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Unit 4: Sports and Wellness – Class 6 English Chapter 4 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 6EnglishChapter 4NCERT book: Poorvi - English Class 6

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 4 of the NCERT Class 6 English book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Unit 4: Sports and Wellness — Change of Heart, The Winner, Yoga–A Way of Life

Unit Overview

Unit 4: Sports and Wellness brings together three pieces that look at games and health from different angles:

  • Change of Heart — a story about a boy who cannot bear to lose, and what he learns about sporting spirit.
  • The Winner — a short poem by Georgia Heard about children playing outdoors until night falls.
  • Yoga–A Way of Life — an informational text on the meaning, history and benefits of yoga.

    • Together, the unit asks one big question: Why do we play, exercise and take care of our bodies? The answer it gives is not "to win", but to enjoy, grow and stay balanced in body and mind.

    Change of Heart (Story)

    What happens

    Part I. Prabhat always wanted to win. His parents, teachers and friends said he did not know how to accept defeat — he could not bear losing, "not even at marbles". If he sensed he would lose a game, he would not play it at all. He played only the games he was good at, like badminton.

    A new student, Surya, joined the school. Surya was an excellent badminton player. On the last Friday of the month, the coach held friendly matches in the games period, and Prabhat and Surya were chosen to play each other. Prabhat was given the job of keeping score. Prabhat prepared very seriously, while Surya stayed relaxed, smiling and cracking jokes. On the court Surya was "a real phenomenon" and won point after point — but he paid so little attention that Prabhat changed the scoreboard while he was looking elsewhere.

    "Prabhat managed to win by cheating."

    Surya did not mind at all: "It's been fun. We should play again some other time."

    Part II. That night Prabhat could not sleep well. He had won, but he did not feel happy. Even more surprising, he saw Surya the next day playing basketball — Surya was so hopeless at it that he could not score a basket for ten minutes, yet his happy smile never left his face. Prabhat kept a close watch on Surya and realised:

    "…to enjoy a game, you did not need a scoreboard to keep a tally of your scores… What matters is trying to do well, and enjoying every moment of it."

    Prabhat slowly changed. He began playing hide and seek, felt sad when it ended, and even joked while playing badminton. The other students said, "that fellow definitely has a great sporting spirit."

    Message

    The title "Change of Heart" fits because Prabhat's attitude changes — from winning at any cost (even by cheating) to playing for joy and fairness. Sporting spirit means being fair and respecting each player in a game.

    The Winner (Poem) — Georgia Heard

    Evenings, / we play ball / next to the creek / in our neighbour's field.

    The children play ball every evening beside a creek (a small stream). They run so fast that the speaker "can't / even / catch / my / breath" — each word is on a separate line, so the pattern of the lines itself shows the child gasping for breath.

    When blue dark turns to black, / cold grass aches our feet, / trees creep close— / game's over. / Night wins!

    As the sky changes from blue to black, the grass gets cold, and the trees seem to creep close because they can no longer be seen clearly in the dark. The game ends — not because a team won, but because night has come.

    Poetic devices:

  • Pattern / line arrangement — "I / can't / even / catch / my / breath" shows breathlessness.
  • Personification — giving human qualities to non-living things: trees creep close, Night wins! (Textbook example: The sun played hide-and-seek with the clouds.)

    • Message: In children's play, the real "winner" is time — play goes on until night ends it. The joy is in playing together, not in scores.

    Yoga–A Way of Life (Informational Text)

  • Meaning: "Yoga" comes from the Sanskrit root 'yuj', meaning to join or to unite — unity of mind and body, thought and action, and harmony between human and nature.
  • History: Sage Patanjali presented yoga systematically in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, describing it as a means to make the mind quiet and free from distractions. Seals of the Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilisation (about 2700 BC) suggest yoga was practised in ancient India.
  • Benefits: asanas stretch and strengthen muscles and improve flexibility, endurance and balance; they can reduce pains such as lower back pain. Breathing and meditation calm the mind, reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep and concentration. Yoga can boost immunity, improve heart health (lower blood pressure, better circulation) and help in weight loss.
  • Global recognition: WHO launched the WHO mYoga app on 20 June 2021. On 11 December 2014 the UN General Assembly (193 members) accepted the proposal to celebrate 21 June as International Yoga Day.
  • Key idea: In yoga, "the mind has to be with the body" — each stretch should be coordinated with breath and awareness.

    • The chapter also quotes the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā: āsana is the first part of Haṭha Yoga and should be practised for a steady posture, health and lightness of body.

