Class 5 English Chapter 4: The Wise Parrot

A bird in a golden cage

A rich merchant lives in a quiet village. He owns a bright green parrot. The bird sits in a cage made of gold. It sings and tells stories all day. The master loves it very much. But the parrot looks out at the trees. It dreams of the open sky. Would you be happy in a golden cage?

The gift question

One day the merchant plans a long journey. He will go far away for his business. Before he leaves, he wants to make his pet happy. He walks up to the cage. He asks the bird what gift it would like from that far land.

One wish only

The parrot has a quick answer. It says it already eats sweet fruits and hot chillies. It does not want more food. It wants only one thing. It wants to feel the joy of flying. So it begs the master to open the cage door.

The master says no

The merchant shakes his head. He loves the bird too much to lose it. He tells the parrot to choose another gift. The bird sighs. When you sigh, you let out a long, sad breath. Its one wish has been refused.

A message for the jungle

Then the parrot asks for something small. If the master meets parrots in the forest, he should carry a message. He should tell them that their friend sends greetings from a cage. The merchant agrees. It sounds like a simple, kind request.

The parrot who fell

In a far forest, the merchant sees a flight of parrots. Their feathers are the same green as his pet's. He calls up to the tree. He tells them about the bird in his golden cage. He gives them the greetings. At once, one parrot drops from the branch like a stone.

Sad news at home

The merchant is distressed. Distressed means very upset. He hurries away and finishes his work. Back home, he tells his pet about the forest. He describes the wonders he saw. Then, in a sad voice, he tells how one parrot fell to the ground.

The bird on the windowsill

The words are hardly finished. His own parrot drops off its perch. A perch is the bar a bird sits on. The body still feels warm. The sad master lifts it out and lays it on the windowsill. He steps back, not knowing what to do.

Up into the open sky

Then the bird stirs. It stretches its green wings. It rises into the air and flies away. It calls back that a friend has shown it the way out. As the story ends, the parrot says goodbye and flies "into the open sky" (Santoor, The Wise Parrot).

So who was wise?

The jungle parrot never really died. It was acting. Its fall was advice: play dead, and they will carry you out. The pet parrot understood at once. Both birds were wise. The master was kind, but he did not see the plan.

Words worth keeping

This lesson gives us useful words. A merchant buys and sells goods. A perch is a bird's resting bar. A windowsill is the flat ledge below a window. To sigh is to breathe out sadly. Tender fruit is soft fruit.

What the story teaches

Strength did not open that cage. A clever idea did. The story also asks a quiet question. Is any cage kind, even one of gold? Love that holds a bird too tightly is not really love. Freedom is the finest gift of all.

Scenario:

Ananya tells her group that the merchant was kind. He gave the parrot a golden cage and good food. Faiz says kindness is not the same as freedom. A bird that cannot fly is not well kept, however fine the cage. Their teacher asks the class to measure something. A parrot's open wings are about thirty centimetres across. The children cut a paper strip that wide. Then they hold it inside a cage shape drawn on the floor. The strip will not open fully. Ananya sees the problem at once. The cage was not cruel by accident. It was simply too small for the bird inside it.

Analysis:

Good food and a golden cage are not the same as room to fly. A paper strip thirty centimetres wide settles the argument faster than either child could.

Activity:

Measure the width of your desk. Compare it with a parrot's open wings at thirty centimetres. Write two sentences about which is wider and by how much.

Some pet parrots learn hundreds of words and can copy a doorbell or a phone ring.

Many animals really do lie still as if dead when danger comes. People call this playing possum.

The three steps of the story — C-M-F: Cage, Message, Freedom — Cage: the bird is shut in. Message: it sends greetings to the jungle. Freedom: it plays dead and flies away.

One word for a whole crowd

Anaya watches the sky above her village. Hundreds of parrots fly past together. She wants to write about it. Does she write "many parrots"? The lesson gives her a better word. She writes that a flight of parrots crossed the sky. One small word paints the whole crowd.

Group words

A group word names many things as one. Birds in the air make a flight. Sheep in a field make a flock. Wolves that hunt together make a pack. Flowers tied up make a bouquet. Bees make a swarm, ants make an army, and keys on a ring make a bunch.

Pick the right group word

The group word changes with the group. We do not say a swarm of sheep. We do not say a flock of keys. Learn each pair as one picture in your head: bees and swarm, keys and bunch, wolves and pack. Say them aloud until they sound right.

Phrases that work as one

Some words travel in a little team. We call the team a phrase. Look after means to take care of. Came across means found by chance. Stepped out means went outside. About to means just going to happen. All over means everywhere.

Phrases in a story

Try them in one short tale. I stepped out of my home in the cold. Snow lay all over the road. I came across a hurt puppy. It was about to fall. I took it home to look after it. The phrases hold the whole story together.

The present perfect tense

Some work is finished, but it still matters now. For that we use has or have with the third form of the verb. I have finished my homework. My hands are free now, so the past still counts today.

The rule to remember

Subject + has or have + third form of the verb. Use has for one person or thing. He has bought a car. Use have for I, you, we and they. They have written letters. Nothing else changes in the sentence.

The third form

The third form is not the simple past form. Go becomes gone, not went. See becomes seen, not saw. Write becomes written, not wrote. Draw becomes drawn. Visit and complete are easy. They just add ed, like visited and completed.

