Read: The Poem

Class 6 English · Chapter 8: What a Bird Thought · NCERT Poorvi section pp. 85–87

Learn

Before you read: where do you see birds, and what are they doing? Would you like to fly like a bird? What do you think a baby bird believes about its world? Word meanings: pale = light (in colour); fluttered = moved lightly and quickly; at length = at last; labour(s) = hard work.

Stanza 1 (in our words): the bird's first home was small and cosy: an egg. From inside, it thought the whole world was small, round and made of a pale blue shell.

Stanza 2: next it lived in a little nest and needed nothing else. It thought the world was made of straw, and it nestled (snuggled warmly) beside its mother.

Stanza 3: one day it fluttered out of the nest to explore. Seeing leaves all around, it now said the world was made of leaves, and realised it had been "very blind" before. Stanza 4: at last it flew beyond the tree, grown up and ready for adult work, and admitted that it doesn't know how the world is made, and neither do its neighbours. (The poet is anonymous: unknown.)

Explore: the bird's growing world.

1. Put the four stages in order.

Remember

• The bird's world grows: shell → straw nest → leaves → beyond the tree.
• At the end it admits it doesn't know how the world is made: the more we see, the more there is to learn.

Quick check

What was the bird's second home made of?

1. Straw
2. Shell
3. Leaves
4. Wood

Think about it

Why did the baby bird think its first world was small, round and blue?

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.