General
Learning a language means using it for a wide variety of
purposes. Language is best acquired when attention is focused
on meaning, not on form.
Words and phrases not closely related to objects and action
remain empty and lifeless to young learners. Language comes
alive when presented in meaning-making contexts.
Words/phrases that are used to accomplish many useful
purposes follow a certain system inherent in the language itself.
Learners become familiar with the system through continuous
exposure to the language in meaning-focused situations.
Interaction, discussion and sharing of ideas among learners
provide opportunities that elicit ‘real’ information about them
and their experiences and opinions.
Encourage learners to work in pairs and small groups and let
them go beyond the textbook by providing a variety of
language inputs for spontaneous and natural use of language.
Build on the exercises given in the textbook and design more
tasks/activities in keeping with learners’ interests, needs and
surroundings. Employ free-response exercises (with more than
one possible response).
Promote reading habits through story reading (not merely
teaching stories as texts), story retelling, choral reading, shared
reading, etc.
Create class libraries for exchange of books and shared
reading. The library may also move with children to the next
higher class.
Poems need not be taught line by line, word by word. You may
give a model reading but let every child read the poem on her/his
own to feel the richness of language, rhythm and music of words.
Exercises accompanying the poem are more for understanding
the poem as a whole than for teaching language items.
Advertisement is also literary genre. You will find that some
advertisements have been given on the inner covers of the
textbook. Have a discussion in the class on these concerns. You
Reprint 2024-25
, may ask them to do a project on these social issues and concerns.
Such as educating the girlchild, environment protection.
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 cartoons in
newspapers/magazines. Don’t get anxious about the errors they
will make. Constant exposure, practice and correction in the
form of feedback will help them improve themselves by and by.
Every page has a column for words and meanings. Encourage
children to write down other words they find difficult, along
with their meanings, in this column.
UNITS 1-3
The Best Christmas Present in the World
Some suggestions given below are applicable to all prose lessons
in the book.
A war story against the backdrop of Christmas, a festival
marked by family reunion, exchange of presents and universal
bonhomie. Connie, aged 101, receives a present from a stranger
whom she mistakes for her long-awaited husband. What is
the present — the letter or the mistaken identity of the visitor?
Spend about 20 minutes discussing the dates and events given
under Before you read. Since the answers are given later in the
book, the focus should be on the nature of each event — whether,
in human terms, the event recalls defeat and destruction or
endeavour and success. Let children express their own views.
Even if their observations do not reveal any understanding of
the nature of events, the discussion session will provide an
excellent base for initiating work on the story under reference.
The story is sectioned into three parts. Parts II and III may be
sectioned further according to convenience and time available.
Discuss each illustration with reference to the story.
Illustrations are given for better comprehension and sharper
visual appeal.
Comprehension Check at the end of each section is a recall of
what children have read so far. Design while-reading
comprehension exercises in the form of factual comprehension
questions, multiple choice questions and/or completion of
2 Honeydew sentences, etc.
Reprint 2024-25
,Here is one example in three formats:
Factual or inferential comprehension (Answer the question
in your own words.)
Why is Jim ‘ashamed to say’ that Fritz ‘began it’?
Multiple choice (Mark the right answer.)
Jim is ‘ashamed to say’ that Fritz ‘began it’ because
(i) he didn’t know how to do it.
(ii) he wishes he had done it first.
(iii) he didn’t want to do it.
Sentence completion : (Choose the right item and complete
the sentence.)
But it is true, _______________, that Fritz began it.
(much to my delight / shame / dismay)
A related item here is the use of ‘begin’ and ‘start’ in appropriate
contexts.
Use ‘begin’ or ‘start’ appropriately in the following sentences.
(i) What time do you _________ work in the morning?
(ii) If we want to get there, we should ___________ now.
(iii) The film ___________ at 7 pm.
(iv) No matter how you try, the car won’t ___________.
Very often ‘begin’ and ‘start’ can be used in the same way,
though ‘start’ is more common in informal speech. [See
sentences (i) and (iii)]
In some constructions only ‘start’ can be used. [See
sentences (ii) and (iv)].
