WIXLIB

NOTES FOR THE TEACHERGeneralv Learning a language means using it for a wide variety ofpurposes. Language is best acquired when attention isfocused on meaning, not on form.v Words and phrases not closely related to objects andaction remain empty and lifeless to young learners.Language comes alive when presented in meaning-makingcontexts.v Words/phrases that are used to accomplish many usefulpurposes follow a certain system inherent in the languageitself.v Learners become familiar with the system throughcontinuous exposure to the language in meaning-focusedsituations.v Interaction, discussion and sharing of ideas amonglearners provide opportunities that elicit ‘real’ informationabout them and their experiences and opinions.v Encourage learners to work in pairs and small groupsand let them go beyond the textbook by providing avariety of language inputs for spontaneous and naturaluse of language.v Build on the exercises given in the textbook and designmore tasks/activities in keeping with learners’ interests,needs and surroundings. Employ free-response exercises(with more than one possible response).v Promote reading habits through story-reading (notmerely teaching stories as texts), story-retelling, choralreading, shared reading, etc.v Create class libraries for exchange of books and sharedreading. The library may also move with children to thenext higher class.2020-21

2/HONEYCOMBv Introduce advertisement as a genre and discuss with thelearners about advertisements on social concerns suchas educating the girl child, protecting the environment,saving water.v Poems need not be taught line by line, word by word.You may give a model reading but let every child readthe poem on her/his own to feel the richness of language,rhythm and music of words. Exercises accompanying thepoem are more for understanding the poem as a wholethan for teaching language items.v Encourage learners to tell new stories, narrate anecdotes,compose short poems in English or their own language,talk about pictures, illustrations in the book and cartoonsin newspapers/magazines. Don’t get anxious about theerrors they will make. Constant exposure, practice andcorrection in the form of feedback will help them improvethemselves by and by.v Every page has a column for words and meanings.Encourage children to write down other words they finddifficult, along with their meanings, in this column.UNITS 1–3Three QuestionsSome suggestions given below are applicable to all proselessons in the book.v A Tolstoy story — the three questions in the openingparagraph, though philosophical in nature, may be ofpractical significance to individuals in self-realisation andvalue inculcation.v Spend about 10 minutes discussing the questions theking asks. Let children express their views. Even if theirobservations do not reveal any understanding of thequestions, the discussion session will provide an excellentbase for the work to follow.v The story is sectioned in two parts. Each part may be sectionedfurther according to convenience and time available.v ‘Comprehension Check’ at the end of each section is arecall of what they have read so far. Design while-readingcomprehension exercises in the form of factual2020-21

THETEACHER/3NOTES TFORHREEQUESTIONScomprehension questions, multiple choice questionsand/or completion of sentences, etc.v While covering portions of the text, either talk about theillustrations or ask children to tell you about them.Illustrations are there not merely for decoration but mainlyfor comprehension.v Questions under ‘Working with the Text’ to be answeredorally, later to be written in the copybook.v At the end of the lesson, draw children’s attention to thethree questions in the context of the present period/class.Isn’t the present period the right time to do as bestyou can the task in hand jointly with the member(s) ofthe group for her/his good and your own ?The Squirrelv Drawing a squirrel or finding the picture of a squirreland describing it variously will commit learners’ interestto the poem they are reading.v Help them find ‘wear’ and its usage in the dictionary.Avoid fixed phrases like ‘wear and tear’ or ‘wear one’sheart on one’s sleeve’, etc. Draw their attention to sentenceslike the following. She wore a plain dress but an enigmatic smile. Should a man wear a lady’s perfume ?v The illustration given in the book may generate commentssuch as the following. The squirrel’s tail looks like a question mark. It reminds me of the mark of punctuation that comesat the end of an interrogative sentence. Looking at this squirrel, you might say it was askinga question. What is the question ? The squirrel is wearing a long overcoat reaching thetip of its tail. If it begins to run now, its tail will look like the bushyend of a painter’s brush.2020-21

4/HONEYCOMBv Speak the words given below. Ask children to write theword and against it two new words that �————————————A Gift of Chappalsv Children’s world — their spontaneity and imagination,ability to see contradictions in normal behaviour andmoving acts of charity.v While covering sections and sub-sections of the text, focuson situations in which children see themselves.v Elicit their comments on, and reactions to, Ravi’sexaggerations about the kitten’s ancestry, childrencleverly feeding the kitten and Mridu and Meena’s finalact of charity. Focus on values such as sincerity, careand compassion as exemplified in the episodes.v Under ‘Working with Language’, highlight some pointsabout the use of if-clauses.(i) An if-clause, also known as a conditional clause,expresses a condition or cause whose result/effect isfelt in the second part of the sentence.(ii) If the verb in the if-clause is in the present tense,the other clause normally has ‘will verb’.(iii) An if-clause can be placed either at the beginningor at the end of the main clause. I’ll come to your house if it doesn’t rain.Or If it doesn’t rain, I’ll come to your house.v Activity 2 under ‘Speaking and Writing’ lends itself to pickingup appropriate language to learn and practise life skills suchas decision-making, negotiating, persuading, etc. Let allthe children in pairs/groups perform this activity. Helpthem, wherever necessary, with appropriate language use.2020-21

