NCERT Solutions Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda

F R E E S T U D Y M AT E R I A L F O R E V E R Y S T U D E N T

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH

NCERT Solutions

Chapter 7: Gilli Danda

NCERT Textbook — Santoor

BOOK PAGES SECTIONS QUESTIONS MEDIUM

79 – 90 15 52 English

Solutions, notes, sample papers & more at 39 pages

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

CLASS 5 · ENGLISH · SANTOOR

NCERT Solutions — Chapter 7: Gilli Danda
Chapter 7 of Santoor opens Unit 4, Ups and Downs. Gilli Danda is a happy, singing poem in three stanzas of
four lines each. The book does not name a poet. A group of children meet in the playground, hit a small
wooden peg called a gilli with a long stick called a danda, and watch it fly up under the blue sky. That is the
“up” of this unit. The chapter carries these banners: Let us Recite, New Words, Let us Think (A and B), Let us
Learn (A–C), Did You Know?, Let us Speak, Let us Listen, Let us Write (A–D), Let us Do (A–B) and Just for
Fun. There is no Let us Read and no Let us Explore in this chapter.

TEXTBOOK BOOK PAGES

Santoor (Class 5) 79 – 90

SECTIONS QUESTIONS

15 52

MEDIUM

English

Let us Recite — Page 79
Gilli Danda (poem)

LET US RECITE

Poem Let us Recite — Gilli Danda. Read the poem aloud and enjoy it.

Here is the whole poem. Read it aloud twice. The first time, read it slowly to get the words right.
The second time, read it fast and happily, as if you are really in the playground.

Page 1 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

In the playground, we gather around,

With a stick and a small gilli to throw,

Gilli Danda, our game is so sound!
We play with joy, watch it go!

One, two, three, swing and hit,

With our friends, we never quit!

With every swing, we feel so free,

Oh, what fun it is, you see!

The small gilli, up high it flies,
Underneath the bright blue skies.

Laughing, playing, having fun,

Under the golden rays of the sun!

What happens, stanza by stanza:

1. Stanza 1 — the children meet. They come together in the playground. They bring one long
stick and one small gilli. They say their game is a very good game.
2. Stanza 2 — the big hit. They count “one, two, three”, swing the stick and hit. They never give
up. Every swing makes them feel free and happy.
3. Stanza 3 — the gilli flies. The little gilli shoots up into the blue sky. The children laugh and
play in the golden sunshine.

Rhyme: In the first stanza, lines 1 and 3 rhyme — around / sound — and lines 2 and 4 rhyme —
throw / go. In the second and third stanzas the lines rhyme in pairs: hit / quit, free / see, flies /
skies, fun / sun. The rhyme is what makes the poem bounce along like the gilli itself.

Tip for reciting: Say “One, two, three” slowly and loudly, as you really would before a
hit. Then say “swing and hit” quickly. On the line “The small gilli, up high it flies”, lift
your voice higher and higher. Bring it down gently on the last line.

Why the poem feels so cheerful: Almost every line has a happy word in it — joy, fun,
free, laughing, playing, golden. The poet has also used short lines and strong rhymes,
so the poem moves fast, just like the game.

Page 2 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Let us Think — Page 80
A. Answer the following questions

LET US THINK

A.1 Which game does the poem mention? What are the things needed to play this
game?

The poem is about the game of Gilli Danda. To play it you need two things — a long stick
called the danda and a small piece of wood called the gilli.
The poem tells us both. It names the game in the third line: “Gilli Danda, our game is so sound!”
And it names the things in the second line: “With a stick and a small gilli to throw”.
Two more things are needed, and the poem shows them too:

An open playground — “In the playground, we gather around”.
Some friends to play with — “With our friends, we never quit!”

Why this game is special: You do not have to buy anything. A thick twig makes the
danda and a small twig makes the gilli. That is why children have played it in Indian
villages and towns for hundreds of years.

A.2 According to the poem, how do the players feel while playing Gilli Danda?

The players feel very happy and completely free.
The poem says so in four different places:

“We play with joy, watch it go!”
“With every swing, we feel so free,”
“Oh, what fun it is, you see!”
“Laughing, playing, having fun,”

They also feel strong and full of spirit, because they “never quit” — that is, they never give up,
however long the game goes on.

