Kids Learning English

4th Standard English Term-III

Let Us Sing

I. Never Give Up

The fisher who draws his net soon,

Won't have any fish to earn.

The child who shuts up his ears soon

Won't have the chance to learn

One who tackles the huddles to fend

May win the world at the end.

Don't feel down when you are slow 

Keep moving and let your life glow

Let us persevere at work or play,

And never give up all day.

https://youtu.be/sTt-Jw7jRbU

II. Let Us Speak

A boy and a girl are talking about their holidays.

Yeah, it is a holiday.  What are you going to do?

Hey, there is no school from tomorrow.

What will you play?

I will first finish my homework, then I will play with my friends all day. I am sure we will race with our cycles and play kabaddi.  What are you going to do?

First, we will  go to our village.

Wow. How will you go?

We will  go by train.

Next, we will visit our temple there and come back.  I am waiting to meet all my relatives there.

What else will you do?

I will come back and do it in the morning.

What about your homework?

Sure I will.  See you after the holidays!

Okay.  Make sure you have time to finish it.

See you!

III. The Magi Pencil

Chris was a little boy who enjoyed going to school and doing all sorts of things except at and writing.  Using brushes and pencils was not easy for him.  So, his artwork was never a happy ending, and he would give up quickly.

But one day Chris found a pencil of such lovely colours that he could not resist and he tried to draw a circle.  As always, it did not go well, he was about to throw the pencil away.  Just then, his drawing began to speak to him.

"Hey! Are you going to leave me like this? At least draw me a pair of eyes," said the drawing.  Chris was shocked, but he managed to draw two little spots inside the circle.

"Much better, now I can see myself," said the circle, looking around at itself.  "Ahh! What have you done to me?"

"I don't draw very well," said Chris, trying to make excuses.

"OK.  No. problem.", said the drawing.  "I am sure that if you try again, you'll do better.  Go on, rub me out!" So, Chris erased the circle and drew another one.  Like the first one, it was not a perfect round.

"Hey! You forgot my eyes again!"

"Oh, yeah."

"Hmm, I think I have to teach you how to draw until you can do me well," said the circle with its quick, squeaky little voice.

Chris, who was still shocked, thought that this was a good idea.  He immediately found himself drawing and erasing circles.  The circle would not stop saying "Rub this out but carefully; it hurts," or "Draw me some hair, quickly, I look like a lollipop!" and other funny remarks.

After spending the whole afternoon, Chris could now draw the little figure much better than most of him classmates.  He was enjoying it so much that he did not want to stop drawing with this crazy new teacher of his.  Before going to bed that night, Chris gave his new teacher a hearty thanks for teaching him to draw.

"But I didn't do anything!" answered the little drawing.

"Don't you see that you've been practising a lot, and enjoying it all the while? I bet that's the first time you've done that!"

Chris stopped to think.   The truth was that he had drawn so badly because he had never practised more than ten minutes at a time.  He had always done it angrily.  So, what the little drawing had said was correct.

"You are correct, but, thank you," he said.  He carefully kept the pencil in his school bag before going to sleep.

The next morning Chris jumped out of bed and went running to find his pencil, but it was not there.  He searched everywhere, but there was no sign of it.  The sheet of paper on which he had drawn the little figure, although still full of rubbing out marks, was completely blank.  Chris was worried and he did not know whether he had spent the previous afternoon talking with the little man or he was dreaming all of it.

So, to settle the matter, he took a pencil and paper and tried to draw a little man.

• Say whether he can draw well now or not.  If yes, why?

It turned out not bad at all, except for a couple of rough lines.  He imagined his little teacher telling him to rub and fix them.  Chris gladly rubbed out those bits and redrew them.  He realised tht the crazy little teacher had been right: it made no difference whether you had the magic pencil or not.  To learn to do things, you only needed to keep trying and to enjoy while doing so.

From that day on, whenever Chris tried to draw, paint or do anything else, he always had fun imagining his drawing telling him "Come on, my friend, do me a bit better than that! I can't go out looking like this!"

