children going? 2 What did Elesh like ot the fun fair? 3 Which ride do you think you would like? 4 Jenny rode on the (lamb, rooster, cow). 5 What did Jenny buy? 6 Make words: put errinto these words. ™...y, ch...4, strawb...y, ...and. 7 Match the words that are opposite in ‘meaning. in up down out ‘over below above under 8 Drawthe merry-go-round.Night time magic It was night. All the people had gone home. The fun fair was still and quiet. Nothing moved in the field. All the aeroplanes and swings were still. The merry-go-round was quiet. All the painted animals stood still. ‘The moon was shining brightly in the sky. The wind began to blow softly across the field. it seemed to be talking to the merry- {go-round animals. “Wake up! Wake up!” called the wind softl “The people have all gone home. Now the ie animals are coming to the fair. Wake up, merry-go-round animals, wake up.” The musicin the merry-go-round was the first to woke up. It began to talk softly to the wind. Then the music began to wake up the merry-go-round animals. First the painted horse shook his head and mane. The cows began to moo softy. The pink pig opened up his black eyes. The lamb stamped his feet. 2 Tilly Thorn saw the axe as the man walked up to her. “Oh no!" she cried out. Her branches began to shake and shake. “Please, please do not cut me down! Ido not want to be an old manger for cows to eat from. | want to be cradle for a prince. Oh please don't cut me down!” But the man didnot hear Tilly and he cut her down,What happened to the trees? “Qh, Daddy!" cried Nicola. “Is thatthe end ofthe story?” "No," said Daddy. “Now listen and you will find out what happened to the three trees.” Many years went by. Still the trees grew in the same field. Then one day, aman came into the field. He looked around at the three trees. “Hmmm,” he said. "Ineed a tree to make a manger. My cows and horses need a new manger. The old manger is too small. There is not enough room for all the food. I shall pput the cows’ food in the new manger. A ‘manger is for the cows’ food. Then they can eat the food out of the manger.” ‘The man looked at the trees. Pointing at Cedric and Peter Pine he said, “These two are too big. ! do not need all that wood for a ‘manger. But this one will be just right.” He walked over to Tilly Thorn and took out a big, sharp axe. The silver axe shone in the sun. Then the bright rooster fluffed up his feathers, shook his head and said loudly, "Cock-a-doodle-do! Now we are all awake. Let the music begin so that we can give the ‘animals a ride. Cock-a-doodle-do!” Animals had cometo the night fair. A mouse scampered around busily with things to sell The hare and the tortoise walked togetherto the merry-go-round. A black cat came to stand near them. All the animals waited to ride on the merry-go-round.“We are all awake now,” cried the rooster “Make the music louder so we can begin. Climb on everyone, climb on!” At once the hare and the tortoise jumped on to apainted merry-go-round animal, The black cat sat on the lamb. Just as the ‘merry-go-round was about to start, a pretty brown hen ran up. “Is there stil an animal for me?” she cried. She looked so lovely that the rooster called ‘out to her, “Please come and ride with me!” ‘The merry-go-round began to go. Round ‘and round, up and down, Louder and louder the music played. The brown hen held on to the rooster. “What a lovely ride lam having,” she said, Butthe rooster knew that she was afraid. He thought she was afraid of the merry-go- round. “Don't be afraid!” he said. “You will not fall off. | shall take good care of you!" “Oh,” said Brown Hen. “lam not afraid of the merry-go-round, But can see a bad cat in the dark field. He has yellow eyes and he wants to eat me up! How can | go home? 4 What did Peter want to become? 5 Who wanted to stay in the field? 6 Make words: put or into these words. seening, f. 4, 1g, ing, ong and ung into these 8 Drawthe three trees.Tilly Thorn shook her branches. She would not like to be a ship. But she did not say anything. She just thought about being a beautiful cradle with a soft bed fora prince Cedric Cedar sang a soft song to the wind. He lifted his branches high in the blue sky and smiled slowly “Oh, Tilly! Oh, Peter!” he said. “I do not want to become anything! lam so happy herein the field, | see God's blue sky, | feel his rain fall on meand hearthe wind blowin my branches. | just want to stay in thi always. | want to lift up my branch point to the sky. When people see me pointing up, then they will think about God. | ‘want to point people to God all the tims No, | do not want to change. | am so happy just as lam!" And so the three trees talked and dreamed ‘about what they would like to become. Do this 1 Who told Nicola the story? 2 How many trees are in the story? 3 What did Tilly want to become? ‘The merry-go-round slowed down so that ‘more animals could have a ride. Brown Hen looked around. Suddenly she saw the bad cat climbing onto the painted horse next to the rooster. “Oh dear! Oh dear!” cried Brown Hen. “That bad cat is here. What shall 1do? What shall | do?”