Page 3 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
What happens to the tiny gilli when the stick strikes it?
e
A.3

m l as
.co a g
a
s em
aglgilli flies high up into the air.
The
The third stanza says it plainly: “The small gilli, up high it flies, / Underneath the bright blue

. c om
skies.” The danda hits the little gilli hard, and the gilli shoots straight up into the open sky. The
ag
other players watch it go and try to catch it.m
l a se
ag
Why it goes so high: The gilli is very light and the danda is long. A long stick swings

co
fast at its far end, so it gives the light gilli a big push. That is the “up” in this unit —
m
Ups and Downs. What goes up must come down, and the gilli soon lands again.
e m.
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
g
a A.4 Which lines tell us that the children are playing the game outside?

m a s
m .co agl
se

g l a
a
Three lines tell us the children are outdoors:

1. “In the playground, we gather around,” — a playground is an open space outside.

c om
2. “Underneath the bright blue skies.” — you can only see the open sky if you are outside.
.
3. “Under the golden rays of the sun!” — the sun shines on them, so they
s e m are not inside a
. com
room.
a gla
a s emline “The small gilli, up high it flies” also helps. A gilli could never fly high inside a house — it
l
The
ag would hit the ceiling.
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl
A.5 What is the meaning of the line “our game is so sound”?

co m

m .
e
It means “our game is a really good, strong game”.
m l as
.co a g
Be careful here. Sound usually means a noise that you hear. But sound has a second meaning.

s e mWhen we call something sound, we mean it is good, strong and healthy. A sound sleep is a
agla deep, good sleep. A sound wall is a strong wall that will not fall.
.c
So in the poem the children are not talking about noise at all. They are saying, “Gilli Danda is a
s e m
m a
co agl
fine game — a really good one.” They are proud of their game.

m .
ase
a g l

com
m .
m ase
.co


a g l Page 4 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Try this: Say these two sentences aloud and notice the two meanings. (1) I heard a
strange sound at night. (2) After the long walk, I had a sound sleep.

A.6 Which word in the poem shows ‘happiness’?

The word is “joy”. It comes in the fourth line: “We play with joy, watch it go!” Joy means great
happiness.
The poem has other happy words too, and you may name any of them as well:

fun — “Oh, what fun it is, you see!”
free — “With every swing, we feel so free,”
laughing — “Laughing, playing, having fun,”

But the one word that names the feeling of happiness itself is joy.

Let us Think — Page 80
B. Think and discuss

THINK AND DISCUSS

B.1 Do you enjoy playing outdoors? Why or why not?

This question asks for your own opinion, so there is no single right answer. But a good answer
must do two things: say yes or no clearly in the first line, and then give reasons. One reason
is not enough — give three or four.
What a good answer needs:

1. A clear first sentence — “Yes, I enjoy playing outdoors” or “No, I prefer indoor games”.
2. Reasons about your body — running, fresh air, strong legs.
3. Reasons about your friends — playing together, taking turns, sharing.
4. Reasons about how you feel — free, happy, fresh.
5. An honest problem, if you have one — heat, dust, no open ground near your home.

Sample answer: Yes, I enjoy playing outdoors very much. In the evening I go with my friends to
the ground behind our school. We play kho-kho and cricket there. Running in the open air
makes me feel strong and fresh. My mother says I sleep well and eat well on the days I play
outside. I also like it because outdoor games are played in a group, so I learn to wait for my turn

Page 5 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

and to help my team. Best of all, when I am outside I am not sitting in one place staring at a
screen. The only thing I do not like is playing in the hot afternoon sun, so we always play after
four o’clock.

If your answer is “no”: That is fine too, as long as you give real reasons. For
example: “No, I do not enjoy playing outdoors very much, because there is no open
ground near my house and the road is busy. I like carrom and chess better. But I do
enjoy the games period at school, because our school has a big field.”

B.2 Name five outdoor games that you enjoy playing with your friends.

Here are five outdoor games, with one line on each so you know what you are naming.

1. Kabaddi — two teams. One player runs into the other side saying “kabaddi, kabaddi” in one
breath and tries to touch a player and run back.
2. Kho-kho — a chasing game. Players sit in a line, and the chaser taps a teammate and says
“kho” to pass on the chase.
3. Cricket — bat, ball and wickets. One team bats and scores runs, the other team bowls and
fields.
4. Gilli Danda — the game in this poem. A small gilli is struck with a long danda and sent
flying.
5. Hide and seek (chhupan-chhupai) — one player counts with eyes closed while the others
hide.

Other outdoor games you may write instead: lagori (pitthu), langdi (hopping), football,
badminton, skipping, marbles (kancha), gully cricket, satoliya, and flying kites.

Remember: The question says “that you enjoy”. So choose the five you really play,
not just any five names.

B.3 Imagine you are the small gilli. What would you see while flying up in the sky?

This is an imagination question. The trick is simple: write as “I”, as if you really are the gilli, and
describe what you see going up, and then coming down.
What a good answer needs:

1. Use I and me all the way through — “I am the gilli.”

Page 6 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

2. Say what you feel at the moment of the hit — a sudden push, a rush of air.
3. Say what you see below — the children, the ground, the roofs, the trees getting smaller.
4. Say what you see around and above — birds, kites, clouds, the sun.
5. End with the coming down, because the gilli always lands.

