Kids Learning English IV

 

4th Standard English Term-II

I. Save Wisely

Every year, Kamali and her cousins would visit their grandparents in their native village for the car festival that lasted for three days.  The entire village will be in a festive mood.  The children were the most excited.  The family members and relatives would give the children money to buy sweets and toys.  The children would buy toys, chocolates, sweets or packed food items.  They would spend all the money, and never saved the money at all.  Their grandfather felt that the children should learn to save and use their money wisely.  So, this year, he announced that the children should save the money they get over the course of a year, and spend it purposefully.

The children were not at all excited by the announcement.  Rajan and Mala were the youngest of the kids.  They did not take the words of the grandfather seriously.  They spent their money on sweets and toys.  The other siblings, Jayan and Kavery, decided to enjoy the festival to the fullest.  They bought every type of food available across the shops.  On the second day, Jayan got sick due to food poisoning.  So he decided to spend the money only on toys.  The eldest of the kids were Kamali and Senthil.  They were determined to save the money and use it purposefully.  So they controlled their desires and saved every rupee they got.

By the end of the festival, they managed to save around three hundred rupees.  Grandfather was so happy to see their effort.

Senthil, when he went home, took his father to the nearest post office and opened a savings account.  He saved all his pocket money and found new ways to save money like he started to walking instead of taking the bus.  He kept his stationery safely so that he did not have to keep buying them.

He re-used his old books to save money.  Soon, his father made him understand that savings is done after using the money for basic needs.  So Senthil bought new books to take notes in his class.  Senthil's dream was to buy a camera.  At the end of the year, his father checked his savings and bought him the latest camera with his savings!

Kamali had a clear plan.  She had a friend named Anandhi.  Anandhi's father was a flutist.  They lived in the same street, so the girls used to visit each other often.  On many of these occasions.  Anandhi used to teach her to play the flute.  Kamali always wanted to buy a flute.  At the end of one year, she managed to save some amount.  At that time, her father needed money urgently and asked if he could use her savings.  He promised to return the money soon.  Kamali gave her savings to her father.  Although she was proud of helping her father, she still wanted to buy the flute.  She was disappointed.

Soon it was time to visit the village.  Everyone was happy to meet each other after one year.  On the day of the car festival, the whole family gathered in the village.  Everyone in the family shared about the year gone one by one.  After dinner, Senthil brought his new camera and told grandpa how he had saved and bought the camera.  Grandpa was very proud and happy.  He congratulated him.

Meanwhile, Kamali's father gave grandpa a gift and said something in his ears.  Grandpa smiled and called Kamali.  He gave her the gift.  Her savings were used to buy the gift.  Kamali eagerly opened the box and found a brand new flute.  Her eyes were moist with tears.  The whole family asked her to play the flute.

Kamali played a song that her friend had taught her.  Senthil started clicking pictures of the event with his camera.

  II. PUNCTUATION  

Let us look at the picture below

Can we eat grandpa?

Ramu : "Hey! are you going to eat grandpa?"

Somu : "Ha ha. No, I am asking if we can eat."

Ramu : "Then, you should add the correct punctuation.  It should be "Can we eat, grandpa?

Somu : "Thank you."

Ramu : "Punctuation plays an important role to help us understand the sentences."

Let us learn some punctuations.

I am the capital letter.  Let's see when and where to use me.

You must use me in the beginning of a sentence.

Book is our best friend.

The train runs fast.

Cow gives us milk.

Children are playing cricket.

We have bull in our house.

My uncle came by train.

I come in the beginning of proper noun and in the abbreviations.

Bharathi is a Tamil poet.

I met Kumar at the market.

We live in India.

We take money from ATM.

He completed his MBBS last year.

I am an NCC cadet.

I am a full stop.  I look like a dot .

You must use me at the end of a sentence.

I fly my kite.

Monkeys live on the tree.

I play with Jason.

The bird is beautiful.

Take your book.

Let us all go to the hotel.

I am a comma ,.

I look like a dot with tail.

You must use me to separate words in a list of three or more things.

Car, bus and bike are vehicles.

I invited Ragu, Stephen and Fathima.

I have a ball, bat, balloon and a toy.

Eat bun, nuts and rice.

We grow mango, banana and papaya.

We have pen, pencil and eraser.

 I am a question mark ?  I am little crooked, in other words known as interrogation mark.

I come at the end of interrogative sentences.

Is he a doctor?