NOTESFOR THEThe Rebelv Activity 1 is a combination of open-ended as well astext-based responses. Items (ii) and (iii) entail recalling/looking at the appropriate lines in the poem whereas (i),(iv), (v) and (vi) are discussion points.v Let children read Introduction to the poem silently andfind the desired word. The significance of the title will,then, become amply clear.v The poem contains 15 couplets. Each couplet may berecited as an independent unit.v Ask children if they think the last couplet expresses thepoet’s own opinion and comment.v Relate the last couplet to the discussion item (vi) underActivity 1.Gopal and the Hilsa Fishv A comic story to be understood through pictures withstrips of text for support. Children will have a naturalenthusiasm for this new kind of material.v Divide the class into small groups. Let each group lookat and describe a set of pictures (assigned to them) andconstruct their own text. Texts thus produced can beput together to form a complete story, to be edited forcoherence and accuracy. If necessary, texts may first beproduced in the child’s own language, and the teachercan help them to reformulate these in English.Conversely, for children fluent in English, this maybe an opportunity to formulate equivalent texts intheir own languages.v Picture reading under ‘Speaking and Writing’ to beattempted in the same manner.v Word ladder provides an opportunity for vocabularybuilding. Elicit the required word from learners byproviding a set of synonyms for it.cross: angry, annoyed, displeasedtiny: small, little, negligible2020-21TEACHER/5

6/HONEYCOMBThe Shedv Ask children to look for words/phrases in the poemsuggesting the neglected state of the shed like “spider’sweb hanging”, “rusty” in the first stanza. There are fourmore in the second stanza.v Let children cull out three or four pairs of rhyming wordsthat come at the end of lines.v Activity 2 will generate a lot of individual contributions.Children may even make up spooky stories and quotethem as ‘real’ experiences. Show interest and belief ineach anecdote.For the TeacherHave a discussion in the class on the wordle givenbelow. Sensitise the learners towards digital mode ofpayment.2020-21

1Before you readA king has three questions and he is seeking answers tothem. What are the questions? Does the king get what hewants?Three QuestionsIThe thought came to a certain king thathe would never fail if he knew threethings. These three things were: What is the righttime to begin something? Which people shouldhe listen to? What is the most important thing forhim to do?The king, therefore, sent messengersthroughout his kingdom, promising a large sumof money to anyone who would answer thesethree questions.Many wise men came to the king, but they allanswered his questions differently.In reply to the first question, some said theking must prepare a timetable, and then follow itstrictly. Only in this way, they said, could he doeverything at its proper time. Others said that itwas impossible to decide in advance the right timefor doing something. The king should notice allthat was going on, avoid foolish pleasures, ———–—————–—————–

8/HONEYCOMBcouncil: agroup ofpeoplechosen togive adviceor to makerulescouncillors:members ofthe councilhermit:a personwho livesalone andleads asimple lifewood/woods:a smallforestalways do whatever seemed necessary at thattime. Yet others said that the king needed acouncil of wise men who would help him act atthe proper time. This was because one manwould find it impossible to decide correctly,without help from others, the right time forevery action.But then others said that there were somethings which could be urgent. These things couldnot wait for the decision of the council. In orderto decide the right time for doing something, it isnecessary to look into the future. And onlymagicians could do that. The king, therefore,would have to go to magicians.In their answers to the second question, somesaid that the people most necessary to the kingwere his councillors; others said, the priests. Afew others chose the doctors. And yet others saidthat his soldiers were the most necessary.To the third question, some said science.Others chose fighting, and yet others religiousworship.As the answers to his questions were so different,the king was not satisfied and gave no reward.Instead, he decided to seek the advice of a certainhermit, who was widely known for his wisdom.The hermit lived in a wood which he neverleft. He saw no one but simple people, and so theking put on ordinary clothes. Before he reachedthe hermit’s hut the king left his horse with hisbodyguard, and went on alone.As the king came near the hermit’s hut, hesaw the hermit digging the ground in front of his2020-21

THREE QUESTIONS/9hut. He greeted the king and continued digging.The hermit was old and weak, and as he worked,he breathed heavily.The king went up to the hermit and said, “Ihave come to you, wise hermit, to ask you toanswer three questions: How can I learn to dothe right thing at the right time? Who are thepeople I need most? And what affairs are themost important?”The hermit listened to the king, but did notspeak. He went on digging. “You are tired,” saidthe king. “Let me take the spade and work in yourplace.”“Thanks,” said the hermit, giving the king hisspade. Then he sat down on the ground.2020-21affairs:things;matters;business