The Big Laddoo – Class 3 English Chapter 7 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 3EnglishChapter 7NCERT book: Santoor - English Class 3

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 7 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 7: The Big Laddoo

Introduction

Chapter 7 opens Unit 3: Good Food of Santoor. The unit begins with picture reading showing how food reaches us — a field, a man working with wheat, people at work, and a girl eating — with questions like "What do you have along with chapatti?" The chapter is a funny, imaginative poem, "The Big Laddoo", followed by a reading about khichdi and the harvest festival.

What's in this Chapter

The poem "The Big Laddoo" imagines everything becoming one giant thing:

  • "If all the laddoos were one Laddoo / Oh! What a BIG Laddoo it would be!"
  • "If all the children were one child / Oh! What a BIG child that would be!"
  • "If all the seas were one sea / Oh! What a BIG sea it would be!"
  • "Then if the BIG child / picked the BIG Laddoo / And threw it into the BIG sea / Oh! What a BIG SPLISH-SPLASH it would be!"
  • New words: sea, splish-splash.

    Let us speak — Jithu and Meena: Meena cannot see properly. On her birthday, Jithu gifts her a box of mixed sweets. She feels the sweets and picks up the big laddoo: "I love laddoos!" Children think how she knew — by touch, shape and smell.

    Khichdi and festivals: Khichdi is cooked with rice and lentils together. It is a traditional dish of the Sankranti festival, also called the Harvest Festival, celebrated to thank the Sun God for a good harvest. It has many names: Sankranti, Pongal, Lohri, Bihu, Maghi Sankrant, Makara Sankranti, Sakraat and Magha Saaji. Kite flying is popular. Khichdi also has many names: Gujarati khichdi (Gujarat), Pongal (Tamil Nadu), Bihari khichdi (Bihar), Bajra khichdi (Rajasthan), Kichuri (West Bengal), Bisi bele bhat (Karnataka), Moong khetchir (Kashmir). "Festivals help us stay together. They bring happiness, joy and smiles."

    Key Ideas

  • Poems can be playful and imaginative — "what if" ideas make us laugh.
  • People who cannot see well use touch, smell and shape to know things.
  • Food connects us to farmers, festivals and culture.
  • Blends: cl (cloud, clock), pl (play, plum), bl (blue, blanket).
  • Male and female animals: cock – hen, lion – lioness, peacock – peahen, mare – horse, bull – cow, drake – duck.
  • Activities from the Book

  • Talk about big laddoos, different kinds of laddoos, and round things that can or cannot be eaten.
  • Guess what happened to the laddoo thrown into the sea.
  • Write describing words for a laddoo (round, sweet, yellow, soft …).
  • Make sentences with play, plum, cloud, clock, blue, blanket.
  • Float or sink experiment: paper, small stone, green leaf, pencil, eraser, feather, spoon in a tub of water (the teacher note links this to 'light' and 'heavy').
  • Write your favourite festival and the sweets and dishes made on that day.
  • Words to Learn

  • laddoo – a round Indian sweet (लड्डू)
  • sea – a very large body of salt water (समुद्र)
  • splish-splash – the sound of something splashing in water (छपाक)
  • khichdi – a dish of rice and lentils cooked together (खिचड़ी)
  • lentils – dal (दाल)
  • harvest – gathering crops from the field (फसल कटाई)
  • festival – a special day of celebration (त्योहार)
  • float – stay on top of water (तैरना)
  • sink – go down in water (डूबना)
  • mare – a female horse (घोड़ी)
  • Tips for Parents & Teachers

  • Recite the poem getting louder on each "BIG" and end with a big clap for "SPLISH-SPLASH".
  • Put a few sweets in a bag and let children guess them by touch, as Meena did.
  • Do the float/sink test at home with safe objects.
  • Talk about how your family celebrates the harvest festival and what it is called in your region.
  • Common Mistakes

  • Thinking khichdi is only a festival dish — the book says it is also eaten as a regular meal.
  • Mixing up pairs like mare – horse (mare is the female) and drake – duck (drake is the male).
  • Saying all heavy-looking things sink — test before guessing.
  • Forgetting that Meena knew the laddoo by feeling it.
  • 💡 Key Learning Points

    • ✓Recite 'The Big Laddoo' and enjoy its imaginative 'what if' ideas.
    • ✓Understand how Meena recognised the laddoo by touch even though she cannot see properly.
    • ✓Know that khichdi is made of rice and lentils and is linked to the harvest festival with many regional names.
    • ✓Say and use words with the blends cl, pl and bl.
    • ✓Match male and female animals and test which objects float or sink.

    👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

    • →Use the unit's picture sequence to talk about how food travels from field to plate.
    • →Recite the poem with rising volume and actions for the 'BIG SPLISH-SPLASH'.
    • →Discuss with sensitivity how people with low vision use other senses.
    • →Point out the blends cl, pl and bl, and ask for more examples.
    • →Run the float-or-sink experiment with light and heavy objects, as the teacher note suggests.
    • →Invite children to share festival foods from their homes and regions.

    📋 Assessment Questions

    1. Can the child recite the poem and say what the BIG child did with the BIG laddoo?
    2. Can the child explain how Meena knew the sweet was a laddoo?
    3. Can the child name two ingredients of khichdi and two names of the harvest festival?
    4. Can the child match male and female animals correctly?
    5. Can the child predict and record which objects float or sink?