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English: Class 1 — Chapter 4: The Cap-seller and the Monkeys

Story 1: The Cap-seller and the Monkeys

Plot Summary

Once, a cap-seller who carried caps in a basket on his head fell asleep under a tree. While he slept, monkeys living on the tree came down and took all his caps.

When he woke up, he found his basket empty and saw the monkeys wearing his caps. To get them back, he tried different actions:

  • He shook his fists at them, and the monkeys copied him.
  • He scratched his head, and the monkeys copied him again.
  • Realizing they were imitating him, he threw his own cap into the empty basket. The monkeys did the same, throwing all the caps back down.

The cap-seller collected his caps and went away happily.

Key Vocabulary

  • Cap-seller: A person who sells caps.
  • Basket: A container used by the seller to carry caps on his head.
  • Imitate: To copy the actions of someone else (as the monkeys did).
Poem: Butterflies

Poem Recitation & Actions

A simple action song for children to learn directional opposites:

Butterflies, butterflies,
Up, up, up.
Butterflies, butterflies,
Down, down, down.
Butterflies, butterflies,
In, in, in.
Butterflies, butterflies,
Out, out, out.

Opposites Learned

  • Up vs. Down
  • In vs. Out
Story 2: Catch Me If You Can

Plot Summary

A fat cat sitting on a mat tries to catch a little rat. The clever rat escapes by hiding in different places:

  • First, the rat hides inside a hat.
  • Then, the rat runs and hides inside a box.
  • The cat tries to open the box, but the lid does not open. The rat safely laughs, "Ha, ha! You can't catch me, big cat!"

Rhyming Words (-at family)

The story highlights words ending with the -at sound:

  • Cat
  • Rat
  • Mat
  • Hat
  • Sat
  • Fat
Language & Phonics Activities

Alphabet Vocabulary (Aa to Zz)

Key words associated with each letter of the alphabet introduced in this chapter:

  • Aa: Ant | Bb: Bee | Cc: Cat | Dd: Dog
  • Ee: Elephant | Ff: Fish | Gg: Goat | Hh: Hen
  • Ii: Inkpot | Jj: Jug | Kk: Kite | Ll: Lion
  • Mm: Monkey | Nn: Nest | Oo: Owl | Pp: Parrot
  • Qq: Quill | Rr: Rat | Ss: Snake | Tt: Tiger
  • Uu: Uniform | Vv: Van | Ww: Whale | Xx: X-ray
  • Yy: Yak | Zz: Zebra

Syllable Awareness

Understanding how words are broken down into parts (syllables):

  • mon-key (2 syllables)
  • don-key (2 syllables)
  • bas-ket (2 syllables)
  • sell-er (2 syllables)

Initial Sounds Identification

  • Words starting with /c/: cap, cat, coat, car, can, cow
  • Words starting with /m/: monkey, mango, mouse, mat, man, mug
  • Words starting with /b/: basket, bat, ball, banana