Bird Talk: NCERT Class 3 English Poem (Marigold Unit 2)

etmantra29 Jun 20208 min read

What do birds think about us? This playful poem turns things around and lets children see people through the eyes of two birds.

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From the NCERT English book Marigold for Class 3, unit 2. NCERT’s newer Class 3 book is Santoor, but many schools still teach Marigold.

Watch: Bird Talk

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

Bird words: robin, jay, feathers, wings
Saying 'no' with 'don't': 'They don't grow wings'
Rhyming words: day and jay, wings and things
Seeing the world from someone else's point of view

What the poem is about

Two birds, a robin and a jay, sit in a garden one day and talk about people. They think people are very odd.

People have no feathers, do not eat beetles, do not grow wings and do not like sitting on wires. So the birds decide that people are funny to be that way. The poem is light and humorous, and it shows that what seems normal to us can look strange to someone else.

New words, with Hindi meanings

robin: a small bird with a red-orange chest (हिंदी: रॉबिन (एक चिड़िया))
jay: a bright, noisy bird (हिंदी: जे (एक चिड़िया))
feathers: the soft, light covering on a bird's body (हिंदी: पंख)
beetles: small insects with hard, shiny backs (हिंदी: भृंग / कीड़े)
wings: the parts of a bird's body it uses to fly (हिंदी: पर / डैने)
wires: long thin pieces of metal, like electric wires that birds sit on (हिंदी: तार)

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.

Which two birds are talking?
Where are the birds sitting?
Name two things people do not have or do, according to the birds.
If a cat or a dog could talk, what funny thing might it say about you?

Answers for parents

A robin and a jay.
They are sitting in a garden.
People do not have feathers and do not grow wings. They also do not eat beetles or sit on wires.
For example: A dog might say, 'She does not have a tail. How funny!'

Grammar corner: Saying 'no' with 'don't'

To say that people or animals do not do something, we put 'don't' before the action word. 'Don't' is a short way of saying 'do not'. The birds use it again and again about people.

Fish don't walk on the road.
We don't sleep on wires.
Birds don't wear shoes.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: People ___ have feathers. (do / don't)
Spot the rhyme: Which word rhymes with 'wings'? (wires / things / birds)
Make a sentence with 'don't' about a cow.

Answers: 1. don't · 2. things · 3. For example: Cows don't climb trees.

Try this

Play 'Bird talk'. Two children are birds sitting on a 'wire' (a line on the floor or a bench). They take turns saying one thing that is funny about people, such as 'They wear shoes.' Then swap and pretend to be people talking about birds.

Tip for parents

Ask in Hindi: 'चिड़िया को हम इंसान अजीब क्यों लगते हैं?' Let your child answer in any mix of Hindi and English, then help turn one answer into an English 'don't' sentence, like 'People don't have feathers'. Praise the idea first, then the English.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem Bird Talk about?

A robin and a jay sit in a garden and talk about people. They find people funny because people have no feathers or wings, don't eat beetles and don't like sitting on wires.

Which words rhyme in Bird Talk?

'Day' rhymes with 'jay' and 'way', 'grow' rhymes with 'know', and 'wings' rhymes with 'things'.

Which book is Bird Talk from?

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

Learn every Class 3 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Santoor, NCERT’s new book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, grammar, speaking and first writing practice. ₹1,299 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →