Colours – Class 3 English Chapter 1 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3EnglishChapter 1NCERT book: Santoor - English Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 1 of the NCERT Class 3 English book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 1: Colours

Introduction

Chapter 1 opens Unit 1: Fun with Friends of Santoor (Class 3 English). The unit begins with a picture story: a duck invites a hen to the village fair, the hen brings her chicks, and when they reach a stream the hen says, "I cannot swim. How shall we cross the stream?" The duck says, "I have a plan …" and helps them across. The chapter itself is a short, happy poem called "Colours" about two children who share their crayons.

What's in this Chapter

The poem "Colours" is told by one child to a friend:

"You have a few crayons, / Red, yellow and blue."

"Green, purple and black, / I have some too."

"I need the red / and you need the black."

"If we share our crayons, / we have a full pack!"

Each child has only some colours. Alone, neither has everything. When they share, together they have a full pack — all six colours. The big idea of the whole unit is the same as in the picture story: friends help and share.

The picture story questions ask children to count the ducklings and chicks, decide whether the duck and hen are friends, and tell how the hen and chicks crossed the stream. Children also match animals with their young ones: duck – duckling, hen – chick, cow – calf, cat – kitten, dog – puppy.

Key Ideas

Sharing makes everyone richer: two part-packs become one full pack.

Colour words: red, yellow, blue, green, purple, black, grey, brown, orange.

Consonant blends: words that begin with two consonant sounds together — gr (green, grey, grass, grapes, grandmother), cr (crayon, crab, crane, crow, cradle), dr (draw, drum, dress, drop, dragon), pr (prince, princess, prize, pray, present).

Action words are words that show actions: laugh, dance, eat, cry, swim, sleep, play, dig, jump, run, write, smile, push.

The alphabet has 26 letters, A to Z. Fun sentences repeat the same letter: "Anu eats an apple", "Six sparrows sit on a sack", "Zebras graze in the zoo".

Alphabetical order: look at the first letter and follow A, B, C … So CHERRY, APPLE, GRAPES, BANANA, ORANGE become APPLE, BANANA, CHERRY, GRAPES, ORANGE.

Friend-words (compound words): two words join to make a new word — rain + bow = rainbow, news + paper = newspaper, blue + berry = blueberry, basket + ball = basketball, earth + worm = earthworm.

Activities from the Book

Rearrange letters to find hidden colours: LEBU (blue), LYLEWO (yellow), RENEG (green), RUPPEL (purple), NROBW (brown).

Have fun! Read the colour a word is printed in, not the word itself (a word "YELLOW" printed in green is read as "GREEN").

Circle the action words among naming words (carrot, leg, potato, sun, book, face, cat are not action words).

Find hidden action words in a letter grid: walk, yawn, pour, cough, give, see, open, help.

Write colours in alphabetical order: BLUE, GREEN, PURPLE, RED, YELLOW.

Words to Learn

crayon – a colour stick for drawing (मोम रंग)

share – to give part of what you have to others (बाँटना)

pack – a box holding a set of things (पैकेट)

purple – a colour made by mixing red and blue (बैंगनी)

stream – a small river (नाला / छोटी नदी)

duckling – a baby duck (बत्तख का बच्चा)

chick – a baby hen (चूज़ा)

fair – a place with shops, rides and fun (मेला)

alphabet – the set of letters A to Z (वर्णमाला)

action word – a word that shows what we do (क्रिया शब्द)

Tips for Parents & Teachers

Give two children different crayons and ask them to draw one picture together — then read the last line of the poem aloud.

Say the blend words slowly (the book's teacher note asks children to listen and repeat).

Play "colour, not word" with colour pencils and paper strips at home.

Ask children to arrange family members' names in alphabetical order.

Common Mistakes

Reading the word instead of its ink colour in the Stroop-style game — go slowly.

Thinking "carrot" or "book" are action words; ask, "Can you do it?"

In alphabetical order, looking at the last letter instead of the first letter.

Writing "rain bow" as two words — friend-words join into one word.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Understand the poem 'Colours' and its message that sharing gives everyone a full pack.
✓Name and spell colour words such as red, yellow, blue, green, purple and black.
✓Say words with the blends gr, cr, dr and pr clearly.
✓Identify action words and know that the English alphabet has 26 letters.
✓Arrange words in alphabetical order and join 'friend-words' like rain + bow = rainbow.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Recite the poem with two children, each holding up the crayons they 'have' in the poem.
→Use the opening picture story to discuss how the duck helped the hen — link it to sharing in the poem.
→Read blend words slowly and let children repeat, as the book's teacher note suggests.
→Play the colour-reading game (say the ink colour, not the word) in short, fun rounds.
→Act out action words (jump, smile, push) so children feel the difference from naming words.
→Use children's own names for an alphabetical-order line-up in class.
→Show picture clues for friend-words before children join the words.

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the child say how many children are in the poem and why they share crayons?
Can the child unscramble colour words like LEBU and RENEG?
Can the child pick out action words from a mixed list?
Can the child put five words in alphabetical order by their first letter?
Can the child make compound words such as rainbow and newspaper?

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Next: Chapter 2 →Badal and Moti