A Little Turtle: NCERT Class 1 English Poem (Marigold Unit 8)

etmantra13 Jun 20208 min read

In this short poem a little turtle tells us about itself. Children love acting it out: crawling slowly and hiding inside their 'shell'.

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From the NCERT English book Marigold for Class 1, unit 8. NCERT’s newer Class 1 book is Mridang, but many schools still teach Marigold.

Watch: A Little Turtle

Play the video three or four times. The first time, just listen. Then point at the pictures, and from the third time, say the lines along with the video. Short, repeated listening is how CALP builds a child’s English.

What your child learns

Words about moving: crawl, slow, carry
Body parts: head, legs, tail
Talking about yourself with 'I'
Acting out a poem while saying it

What the poem is about

The turtle says it crawls very slowly. It carries its house on its back wherever it goes, because its shell is its home.

When the turtle gets tired, it pulls in its head, its legs and its tail, and goes to bed inside its shell. It is a calm, cosy poem about a slow little animal.

New words, with Hindi meanings

turtle: an animal with a hard shell on its back (हिंदी: कछुआ)
crawl: move slowly, close to the ground (हिंदी: रेंगना)
slow: not fast (हिंदी: धीमा)
carry: hold something and take it with you (हिंदी: उठाकर ले जाना)
wherever: to any place (हिंदी: जहाँ भी)
tired: needing rest or sleep (हिंदी: थका हुआ)

Sing and dance

Once your child knows the poem, sing it together with actions. Children who can’t sing yet can still do the moves.

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

How does the little turtle move: fast or slow?
What does the turtle carry with it?
What does the turtle do when it gets tired?
What do you do when you feel tired?

Answers for parents

The little turtle moves slowly.
It carries its house, its shell, on its back.
It pulls in its head, legs and tail and goes to bed in its shell.
For example: When I feel tired, I lie down on my bed and sleep.

Grammar corner: Action words (verbs)

Action words tell us what someone does. The turtle crawls, carries and sleeps. We can act out every action word with our body.

The turtle crawls on the sand.
I carry my bag to school.
The baby sleeps after lunch.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: The turtle is very ___. (fast / slow)
Choose the opposite of 'slow': (tired / fast / small)
Make a sentence with 'tired'.

Answers: 1. slow · 2. fast · 3. For example: I am tired after playing.

Try this

Play 'little turtle'. Your child crawls slowly with a cushion on their back as the turtle's house. When you say 'tired!', they tuck in their head, arms and legs and 'go to bed'. Say the lines of the poem as you play.

Tip for parents

Tell your child in Hindi first: 'कछुआ धीरे-धीरे चलता है और अपना घर साथ ले जाता है.' Then say the English words 'slow' and 'carry' and act them out together. Clap for every English word your child tries, even if the sentence is half Hindi.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem A Little Turtle about?

A little turtle tells us that it crawls slowly, carries its house on its back, and goes to sleep inside its shell when it is tired.

Why does the turtle say it carries its house?

Its hard shell is its home. The shell is on its back, so the house goes wherever the turtle goes.

Which book is A Little Turtle from?

It is from NCERT's older Marigold book for Class 1 (Unit 8). The newer NCERT books are Mridang for Class 1–2 and Santoor for Class 3–5.

Learn every Class 1 lesson with CALP

Every lesson of Mridang, NCERT’s new book, with read-along videos, new words with Hindi meanings, and listen-and-say practice with a score, made for young children with a parent nearby. ₹999 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →