Class 6

English
Book – Oxford New Pathways (Main Coursebook)

Lesson – How I Taught My Grandmother to Read

By- Sudha Murty

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:

➢ Read the lesson carefully, underline the difficult words and refer to the dictionary to
comprehend difficult words.
➢ Question/Answers and Reference to the context are to be neatly written in the English
notebook.
➢ YouTube link is for the explanation of the lesson.

You Tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4mBHTdJPuo

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sudha Murty was born in 1950 in Shiggaon in North Karnataka. She is a prolific writer in
Kannada and has written several short stories. Her stories deal with common lives and human
values such as charity, kindness and self realization. Sudha Murty began her professional
career in computer science and engineering. She is the chairperson of the Infosys Foun dation
and a member of the public health care initiatives of the Gates Foundation.

INTRODUCTION:

‘How I Taught My Grandmother to Read’ by Sudha Murty is a tale of desire to learn and
the humility required to learn at any age and from anyone. The author was a young girl living
with her grandmother Krishtakka and loved her to bits. The grandmother decided to read a
novel, Kashi Yatre on her own.
The novel dealt with the central character’s struggle to visit Kashi. Since grandmother
believed in Kashi Yatra as a pilgrimage, she could identify with the trials and troubles of the
main characters. Every Wednesday, the authoress would read the next episode of the story to
her. The grandmother sets the deadline and achieved the target which was next to impossible
within the time limit set by her.

EXPLANATION:

In this story, Sudha Murty shares one of her childhood experiences when her grandmother
wanted to learn reading. The authoress tells about her grandmother's dedication to learn
reading and the boundation of educating girls at her time. The grandmother, Krishtakka loved
to listen to a novel named Kashi Yatre from her granddaughter. One day the authoress had to
go to attend a marriage to another village. Unfortunately she had to stay there for a week. Her
grandmother missed her badly and wanted to read the weekly magazine but she couldn't
because she didn't know how to read. When the granddaughter came back home, she saw
tears in her grandmother's eyes. She asked her the reason of crying. Her grandmother told her
various reasons due to which she could not study while she was a child. Then the narrator
decided to help her to read Kannad language. Krishtakka agreed and made a deadline to learn
reading the language till Durga Pooja. It was her great hardwork and dedication to read
Kannad which made this possible. On that day she bowed down to touch her granddaughter’s
feet as a respect for being her teacher. The narrator also gifted her novel Kashi Yatre.

MIND MAP

Krishtakka loved
to listen a Novel
named Kashi
Yatre by her
It was because of
granddaughter.
One day the
her great narrator had to
hardwork and
go to attend a
dedication to read
Kannad which marriage but
made this she stayed there
possible. for a week.

Her
grandmother
The narrator
wanted to read
decided to help
that novel but
her to read
she couldn't
Kannad
because she
language.
Her didn't know how
grandmother to read.
told her various
reasons due to
which she could
not study while
she was a child.

THEME:

The story bears the theme of love and human relationship. It also depicts that that true
development of a country is impossible unless we create an atmosphere of education for
everyone. The moral is that attaining knowledge is a lifelong process and there is no age bar
for learning.

Through the character of the grandmother the importance of learning is highlighted. This
shows that education was not compulsory for women in those days. The story is highlights
an important issue of providing education to all irrespective of their age or gender.
QUESTION –ANSWERS:

Q1. What were the two reasons that made Triveni a popular writer?
Ans. Triveni was a popular writer as her style of writing was easy to read and convincing too.
Her stories also dealt with the problems in the lives of ordinary people and were always very
interesting.

Q2. What was the story in Karmaveera? Why did the grandmother identify with the
story?
Ans. The story in Karmaveera was of an old lady and her ardent desire to go to Kashi or
Varanasi. There was also a young orphan girl who fell in love but there was no money for the
wedding. In the end, the old lady gave away all her savings to the girl and did not go to
Kashi.
The grandmother identified herself with the novel’s central character because she too also
had the same desire to go to Kashi as the old lady.

Q3. In those days, a wedding was a great event. Why did the narrator feel so?
Ans. The narrator felt that a wedding was a great event in those days because as a child
she hardly got any chance to travel outside the village.
She felt so because she could eat, play endlessly with her friends and enjoy the freedom
while all the elders in the family were busy in the wedding.

Q4. Why could the grandmother not pursue her education?

Ans. The grandmother could not pursue her education as she lost her mother at a young
age. Her father was a busy man and got married again. Hence there was no one to guide
her. Moreover, people in those days did not consider education essential for girls.