IV. Listening Passages

Unit - 1

Emmet : Morning apartment!

Emmet : Good morning doorway!

Emmet : Morning ceiling!

Emmet : Good morning floor!

Emmet : Ready to start the day?

Emmet : Ah here it is! Instructions to fit in and have everybody like you and always be happy.

Emmet : Step 1 : Breathe. Okay got that one down.

Step 2 : Greet the day, smile and say "Good morning city."

Step 3 : Exercise.  Jumping jacks hit them one, two, three.  I am so pumped up.

Step 4 : Shower.

Step 5 : Shave you face. 

Step 6 : Brush your teeth with the rough little food comb.

Step 7 : Comb your hair.

Step 8 : Wear your clothes and that's it.  Check.

Step 9 : Eat a complete breakfast with all the special people in your life.  Hey plant, what do you want to do this morning? Watch TV? Me too!

Unit - 2

Sometimes harmony can be disrupted by the simplest things like the breaking of your lead.

Introducing DelGuard, a cleverly designed unbreakable mechanical pencil from the visionaries at Zebra pen.

DelGuard features a patented double spring mechanism that absorbs the pressure no matter how you hold it or how hard you press.

With strength comes confidence and peace of mind.

Find zen in your pen, Zebra pen.

Unit - 3

Marty : Thank you for tuning into maple leafs.  Worldwide weather report we'll be checking on the weather all over the world with Tim Tiger.  First Canada, how's the weather?

Tim Tiger : It's snowy! It's snowy in Canada.

Marty : Thank you Tim.  Next, Mexico.  Tim how's the weather?

Tim Tiger : It's sunny.  It's sunny in Mexico.

Marty : Thank you Tim.  Next, England.  Tim how's the weather?

Tim Tiger : It's foggy. It's foggy in England.

Marty : Thank you Tim.  Next, France.  Tim how's the weather?

Tim Tiger : It's rainy.  It's rainy in France.

Marty : Thank you, Tim.  Next, Russia.  Tim how's the weather?

Tim Tiger : It's cold.  It's cold in Russia.

Marty : Thank  you, Tim.  Next, Australia.  Tim how's the weather?

Tim Tiger : Hold on.  I'm coming.  It's hot.  It's hot in Australia.

Marty : Are you okay Tim?

Time Tiger : I'm good Marty.  What's next?

Marty : Next is Japan.

Tim Tiger : Japan? Alright!

Marty : Next is Japan.   Tim, how's the weather in Japan? Tim?

Tim Tiger : I'm coming

Marty : Tim!

Tim Tiger : Now, I'm on my way.  Oh I'm almost there.  It's cloudy.  It's cloudy in Japan.

Marty : Thank you, Tim.  Next is Mars.

Tim Tiger : Mars?

Marty : Yes Mars.

Tim Tiger : No Marty.   I quit.   Well thank you for tuning in to maple leafs worldwide weather! See you next time.

 

Kids Learning English

 

4th Standard English Term-III

Let Us Sing

I. The Painter

Sitting on the cold mud floor,

She paints the valley and hill,

Giving life to the canvas shore,

Sees the brush bend to her will.

Her canvas used to be colourless,

Until she learnt that her brush's strokes,

Are not always aimless,

The flow of paint never chokes!

She dips her brush,

To draw the big black panther,

Her legs never in a rush,

She moves them like a dancer!

https://youtu.be/LNKffWrpejA

II. The Wooden Toy

Once there was a village circled by mountains and many big trees.  It was the home to many wild animals, especially wild dogs.  They used to hunt not only the animals in the forest but, also the domestic animals in the village.  This affected the farmer who lived near the edge of the forest with his son the most.

Mugund was the son of the farmer.  He was good at creating many things.  Every day he went into the forest to collect dry wood.  He used to make dolls using the dry wood.  Mugund's art was very famous in the town.  Children used to play with his dolls, mostly known as marapachi bommai.

Long age, the wild animals hunted Mugund's mother.  That incident made Mugund hate wild animals.  In memory of his mother, he carved a wooden statue of his mother and prayed every day.  One night, he woke to hear his mother's words.  "Do your part in eradicating the use of plastics through your art because plastic is a great risk to the environment."