Questions under working with the text to be answered orally,
later to be written in the copy book.
At the end of the lesson, draw children’s attention to the two
quotations given in the box. Let them discuss how the story
illustrates the same ideas. Then, ask them to find sentences in
the story which appeal to them most. Here are some examples:
We agreed about everything and he was my enemy.
No one dies in a football match. No children are orphaned.
No wives become widows.
I know from all that happened today how much both armies
long for peace. We shall be together again, I’m sure of it. (It’s
a good example of the use of ‘irony’ in the story.)
Notes for the Teacher 3
Reprint 2024-25
, The Ant and the Cricket
Spend about 15 minutes eliciting, and listening to, fables or
fable-like stories from children, preferably in their own
language(s). Help them retell one or two in English by providing
appropriate words and phrases.
The story about the Sun and the Wind at the end of ‘Glimpses
of the Past’ may be used here. Ask them if it’s a fable, though
there are no animals in it.
Try the following writing task.
Rearrange the following sentences to construct a story. Start
with sentence 4.
1. One cold day, a hungry grasshopper came to the anthill
and begged for a little something to eat.
2. He replied, “Alas! I spent all my time singing and playing
and dancing, and never thought about winter.”
3. One ant asked him how he had spent his time during
summer and whether he had saved anything for winter.
4. A nest of ants had been occupied all through the summer
and autumn collecting food for winter.
5. They carefully stored it in the underground chambers of
their home.
6. Then we have nothing to give you.
7. Thus, when winter came, they had plenty to eat.
8. People who play and sing all summer should only dance
in winter.
9. The ant answered.
Find three adjectives in the first stanza associated with summer
and spring.
Find four phrases/lines in the same stanza associated with
the onset of winter.
Suppose the last line of the first stanza were to be rewritten as
‘Oh! What will become of me? Says the cricket.’ Would you
find it acceptable in the poem? If not, why not?
Speak the words given below. Ask children to write the word,
and against it two new words that rhyme.
4 Honeydew
Reprint 2024-25
Learning a language means using it for a wide variety of
purposes. Language is best acquired when attention is focused
on meaning, not on form.
Words and phrases not closely related to objects and action
remain empty and lifeless to young learners. Language comes
alive when presented in meaning-making contexts.
Words/phrases that are used to accomplish many useful
purposes follow a certain system inherent in the language itself.
Learners become familiar with the system through continuous
exposure to the language in meaning-focused situations.
Interaction, discussion and sharing of ideas among learners
provide opportunities that elicit ‘real’ information about them
and their experiences and opinions.
Encourage learners to work in pairs and small groups and let
them go beyond the textbook by providing a variety of
language inputs for spontaneous and natural use of language.
Build on the exercises given in the textbook and design more
tasks/activities in keeping with learners’ interests, needs and
surroundings. Employ free-response exercises (with more than
one possible response).
Promote reading habits through story reading (not merely
teaching stories as texts), story retelling, choral reading, shared
reading, etc.
Create class libraries for exchange of books and shared
reading. The library may also move with children to the next
higher class.
Poems need not be taught line by line, word by word. You may
give a model reading but let every child read the poem on her/his
own to feel the richness of language, rhythm and music of words.
Exercises accompanying the poem are more for understanding
the poem as a whole than for teaching language items.
Advertisement is also literary genre. You will find that some
advertisements have been given on the inner covers of the
textbook. Have a discussion in the class on these concerns. You
Reprint 2024-25
, may ask them to do a project on these social issues and concerns.
Such as educating the girlchild, environment protection.
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 cartoons in
newspapers/magazines. Don’t get anxious about the errors they
will make. Constant exposure, practice and correction in the
form of feedback will help them improve themselves by and by.
Every page has a column for words and meanings. Encourage
children to write down other words they find difficult, along
with their meanings, in this column.
UNITS 1-3
The Best Christmas Present in the World
Some suggestions given below are applicable to all prose lessons
in the book.