Q5. Why did the grandmother feel dependent and helpless?

Ans. The grandmother felt dependent and helpless as she could not read the weekly
magazine on her own in the narrator’s absence. She was eager to know the next part of the
story. She also rubbed her hands over the pages and wished if she could understand what
was written.

SELF- LEARNING

Note: Frame answers on your own to the questions given below. Use the clues to frame
them.

Q6. Why and how did the narrator reward the grandmother?
Clues – The narrator rewarded her grandmother because – she worked with complete
dedication – learnt to read before the deadline – set by narrator – rewarded grandmother –
gifted a copy of the novel ‘Kashi Yatre’.

Q7. How did the grandmother show her gratitude towards her granddaughter?
Clues – The grandmother gifted her granddaughter – a frock material – bent down – touched
her feet –as a mark of respect.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT 1

“I looked at her face. It was unhappy and her eyes were filled with tears.”

a) Name the lesson and its author.

Ans. The name of the lesson is ‘How I Taught my Grandmother to Read’ and its author is
Sudha Murty.

b) Who is referred to as ‘her’ in the above lines?

Ans. The narrator’s grandmother is referred to as ‘her’ in the above lines.

c) Why was she unhappy?

Ans. The narrator’s grandmother was unhappy because she was not able to read the weekly
magazine on her own in the narrator’s absence.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT 2

“I even thought of going to the village and asking you to read for me. I could have asked
somebody in this village but I was too embarrassed to do so”.

a) Who is the speaker of these lines?

Ans. The narrator’s grandmother is the speaker of these lines.

b) Where did the speaker think of going?

Ans. The narrator thought of going to the village where her granddaughter had gone to
attend a wedding.

b) Why was the speaker embarrassed ?

Ans. The speaker was embarrassed to ask the villagers to read the weekly magazine to her as
she could not read.
 Book – Collins English Grammar and Composition

Nouns

Nouns: Countable and Uncountable

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS:
➢ Read the given information carefully.
➢ Write down the answers to the exercises given in the Grammar book/Ruled sheets.
➢ YouTube link is for better understanding of the topic.

YouTube links :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op2M9NAgE_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_9HuL3_tTA

INTRODUCTION:
COUNTABLE NOUNS are the nouns that can be counted.
Example: child, toy, plant etc.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS are nouns that cannot be counted.

Example: water, sand, oil etc.

EXPLANATION:

➢ COUNTABLE NOUNS are the nouns that can be counted. They can be used in
singular and plural form.
➢ They answer the question , ‘How many?’
➢ We can use a, an and the with countable nouns.
Example:
➢ The student wanted a book from the library.
➢ The mechanic is repairing my car.

➢ UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS are nouns that cannot be counted.

▪ They do not have plural forms.
▪ They answer the question , ‘How much?’

Example:
➢ Can you get me some rice, please?
➢ Riya loves to drink milk.
 NOUNS

COUNTABLE NOUNS are UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

the things that can be are the things that cannot
counted. be counted.

NOUNS : GENDER

Nouns have four genders:

1. A noun that refers to the male is said to be of the Masculine Gender.
Example:
➢ son , man, brother etc.
2. A noun that refers to the female is said to be of the Feminine Gender.
Example:
➢ daughter ,woman, sister etc.
3. A noun that refers to both male and female is said to be of Common Gender.
Example:
➢ baby, student, teacher etc.
4. A noun that refers to a living or non- living thing which is neither male or female is said
to be of the Neuter Gender.
Example:
➢ chair, bulb, train, water etc.
5. Certain words in the masculine can be changed into the feminine by adding a suffix -ess.
Example:
➢ poet- poetess , heir – heiress etc.
6. In some cases, certain words in the masculine can be changed into the feminine by
adding a suffix after making changes in the base word.
Example:
➢ master- mistress, duke - duchess etc.
7. In some cases, the feminine is formed by using the entirely different word.
Example:
➢ king - queen , lord - lady etc.
8. In some nouns, the feminine is formed by changing the suffix.
Example:
➢ grandfather - grandmother , peacock – peahen etc.
 NOUNS: POSSESSIVE NOUNS

➢ Possessive Nouns are used to show ownership. We add ’s. at the end of a noun to
show ownership.
➢ Possessive Nouns can be used to show possession , relationship, authorship, duration
of time, before the word worth and when inanimate objects are personified.
Example:
• Micky’s car
• sister’s friend
• R.K.Narayan’s stories
• a month’s salary
• fifty rupees’ worth of spices
• nation’s resources

• If a noun is singular – add ’s to show possession.