    Word Power

  • defeat — loss (हार)
  • on the contrary — just the opposite (इसके विपरीत)
  • sensed — had known / felt (भाँप लिया)
  • significant — important (महत्वपूर्ण)
  • conducted — organised (आयोजित किया)
  • phenomenon — someone who has special qualities (असाधारण व्यक्ति)
  • opponent — someone you compete with (प्रतिद्वंद्वी)
  • tally — record of points in a game (अंकों का हिसाब)
  • hopeless — having no skill in something (बिल्कुल कमज़ोर)
  • creek — a small stream (छोटी नदी/नाला)
  • originated — started (उत्पन्न हुआ)
  • harmony — balance (सामंजस्य)
  • distractions — disturbances (ध्यान भटकाने वाली चीज़ें)
  • endurance — capacity to continue without giving up (सहनशक्ति)
  • anxiety — worry (चिंता); boost — increase (बढ़ाना)

    • Grammar & Language Focus

    Past Perfect Tense (Change of Heart)

    When two actions happened in the past, the earlier (old) action uses had + past participle.

  • Everyone was discussing* their game and how Prabhat had played so well.* → had played = first action; was discussing = second action.
  • Practice: Prabhat had* already finished his homework before going to the match.* / Surya had never met* Prabhat before coming to the school.*

    • Practice vs Practise; Advice vs Advise (Yoga)

  • practice (noun): a regular practice* of stretching* · practise (verb): I practise* yoga every day.*
  • advice (noun) · advise (verb).

    • Personification and Line Patterns (The Winner)

  • Write your own: The wind whispered to the trees. / The leaves are / falling, / falling, / falling.

    • Word play

  • Make words from consecutive letters: BADMINTON → bad, admin, mint, in, ton, on.

    • Speaking, Listening and Writing Tasks

  • Speaking: use the three magic words — please, thank you, sorry — in situations (e.g., "I'm sorry, that was my fault." / "I truly appreciate your help with…").
  • Listening: a sports announcement (chess pair: Sarita–Nupur; Vani is chess scorekeeper; kho-kho in 2nd and 3rd periods); riddles about sports (football, kabaddi, swimming, yoga); a girl talking about doing yoga with her grandfather.
  • Writing: complete Prabhat's diary entry about the night he could not sleep; a paragraph about your playtime; a paragraph on "The Benefits of Yoga" using opening, supporting and concluding lines.
  • Explore: Deepika Kumari (archery) and Neeraj Chopra (javelin); indigenous games like kho-kho.

    • Common Mistakes

  • Thinking Prabhat won fairly — he cheated by changing the scoreboard.
  • Confusing who kept the score: it was Prabhat, not the coach.
  • Saying "Night wins" means a team called Night won — it is personification; night ends the game.
  • Writing practise as a noun or practice as a verb.
  • Using past perfect for the later action instead of the earlier one.
  • Thinking yoga is only physical exercise — the text stresses mind + body + breath.

    • 💡 Key Learning Points

    • ✓Understand sporting spirit through Prabhat's change from cheating to win to enjoying the game for its own sake
    • ✓Appreciate how Georgia Heard uses line pattern and personification ('Night wins!', 'trees creep close') in 'The Winner'
    • ✓Know the meaning of yoga (Sanskrit 'yuj' = to unite), Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, its benefits and 21 June as International Yoga Day
    • ✓Use the past perfect tense (had + past participle) for the earlier of two past actions
    • ✓Distinguish practice (noun) / practise (verb) and advice (noun) / advise (verb); use please, thank you and sorry politely

    👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

    • →Before reading 'Change of Heart', run a quick class poll: 'How do you feel when you lose?' and return to it after the story to see if answers change
    • →Stop after Part I and ask students to predict how Prabhat will feel that night — then compare with the text
    • →Hot-seat activity: one student plays Prabhat, others ask 'Why did you change the scoreboard?' and 'What did Surya teach you?'
    • →Read 'The Winner' aloud with pauses between 'I / can't / even / catch / my / breath' so students hear how the layout shows breathlessness
    • →Draw two columns on the board — Old action / New action — and let students sort verbs from the story to discover the past perfect
    • →Do a 5-minute breathing exercise before reading the yoga text, then ask students to describe how they feel
    • →Make practice/practise cards: students hold up N (noun) or V (verb) as sentences are read out
    • →Let students write their own sports riddle and a cinquain-style personification line to share with the class

    📋 Assessment Questions

    1. Can the student explain why Prabhat could not sleep even though he had won, and how Surya's behaviour changed him?
    2. Can the student identify personification and the line-pattern effect in 'The Winner' and explain 'Night wins!'?
    3. Can the student state the meaning of 'yuj', name Patanjali's text and list at least three benefits of yoga?
    4. Can the student correctly fill in past perfect forms and choose practice/practise in sentences?
    5. Can the student complete Prabhat's diary entry in the right order and in first person?

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    Keep learning

    All chapters in Poorvi - English Class 6

    1. 1. Unit 1: Fables and Folk Tales
    2. 2. Unit 2: Friendship
    3. 3. Unit 3: Nurturing Nature
    4. 4. Unit 4: Sports and Wellness
    5. 5. Unit 5: Culture and Tradition