So, he started selling wooden toys at a cheap rate.  He was also clever at making handicrafts.  He learnt the art from his grandfather.  In the beginning, he made dolls for children, using dry wood.  Then, he was making statues of any photo that was shown to him.

His father owned nothing but a flock of sheep and a piece of land.  Also, he worked hard to keep the farm running.  He was rearing some animals like goat, cow and hen.  His father took all the cattle to pasture every day.  When he returned home, he would always count all the animals.  One day, when his father returned, he saw that some animals were missing.  His father was unable to sleep because the losses of the animals kept increasing.  Mugund was worried about his father.  He had to do something.

He had an idea.   He made a wooden drum because the massive noise from the drum would help his father to drive out the wild animals.  Mugund's father was happy because the drum threatened the animals.  But, the animals came back as soon as the drumming is stopped.  His father could not be awake all night.  So, the wild animals started attacking only at night.  The restlessness and worry made his father ill.

The next day, Mugund went into the forest to find a hollow log of cedar.  But, he could not find it.  Hit friend told him to cut the raw wood.  But, he refused.

• Think why it is a good decision not to cut and use the living tree.

Mugund felt that his mother was still living in each tree.  At last, they found some wood and brought it home.  Mugund went to bed a little early.  His father was beating the drums to drive all the animals away.

Suddenly the sounds of the drum stopped.  Mugund's father was tired and he sleep. Nearly twenty-five animals got attacked that night.  Then, Mugund thought of designing some wooden tigers and some wooden people to place on the farm.  So, the animals would be afraid as the people were still awake.

From that day onwards, the farmer and his son had a good sleep.  Most of the landowners ordered wooden animals from Mugund.  They wanted to save their crops and farms.

Soon, Mugund started selling toys to all corners of the land.  This led to a demand for wooden dolls over plastic ones.  He was happy that he was able to take part in saving the world through his art.

Secret of Success

III. The Struggling Star

Farhan and his father are reading the newspaper, the favourite part of his morning.  He gets up, brushes his teeth, drinks his milk and sits with his father to read the news every day.

Farhan : Abbu, what is this y-o-u-n-g leaders award?

Father : It is young leaders award.  It is given to only 17 people from around the world every year.  It recognizes the effort they have taken to make the world a better place.

Farhan : Wow! Only 17? I am so proud that an Indian has got this award. 

Father : Do you know why he got it?

Farhan : No, can you please tell me?

Father : I am happy that you asked.  It is very important to not only be proud when we see or hear such news.  We should also...

Farhan : Learn from it! Yes, Abbu I remember this.

Father : Very good! Kartik is a technologist who has not let his disability stop him from learning.  Not only that, he has empowered other people with disabilities to be successful IT engineers.

Farhan : What disability?

Father : Kartik is a blind.  Let me tell you the story of his childhood.  Kartik studied in Delhi Public School in New Delhi.  He was a smart and bright student.  Kartik did well in all subjects but he liked science the most.  Everything was good for Kartik till his 10th standard.  After scoring full marks in 10th standard public exam, Kartik wanted to study Science in 11th and 12th standard.

Farhan : I am sure he got it.  He got full marks in 10th exam!

Father : No.  Actually, the government rule in Delhi did not allow blind children to study Science after 10th standard.

Farhan : I do not think that's fair.  Everyone should be able to study what they like!

Father : This is what Kartik also felt.  He loved Science and he wanted to study that.  He refused to let his disability come in the way.  He challenged the government and held campaigns to get permission.  Finally, after nine months, he got permission to study Science.  Not only that, he made sure that all blind students have permission to study Science if they want!

Farhan : Wow! 9 months! It is so long! I am sure I would have given up.

Father : Change takes time Farhan.  We should work hard and be patient if we want to see change happen around us.  Like Kartik who was the first blind student in India to study Science.

Farhan : What did Kartik do after that?

Father : Kartik's dream and passion were never limited.  His love for Science helped him get more than 95% in his 12th board exam.  His dream was to study in an IIT.  Indian Institute of Technology is one of the best colleges in our country!