When will the train come?

What are you doing?

Do you have a book?

Who won the match?

What is your name?

  III.  What do humans save?  

Ants pile food in the anthill

They eat it during the winter's chill

Moles dig long and winding tunnels

And save worms in the channels

Crocodiles are found in many countries

They store food in their pantries

Squirrels reserve food in a larder

They store a seven course meal with starter

Leopards keep their prey on a tree

And eat them when they are free

Farmers store the harvest in a granary

Soon to be packed in the cannery

What do you save?

Everything that nature gave.

https://youtu.be/Cg9Zmu7k5LQ

Kids Learning English IV

 

4th Standard English Term-II

I. A TRUE FRIEND

Nandhini and Pandi were good friends since childhood.  They lived in the same street, so they were always together.  Every day Pandi would stop at her home on the way to school.  Both would walk to school chatting and playing.  Sometimes, they would race home from school.  They always took part in school activities together.  They helped each other in their lessons.

One day, as usual, Pandi came to Nandhini's home.  She looked upset and sad.  Pandi asked her "Why are you sad?", she did not answer.  Instead, she shook her head.  "Did your parents scold you?", asked Pandi.  She did not answer him.  He grabbed her bag and said excitedly, "Catch me if you can."  But she did not respond.  Pandi stopped and gave the bag back.  They walked silently to the school.

Nandhini walked into the classroom slowly.  Her eyes glued to the ground.  She looked sad, "Did someone scold you?", asked one of her friends in the class.  Nandhini shook her head.  She sat down, with her head bowed down.  The teacher entered the classroom and started calling out the names for attendance.  Nandhini did not answer when the teacher called her name.

The teacher was annoyed.  This time she called her name louder, "Nandhini!" and then, she raised her hand but did not answer.  The teacher went near Nandhini.  She touched her forehead and asked, "Are you feeling okay?" Nandhini shook her head.  Her cheeks were red, and it looked like she had a fever.  "Do you have a fever? Shall I call your parents?" asked the teacher.  She shook her head, but she still did not look at anyone.  Her head was still bowed down.

"Why does Nandhini look so sad?" exclaimed her friends.  Her friends pestered her with a hundred questions!  The questions were about everything that you think about.  They asked her family, her house, her shoes and even about her street pets.  Each question that she was asked, Nandhini only answered by shaking her head.

Pandi had enough of Nandhini's silence.  He had never seen her so dull.  He wanted on idea to make her smile.  He thought, thought and thought for many hours.  Finally, he had an idea! He took out something from his bag and ran to show it to her.  He tumbled, and it slipped from his hands.  It was flying straight to Nandhini.  She saw something flying towards her and screamed with fear.  She closed her eyes and tried to catch it.  THUD! She caught it.  It was a big green frog.  Everyone ran away as they were scared of the frog.

Nandhini's eyes were wide open with surprise.  Then, she burst into laughter.  It was a rubber frog! As soon as she laughed, her friends and teacher knew why she did not smile or talk to anyone all day.  Two of her front teeth were missing!

II. A Lesson to Save

On the way to the playground, in the fields, Amir saw dirt thrown out of a pit on the ground.  He went near it and saw a small rat-like creature.  He called out, "Hey! Who are you? What are you doing in there?"

The creature came out and took a glance at the boy and said "I am a mole.  I am digging a burrow to catch the earthworms and save them for the winter."

"Interesting, How do you catch and save them?"

The mole replied, "I dig 'worm traps' along the tunnels, when the earthworms cross it they fall into it.  It will bite and paralyze them and store in the tunnel to eat later."

The boy asked, "How many earthworms will you store?"

The mole replied, "As many earth worms as I can get.  I don't eat all of them.  I save them for using later.  Now, I don't have any time to waste.  I must build a lot of worm traps.  See you later."  The mole went inside the burrow.

Just then, near the mole's burrow.  Amir saw a leaf moving.  He went near it and saw a small ant.  The ant was carrying a big leaf.

The ant yelled, "Get out of my way.  It will take too long to go around your feet."

He asked the ant "Hey! Why are you carrying this big leaf? Isn't it easy to eat and then go home?"

The ant dropped the leaf and replied, "I am a 'leafcutter ant'.  I am collecting leaves for my colony.  I can carry leaves that weigh nearly twenty times my weight," Amir was surprised.  He asked, "Do you eat leaves?"

