1.5: One Thing that I Wonder

Question a: Observe the following pictures carefully and write their names. Make a list of seven wonders of the world.

Answer:List of the Seven Wonders of the World:

1. The Taj Mahal (India)
2. The Great Wall of China (China)
3. Christ the Redeemer Statue (Brazil)
4. Machu Picchu (Peru)
5. Chichen Itza (Mexico)
6. The Roman Colosseum (Italy)
7. Petra (Jordan)

Question c: List the things that the speaker wonders about.

Answer: The speaker wonders about the following things:

• Why the world is round.
• Why trees grow towards the sky instead of upside down.
• How cats are quick to sit in laps.
• How whales sleep in the sea.
• Why the sky is blue.
• Why spiders have eight legs, but we only have two.
• How bunnies burrow underground.
• How birds live in a tree.
• Why we wonder about the wonders of the earth.

Question d: Look at the pictures and complete the sentences.

Answer:

1. One thing that I wonder is, why an ant is so small.
2. One thing that I wonder is, why sugarcane is so sweet.
3. One thing that I wonder is, why a tortoise walks so slowly.
4. One thing that I wonder is, why ice is so cold.

Understanding “Alliteration” (A simple explanation for you!)

Imagine you are saying a tongue twister like “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.” Did you notice how almost every word starts with the ‘P’ sound?

When two or more words in a sentence start with the exact same consonant sound, it is called Alliteration. Poets use it to make their poems sound fun, musical, and catchy!

Question e: Read the following line carefully… (Understanding Alliteration)

Answer: This is a reading activity where you learn that repeating starting sounds (like Busy bees buzz) is called Alliteration.

Question f: Find an example of alliteration from the poem. Answer: Here are examples of alliteration from the poem:

• “bunnies burrow” (The ‘b’ sound is repeated).
• “we wonder why” (The ‘w’ sound is repeated).

Question g: Make funny sentences using alliteration in them.

Answer:

1. Silly snakes slide slowly.
2. Big brown bears bake bread.
3. My monkey makes magic milkshakes.

Question h: Read and understand the following word pairs (Minimal pairs).

Answer: This is a reading activity. Minimal pairs are words that sound almost exactly the same except for one tiny sound (like bat and cat, or sip and ship).

Question i: Find and write down the minimal pair words from the poem for the following.

Answer:

Words	Minimal Pair Words from the Poem
eye	I
bee	be
leave	live
think	thing
two	to
see	sea
feel	fill

Question j: Collect and create Puns using jokes, riddles, etc.

Answer:(A pun is a joke that plays with the different meanings of a word).

1. Joke: Why did the boy throw his clock out the window?Pun: Because he wanted to see time fly!
2. Joke: Why are frogs so happy?Pun: Because they eat whatever bugs them!

Phonics Awareness: Short Vowel Sounds

What is a short vowel sound? In English, the vowels are A, E, I, O, U. Every vowel can make a “long” sound (which sounds exactly like its name, e.g., the ‘A’ in cake) or a “short” sound. Short vowel sounds are quick and crisp!

• Short A (/æ/): sounds like the ‘a’ in cat or apple.
• Short E (/e/): sounds like the ‘e’ in bed or pen.
• Short I (/ɪ/): sounds like the ‘i’ in sit or gym.
• Short O (/ɒ/): sounds like the ‘o’ in hot or dog.
• Short U (/ʌ/): sounds like the ‘u’ in cup or sun.

Quick Tip for 6th Graders: A syllable is like a “beat” in a word. If a syllable is “closed” (meaning it ends with a consonant letter like b, d, t, n), the vowel inside it is usually short!

Task: Read each word carefully. Break it into syllables. Then identify and underline the syllables that contain short vowel sounds.

Answer: Here is how you breaHere is the full breakdown of the words into their syllables, with the parts containing a quick, short vowel sound highlighted in bold:

Group 1:

1. per / son / al / i / sa / tion
2. in / ter / na / tion / al / i / sa / tion
3. un / pre / dict / a / bil / i / ty
4. mis / in / ter / pre / ta / tion
5. dis / or / gan / i / za / tion / al

Group 2:

1. un / in / ten / tion / al / ly
2. de / ter / min / a / tion / al
3. con / sid / er / a / tion / al
4. un / der / stand / a / bil / i / ty
5. hy / po / thet / i / cal / ly

Word Section

English Word	Marathi Pronunciation	Marathi Meaning
Wonder	वंडर	आश्चर्य; आश्चर्य वाटणे
Intonation	इंटोनेशन	स्वरातील चढ-उतार, स्वरयोजना
Instead	इन्स्टेड	त्याऐवजी
Upside down	अपसाइड डाउन	उलटे, पालथे
Whales	व्हेल्स	देवमासे
Laps	लॅप्स	फेऱ्या; मांडी (संदर्भानुसार)
Bunnies	बन्नीज	ससे (लहान किंवा गोंडस ससे)
Burrow	बरो	बिळ; बिळ खणणे
Underground	अंडरग्राउंड	भूमिगत, जमिनीखाली

Example Sentences

• Wonder fills our minds with curiosity.
  → आश्चर्य आपल्या मनात कुतूहल निर्माण करते.
• Read the poem with proper intonation.
  → कविता योग्य स्वरातील चढ-उतारासह वाचा.
• Use a pencil instead of a pen.
  → पेन ऐवजी पेन्सिल वापरा.
• The picture is upside down.
  → चित्र उलटे आहे.
• Whales are the largest animals in the sea.
  → देवमासे हे समुद्रातील सर्वात मोठे प्राणी आहेत.
• The athlete ran five laps around the ground.
  → खेळाडूने मैदानाच्या पाच फेऱ्या मारल्या.
• The bunnies are playing in the garden.
  → लहान ससे बागेत खेळत आहेत.
• A rabbit lives in a burrow.
  → ससा बिळात राहतो.
• Water flows through underground pipes.
  → पाणी भूमिगत पाइपमधून वाहते.