Sample answer: I am the small gilli. I was lying quietly on the dusty ground when the danda
struck me with a loud tak. Suddenly I was flying! The air rushed past me and I went up, up, up.
Below me I could see the children with their mouths open, watching me. Their faces became
smaller and smaller, like little brown buttons. I could see the whole playground now — the white
lines, the neem tree in the corner, and the red roof of the school. Two crows flew past me and
one of them turned its head in surprise. Far away I saw a green paper kite dancing in the wind.
Above me the sky was a wide, bright blue, and the sun was so golden that I had to shut my eyes.
Then I felt myself slowing down. I turned over once in the air and came falling back to the
ground, straight into the hands of a laughing boy in a yellow shirt.

Why this works: The gilli goes up and comes down, so the answer also goes up and
comes down. Things far below look small; things above look wide and bright. Writing
what you would really see, in that order, makes the answer feel true.

Let us Learn — Page 81
A. Add correct prefixes to make new words

LET US LEARN

A Add correct prefixes to the following words to create new words. Write the new
word along with its meaning in the space given below. Prefix | Word | New word |
Meaning Un- | common | uncommon | Something that is not easily found ___ |
write | ___ | ___ ___ | aware | ___ | ___ ___ | comfortable | ___ | ___ ___ | arrange | ___ | ___
___ | think | ___ | ___

First, the rule the book gives you. A prefix is a small part that we add at the front of a word. It
changes what the word means.

un- means not. un + happy = unhappy (not happy)
re- means again. re + draw = redraw (draw again)

How to choose. Ask yourself one question: does the sentence mean not this thing, or does it
mean doing this thing a second time? If it means not, use un-. If it means again, use re-.
Here is the completed table.

Page 7 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

PREFIX WORD NEW MEANING
WORD

Un- common uncommon Something that is not easily found. (This one was done for
you.)

Re- write rewrite To write something again, usually to make it better or
neater.

Un- aware unaware Not knowing about something; having no idea that it is
there.

Un- comfortable uncomfortable Not comfortable; not easy or pleasant to sit in, wear or be
in.

Re- arrange rearrange To arrange things again, in a new order or a new place.

Re- think rethink To think about something again, and perhaps change your
mind.

Now use each new word in a sentence:

A blue rose is uncommon, so people stop to look at it.
My handwriting was untidy, so I had to rewrite the whole page.
Ravi was unaware that the bell had rung.
The wooden bench was hard and uncomfortable.
We must rearrange the desks for the drawing class.
Our team lost, so the captain will rethink the plan.

Watch out: Not every word takes every prefix. We say unhappy, but never “rehappy”.
We say rewrite, but never “unwrite”. Say the new word aloud — if it sounds wrong, it
is wrong.

Why prefixes are useful: One small prefix saves you a whole sentence. Instead of
saying “I will arrange the books again”, you can say “I will rearrange the books.”
Three words become one.

Let us Learn — Page 82

Page 8 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B. Encircle the nouns you can see, taste, touch or smell
co m
e m.
m as
LET US LEARN

.co a g l
s m following table, encircle the nouns that you can see, taste, touch, or smell.
ethe
gl aIn
a
B

co m
m . ag
se
joy leaf anger mountain

l a
sun
ag shirt toffee rose

m
.co
ice cube sugar hat truth

e mdeer
com l as
chessboard lie football

. a g
m
ase
tree happiness cat spoon

agl river fear cup tiger

m a s
m .co
The table of words as printed on page 82.
agl
l a se
a g
m

. co
m
Encircle these eighteen words. Each one is a thing you can see, taste, touch or smell:

m as e
c o
.cat, spoon, river, cup, tiger. g l
leaf, mountain, sun, shirt, toffee, rose, ice cube, sugar, hat, chessboard, football, deer,
a
s e m
tree,

aglaLeave these six words alone. They are the abstract nouns:
joy, anger, truth, lie, happiness, fear.
se m
com g l a
. a
Here is the whole table, marked. A tick means encircle it; a cross means leave it.

e m
g l as ENCIRCLE?
a
WORD ENCIRCLE? WORD WORD ENCIRCLE? WORD ENCIRCLE?

joy ✗ abstract leaf ✓ anger ✗ abstract mountain ✓

. corosem
sun ✓ shirt ✓ toffee ✓
se m ✓

.co
m ✓ gla
emchessboard
ice cube ✓ sugar ✓ hat
a truth ✗ abstract

a s
agl ✓ lie ✗ abstract football ✓ deer ✓
.c
✓ ✓ ✓
s e m
a
✗ abstract

co✗ m
tree happiness cat spoon

.
m abstract agl
se
river ✓ fear cup ✓ tiger ✓
l a
g Ask this one question: can I put it in front of me and use my five
How to decide, word byaword.
senses on it?

co m
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 9 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A rose — I can see it, touch it and smell it. So circle it.
Sugar and toffee — I can taste them. Circle them.
The sun — I can see it and feel its warmth. Circle it.
Joy — I can feel joy inside me, but I cannot hold it in my hand, put it on the table, or show it
to you. Do not circle it.
Truth and lie — these are ideas about what someone says. You cannot touch them. Do not
circle them.