The ant replied, "No, we don't eat leaves! We drink the leaf Sap.  We also use the leaves to grow fungus.  We need the fungus to feed our babies.  We also store the leaves for the winter."

The ant asked, "By the way, do you, the humans save the food that you need?" Amir replied, "Yes we also save food in granaries, but we need money to buy it, so we usually give importance to save money.  What else do we have to save?" "Don't you have anything other than money to save?" asked the ant.  After taking some time to think, Amir answered, "My mom asks me to save water, food, electricity, forest and fuel.  We have a lot of things to save, to make sure that future generations can use these." This interaction with the mole and the ant changed the way Amir thought about the things around him.  Earlier, he let the fan run as he left the room.  He let the water drip as he never closed the tap tightly.  Now, he always care and save the resources around him.

Kids Learning English IV

 

4th Standard English Term-II

I. Affection

Appa

Keeraikuppam was a small coastal village near Nagapatinam.  Even though the people in the village toiled in the Sea every day, they lived happily.  It was a pleasant Sunday morning in December.  Jut like any other day, the villagers had started their routine.  A few of them had already left for the sea, and the others were preparing to go to sea for fishing.  Meena's family was also at the shore to see off her father going to the sea.  After the men sailed into the sea, the women would return to other tasks that need their attention.  The children would play under the coconut trees in the village.

The village bell was about to strike eight times.  The bell caretaker was ready to ring the bell.  Just then, he saw that the seawater had receded a few hundred metres.  Soon, many in the village noticed the same.  All the children and the villagers started running towards the sea.  Meena and her mother were also with them.  The seawater continued to recede.  All had gathered along the shore to see it.  The bell hit eight times.  People now saw a wave far away in the sea.  Excitedly, they pointed to the wave that was raising high in the sea.  It was common for people to be excited by big waves in Keeraikuppam.  Everyone was getting ready to brace the big wave that was coming towards them.  Little did they know that the big wave that was coming towards them.  Little did they know that the wave was increasing in height and would seem to touch the sky as it neared them.  It was getting closer to the shore with a roar.

Gazing at the wave far away, Meena's mother felt a sudden fear gripping her.  She felt that something was wrong.  She caught Meena by her hand and started running towards their home.  The wave that came closer to the shore had crushed the fishing boats.  Before they reached their home, the powerful wave had hit the village.  Meena and her mother could hear their friends and family screaming all around them.  The seawater entered the village and washed out the huts and boats.  The water hit their hut too.  Meena and her mother were separated and thrown off.  Then, slowly, the water receded again into the sea.  Meena's mother gathered herself and searched for Meena.  It was then that the second massive wave hit the village.  Meena's mother was washed away by the wave.  Meena, whirled through the water, was struggling to breathe.  One moment she was inside the water, and all was dark around her.  In the next moment, she could see the sky.  The wave banged her to the trunk of a coconut tree.  She wrestled with the wave and firmly hugged the tree.  Soon, she fainted.

When she woke up, she was in a hospital.  After she recovered, they transferred her to a rehabilitation centre.  The centre housed nearly 99 boys and girls.  A kind-hearted official of the centre was always very kind to the children.  He often used to visit them with his family.  Meena was the youngest of all and soon was loved by all.  The official and his wife often carried Meena when they played with other children.  All children used to call them Amma and Appa.  After three years the official was transferred.  He and his family continued to visit the centre once a year for the next five years.

Meena now opened her eyes.  Her cheeks were moist.  All this seemed like, it happened yesterday.  The school bell rang and, Meena wiped her cheeks to get ready for her English class.  Meena was good at studies and now was in the twelfth standard.  The teacher was teaching, and Meena was writing her notes.  She then heard a familiar voice called her, "Meenu".  She raised her head to see.  She was surprised to see her father, the official standing at the entrance.  He was smiling at her.  She stared at him blankly for a few seconds with tears rolling down her cheeks.  She jumped out of her bench and dashed towards him, calling "Appa"

 

II. LET US SING

The Real Wealth

Parent brings us to this soil,

and will never let us get spoilt.

They earn our daily bread

and wish to see us shoot ahead

Brother always fights for his share,

but, if someone hurts us, he can't bear.

Sister's words you never dare,

she is next to parents, in care.

A good friend is with you in all deeds

and stays last for all you needs.

Relationships are the real wealth,

nurture them like your health.

Show care and affection, with all your zest,

It will take care of the rest.

https://youtu.be/N3ayzNCD0ws