In June’s preschool classroom, morning sunlight made bright squares on the floor. June sat with her classmates in a circle while Ms. Elena tapped a little drum.
“Let’s learn a song about helping our families,” Ms. Elena said.
She sang the first line, and the children echoed her. The song had a gentle tune and an easy beat for clapping hands.
“Helping here, helping there,
Love grows when we choose to share.”
June clapped softly. She sang the words again and again until they felt as easy as a happy walk home.
After lunch, Ms. Elena showed the children a short video from a wildlife center. A young wolf named Copper stepped through a meadow beside a tall pine tree. His gray-brown fur shone in the sunlight. Copper sniffed the grass, lifted his ears, and watched a butterfly drift past his nose.
June leaned close to the screen. “He looks very curious,” she whispered.
When the video ended, June remembered the song. She wondered how she could help at home that evening.
At dinner, June’s family gathered around the table. The kitchen smelled like warm bread and tomato soup. After the bowls were cleared away, June’s mom placed a picture puzzle on the table.
The puzzle showed a pond with green reeds, yellow flowers, and a little blue boat. June loved the colors. She poured the pieces onto the table, and they made a soft, papery rain.
Her younger brother, Mateo, sat beside her. He swung his feet under his chair and sang the song from preschool.
“Helping here, helping there,
Love grows when we choose to share.”
June smiled and turned over the first piece. “I’m going to make the corner of the pond.”
Mateo kept singing while June searched for edge pieces. Soon she found one with a straight side. Then she found another. But the pieces looked almost exactly alike. Three were green. Two were pale blue. One had a tiny yellow spot.
June turned one piece this way and then that way. She tried it beside the puzzle’s corner, but the shapes did not fit.
“Nope,” she said. “Not that one.”
She tried another. It looked right, but its little bumps did not match.
Mateo sang the song again, a little louder. “Helping here, helping there!”
June looked at the scattered pieces. There were so many edges, and they all seemed to call, “Pick me!”
Nearby, a small screen played another wildlife-center video. Copper was walking through the meadow again. He paused beside a fallen log and looked carefully at the ground before taking his next step.
June watched him for a moment. Copper did not rush. He looked, sniffed, and tried one step at a time.
June took a slow breath. “I can look carefully, too.”
First, she made little groups. She put the green pieces together near the green reeds. She placed the blue pieces beside the blue water. Then she made a small pile for pieces with yellow flowers.
Talk about the story
1.Where did June sit in her classroom?
2.What did Ms. Elena tap?
3.Who was Copper?
4.How did June sort the puzzle pieces?
5.What did June and Mateo do with the loose puzzle pieces?