The rule, in the book’s own words: The words you have NOT encircled are abstract
nouns. The word abstract means something that has no physical shape. Feelings,
thoughts and ideas are all abstract nouns, because they cannot be touched, smelt or
seen. Happiness and rose are both nouns — but you can touch, see and smell a rose,
and you cannot touch happiness.

Careful with ‘fear’ and ‘anger’: You may say, “But I can see that my friend is angry!”
What you really see is his face and his shouting — not the anger itself. The feeling
stays inside him. So anger is abstract.

B — extra Can you think of a few more abstract nouns? Write them in your notebook
and share them with the class.

Yes. Here are twenty more abstract nouns, sorted so they are easy to remember. Every one
of them names something you cannot see, taste, touch or smell.

GROUP ABSTRACT NOUNS A SENTENCE

Feelings love, sadness, hope, jealousy, pride, My sister looked at the gift with surprise.
surprise

Good qualities honesty, courage, kindness, patience, The farmer showed great courage in the
wisdom flood.

Ideas about friendship, freedom, respect, trust, Our friendship began in Class 1.
people helpfulness

Other ideas beauty, peace, danger, silence, childhood There was complete silence in the library.

A quick way to make abstract nouns. Many of them are built from other words by adding an
ending:

kind → kindness · happy → happiness · dark → darkness

Page 10 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

honest → honesty · brave → bravery · safe → safety
child → childhood · friend → friendship · free → freedom

How to check any word: Put the word after “a piece of” or “I am holding”. “I am
holding a spoon” makes sense. “I am holding a kindness” does not. So kindness is
abstract.

Let us Learn — Page 83
C. Fill in the blanks with possessive pronouns

LET US LEARN

C.1 Fill in the blanks with the most suitable word from the list below. theirs, mine,
yours, his, hers, ours 1. These crayons belong to me. These are ......................... .

These are mine.
Why: The sentence says the crayons belong to me. The word that means “belonging to me” is
mine. Notice that we do not say “These are my.” We say my crayons, but when the thing is not
named again we say mine.

The little rule: my → mine, your → yours, her → hers, our → ours, their → theirs. The
word his does not change at all.

C.2 2. The toy train belongs to Mudit. The toy train is ......................... .

The toy train is his.
Why: Mudit is a boy, so we use the boy’s word — his. This is the only word in the list that stays
the same whether the thing is named or not. We can say “his toy train” and also “the toy train is
his”.

Page 11 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

C.3 3. The house with the red roof belongs to my cousins. The house is ......................... .

The house is theirs.
Why: Cousins means more than one person, and they are not me and not you. For a group of
other people we use theirs. Do not write “their” here — their must have a naming word after it,
as in “their house”. When the naming word is gone, we use theirs.

C.4 4. The little girl has bought a set of bowls to play Jal Tarang. The bowls belong to
her. The bowls are ......................... .

The bowls are hers.
Why: The bowls belong to one girl. The girl’s word is hers. Again, her needs a naming word after
it (“her bowls”), but hers stands alone at the end of the sentence.

Did you notice? Jal Tarang is an Indian musical instrument. Bowls are filled with
different amounts of water and struck gently with a stick, and each bowl gives a
different note.

C.5 5. We have a cow with large brown eyes. The cow is ......................... .

The cow is ours.
Why: The sentence begins with We. The word for a thing belonging to us is ours. We say “our
cow”, but “the cow is ours”.

C.6 6. You should take better care of your things. After all, they belong to you. The
things are ......................... .

The things are yours.
Why: The sentence says the things belong to you, so we use yours.
The full set, in one place:

Page 12 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

IT BELONGS BEFORE A NAMING STANDING EXAMPLE
TO… WORD ALONE

me my mine My bat. The bat is mine.

you your yours Your seat. The seat is
yours.

him his his His cycle. The cycle is his.

her her hers Her book. The book is
hers.

us our ours Our class. The class is
ours.

them their theirs Their field. The field is
theirs.

What these words do: The book calls them possessive pronouns. They show
ownership — who a thing belongs to. They save us from repeating the naming
word. Instead of “This bat is my bat”, we simply say “This bat is mine.”

