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The Wise Parrot – Class 5 English Chapter 4 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 5EnglishChapter 4NCERT book: Santoor - English Class 5

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 4 of the NCERT Class 5 English book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 4: The Wise Parrot (Unit 2: My Colourful World)

About the Chapter

The Wise Parrot is a folk tale in Unit 2: My Colourful World of Santoor, Grade 5. It is about a clever parrot that longs for freedom and finds a smart way to escape from a golden cage.

The Story in Brief

The parrot in the golden cage

In a quiet village, a rich merchant keeps a bright, talkative parrot in a cage of gold. The parrot has a sharp mind and entertains the merchant with stories and songs. But deep inside:

...the bird longed for the open skies and green trees.

The request

The merchant is going on a long business trip and asks what he should bring back. The parrot says:

"...I want to taste the joy of flying in the sky. If you really want me to be happy, please let me fly off into the sky."

The merchant cannot bear to let it go. So the parrot asks him to give a message to its friends in the jungle: "tell them that I send them greetings from my cage."

In the forest

In a forest the merchant sees a flight of parrots of the same colour and gives them the message. At once, one parrot drops like a stone from the tree to the ground. The merchant is distressed and hurries away.

The clever escape

Back home, the merchant tells his parrot about the journey and, sadly, how one bird fell down in shock. As soon as he finishes, his own parrot falls from its perch to the floor of the cage. Thinking it is dead, the merchant gently takes out the still-warm body and places it on the windowsill. Then:

...the bird stirred, stretched its beautiful green wings and flew off into the open sky saying, "My friend showed me how I could escape and now I can fly in the sky. Goodbye!"

The parrot in the forest had not died. It had pretended, to send a secret message about how to escape. The pet parrot understood the message and copied the trick.

Characters

  • The pet parrot – talkative, clever, longs for freedom, and understands a hidden message.
  • The merchant – rich, loves his parrot, but keeps it caged for his own happiness.
  • The forest parrot – wise; it teaches the escape plan without a single word.

    • Message

  • Freedom is more precious than a cage of gold.
  • Intelligence can be stronger than force.
  • Truly loving someone means caring about their happiness too.

    • Word Power

  • merchant – a trader or businessman (व्यापारी)
  • tender – soft and fresh (कोमल)
  • longed for – wished for very much (तरसना)
  • perch – a rod or branch where a bird sits (अड्डा / बैठने की छड़)
  • windowsill – the flat ledge at the bottom of a window (खिड़की की चौखट)
  • distressed – very upset and worried (परेशान / दुखी)
  • sighed – breathed out sadly (आह भरी)
  • stirred – moved slightly (हिला-डुला)
  • flight of parrots – a group of flying parrots (तोतों का झुंड)
  • greetings – good wishes (शुभकामनाएँ / नमस्कार)

    • Grammar & Language Focus

  • Phrases: stepped out, all over, came across, about to, stand upright, look after, went away. Example: "I came across a small puppy. Its leg was injured and it was about to collapse."
  • Collective nouns: a flight of parrots, a flock of sheep, a pack of wolves, a bouquet of flowers, a swarm of bees, an army of ants, a bunch of keys.
  • Present perfect tense: Subject + has/have + verb (past participle) + object. It is used for actions just completed or past experiences that still matter now.

    • - "I have visited Delhi many times."

    - "She has drawn pictures of ten monuments."

    - "Mr. Joon has bought a new car."

  • 'ai' and 'oi' sounds: tail – toil, bail – boil, ail – oil, fail – foil, cane – coin, sail – soil.
  • Listening passage (birds): India has more than 70 bird sanctuaries. Vedanthangal (Tamil Nadu) is the oldest and Bharatpur (Rajasthan) is the largest.

    • Let's Talk / Let's Write

  • Think and discuss: How would you reply to the parrot if you were the merchant? Which parrot was really wise?
  • Let us Speak: Look at two birds, one caged and one free. Which would you like to be, and why?
  • Let us Write: Continue the story: "After escaping from the golden cage, the parrot decided to fly away…"
  • Let us Do: Make a bird feeder from things at home and fill it with water, seeds and millets.

    • Common Mistakes

  • Thinking the forest parrot really died. It only pretended, to show the trick.
  • Writing "a flock of parrots". The book uses a flight of parrots for birds flying together.
  • Using "have" with he, she or it. It should be she has drawn, not "she have drawn".
  • Using the simple past form in the present perfect. It is has bought, not "has buyed".

    • 💡 Key Learning Points

    • ✓Narrate the story in order: request for freedom, message to the forest, the fall, and the escape
    • ✓Infer that the forest parrot pretended to die to secretly teach the escape trick
    • ✓Discuss freedom versus comfort and intelligence versus strength
    • ✓Use collective nouns (flight, flock, pack, swarm, bouquet, army, bunch) and phrases like 'came across' and 'look after'
    • ✓Form present perfect sentences with has/have + past participle

    👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

    • →Stop reading after 'one parrot dropped like a stone' and ask students to predict what will happen
    • →Discuss the hidden-message idea: have students pass a 'message without words' by acting it out
    • →Show two pictures, a bird in a golden cage and a bird in the sky, and hold a quick class vote with reasons
    • →Make collective-noun matching cards (flight / parrots, swarm / bees) for pair work
    • →Practise the present perfect by asking about students' own experiences: 'Have you ever visited a zoo?'
    • →Do the tail/toil, sail/soil listen-and-repeat drill, focusing on the 'ai' and 'oi' sounds
    • →Build a class bird feeder from a plastic bottle and hang it outside the classroom

    📋 Assessment Questions

    1. Can the student explain what the parrot first asked for and what message it sent?
    2. Can the student explain how the forest parrot's action helped the pet parrot escape?
    3. Can the student give a reasoned opinion on which parrot was wise?
    4. Can the student fill in collective nouns correctly?
    5. Can the student complete sentences in the present perfect with the correct has/have?

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    Keep learning

    All chapters in Santoor - English Class 5

    1. 1. Papa's Spectacles
    2. 2. Gone with the Scooter
    3. 3. The Rainbow
    4. 4. The Wise Parrot
    5. 5. The Frog
    6. 6. What a Tank!
    7. 7. Gilli Danda
    8. 8. The Decision of the Panchayat
    9. 9. Vocation
    10. 10. Glass Bangles