Two jobs for one tense

We use this tense in two ways. It tells about work just finished: Mr Joon has bought a new car. It also tells about life experience: I have visited Delhi many times. Both reach out of the past and touch today.

Say it about yourself

Now use it for your own day. I have eaten my breakfast. I have packed my bag. My sister has fed the parrot. We have watered the plants. Each sentence takes a subject, then has or have, then the third form.

Three tools, one lesson

Group words, phrases and the present perfect all do the same job. They pack a lot of meaning into a few words. A flight of parrots says more than many birds. Has flown says more than flew. Good writers pick the shorter, stronger way.

Scenario:

Class 5 is writing labels for the school garden. Riya writes that a lot of birds come here. Her teacher asks for a better word. The class hunts for group words instead. They find a flock of birds, a swarm of bees and a bunch of bananas. Then a second question comes up. Riya has written that the gardener have planted forty saplings. Ali says it must be has, because there is one gardener. Riya checks and agrees. She writes that the gardener has planted forty saplings, and that thirty of them have grown. The class counts again a month later and finds thirty-four alive.

Analysis:

Has goes with one and have goes with more than one. A group word does the opposite job, letting one word stand for many.

Activity:

Count something in your school, such as trees or windows. Write two sentences about it, one using has and one using have.

Title:

The group word hunt

Safety:

Stay inside the house or the gate. Do not go near a beehive or an anthill to count.

What You Notice:

Some things have their own group word and some do not. Nobody says a flock of spoons, so we say a set of spoons instead.

English has funny old group words too, such as a parliament of owls and a tower of giraffes.

Hindi uses group words as well, like a jhund of birds and a guchchha of keys.

When to use has and when to use have — One has, many have — One person or thing takes has. I, you, we and they take have.

The shape of the tense — S + H + 3 — Subject, then Has or Have, then the third form of the verb.

The parrot has flown. Now what?

The parrot is free at last. The lesson stops there, but the bird's life does not. Where did it go first? Did it find its jungle friend? Today you become the storyteller. First we train the mouth and the ears. Then we pick up the pen.

Two sounds to feel

Say tail. Now say toil. Only one sound changed, but the word changed too. The letters ai give us the sound in tail and sail. The letters oi give us the sound in coin and soil. Your lips move differently for each one.

Say them in pairs

Try these pairs slowly: tail and toil, bail and boil, fail and foil, sail and soil. Say each one three times. Then say them faster. Now cover the words. Ask a friend to say one. Can you tell which sound you heard?

Listening is a skill

Your teacher will read a short passage about birds. Listening is not the same as hearing. Hearing just happens. Listening means holding on to what matters. Sit still, look at the speaker, and picture what you hear.

Catch the important words

In a listening passage, some words carry the facts. Numbers, names and places are the ones to catch. India has more than seventy bird sanctuaries. The oldest one is in Tamil Nadu. The largest one is in Rajasthan.

What is a sanctuary?

A sanctuary is a safe home. It is land kept for wild animals and birds. Nobody may hunt there. Many bird species were once in danger. Sanctuaries give them ponds, trees and quiet. That is how a bird species is saved.

Writing a new ending

Now write what happened next to the parrot. A good continuation keeps the same bird. It keeps the same kind of world. It adds one new problem and one new idea. Then it stops with a feeling, not with a full stop in the middle.

Use the writing frame

Start with the flight: the parrot flew to a tall tree. Add a meeting: it met its jungle friend. Add a problem: a hunter or a storm came near. Add the clever plan. Finish with how the bird feels now.

Stay in one time

The story you read is in the past. So keep your part in the past too. Write flew, met, saw, thought and flapped. Do not switch to flies in the middle. Read your work aloud. Your ear will catch a wrong tense quickly.

Check before you hand it in

Good writers check their work twice. Does every sentence begin with a capital letter? Does it end with a full stop? Are the names spelt the same way each time? Did you use one or two new words from the lesson?

Speak your story

The last step is fun. Read your ending aloud to the class. Speak slowly at the exciting parts. Look up at your listeners now and then. A story that is read well sounds twice as good.

Scenario:

Sunrise School in Nagpur stands on a busy road. In May the days grow very hot. Aarav notices that fewer sparrows come to the school garden. His teacher tells the class that birds struggle to find water in summer. The children decide to help. They cut a window in an empty plastic bottle and hang it from the neem tree. They fill it with millet and broken rice. Beside it they place a clay bowl of clean water. Every Monday two children refill the feeder and count the visitors. In the first week they count six birds. By the fourth week they count nineteen. The class writes a report and reads it aloud in the assembly.

Analysis:

A small, cheap feeder brings birds back. Counting and writing turn a kind act into real science and clear English.

Activity:

Make your own feeder from a clean plastic bottle or a coconut shell. Fill it with millet and grain, and ask a grown-up to hang it safely outside. Keep a diary of the birds you see for two weeks.

India has more than seventy bird sanctuaries, and the oldest of them is in Tamil Nadu.

The largest bird sanctuary in the country is in Rajasthan, near the town of Bharatpur.

Telling the two sounds apart — ai says ay, oi says oy — Tail has the ay sound. Toil has the oy sound. Say the key word before you decide.

Planning a story ending — F-M-P-I-F — Flight, Meeting, Problem, Idea, Feeling. Five boxes make a complete little story.