Never use an apostrophe: Write yours, hers, ours, theirs — never “your’s” or “her’s”.
This is a very common mistake.

Let us Speak — Page 84
How Gilli Danda is played · Describe a group game

LET US SPEAK

Speak 1 Gilli Danda is a fun outdoor game. • It is played with two sticks—one short (gilli)
and one long (danda). • One of the players hits the gilli with the danda to make
it fly in the air. • Other players try to catch the gilli. (Explain how Gilli Danda is
played.)

The book gives you three facts. Here they are first, in one line each.

1. Gilli Danda is played with two sticks — one short one called the gilli, and one long one
called the danda.
2. One player hits the gilli with the danda so that the gilli flies into the air.

Page 13 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

3. The other players try to catch the gilli before it lands.
co m
se m.
m a
Now here is the full game, as children play it, in steps you can follow.
o l
.c open ground. Move away from windows, roads and smallagchildren. The gilli
m
se fast.
1. Find a wide,

l a
agMake a small oval hole in the ground, or place a small stone. This is where the gilli will rest.
travels
2.

m
3. Divide into two teams. Decide by a toss which team strikes first.

. co ag
m
4. The striker lays the gilli across the hole, so that both pointed ends stick out.

l a se
5. The striker taps the pointed end of the gilli with the danda. The gilli jumps up into the air.
agstriker swings the danda hard and hits it, sending it far
6. While the gilli is still in the air, the
away.

. com
7. The fielders of the other team run and try to catch the gilli before it touches the ground. If
they catch it, the striker is out and the next player of the team takes aeturn.
s m
m a
l away. A fielder
co catches it, the striker lays the danda across the hole andagwalks
.
em the gilli from where it fell, trying to hit the danda. If the gilli hits the danda, the striker
8. If nobody

a s
gl is out.
throws

a
s
9. If the danda is not hit, the striker measures the distance from the hole to the gilli using the

om a
. c agl
danda itself. Each danda-length is one point.

s e
10. The teams change over when everyonem on the striking team is out. The team with more
a
agl
points wins.

com
m .
e
.co
m lasaway
the strike sends the gilli up and
ag
a sem
agl
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase danda — the long stick
agl
m
.coto catch it
a fielder waits
m
a se
. com a g l
m
ase
agl
gilli — the small peg, pointed at both ends
.c
s e m
m a
co agl
The gilli rests across a small hole. The danda taps it up, then strikes it hard, and the gilli flies. The

m .
e
fielders try to catch it before it lands.

g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 14 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Safety first: Never play Gilli Danda near people, near glass windows or on a busy
road. Keep the fielders well behind you when you swing. Do not sharpen the gilli into
a needle point — a blunt taper is enough.

Why the gilli goes so far: The danda is long. When you swing it, the far end of the
stick moves much faster than your hand. That speed passes into the small, light gilli,
and away it goes. The same idea makes a cricket bat and a hockey stick work.

Speak 2 Think of a game played in groups. Share the information with your classmates.
You may include the following information: 1. The name of the game. 2.
Whether it is an indoor or outdoor game. 3. Number of players needed. 4.
Material required for the game. 5. Rules of the game along with safety
instructions.

How to speak well about a game. Follow the book’s five points in order. Speak slowly and
loudly enough for the back bench to hear. Do not read from your paper — look up at your
friends.

1. Name the game in your first sentence.
2. Say clearly whether it is played indoors or outdoors.
3. Say how many players you need, and whether they form teams.
4. Say what material is needed — and if nothing is needed, say that proudly.
5. Give the rules in numbered steps. End with safety instructions.

Sample answer — Kho-kho:

Page 15 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Good morning, friends. The group game I want to tell you about is kho-kho.

Kho-kho is an outdoor game. We play it on the school ground, because we need a lot of
running space.

We need eighteen players in all — nine in each team. But when we play in our colony we

manage with six on each side.

The good thing is that we need no material at all. No ball, no bat, no net. We only need two

poles at the two ends, and even a stick or a bag can work as a pole. That is why anybody can

play it.

These are the rules:

1. One team is the chasing team and the other is the running team.

2. Eight players of the chasing team sit in a line, facing opposite ways, one behind the other.

3. One player of the chasing team is the active chaser. Only he may run after the runners.

4. The chaser may not cross the sitting line. He must go round the pole to change sides.

5. When he wants help, he touches a sitting teammate from behind and shouts “Kho!” That

teammate jumps up and becomes the new chaser.