Farhan : I want to study in IIT too!

Father : Good! But only if you want to study Science.  Every subject has different best colleges.  We will talk about that some other day.  So, as I was saying, he wanted to study in the IIT But none of the  sixteen IITs in India enrolled him.

Farhan : What? Again?

Father : Yes, Kartik was sincere and learnt well.  He was also very good at Science.  But our colleges did not recognize his talent and treated him unfairly.

Farhan : Then? Did he change their mind too?

Father : Yes, he did! After many months he made the colleges open their doors to blind students.  This helped nearly 15 blind students to study engineering in these colleges.

Farhan : He must be a strong person.

Father : Yes, he is strong.  He is strong in is beliefs and learnings.  He is strong in the effort he puts.  What do you think he did after that?

Farhan  : He must hae studied in the IIT.

Father : No, he did not.  He got an admission to study at Standford University in the USA.  It is one of the best universities in the world.  He went there and studied computers.  

Farhan : Amazing!

Father : He also started two more companies that aim at helping children with disabilities reach their full potential.  He believes that education and technology are important to ensure children learn and sustain themselves.  He says that he will try for many more months and years to come to make sure that all the 130 crore people reach their full potential.

Farhan : He is inspiring.  I will also work hard and achieve my dreams, even if I don't always have the support I need.

Father : Very good! If we work hard, there will always be support for us. Sometimes the support comes from outside, but many times it comes from within us.  Now, go and get ready.  It is time to go to school.

Farhan : Yes Abbu.

Kids Learning English

 

4th Standard English Term-III

I. The Mistaken Plate

Once upon a time, there lived made of brass and tin.  He used to travel across the rivers and mountains to sell.  He usually travelled with another merchant, who also sold things made of brass and tin.  They also used to buy things made of different metals to melt and use.  The second merchant was always greedy as he tried to pay as less as possible. 

One day, when they went to a town, they divided the streets of the town.  They did not want to disturb each other while selling.  They moved through the streets they had chosen and called, "Utensils made of brass and tin for sale!"

In an old house, there lived a woman and her granddaughter.  They were once a wealthy family but now lived in poverty.  They only had one plate left as a memory of their wealth.  The grandmother had kept the plate in memory of her husband.

The greedy merchant passed this house saying, "Utensils made of brass and tin for sale!"

The granddaughter heard him and said to her grand mother, "Ammama, please buy something for me."

She replied, "Kanna, we do not have money to buy anything.  We do not have anything to trade with."

The granddaughter said, "We have that one old plate that we don't use.  Let's see what the merchant will offer for it.  We can get something we can use."

Ammama called the merchant and showed him the plate.  She asked, "Will you take this plate and give any of your utensils?"

The man took the plate and scratched it with a needle.  He found that it was a plate made of gold.  He said, "What is it worth? Not even one rupee."

He threw the plate on the ground and walked away.

Both the merchants completed their streets.  They had decided that either of them could go to any house that the other did not sell in.  The other merchant passed the same old house and called, "Utensils made of brass and tin for sale!"

The little girl again asked her Ammama to check.

She said, "Kanna, the first merchant threw the plate and went away.  I have nothing else to offer."

The girl replied, "Grandma, that merchant was angry.  This merchant looks nice.  We may get something."

Ammama asked the girl to call the merchant and show the plate.  The merchant took the plate in his hands and found that it was made of gold.  He said, "I am not rich enough to buy this plate.  This is a gold plate."

Ammama said, "Are you sure? This is gold? The other merchant threw this on the ground and went away."

The merchant said, "I do not know why he did that.  If you wish to sell it, take all the dishes you want."

The little girl took some dishes of her choice but, the merchant was not happy.  So, he gave all his money, his donkey, his cart and his wares to Ammama.  He only kept eight rupees for the ferry home.

He quickly went towards the river.  He paid the eight rupees to the boatman to take him across the river.  Soon, the greedy merchant went back to the old house.  He called the girl and said, "I've changed my mind.  I will give you ten rupees for it."

