2. I can understand the new words The five tick boxes printed beside this point • by using a dictionary. • after listening to my teacher’s explanation. • by reading with my classmates in groups. • by reading the entire sentence again. •&#16

This question is about the New Words box that every chapter carries. Across these four chapters you met words such as spectacles , glanced , overtops , bow , merchant , tender , distressed , perch , windowsill and sighed . The five boxes are five different ways of working out what a word means. All five are good. Tick the ones you actually use. Way of learning a word How it works, with an example by using a dictionary You look the word up. Slow but exact — good for a word like distressed . after listening to my teacher’s explanation Your teacher says it in easier words. Good for a word that is hard to picture. by reading with my classmates in groups One friend often knows the word already, and explaining it aloud helps you both. by reading the entire sentence again The sentence around a word usually gives it away. “The bird sighed ” — you can hear the sadness in the sentence. by looking at the pictures The picture on page 44 shows the parrot on the windowsill . One look and you know the word. Sample answer: “I ticked three boxes. Most often I read the entire sentence again , because that tells me the meaning without stopping my reading. For a word I still cannot guess, like distressed , I use a dictionary . And I found perch and windowsill just by looking at the pictures in the chapter.” The best readers use all five. They guess from the sentence first, check the picture, and only then reach for the dictionary. Guessing first is not lazy — it is how your brain learns to hold

NCERT Solutions for Class 5th English Chapter 4 Covers Unit 1 (Chapters 1–2) and Unit 2 (Chapters 3–4) — Self-assessment 1

Book page 53–54 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

Self-assessment 1 — You may select more than one box for each point. 1. I can recite the poems with gestures • by myself. • in a group. • by repeating after my teacher. • None of the above. I like reading poems quietly.

Answer

First, what this sheet is. Self-assessment 1 comes at the end of Unit 2. It looks back over the first four chapters of Santoor:

Unit 1 — Let’s Have Fun: Chapter 1 Papa’s Spectacles (a poem) and Chapter 2 Gone with the Scooter (a story).
Unit 2 — My Colourful World: Chapter 3 The Rainbow (a poem by Christina Rossetti) and Chapter 4 The Wise Parrot (a story).

It is not a test and there are no marks. Nobody passes and nobody fails. You are simply telling your teacher how you learn best, so that she can help you in the way that suits you. That is why the sheet says you may tick more than one box for each point.

Now this question. The two poems in these units are Papa’s Spectacles and The Rainbow. Gestures means movements of your hands, face and body while you say the words — pointing to your head when Papa’s spectacles are found there, or making an arch in the air for the rainbow.

Tick this box if…	What it means
by myself	You can stand up alone and say the poem with actions, without help.
in a group	You are comfortable saying it along with your friends.
by repeating after my teacher	You need to hear a line first, then say it back.
None of the above. I like reading poems quietly.	You enjoy poems, but you would rather read them silently than perform them.

Sample answer: “I ticked two boxes — in a group and by repeating after my teacher. I can say The Rainbow with actions when my whole row says it together, because then I am not nervous. On my own I still forget the third line, so I like to hear my teacher say it first. By next term I want to be able to tick by myself too.”

Tick honestly. If you tick a box that is not true, your teacher will think you need no help — and then you will not get any. Being honest here is the whole point of the sheet.

Q2.

2. I can understand the new words

The five boxes printed beside this point on page 53. You may tick more than one.

Answer

This question is about the New Words box that every chapter carries. Across these four chapters you met words such as spectacles, glanced, overtops, bow, merchant, tender, distressed, perch, windowsill and sighed.

The five boxes are five different ways of working out what a word means. All five are good. Tick the ones you actually use.

Way of learning a word	How it works, with an example
by using a dictionary	You look the word up. Slow but exact — good for a word like distressed.
after listening to my teacher’s explanation	Your teacher says it in easier words. Good for a word that is hard to picture.
by reading with my classmates in groups	One friend often knows the word already, and explaining it aloud helps you both.
by reading the entire sentence again	The sentence around a word usually gives it away. “The bird sighed” — you can hear the sadness in the sentence.
by looking at the pictures	The picture on page 44 shows the parrot on the windowsill. One look and you know the word.

Sample answer: “I ticked three boxes. Most often I read the entire sentence again, because that tells me the meaning without stopping my reading. For a word I still cannot guess, like distressed, I use a dictionary. And I found perch and windowsill just by looking at the pictures in the chapter.”