“Do not be frightened,’ said Rooster. “| know what to do. He is bigger and stronger than the other animals. | shall make the merry-go-round go faster and faster. Then you will be able to get home.” Bad Cat showed his sharp yellow teeth ina bad smile. He put out his sharp claws. He looked hungrily at Brown Hen. Nearby the hare and the tortoise watched bad cat. “He wants to get Brown Hen, said Tortoise slowly. ‘We must help her to get away!” “Cock-a-doodle-do!” shouted Rooster suddenly. “Faster now, faster, Round and round! Faster and faster, Merry-go-round.” Allthe painted merry-go-round animals suddenly leaped ahead. Faster and faster ‘went the music. The animals raced round ‘and round. One by one all the small animals fell off onto the soft grass. They were not strong enough to hold on. Little Brown Hen rolled onto the grass. Quickly the hare and the tortoise came to her. Peter Pine moved his branches in the wind. “What | want to be is a ship. An enormous, great, strong ship. | would be so strong that the king would want me to be his ship. Then I would sail across lakes and help the king. | would be able to go far away and see other places. | do not want to stay here all the He would make me strong and beautiful. All the men would want to sail on me becouse | would be such a good ship! Yes! A beautiful ship for the king. That's what ll bel” °Tilly Thorn said, “I know just what | want to be. want to be a lovely cradle. But | want to be a cradle for o baby king —a prince. would rock him so softly to and fro, to and fro until he went to sleep. Oh! How much | would lke to be a cradle. Someone would make me very carefully so that | was beautiful. The king would look after hisbaby prince. The queen would softly rock the cradle. And | would live in a beautiful room. Itwouid be the prince's bedroom. How happy | would be to be a prince's cradle!” “Oh! Just like a girl!” said Peter Pine. “1 would not like to be a baby's cradle. Not even a prince's cradle. Not for me! | don’t want to stay inside always. Oh no! | want to be something else! Tilly can bea prince's cradle if she likes. I'll tell you what | wish | could be. o "Come with us,” they said. "We shall take you home. Bad Cat will not catch you now. Brown Hen looked at the merry-go-round. There was Bad Cat all by himself. He was the only one strong enough to hold on. He had his arms around the horse. His bad yellow eyes were shut tight. “My whiskerst My whiskers!” said Bad Cat. Brown Hen fluffed out her feathers and flapped her wings to say good-bye to Rooster. Then she ran home quickly with Hare and Tortoise. ‘Tho merry-go-round stopped. “My whiskers!” said Bad Cat. He climbed ‘off the merry-go-round. He looked about for Brown Hen butshe was nowhere to be seen. He looked once more at the merry-go-round. He shook his head. “My whiskers!" he said. “What a ride!"Do this 1. Who woke up the merry-go-round? 2 Whocameto ride on the merry-go-round? 3 Was Brown Hen afraid of the merry-go- round? 4 Who wanted to get Brown Hen? 5. How did Rooster help Brown Hen? 6 wh says the sound of wwith a, e, and i, Put wh into the words and read them: iskers, ...en, ...ip, ale, :..at, ...¢el, 7 Asentence begins with a ca Write these sentences with acapital letter. the bad cat smiled. she ran home quickly. 8 Draw Bad Cat on the merry-go-round. Once upon a time there were three tre ‘They grew in a field near a blue lake. The trees were happy growing in the field. The, put down big strong roots deep into the soi ‘They lifted their branches high in the sky. The first tree was called Tilly Thorn. She ‘wos the smallest ofthe trees. Next to Tilly Thorn was Peter Pine. He was tall and strong. Last of all was Cedric Cedar. He wos the tallest of al. The three trees liked to talk together in the big field. Best of oll they liked to think about ‘what they would like to become. Nearly every day they would alk aboutit. Each tree had one thing it wanted to be most of all.school. He listened to her tell how big they had grown and all about the roots and shoots. “You know, Daddy,” she said. “One day these tiny seeds may grow into a big tree. Whatwill | grow into when am big? Will be clever? Will | be a mummy? | wish | knew!” “Well,” said Daddy. “One thing you can know is that whatever you are, Jesus loves \you. If he is with you, you can be the best Nicola there is!” “Oh, Daddy!” said Nicola. “I do want to be the best Nicola. But how can Jesus make that happen? I have a funny nose and | am sometimes shy. Can Jesus make that change?” “Come and sit with me,” said Daddy. “1 shall tell you a story to show you what happens if you always keep Jesus near you.” Nicola listened to Daddy's story: so The woman and the butter ‘Once upon a time there was an old woman. She lived in a neat little house on a small farm. The old woman looked after her house ‘and garden very well. She planted trees and flowers to make her garden pretty. She planted good food to eat at the back of the house.The old woman kept two cows on the farm. Each day she would milk the cows. They gave her rich, creamy milk every day. The ‘old woman used the milk to drink and she made the cream into butter. ‘The old woman sold the butter in the town. ‘She took the butter to the shop and sold it to the shopkeeper. He sold the butter to all the people inthe town. Each day the old woman took the milk into her kitchen. Slowly and carefully she took the cream off the top of the milk. When she had taken off all the cream, she would make the butter. She beat the cream until it was thick. She beat it until it turned into butter. The new yellow butter was in a large bowl. “Now I must get this ready for the shop,” said the old woman. “Here is the scale, I must find out how heavy the butter is. The scale will help me. The butter must be as heavy as this part of the scale. Then I shall put the butter into this paper.” 