Ammama said, "You considered the plate worthless, but another merchant has paid a huge price for it and took it."

Creativity Around Me

II. Bala Spins Magic

It was a hot afternoon in the quiet village of periya Negamam, near Pollachi.  The village has tiled roof houses.  Bala and his family lived in one such house.  He sat under a tree, waiting for his father.  He was going with Appa on a long journey.

A fly buzzed near his ear.  The pleasant shade of the tree along with the steady click-clack of the handlooms from the huts nearby made him feel sleepy.  He wondered if he could catch some sleep before Appa arrived.

Bala, like most of the children in his village, went to school but always wanted to learn more about things related to his family profession weaving.  Veera thatha had made math easy for Bala by using skeins of yarn in bunches, sometimes adding all the blue skeins and subtracting the yellow skeins and then doubling the reds and taking away the greens.  Bala thought, "This was a fun way to learn Math!"

Bala's family came from  long line of handloom weavers.  They had perfected the art of drawing, dying, warping and weaving the yarn.  But it was a hard work.  Unless Bala, his mother, father, sisters and cousins helped with the work, Appa could never weave the lengths, he needed.

Bala would often see Appa and Amma weave bundles of cotton into beautiful sarees with checks or patterns.  He hoped to weave someday.  He would also help Amma and sisters roll, press and pack the sarees.

Bala wondered, "Amma, why you never wear the beautiful sarees we make?"

Amma said, "I can do that only if we become a very rich family."

Bala woke up suddenly as he felt someone tap his head.

"Are you ready to go?", asked Appa.

"Yes Appa.", said Bala and started counting the bags around him.

Bala was going with Appa to Chennai to help him carry the sarees.  Appa said, "We will get a better price for the sarees, if we sell directly to ladies in Chennai than to traders in Pollachi or Coimbatore."

They walked to the bus stop and had to wait for nearly one hour for the bus.  It took them to Coimbatore junction, and from there they left to Chennai.  The train journey was not very comfortable.  "Don't worry Bala.  Our return will be more comfortable as we will be able to reserve tickets," said Appa.  They reached Chennai and went to Purasaiwalkam, where Appa's friend lived.

The next morning Appa was ready with places to go to sell the sarees.  As Bala was ne to city traffic, he held father tightly.

Soon, they reached a big house after what seemed like many hours.  The guard at the door let them in.  They sat in a big hall and unpacked the sarees.  A young boy saw them and called out saying, "Mom! There's a man with two bundles to meet you."

Appa was showing the sarees to the lady and trying to sell it to her.  He made each saree sound special and unique.  He even draped the saree over him to show the design.  Soon, the other boy asked, "Mom, can I ask the boy to come and play with me?" Mom said, OK.

"What is your name?" asked the boy.

"Periya Negamam Balakumaran," said Bala. "What's yours?"

"Nithin," said the boy.

Nithin's room was full of toys.  Nithin let Bala play with all the toys.  Most toys had some electrical control.  Since Bala's home does not have electricity, he did not know to plat with most of the toys.

In one corner, Bala saw a spinning wheel.  Now, this was a toy he knew to play with!

"Do you know what to do with it? I don't know to play with it," said Nithin.

"This is Rattai.  Do you have some cotton?", asked Bala.  Nithin did not have.

Bala dug Appa's bag to get some cotton.  Bala took the cotton fluff and attached it to the spinning wheel, and turned the wheel all the while.

"You can do magic!", shouted Nithin, "Can you teach me?"

"Not like that.  Do it this way.  Here, hold this.  Spin this!", said Bala.

Bala had a wide smile across his face.  Nithin struggled but soon learnt to spin.

Soon they stepped out.  Appa had sold many sarees to the lady.

"Mom! Mom! He taught me magic," said Nithin.

Nithin's Mom laughed and said, "Well naturally, his father is a magician too.  A weaving magician."

"Yes! I will tell all my friends in school that a magician from Periya Negamam taught me this magic."

