A Neem Tree

Maya is sad.
She has lost her shiny red bead.
“Go and play outside,” says Ma. “You will feel better.”

Maya goes outside and walks in the garden.
Ma is right. She soon forgets all about her shiny red bead.
She sits under a neem tree.
A breeze blows and the leaves fall gently to the ground.
She counts the fallen leaves.
One, two, three . . .

Maya watches as the breeze blows a few leaves into the air.
The leaves dance and fly higher and higher.
A yellow leaf catches Maya’s eye.
She follows it and tries to catch it.
The wind dies down and the leaf falls into a flower pot.
Maya lifts the leaf and lo and behold!
She finds her shiny red bead under the yellow leaf.

A) Please answer the following questions:
1. Why is Maya sad?
2. What does Maya’s mother tell her to do? Why?
3. What tree does Maya sit under?
4. Can you describe the tree?
5. What do the leaves look like?
6. Are the leaves always yellow?
7. What makes the leaves fly around?
8. Where does the yellow leaf fall?
9. Why is it Maya’s lucky day?

B) Vocabulary
Shiny – bright
Breeze – a gentle wind
Lo and behold! – a phrase (a collection of words) that shows wonder or surprise
Lift – to move something to a higher position, to raise it

1) Make sentences with the following words:
a) shiny
b) breeze
c) lift
d) leaf
e) tree

2) Unjumble the following words. The words are all in the story.
a) ebezer –
b) fitl –
c) yhins –
d) elowly –
e) tchca –

C) Fill in the blanks with ‘in’ or ‘on’:
1. Maya sits __ the grass.
2. Her mother is __ the house.
3. There is an insect __ the leaf.
4. Dry leaves are __ the ground.
5. The picture is __ page 4.
6. Her food is __ the plate.
7. She wears a ring __ her finger.
8. My friend lives __ Malviya Nagar.
9. There are many shops __ the market.
10. My grandparents live __ a village in Bihar.

D) Proper Nouns
A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place, or thing. It is also called a naming word.
A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.
For example, ‘school’ is a common noun. Saraswati Senior Secondary School is the name of a specific
school, so it is a proper noun.
1. Which of the following words are proper nouns?
country, India, spoon, Tanu Ma’am, shop, book, Mumbai, Nepal, April, month, Dr. Sharma, drink,
Kurkure, Mount Everest, samosa, Bangladesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jupiter, Himalayas, Indian Ocean
2. Can you think of 10 proper nouns on your own?

E) Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives
1. Below are some nouns (naming words), some verbs (doing words), and some adjectives (describing words).
Make three separate columns (lists) for ‘Nouns’, ‘Verbs’, and ‘Adjectives’. Write these three words at the top
of the column. Write down the words below in the correct column.

big, box, sat, ate, egg, backpack, good, long, flying, went, has, was, found, tiger, tall, beautiful, dirty, write,
dog, young, lamp, teeth, send, buy, bought, shirt, socks, small, house, kitchen, flowers, red, clothes

2. Underline the nouns, verbs, and adjectives in the story. Arrange them in the correct column.

Audio courtesy Tanu Priya Puri