Example:
• Rimmi’s toy
• John’s books

• If a proper noun ends in -s, - add ’s/ just apostrophe (’)to show possession.
Example:
• James’ guitar
• Charles’ pen

• If a plural noun ends in -s, - add (’) to show possession at the end of the word.
Example:
• lions’ footprints
• spiders’ web

➢ If a plural noun does not end in -s, - add ’s to show possession at the end of the word.
Example:
• men’s club
• women’s group

➢ For compound words, add ’s only to the last word to show possession.
Example:
• sister- in – law’s house
• commander- in –chief’s badge

➢ If two or more people own the same thing, we add ’s only to the name of the last
person.
Example:
• Tom and Harry’s home
• Ishaan and Madhavi’s friend

➢ If the possessions are owned separately, add ’s to the names of each person.
➢ Example:
• Rishi’s and Priyanshi’s files
• Sam’s and Ben’s cards
 BOOK- COLLINS ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND COMPOSITION
ANSWERS TO BOOK EXERCISES
TOPIC- NOUNS
Ex. A. ( Pg 26 )
1. Countable - restaurants Uncountable – nil
2. Countable - tribes Uncountable – information
3. Countable – aunt, paintings Uncountable – nil
4. Countable - strand Uncountable – hair, food
5. Countable - nil Uncountable – rice
6. Countable - photos Uncountable – nil
7. Countable – chairs, classroom Uncountable – nil
8. Countable - nil Uncountable – traffic
9. Countable - uncle Uncountable – advice
10. Countable - nil Uncountable – hair

Ex. B. ( Pg 26 )
1. many
2. a lot of
3. some
4. little
5. a piece of
6. few
7. any
8. a
9. The
10. Some

Ex. C. ( Pg 26 )
Errors - Correction
1. sceneries - scenery
2. cross ‘a’ in the sentence
3. lots of furnitures – a lot of furniture
4. Many – Much
5. informations – information
6. a - the
7. these - the
 8. many - much
9. poors - poor
10. peaces - peace
11. luggages - luggage
12. orange - oranges
13. much – many
14. many - much
15. many – much

Ex. A. ( Pg 30 )
1. wife
2. lady
3. bride
4. goddess
5. waitress
6. shepherdess
7. madam
8. baroness
9. daughter - in –law
10. princess

Ex. B. ( Pg 30 )
Across: Down:
1. queen 1. empress
2. cow 2. niece
3. priestess 3. colt
4. hind 4. mare
5. ewe 5. widower

Ex. C. ( Pg 30 )
1. hostess
2. great- uncle
3. wizard
4. gentlemen
5. son
6. bridegroom
 7. Empress
8. she- bear
9. headmaster
10. Prince

Ex. D. ( Pg 31 )
1. tiger lion
2. mother aunt
3. master servant
4. actor waitress
5. boy heir
6. king prince
7. sorcerer wizard
8. Duchess Baroness
9. landlady peahen
10. bridegroom mother-in- law

Ex. A. ( Pg 34 )
1. my friends’ bag
2. the detective’s notebook
3. the lamp’s light
4. my friend Sweta’s aunt
5. my smartphone’s memory
6. Dennis’ father

Ex. B. ( Pg 34 )
1. the children’s boxes
2. the remote controls’ batteries
3. the women’s dresses
4. the companies’ workers
5. the goddesses’ jewellery
6. the trees’ branches

Ex. C. ( Pg 34 )
1. doctor’s white coat
2. salesman’s product
 3. Lina’s wedding
4. Mr. Gupta’s house
5. girls’ hostel
6. children’s books
7. a men’s club
8. The student’s uniform
9. Tagore’s poetry
10. My teachers’ blessings

Ex. D. ( Pg 34 )
Errors - Correction
1. Dorris - Dorris’
2. Ginas - Gina’s
3. peoples’ - people’s
4. cat’s - cats’
5. sister’s-in-law - sister - in – law’s
6. animal’s tracks’- animals’ tracks
7. Rons’ - Ron’s
8. mothers’ - mother’s
9. Bird’s - Birds’
10. crocodile’s jaw’s – crocodile’s jaws

Let Us Write
1. mother’s
2. teacher’s
3. Sunita Suneela’s
4. everyone’s
5. ladies’
6. Hazel’s
7. Sara’s
8. friends’
9. Ranbir Raveena’s
10. company’s