Kids Learning English

     

4th Standard English Term-III

The Best Policy

My Little Pictionary

foothill (n) : a low hill at the base of a mountain.

throne (n) : the chair of the ruler.

nurture (v) : care for and protect something while they grow.

prison (n) :  a place where people who do not follow the law are locked up.

brass (n) : a metal made by mixture of copper and zinc.

https://youtu.be/Exr0lH4WIZY

   

 

The Seven Seeds

    Long ago, there was a kingdom at the foothills of Anaimalai.  The kingdom flourished in trade and arts under their king's rule.  He was revered by all.  It has been thirty years under his rule now.

    One day, the ageing king woke up worried.  He was getting very old and had no heir to take his place.  He decided to adopt and raise a child as the heir, but he knew that the adopted child must be honest.

  To find the child, he held a competition in his kingdom that was open to all.  The competition had many levels and spanned six months.  At the end of it, five boys and five girls made it to the very last round.  There seemed little to separate them; each one of them was intelligent, strong and capable.

    The king said, "I have one last test for you all.  The one who passes this test will be the winner.  As you all know the winner will be the heir to my throne."  He continued, "Our kingdom depends on agriculture, so the new leader must know how to grow plants.  Here are seven seeds of wheat for each of you.  Take them home.  Plant and nurture them for six weeks.  At the end of the sixth week, we shall see who has done the best job of nurturing them.  That person will be the heir to the throne."  

    The children took their seeds and hurried home.  They all got a pot, prepared some soil and sowed their seeds.  The entire kingdom was excited.  They were all anxious to see who the next king would be.

    One of the finalists was Ani.  The days stretched into weeks,  but the seeds failed to sprout.  Ani didn't kow what had gone wrong.  Ani and her parents were heartbroken. She had selected the soil with care, put the right manure and very dutifully watered it.  She had even prayed over it day and night and yet her seeds hadn't grown at all.

    Some of her friends advised her to go and buy new seeds from the market and plant.  After all, they said, "How can anyone tell if they were the same seeds?" Ani's parents had always taught her the value of honesty.  They reminded her that if the king wanted them to plant just any wheat, he would have asked them to get their seeds.

   "If you use anything different from what the king gave, that would be dishonest.  Maybe you're not destined for the throne.  If so, let it be, but it would be wrong to cheat the king," they told her.  Ani agreed.

    It had been six weeks now. The much-awaited day had come.  The children returned to the palace, each of them proudly carrying a pot of healthy seedlings.  It was obvious that the other nine had great success with their seeds.

    The king arrived.  He was beamig looking at the children and their pot of healthy seedlings.  He began walking along the line of pots the children had kept.  He asked each of them, "Is this what grew from the seeds I gave you?"  And each of them responded, "Yes, your majesty."  Then the king would nod and move down the line.

    The king finally got to the last one, Ani.  The girl was shaking.  She feared that the king might have thrown her into prison for wasting his precious seeds.  "What did you do with the seeds I gave you?" the king asked.

    "Your majesty, I planted them and cared for them every day.  I am sorry but, they failed to sprout," Ani said.  She hung her head in shame.  "Boo!" jeered the crowd.

    But the king raised his hands and signalled for silence.  Then he said, "Dear people, behold my heir.  The next leader of our kingdom!"

    The people were confused, "Why that girl? How can she be the right choice?"

   The king took his place on his throne with Ani by his side and said, "I gave each of them, seven seeds.  This test was not for growing wheat.  It was a test of character, a test of honesty.  If a leader must have one quality, it must be that he or she should be honest.  People should be able to trust the leader.  Only this girl passed the test.  I gave boiled seeds and boiled seeds cannot grow."

 

Be Honest Poem

Amma will often say,

Be honest all day!

Still troubles make me fall,

I want to be truthful to all!

Amma will often say,

Be honest every day!

To say truth when I am wrong,

I may have to be eighteen!

To Amma I often say,

Don't you hear them lie?

She says many may lie and go

But honesty will help us grow!

At last, I have this to say,

I don't lie to this day!

The trick is the rhyme,

Let's try this one day at a time!

https://youtu.be/n8r-d98PLHQ