6. If a runner is touched, he is out. Three runners come in at a time.

7. The team that puts out all the runners in less time wins.

And these are the safety instructions:

1. Play on soft ground or grass, never on a cemented floor.

2. Take off watches, chains and spectacles before playing.

3. Cut your nails short, because you touch other players.

4. Do not push a player from behind. Only touch.

Page 16 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

5. Drink water before you start, and again after the game.

Thank you. I hope you will play kho-kho with me this evening.

Other games you could describe: kabaddi, lagori (pitthu), langdi, hide and seek,
dog and the bone, musical chairs (indoor), antakshari (indoor), and of course Gilli
Danda itself.

Let us Listen — Page 84
Listen to the teacher and respond with a matching action

LET US LISTEN

Listen 1 Listen to the teacher and respond with a matching action. 1. “Swing and hit”:
Pretend to swing an invisible danda.

Action: Hold both hands together at your side, as if you are gripping a long stick. Turn your
body a little, then swing your arms across in front of you in a wide arc. Say “tak!” at the moment
the invisible danda meets the invisible gilli.
Where it comes from in the poem: “One, two, three, swing and hit,”

What you are learning: Swing and hit are two different actions. Swing is the long
movement through the air. Hit is the short moment when the stick touches the gilli.
Doing the action helps you feel the difference, so you will never mix up the two
words again.

Listen 2 2. “Watch it go!”: Raise your arms as if you have just hit the gilli and you are
watching it fly.

Action: Finish your swing, then let both arms rise up high. Lift your chin and follow an
imaginary gilli with your eyes, moving your head slowly from low to high and then far away.
Keep still for two seconds while you “watch”.
Where it comes from in the poem: “We play with joy, watch it go!”

Page 17 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Tip: Do not move your eyes quickly. A gilli that has been hit well takes a few seconds
to fly. Moving your eyes slowly makes the action look real.

Listen 3 3. “Laughing, playing”: Giggle or clap hands.

Action: Laugh out loud, or clap your hands three or four times, and let your face show that you
are enjoying yourself.
Where it comes from in the poem: “Laughing, playing, having fun,”

What you are learning: Look at the shape of the words — laughing, playing. The
ending -ing tells us the action is happening right now, and going on. That is why this
line feels so alive.

Listen 4 4. “Shade your eyes from the sun”: Keep your hands above your eyebrows.

Action: Place one flat hand just above your eyebrows, like the peak of a cap, and look upwards
into the “sky”. Screw up your eyes a little, as you really do in bright sunshine.
Where it comes from in the poem: “Under the golden rays of the sun!”

The new word: To shade your eyes means to make a small patch of shadow over
them with your hand, so that the bright light does not hurt. Cricketers do exactly this
when they look up for a catch.

Play the whole thing together: Ask your teacher to call the four lines one after
another — swing and hit, watch it go, laughing, playing, shade your eyes. Done in order,
the four actions tell the whole story of one hit in Gilli Danda.

Let us Write — Page 85

Page 18 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A. Find the meanings using a dictionary, then use each word in a sentence
co m
e m.
m as
LET US WRITE

.co a g l
a s emthe meanings of the following words using a dictionary. Now, use each word in
gl
Find
a
A.1
a sentence of your own. 1. Quit

co m
e m . ag
g
Quit (verb) — to stop doing something, or to give up.
l as
a
In the poem: “With our friends, we never quit!” The children never give up, however long the

m
game lasts.
co
se m.
My own sentence: Our team was losing by six runs, but we did not quit.

o m l a
gturn to the Q pages.
m .ac dictionary: Words are in a–b–c order. To find quit, first
a
se
Using

g l a
a
Then look at the second letter, u. Then the third, i. That is how you land on quit
quickly instead of reading every word.

m a s
m .co agl
l a se
A.2 2. Gather
a g

co m
m .
o m l a se
Gather (verb) — to come together in one place. It can also mean to collect things and bring
c
them .together. a g
m
sethe poem: “In the playground, we gather around,” The children come together in the
g l a
a
In
playground before the game starts.

se m
com
My own sentence: The whole village will gather near the temple for the fair.
g l a
m . a
Two uses, one idea: Peopleas
e
g l gather in a place, and you gather sticks for a fire. Both
a or many people into one place.
mean bringing many things

co m
m .
m as e
.co 3. Swing a g l
m
A.3

l a se
ag ANSWER
.c
s e m
m a
agl
Swing (verb) — to move something backwards and forwards, or in a curve, through the air.

. co
m
As a naming word, a swing is also the seat that hangs on two ropes in a park.

ase
g l
In the poem: “One, two, three, swing and hit,” and “With every swing, we feel so free,”
a
My own sentence: He had to swing the bat hard to send the ball over the boundary.

com
m .
m ase
.co


a g l Page 19 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

A.4 4. Underneath

Underneath (preposition) — below something; under it.
In the poem: “Underneath the bright blue skies.” The children are playing below the open sky.
My own sentence: The kitten was hiding underneath the wooden bench.

