English : Term 1 Unit 3 : Poem : I Dream of Spices
GLOSSARY
Cinnamon – the bark of a tree that gives a delicious flavor to food
Garlic – a small bulb with a taste used in cooking
Rattle off – recite
Sesame seeds– gingelly seeds
Ouch– sound that expresses pain
READ AND UNDERSTAND
A. Answer the following questions.
1. Who is Raj?
Raj is a small boy. i.e., the poet.
2. Where did Raj’s mother send him?
Raj’s mother send him to shop to buy some spices.
3. Who is Muthu?
Muthu is the shopkeeper.
4. What did mother ask Raj to buy?
Mother asked Raj to buy some cinnamon, betel leaves, ginger and garlic.
5. What did Raj buy?
Raj bought sesame seeds, onions, tomatoes and pickles.
B. Choose the correct answers.
1. Mother called ___________________.
a. Muthu
b. Raj
c. Ram
Answer: b. Raj
2. Mother did not ask for ___________________.
a. cinnamon
b. cardamom
c. betel leaves
Answer: b. cardamom
3. Raj did not buy ___________________.
a. onions and sesame
b. ginger and garlic
c. tomato and pickles
Answer: b. ginger and garlic
APPRECIATING THE POEM
C. Find an example of alliteration in the poem.
Alliteration: is repetition of the consonant at the beginning of two or more words in a line.
Example: mother twists my ears.
Example: add ginger and garlic
D. Listen to the poem read by your teacher.
Read the poem aloud in pairs. One person reads out Raj’s words and the other reads the mother’s. Take turns and read.
[CLASSROOM ACTIVITY]
E. Tell the story of the poem in three or four sentences with the help of the pictures given below.
♦ Mother asked Raj to buy some cinnamon, betel leaves, ginger and garlic from Muthu’s shop.
♦ Raj went to the shop singing all the way.
♦ Raj rattled off a list “sesame seeds, onions, tomatoes and pickles” out of confusion.
♦ When Raj came home his mother twisted his ears for buying wrong items.
WRITING
F. Read the jumbled lines from the poem and rearrange them in correct order.
1. cinnamon, betel leaves
2. and ginger and garlic”
3. Go to Muthu’s
4. My mother would say:
5. and get some
6. “Little boy Raj…
7. And so I go to the shops
8. singing all the way
9. tomatoes and pickles”
10. “Sesame seeds, onions
11. I rattle off a list:
12. what I’d want
13. and when Muthu asks me
14. my mother twists my ear
15. and back home
16. ouch!
Answer:
1. My mother would say:
2. “Little boy Raj…
3. Go to Muthu’s
4. and get some
5. cinnamon, betel leaves
6. and ginger and garlic”
7. And so I go to the shops
8. singing all the way
9. and when Muthu asks me
10. what I’d want
11. I rattle off a list:
12. “Sesame seeds, onions
13. tomatoes and pickles”
14. my mother twists my ear
15. and back home
16. ouch!
G. Fill in the blanks with different words and write your own poem.
Your Title for the poem: I dream of vegetables.
My mom would say:
“Little boy/girl Rani
Go to super market – Nandu
and get some
greens, chillies
potatoes and tomatoes”
And so I go to the supermarket
singing all the way
and when Nandu asks me
what I want
I rattle off a list:
“Cucumber, cabbage
Ladies finger and drumstick”
And back home,
mother twists my ears
Ouch!