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THE SPECIAL LEAVES
It’s time for outdoor recess and the day is about as perfect as can be: The sky is clear, the air is crisp, and the school playground is covered with crunchy leaves.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
“What’s that sound?” Tom, a fourth grader with delicate limbs and thick eyebrows, wonders to himself. He glances around the playground and quickly spots a group of kids stomping on the fallen leaves.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
The kids seem to enjoy that crackling sound and are jumping around excitedly, as if those helpless leaves were leftover bubble wrap or the latest “pop it” toy.
But Tom is not enjoying himself at all. He cringes in agony and covers his ears. He needs to find a quiet place fast.
Before scanning the space around him for a peaceful spot, Tom pulls a pair of sunglasses from his jacket pocket. It’s a bright day, and he is glad he didn’t forget his sunglasses at home. He puts them on, looks around, and eventually finds a large, lonely tree on the edge of the playground. He starts walking in that direction.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch. Tom steps on the ground gingerly, but the leaves crumble under his black sneakers. He cringes again.
When he gets closer to the tree, Tom kneels to inspect the leaves on the ground. He notices some of them are a different combination of yellow, orange, and red.
“Wow,” he says. “These leaves are awesome. I’ll start a collection!”
It takes him several minutes to gather a collection of what he thinks are the coolest leaves ever. He is beaming proudly and is ready to put them in his pocket, when he hears rustling behind him.
“Jump!” someone yells.
Startled, Tom drops his new leaves then turns around to face Brooke, one of his classmates. She is jumping in a nearby leaf pile like a mad kangaroo, her flushed face framed by bouncy brown curls. Brooke is wearing a sleeveless cotton dress with patch pockets and doesn’t seem bothered by the cool temperature.
“Jump, Tom, jump!”
Brooke runs toward Tom and grabs his pale hands. She notices his sunglasses and tries to snatch them, but Tom swiftly waves her hand away.
“Stop it, Brooke. You just ruined my game!”
Brooke gives Tom a puzzled look and takes a few steps back. She walks back to the same leaf pile and starts loading her arms, then throws the colorful foliage high up in the air.
“Yaaaay,” she shouts, as she swirls herself around with her eyes tightly closed. The leaves rain down upon Brooke’s head, and some get stuck in her curls. She looks like a wild forest princess.
Tom is about to get away from Brooke when he spots Mrs. Goodwill walking toward them. Mrs. Goodwill is an aide who stays with Brooke most of the school day to help with activities and assignments. She has a worried look on her face and is holding Brooke’s sweater.
“Mrs. Goodwill,” Tom says. “Brooke just made me drop my special leaves. Now they are mixed with the others on the ground, and I can’t find them.”
“Brooke,” Mrs. Goodwill says. “Did you hear Tom? I think we should help him find his leaves. What do you think?”
Brooke looks at Mrs. Goodwill quietly and seems to hesitate for a moment. She then looks away and starts bouncing in the leaves again.
“Brooke, can you help Tom find his leaves?” Mrs. Goodwill insists.
But before Brooke can respond, Tom covers his ears and takes off.
“Brooke ruined everything,” he mutters. “Why is she always so hyper?”
Tom is not happy at all: this is the second time he has to change spots in the playground. He is walking fast, and with each step he takes he feels the leaves on the ground crumble into a thousand tiny pieces.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
“Ugh,” he blurts out.
He needs a calming strategy quickly. Just then, he spots the playground xylophone and notices no one is using it. He runs toward it.
Tom has a piano at home, and he likes to play it to soothe himself after a rough day. This is the perfect opportunity to do the same thing at school. He stands in front of the xylophone for a moment, grabs the mallets, and starts playing a classical tune.
“Aah,” Tom exhales. It doesn’t take long for his entire body to relax. The pretty melody coming from the xylophone muffles all the noise around him, making him forget how upset he was a minute ago. Of all the sounds in the world, classical music is his favorite by far.
Meanwhile, in a different area of the playground, Brooke has found her way to a spinning seat. Mrs. Goodwill patiently looks on as the fourth-grader whirls nonstop for nearly a minute.