Under or underneath? They mean almost the same thing. Underneath is a little
stronger and is often used when one thing is directly below another and covered by
it.

A.5 5. Golden

Golden (adjective) — having the bright yellow colour of gold. It can also mean very valuable
or very special, as in “a golden chance”.
In the poem: “Under the golden rays of the sun!” The sunlight is bright yellow, like gold.
My own sentence: The wheat fields turned golden in the evening light.

WORD KIND OF MEANING IN ONE LINE MY SENTENCE
WORD

quit verb to stop or give up We did not quit even when we were
losing.

gather verb to come together in one place The village will gather near the
temple.

swing verb / noun to move in a curve through the He had to swing the bat hard.
air

underneath preposition below something The kitten hid underneath the bench.

golden adjective bright yellow, like gold The wheat fields turned golden.

Let us Write — Page 85

Page 20 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B. Rearrange the words to form a question

LET US WRITE

B.1 Rearrange the following to form a question and write them in your notebook.
Remember to put a question mark at the end. • are cows where the

Where are the cows?

How to build it: Find the question word first. Here it is Where. A question word
always comes first. Next comes the helping verb are. Then comes the thing we are
asking about, the cows. Start with a capital W and end with a question mark.

The pattern: Question word + verb + who or what → Where + are + the cows?

B.2 • is your house which

Which is your house?

How to build it: The question word is Which, so it goes first. Then the verb is. Then
your house. We use which when we are choosing one thing out of several — here,
one house out of the whole street.

B.3 • it time is what

What time is it?

How to build it: Here the question word What joins the word time to make one
group — What time. That group goes first. Then the verb is, then it. This is a
sentence you will use every day, so learn it by heart.

Page 21 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B.4 • the blue why sky is

Why is the sky blue?

How to build it: Why asks for a reason, so it comes first. Then the verb is. Then the
sky, and last the describing word blue. Notice the order changes: we say “the sky is
blue”, but in a question the is jumps in front — “is the sky blue”.

B.5 • the many are how birds on tree

How many birds are on the tree?

How to build it: How many is a two-word question group and it must stay together.
It asks about a number, so the naming word birds follows it at once. Then the verb
are, and then where they are — on the tree.

B.6 • you my when return will book

When will you return my book?

How to build it: When asks about time, so it goes first. Then the helping verb will.
Then the person doing it, you. Then the action, return. Then the thing, my book.
The order is: question word + will + who + action + what.

B.7 • walk you to do school

Do you walk to school?

Page 22 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

How to build it: This one has no question word like what or where. It is a yes-or-no
question, so it begins with the helping word Do. Then you, then the action walk,
then to school. The answer can only be “Yes, I do” or “No, I do not”.

B.8 • a can fly kite you

Can you fly a kite?

How to build it: This is another yes-or-no question. It begins with Can, because we
are asking whether you are able to do something. Then you, then fly, then a kite.

All eight questions together:

JUMBLED WORDS THE QUESTION

are cows where the Where are the cows?

is your house which Which is your house?

it time is what What time is it?

the blue why sky is Why is the sky blue?

the many are how birds on tree How many birds are on the tree?

you my when return will book When will you return my book?

walk you to do school Do you walk to school?

a can fly kite you Can you fly a kite?

Two things to check every time, exactly as the book reminds you: begin the
question with a capital letter, and put a question mark (?) at the end.

Let us Write — Page 86

Page 23 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

C. Words with double letters
co m
e m.
m as
LET US WRITE

.co a g l
a s emword ‘gilli’ has double ‘l’ in it. Similarly, the words ‘millet’ and ‘bullock’ have
gl
The
a
C
double ‘l’. Now write three words having each of the double letters given below. tt ·
pp · ee · mm · bb · rr · nn · dd · ss · gg

co m
m . ag
l a se
agof double letters. The double letters are shown in bold so
Here are three words for each pair
you can see them at once.

. c om
emWORD 3
com as
DOUBLE LETTERS WORD 1 WORD 2

. a g l
m
ase
tt butter letter bottle

aglpp apple happy puppy

m a s
.co agl
ee green sweet tree

a s em
gl
mm summer hammer common
a
bb rabbit rubber cabbage

m
cosorry
m .
e
rr carrot mirror

m l as
.co a g
em
nn dinner sunny tunnel

a s
agl dd ladder middle sudden

se m
com l a
ss glass grass lesson

. a g
e m
as
gg egg bigger luggage

a gl
The Note to the Teacher asks you not to stop at naming words. So here is a second set that
mixes describing words, action words and manner words.
co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 24 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

DOUBLE DESCRIBING WORD ACTION WORD MANNER WORD
LETTERS (ADJECTIVE) (VERB) (ADVERB)

tt bitter sitting better

pp slippery clapping happily

ee deep sleep freely

mm common swimming immediately

bb rubbery rubbing shabbily

rr narrow hurry merrily

nn sunny running funnily

dd muddy adding suddenly

ss glassy passing crossly

gg foggy jiggle raggedly

Why English doubles a letter: Very often the doubling keeps the vowel before it
short. Say hoping and then hopping. In hoping the o is long; in hopping, with the
double p, the o is short. The same happens with diner and dinner, later and latter.