6 These sentences are mixed up. Start with the word with a capital letter and write them down. ‘squeeze. began The thorns to very pleased. He was 7 Mark the syllables (parts) of these words. growing, sunshine, into, talking, children. 8 What sort of ground do you think you core? Why? 9 Drawthe field of good ground.Chipo laughed. “I want to be like good soil. shall be like the good soil if am kind and good. That's how God wants us to be.” Do this 1 A\(leaf, seed, branch) is the start of a tree. 2 Isa seed very big? 3 Write down three things a seed needs to grow. 4 What happened to the seed that fell on hard ground? 5 Which seed grew the best? ‘The old woman put the butter on the scale. She put on more and more butter until there Was enough. Then she took the butter to shape it. She patted the butter to the shape of a rectangle. Last of all, she put the paper Ground the butter. “shall take the butter to the shop tomorrow,” said the old woman.‘One day as the old woman made the butter, she lost part of the scale. What was ‘she to do? Now she could not find out how heavy the butter was. The old woman. thought hard. “(know what I shall do!” she cried at lost. “Ishall use a packet of sugar. One packet of sugar will be as heavy as the butter.” The old woman was pleased. She made the butter. She putiton the scale with the packet of sugar. When the butter was as heavy as the sugar, she shaped it and put it into the Paper. @ Jesus's friends listened to the story. It was a good story. But was Jesus only talking ‘bout seeds and ground? No, Jesus was talking about people. He told his friends that people can be like ground. The seeds are like what God tells us to do. Some people are like the hard ground. They do not hear what God tells them to do. They do not listen at all. Some people are like the ground with rocks and little soil. They listen ‘to what God says. Then they very soon give uplistening, ‘Some people are like the ground with the thorns. They listen well atfirst. Then they let other things happen. Other things happen to stop them from listening. Jenny and Chipo's teacher smiled. “We must be like the good ground,” she said, "No rocks. No thorns. We must listen, to what God tells us to do. We must let his Seed grow into strong plants.”to sell. The plants from the good ground gave the farmer food and money too. He was very pleased. ‘One Sunday, the old woman went to church. Alll the people in the little town went to church. After church they liked to stand in the warm sunshine and talk. The oldwomon talked to her friends. Suddenly the shopkeeper walked up to her. “You are not a good woman,” he said angrily. “You tried to trick me. The butter you gave ‘me was too light. I put your butter on my scale in the shop but it is not heavy enough. Itis less than it should be. You did not give ‘me enough butter. You are a bad woman!" How surprised the old woman was! She thought quickly obout the butter. Why wasn't itheavy enough? She had been very careful. ‘Suddenly she smiled. She looked at the shopkeeper. “lostpart of my scale,” she said. “Solused © packet of sugar to find out how heavy my butter was. One packet of sugars as heavy 49s the butter. | bought that packet of sugar from your shop!” ©‘The shopkeeper’s face went red. Suddenly he had nothing to say. All the people looked ‘at him and smiled. The angry shopkeeper had tricked himself! Some of the seeds fell into good ground. The ground was good, but there was something bad about this place. There were. thorns growing there. The seeds began to grow. The messages in them had woken the seeds up. The rain water had woken the seeds up. The good soil had woken the ‘seeds up. The sunshine had woken the ‘seeds up. The seeds were growing into good strong plants. But then the thorns began to do their bad ‘work. They began to grow over the good plants. They began to squeeze the plants. