Fun with Numbers: NCERT Class 1 English Poem (Raindrops Chapter 10)

etmantra4 Feb 20208 min read

This is a counting rhyme with a funny little story inside it. Children count to ten, catch a fish, and find out why it was let go. It is great for learning numbers and the words left and right.

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From the NCERT English book Raindrops for Class 1, chapter 10. NCERT’s newer Class 1 book is Mridang, but many schools still teach Raindrops.

Watch: Fun with Numbers

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

Number words from one to ten
Asking with 'Which' and 'Why'
The words right and left, and little finger
Saying a counting rhyme with finger actions

What the poem is about

The poem counts from one to five, and then the speaker catches a live fish. From six to ten, the speaker lets the fish go again.

Someone asks why, and the answer is that the fish bit a finger. Which finger? The little finger on the right hand. The poem mixes numbers, questions and answers in a playful way.

New words, with Hindi meanings

fish: an animal that lives and swims in water (हिंदी: मछली)
alive: living; not dead (हिंदी: ज़िंदा)
let it go: set it free (हिंदी: छोड़ दिया)
bit: cut or held with the teeth (from “bite”) (हिंदी: काट लिया)
finger: one of the five thin parts at the end of your hand (हिंदी: उँगली)
little: small (हिंदी: छोटी)
right: the side opposite to left (हिंदी: दायाँ)

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.

What did the speaker catch after counting to five?
Why did the speaker let the fish go?
Which finger did the fish bite?
Can you show me your little finger on your right hand?

Answers for parents

The speaker caught a fish that was alive.
Because the fish bit the speaker's finger.
It bit the little finger on the right hand.
For example: The child holds up the right hand and wiggles the smallest finger.

Grammar corner: Asking with 'Which'

We use 'Which' when we must pick one thing from a few. The poem asks which finger the fish bit, because a hand has five fingers. The answer names just one of them.

Which fish is the biggest in the pond?
Which hand do you write with?
Which number comes after five?

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: one, two, three, four, ___.
Choose the right word: The fish bit my (little / big) finger.
Make a 'Which' question about your fingers.

Answers: 1. five · 2. little · 3. Sample: Which finger is the longest?

Try this

Do the poem with your fingers. Count one to ten on your fingers together. At “fish alive”, make a fish with your hand that swims away. At the end, the fish “bites” the little finger of the right hand. Check that your child points to the correct hand.

Tip for parents

Count to ten in Hindi first, "एक, दो, तीन...", then count again in English on the same fingers. Ask "कौन सी उँगली?" and then "Which finger?" so your child hears that the two questions mean the same. Clap when they answer, in either language.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem Fun with Numbers about?

It is a counting rhyme from one to ten. The speaker catches a live fish and then lets it go because it bit a finger.

Why did the speaker let the fish go in Fun with Numbers?

Because the fish bit the speaker's finger, the little finger on the right hand.

Which NCERT book has Fun with Numbers?

It is Chapter 10 of NCERT's older Raindrops book for Class 1. The newer NCERT English 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 →