When the seat stops turning, Brooke decides the fun must continue, so she makes it go in the opposite direction. She does this again, and again, and again. Spinning helps her body calm down and makes it easier for her to focus on schoolwork. Jumping and climbing help, too, so Mrs. Goodwill always makes sure Brooke gets plenty of movement during recess.
“Do you think you’re done now, Brooke?” Mrs. Goodwill asks after the spinning stops completely. “Maybe you can put on your sweater now. It’s a bit chilly.”
Brooke refuses the sweater and jumps off the seat. She kneels and starts going through the multicolored leaves on the ground, picking out and discarding a few until eventually settling on three of them. She tucks the chosen ones in her dress pocket.
“These are pretty leaves, aren’t they?” Mrs. Goodwill asks. “You’ve got some good ones there.”
But Brooke doesn’t answer. She just heard a lively tune coming from the playground xylophone and is now running toward it. Next thing you know, she is standing next to Tom with a wide smile on her face. Tom looks at Brooke sideways and lets out an annoyed sigh.
“There she is again,” he thinks to himself. “I’m not letting her ruin my fun this time.”
Tom continues playing the xylophone, pretending Brooke isn’t there. She raises her arms above her head and starts practicing a few dance moves. She bends her knees, lifts one leg off the floor, and jumps from one foot to the other. She looks way more graceful than a mad kangaroo this time.
Mrs. Goodwill watches it all with a smile, then glances at her watch.
“Okay, Tom and Brooke, it’s time to go back to the classroom,” she says. “Good job playing together just now!”
Tom looks in Brooke’ direction and notices that she’s reaching for something in her pocket. She finally removes three leaves and hands them to him. He smiles.
“Cool!” he says. “Did you notice that this leaf is mostly yellow, with a few red patches?”
Brooke looks at the leaf and nods.
“And this leaf right here is the opposite,” he adds. “It’s mostly red with a few yellow patches.”
Tom goes on to look over the third leaf and Brooke skips away toward the school building. Mrs. Goodwill tries to get Brooke’s attention.
“Hey Brooke, did you remember to use your words to apologize to Tom for upsetting him earlier?”
“It’s fine, Mrs. Goodwill,” Tom responds. “I know she didn’t mean to.”
He looks at his new leaves and smiles.
“Plus, come to think of it, these leaves are just as special as the ones I lost.”
Discussion
- Can you describe some of the ways in which Tom and Brooke are different from each other?
- Does Tom use words to express his thoughts and feelings? Does Brooke do the same?
- What are some of the things that are bothering Tom today?
- Why does he put on sunglasses early in the story?
- Does he find a solution for his problem(s)?
- Brooke needs a lot of movement to help her focus and get her brain ready for learning. What are some of the things that she does during recess that help her when she goes back to the classroom?
- Do you sometimes feel like you need a calming strategy? What are some of the things you do whenever you feel distracted, uncomfortable, twitchy, or anxious?
Going in Depth
Our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin are always feeding our brain with information. The brain then makes sense of it all and responds appropriately.
Some people’s brains get easily overwhelmed by the information coming from the senses. When that happens, a person might be bothered by things such as bright lights, loud noises, strong smells, certain food textures, and some types of movement.
The opposite can also happen: the brain might have a tough time receiving, interpreting, and responding to information coming from the senses, so it needs even more information—more movement, physical touch, lively sounds, stimulating lights and colors, exciting smells and tastes—to “feel” the world around it and to stay calm and alert.
As we can see in the story, Tom’s brain gets overwhelmed by bright lights and loud noises. He calms himself down by playing classical music on the xylophone. Brooke, on the other hand, needs a lot of movement—jumping, spinning, and climbing—in order to get her brain alert and ready for learning. Unlike Tom, she is not bothered by loud noises or bright lights.
These are just two examples of how different brains might interpret and react to the world around them. Can you think of other examples? Do you ever feel overwhelmed in a very crowded or loud place? Do you ever feel like you need some movement after sitting down for a long time? Tell us!