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. The good plants could not grow. ‘Some of the seeds fell onto good ground. ‘There were no thorns in this ground to squeeze the plants. The roots could grow far down into the good soil. The shoots could grow up strong in the sunshin ‘The farmer was pleased with these seeds. The plants were good and strong. They began to grow into food for the farmer. So much ood thatthe farmer had more than he could eat, The farmer took the food to town sOnce upon a time, a farmer wanted to plant his seeds. Farmers donot havetime to plant seeds one by one. That takes too long. This farmer put his seeds into a big bag. Then he ‘walked in the field. As he walked he began to throw the seeds. He threw them around him onto the ground, The seeds fell all around the farmer. They did not ail fallin one place. The farmer walked all around the field, throwing the seeds as he walked. ‘Some of the seeds fell on hard ground. Birds ‘saw the seeds on the hard ground. Some birds like to eat seeds. These hungry birds sat on the hard ground and pecked upthe seeds. Soon not one seed was left on the hard ground, ‘Some of the seeds fell in places where there were lots of rocks. Lots of rocks and not much soil. The seeds grew up quickly, Ther shoots came up. The roots went down. But the roots could not go very far down. There was too little soil. Too little soil and too little food for the roots. The sun began to shine ‘and it was too hot for the plants. They fell over. That was the end of the plants growing in the rocks. 2 Do this 1 Where did the old woman keep cows? 2 Write down three things we can get from cows. 3 The woman used o (bucket, scale, rectangle) to find out how heavy the butter should be. 4 Why do you think the shopkeeper went red? 5 Write down two things you think could be ‘os heavy as the butter. 6 Match the words that tell about the people. old shopkeeper ongry red woman good 7 Drawa picture for the story.Trees at school One day David ond Tatenda's class did something new at school. “Today we are going outside,” said the teacher. “I want you to look carefully at everything growing outside. When we get back to the classroom, | shall ask you about the things you saw.”” After their walk, the children chattered to each other. Then they thought about all the things outside, The teacher wrote down all their ideas. "| saw grass and stones, rocks and dirt,” said Nicola. “The classrooms are outside 100,” s Tatenda, “I eould see the road, and the gate,” said Peter. “Cars are parked outside the school anda dog was running across the road,” said Daniel “and trees growing everywhere,” said Nicola. The farmer and the seed Jenny and Chipo were at school. Itwastime for astory. "We are having a Bible story today,” said the teacher, “A story about a farmer planting seeds. Jesus told this story.This is howit goes.”The teacher gave each boy ond girl a small pot. They put soil into the pots. Then they mixed the soil with water. Last of all they each planted a seed in the soil. The children were excited. They put their small pots where they were in the sun. They were careful to give their seeds water. Soon something began to happen. A root began to grow. A small white root. I" the children, “Look what is happening! cried. “A small root is growing. Next a tiny shoot began to grow. The shoot was the first thing to grow out of the soil. The children were very excited. “Your seeds are plants now,” said the teacher. “Youcan take them home and plant them in the ground.’* * “Well done,” said their teacher. “You saw many things and | can tell that you looked corefully. Today we are going to talk about trees and how they grow. lam holding part of a tree in my hand. Do you know what it could be’ “Alef” said David. “A stick!” said Nicola. “Some wood," said Tatenda. “Abit of a branch,” said Daniel. “Not one of you is right,” said the teacher. “This is the very start of atree. Itis called @ seed.” She held up attiny brown seed in two fingers. “Did you know that inside this tiny ‘seed are all the things a tree needs to start ‘growing? A seed is just like a letter. There ‘re many messages And at just the right time the messages wake up. Then the seed changes and grows into a tree.” “tree! said Nicola. “A big tree inside that tiny seed! The messages must be very 9004. A seed does not look like a tree to me! can put lots of seeds in my hand but! cannot have even one tree in my hand!"“We shall plant some seeds and see how they change and grow. Now, who can tell me what a seed needs to be able to grow?” “We plant seeds into the ground,” said David. “A seed needs soil to grow well.” “That's right,” said the teacher. “The soil has food for plants. We put the seed into the ground so that it has food all around it What else does a seed need?” Soi tex “I know," said Tatenda, “A seed needs water. Everything needs water. When there is no rain, all the plants die. ifthe plants die then the cnimals have nothing to eat. They have no waterto drink. Then the animals will die too. With no plants and no meat from the animals and no water, the people ‘would die too! So everything needs water. A seed needs water to start growing.” “Very good. Seeds need soil and water. ‘There is one more thing to make the new plant strong. What can it be?” asked the teacher. The class thought hard. No one could think what else a plant needed. "Well, where do we put plants and seeds?” ‘asked the teacher. “Inside a dark room or ‘outside in the sunshine?” “Outside,” said everyone. “Yes, and seeds need sunshine to grow