A war story against the backdrop of Christmas, a festival
marked by family reunion, exchange of presents and universal
bonhomie. Connie, aged 101, receives a present from a stranger
whom she mistakes for her long-awaited husband. What is
the present — the letter or the mistaken identity of the visitor?
Spend about 20 minutes discussing the dates and events given
under Before you read. Since the answers are given later in the
book, the focus should be on the nature of each event — whether,
in human terms, the event recalls defeat and destruction or
endeavour and success. Let children express their own views.
Even if their observations do not reveal any understanding of
the nature of events, the discussion session will provide an
excellent base for initiating work on the story under reference.
The story is sectioned into three parts. Parts II and III may be
sectioned further according to convenience and time available.
Discuss each illustration with reference to the story.
Illustrations are given for better comprehension and sharper
visual appeal.
Comprehension Check at the end of each section is a recall of
what children have read so far. Design while-reading
comprehension exercises in the form of factual comprehension
questions, multiple choice questions and/or completion of
2 Honeydew sentences, etc.
Reprint 2024-25
,Here is one example in three formats:
Factual or inferential comprehension (Answer the question
in your own words.)
Why is Jim ‘ashamed to say’ that Fritz ‘began it’?
Multiple choice (Mark the right answer.)
Jim is ‘ashamed to say’ that Fritz ‘began it’ because
(i) he didn’t know how to do it.
(ii) he wishes he had done it first.
(iii) he didn’t want to do it.
Sentence completion : (Choose the right item and complete
the sentence.)
But it is true, _______________, that Fritz began it.
(much to my delight / shame / dismay)
A related item here is the use of ‘begin’ and ‘start’ in appropriate
contexts.
Use ‘begin’ or ‘start’ appropriately in the following sentences.
(i) What time do you _________ work in the morning?
(ii) If we want to get there, we should ___________ now.
(iii) The film ___________ at 7 pm.
(iv) No matter how you try, the car won’t ___________.
Very often ‘begin’ and ‘start’ can be used in the same way,
though ‘start’ is more common in informal speech. [See
sentences (i) and (iii)]
In some constructions only ‘start’ can be used. [See
sentences (ii) and (iv)].
Questions under working with the text to be answered orally,
later to be written in the copy book.
At the end of the lesson, draw children’s attention to the two
quotations given in the box. Let them discuss how the story
illustrates the same ideas. Then, ask them to find sentences in
the story which appeal to them most. Here are some examples:
We agreed about everything and he was my enemy.
No one dies in a football match. No children are orphaned.
No wives become widows.
I know from all that happened today how much both armies
long for peace. We shall be together again, I’m sure of it. (It’s
a good example of the use of ‘irony’ in the story.)
Notes for the Teacher 3
Reprint 2024-25
, The Ant and the Cricket
Spend about 15 minutes eliciting, and listening to, fables or
fable-like stories from children, preferably in their own
language(s). Help them retell one or two in English by providing
appropriate words and phrases.
The story about the Sun and the Wind at the end of ‘Glimpses
of the Past’ may be used here. Ask them if it’s a fable, though
there are no animals in it.
Try the following writing task.
Rearrange the following sentences to construct a story. Start
with sentence 4.
1. One cold day, a hungry grasshopper came to the anthill
and begged for a little something to eat.
2. He replied, “Alas! I spent all my time singing and playing
and dancing, and never thought about winter.”
3. One ant asked him how he had spent his time during
summer and whether he had saved anything for winter.
4. A nest of ants had been occupied all through the summer
and autumn collecting food for winter.
5. They carefully stored it in the underground chambers of
their home.
6. Then we have nothing to give you.
7. Thus, when winter came, they had plenty to eat.
8. People who play and sing all summer should only dance
in winter.
9. The ant answered.
Find three adjectives in the first stanza associated with summer
and spring.
Find four phrases/lines in the same stanza associated with
the onset of winter.
Suppose the last line of the first stanza were to be rewritten as
‘Oh! What will become of me? Says the cricket.’ Would you
find it acceptable in the poem? If not, why not?
Speak the words given below. Ask children to write the word,
and against it two new words that rhyme.
4 Honeydew
Reprint 2024-25