The best readers use all five. They guess from the sentence first, check the picture, and only then reach for the dictionary. Guessing first is not lazy — it is how your brain learns to hold a new word.

Q3.

3. I can answer the questions • in my mother tongue. • in English. • in English with a few words of my mother tongue. • in my mother tongue, with a few words of English.

Answer

This is about the Let us Think questions in all four chapters — for example, “At last, where does Papa find his lost item?” or “How did the parrot escape from the cage?”

Your mother tongue is the language you speak at home — Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Odia, Kannada, and so on.

There is no wrong box here. Using your mother tongue is not a mistake. It is a bridge. The four boxes simply show where you are on that bridge:
mother tongue → mother tongue with a few English words → English with a few mother-tongue words → English.

Sample answer: “I ticked in English with a few words of my mother tongue. I can answer most questions in English now. When I do not know one word — like the word for merchant — I say it in Hindi and my teacher gives me the English word. Two months ago I could only answer in Hindi, so I have moved one step along.”

Why the sheet asks this: Your teacher needs to know which words to give you. If you can already answer fully in English, she will give you harder questions. If you answer in your mother tongue, she will help you say the same idea in English. Ticking the true box gets you the help you actually need.

One small trick to move up a step: Answer in your mother tongue first, out loud, and then say the very same sentence again in English. Doing that ten times a week moves you along the bridge faster than anything else.

Q4.

4. I can write a paragraph • by myself. • after following my teacher’s instructions. • after reading my friends’ work. • with my teachers’/friends’ help.

Answer

This looks back at the Let us Write tasks of Units 1 and 2 — writing Papa’s Spectacles as a story, the writing task in Gone with the Scooter, and finishing the parrot’s story in this chapter.

Tick this box if…	What it means
by myself	You can plan and write a paragraph on your own, from the first line to the last.
after following my teacher’s instructions	You can write it once your teacher has told you what to put in each sentence.
after reading my friends’ work	Seeing how a classmate did it shows you how to start your own.
with my teachers’/friends’ help	You need somebody beside you while you write, to help with words and spellings.

Sample answer: “I ticked after following my teacher’s instructions. I can write a full paragraph once I know the plan — beginning, middle and end. My spellings are still weak, so sometimes I ask a friend. When we wrote the parrot’s story I did the whole page myself and only asked for the spelling of escaped. Next time I want to tick by myself.”

Three steps that make any paragraph easier:
1. Say the whole thing aloud first, to yourself.
2. Write four or five rough points in order.
3. Turn each point into one full sentence.
Do those three and you will soon be ticking the first box.

Q5.

5. I was able to do all the activities • by myself. • with the help of my teacher. • with the help of my classmates. • with the help of my family members.

Answer

The activities are the doing parts of these four chapters — the crossword and the matchstick puzzle in Chapter 1, the tasks in Chapter 2, the colour work in The Rainbow, and in this chapter the Let us Do bird feeder and the Let us Explore bird facts.

Notice that this question is about who helped you, not about whether you were right. Getting help is not a weakness. Some activities are meant to be done with others — the book itself says “With the help of your parents, place it at an appropriate location outside your house.”

Tick this box if…	An example from these four chapters
by myself	You solved the crossword and found the hidden d on your own.
with the help of my teacher	Your teacher showed you how to start the matchstick puzzle.
with the help of my classmates	You and your friends found the bird facts for Let us Explore together.
with the help of my family members	Your father cut the plastic bottle for the bird feeder, and your grandmother told you about the tailor bird.

Sample answer: “I ticked two boxes — by myself and with the help of my family members. I did the crossword and the bird facts on my own. For the bird feeder I needed help, because the bottle had to be cut with scissors and my mother did not let me use them. My grandfather helped me choose the place to hang it, in the shade of the guava tree. Two sparrows came on the very first day.”

What this whole sheet is really for: Nobody is going to grade these ticks. Filling it in honestly gives you two useful things — you find out how you learn best, and your teacher finds out where to stand beside you. Keep the sheet. At the end of Unit 5 there is a second one, Self-assessment 2, and it is a fine feeling to look back and see how many boxes have moved.

Note to the Teacher (page 54) tells the teacher that learners should fill in the sheet themselves, and that it may be kept as part of each learner’s progress record. So write your own ticks — do not copy your neighbour’s.

Was this helpful?