Gilli Danda – Class 5 English Chapter 7 Notes & NCERT PDF

About the Chapter

Gilli Danda is a short, happy poem that opens Unit 4: Ups and Downs. It describes children playing the traditional Indian outdoor game Gilli Danda (called tip-cat in English). The poem has a strong rhythm and rhyming lines, so it is fun to recite with actions.

The Poem in Brief

Stanza 1 – Getting ready to play

"In the playground, we gather around,

With a stick and a small gilli to throw,

Gilli Danda, our game is so sound!"

Friends gather in the playground. They need two things: a stick (danda) and a small gilli. "Our game is so sound" means their game is good, fine and solid.

Stanza 2 – Playing together

"One, two, three, swing and hit,

With our friends, we never quit!"

The players count, swing the danda and hit the gilli. They play with friends and never quit (never give up). They feel free with every swing.

Stanza 3 – The gilli flies

"The small gilli, up high it flies,

Underneath the bright blue skies."

When the stick strikes it, the gilli flies up high. The lines "Underneath the bright blue skies" and "Under the golden rays of the sun" tell us the game is played outside. The children are laughing, playing, having fun.

How the game is played (from the chapter)

Word Power

Grammar & Language Focus

1. Prefixes un- and re-

A prefix is added at the beginning of a word and changes its meaning.

2. Abstract nouns

Nouns we can see, touch, taste or smell are things like leaf, sun, toffee, rose, football. Nouns we cannot touch or see are abstract nouns: feelings, thoughts, ideas.

3. Possessive pronouns

They show who owns something: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs.

4. Making questions

Start with a capital letter and end with a question mark: "are cows where the" → Where are the cows?

5. Double letters

gilli, millet, bullock; also words with tt, pp, ee, mm, bb, rr, nn, dd, ss, gg (e.g. letter, apple, tree).

Let's Talk / Let's Write / Let's Do

Common Mistakes