The Tinkling Bells – Class 4 English Chapter 2 Notes & NCERT PDF

Class 4EnglishChapter 2NCERT book: Santoor - English Class 4

Notes and a simple summary of Chapter 2 of the NCERT Class 4 English book, with the official chapter PDF, flashcards, an MCQ quiz and an AI tutor for your doubts.

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Chapter 2: The Tinkling Bells

Introduction

"The Tinkling Bells" is a warm story about honesty. Chinna, a Class 4 boy, wants to buy tinkling bells for his pet goat kid, Tara. When he loses his money and later gets extra change by mistake, his mother helps him understand what is right. The story teaches that keeping money that is not ours is stealing, and that honesty brings happiness.

What's in this Chapter

The story.

Chinna lives in a village and studies in grade 4. He loves his pet "kid" Tara, a five-month-old, milky-white baby goat. (The book explains that goats under six months are called "kids".)

On his way back from school he sees shiny tinkling bells at Chacha's shop. They cost ten rupees. But the money Dadaji gave him is missing! Sad, he returns the bells.

At home he rests his head on the table. His mother Kamala gently asks what happened. He hugs her and cries. She comforts him, promises money for the bells and says, "make sure to be careful with money in the future."

They go to the market and buy apples, mangoes, tomatoes and brinjals. Pineapples cost forty-five rupees each. Kamala buys two and pays with a hundred-rupee note. So the change should be ten rupees, but the fruit seller gives Chinna two ten-rupee notes – ten rupees extra.

Chinna whispers that he could buy the bells and chocolates. Kamala says, "Chinna, that's very bad. It is stealing." She reminds him how sad he felt when his own money went missing.

Chinna runs back and returns the extra money. The fruit seller says, "You are an honest boy." Kamala is pleased, buys the bells from Chacha, and Chinna ties them around Tara's neck.

Key Ideas

Keeping extra money given by mistake is not fair; returning it is honest.

We should think about how others feel ("How did you feel when your money went missing?").

Be careful with money.

Parents comfort and guide children kindly.

Language Learning

Comparing words: tall – taller – tallest. Add -er and use than to compare two ("Aman is shorter than Jiya"); add -est for the whole group ("February is the shortest month").

Opposites: beautiful – ugly, reward – punishment, buy – sell, whispered – shouted.

Word search of values: calm, honest, love, respect, courage, loyal, truth, fair, kind, peace.

Sequencing the story events, and speaking about what to do in tricky situations (a broken pen, copying in a quiz, taking a notebook without permission, sharing a snack).

Activities from the Book

Make a bell craft from bottle caps or small tin cans with pebbles or beads inside, string, foil and a cardboard tag (holes to be made with adult help).

Matchstick puzzle: move one matchstick to fix an equation.

Draw two national symbols and write about them.

Collect or draw pictures of different bells found in India.

Words to Learn

tinkling – a light ringing sound (टनटनाहट)

kid – a baby goat (बकरी का बच्चा, मेमना)

honest – truthful, not cheating (ईमानदार)

consoled – comforted someone who is sad (सांत्वना दी)

mischievous – playfully naughty (शरारती)

change – money given back after paying (छुट्टे पैसे)

praised – said good things about (प्रशंसा की)

stall – a small shop in a market (दुकान, ठेला)

careful – paying attention to avoid mistakes (सावधान)

whispered – spoke very softly (फुसफुसाया)

Tips for Parents & Teachers

When shopping, let your child count the change and check it with you.

Ask: "What would you do if a shopkeeper gave you extra money?" Praise honest answers.

Use family members to practise tall/taller/tallest.

Make the bell craft together using waste materials.

Common Mistakes

Thinking extra change is a "reward". It belongs to the seller and must be returned.

Writing "more taller" – just say taller.

Forgetting "than" when comparing two things.

In the book's exercise on opposites, one sentence says the fruit seller gave Chinna "ten rupees as a reward". In the story he only praised Chinna, so use the sentence just for the word meaning.

💡 Key Learning Points

✓Honesty means returning what is not ours, even when no one would find out.
✓Thinking about how others feel helps us choose the right thing to do.
✓Be careful with money and check the change.
✓Add -er and use 'than' to compare two; add -est to compare a whole group.
✓Opposites: beautiful–ugly, buy–sell, reward–punishment, whispered–shouted.

👨‍🏫 Teaching Tips

→Read the story aloud with expression; pause to ask how Chinna feels at each stage.
→Act out the market scene with play money: 100 − 90 = 10 rupees change, so 20 rupees means 10 extra.
→Discuss the 'What would you do?' situations without pushing a 'correct' answer; let children share opinions.
→Use three children of different heights to teach tall, taller, tallest.
→Let children sequence story strips before doing the written sequencing task.
→Do the bell craft with adult supervision for punching holes.
→Collect pictures of temple bells, cow bells, school bells and cycle bells for the 'Explore' task.

📋 Assessment Questions

Can the child retell the story in the correct order?
Can the child explain why keeping the extra ten rupees would be wrong?
Can the child use -er/than and -est correctly in sentences?
Can the child give opposites of words like buy, beautiful and whispered?
Can the child answer true/false questions about the story?

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