Where to hunt for more: Open any page of this book and run your eye down it.
Double letters are everywhere — gilli, millet, bullock, all, well, small. Keep a page in
your notebook and add every new one you find.

Let us Write — Page 87
D. Circle the word that is different in meaning from the underlined word

LET US WRITE

D.1 Circle the word that is different in meaning from the underlined word. 1. Miibi went
to the market and bought an expensive toy. precious | costly | cheap

Circle cheap.

Page 25 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why: Expensive means costing a lot of money. Precious and costly also mean high in price or
high in value — they are close to expensive. But cheap means costing very little. It is the
opposite, so it is the odd one out.

How to do every item in this exercise: Two of the three words will be near the
underlined word in meaning. One will be its opposite. Circle the opposite.

D.2 2. Anju and Farida forgot to buy popcorn and juice for the picnic. remembered |
revised | ignored

Circle remembered.
Why: Forgot means the thing went out of their minds. Remembered means it stayed in their
minds — the exact opposite. Ignored is close to forgot in effect, because in both cases the work
is not done. Revised means to go over something again, and it does not fit here at all, but only
remembered is the true opposite of forgot.

D.3 3. The moon continued to count the stars night after night. stopped | began |
started

Circle stopped.
Why: Continued means kept on going, without stopping. Stopped means came to an end. That
is the plain opposite.
What about began and started? Those two mean the same thing as each other — the very first
moment of an action. They are not opposites of continued; they simply come before it. Only
stopped is the opposite, so that is the one to circle.

The order of an action: first it begins (or starts), then it continues, and at the end
it stops. Continuing and stopping cannot both be true at once.

D.4 4. I always complete my homework on time. often | never | sometimes

Circle never.

Page 26 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Why: Always means every single time — one hundred out of a hundred. Never means not even
once — zero out of a hundred. That is the opposite. Often means many times and sometimes
means now and then; both still mean it does happen.

Put them in a line, most to least: always → often → sometimes → rarely → never.
Always is at one end and never at the other.

D.5 5. There was excitement in the shop among the toys. interest | enjoyment |
boredom

Circle boredom.
Why: Excitement is the happy, restless feeling you get when something wonderful is about to
happen. Interest and enjoyment are also pleasant feelings and are close to it. Boredom is the
feeling of having nothing to do and nothing to look forward to — the opposite.

Notice: All four of these words — excitement, interest, enjoyment, boredom — are
abstract nouns, the very thing you learnt in Let us Learn B. You cannot touch any of
them.

D.6 6. Badal nervously told his mother about the dog he found on his way home. sadly |
joyfully | confidently

Circle confidently.
Why: Nervously means in a frightened, unsure way, with a shaky voice. Confidently means in a
bold, sure way, with no fear at all. That is the exact opposite.
What about sadly and joyfully? They are different from nervously too, but they belong to a
different pair — sadly and joyfully are opposites of each other. The word that sits directly
opposite nervously is confidently.

Look at the ending: All four words end in -ly. Words like these tell us how an action
is done. They are called adverbs.

Page 27 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

D.7 7. Everyone liked the vibrant colours of the bangles. dull | bright | shiny

Circle dull.
Why: Vibrant means very bright and full of life. Bright and shiny mean nearly the same thing.
Dull means faded, grey and without shine — the opposite.

Picture it: Think of the bangles in a Diwali market — pink, orange and gold, catching
the light. Those are vibrant colours. Now think of an old, dusty bangle at the back of
a drawer. That one is dull.

D.8 8. The fort is known for its unique style of construction. different | unusual |
common

Circle common.
Why: Unique means the only one of its kind — there is no other like it. Different and unusual
are close to that meaning. Common means found everywhere, seen every day. That is the
opposite.
All eight answers together:

NO. UNDERLINED CIRCLE THIS (THE THE TWO THAT ARE CLOSE IN
WORD OPPOSITE) MEANING

1 expensive cheap precious, costly

2 forgot remembered ignored (revised does not fit)

3 continued stopped began, started (these two mean the
same as each other)

4 always never often, sometimes

5 excitement boredom interest, enjoyment

6 nervously confidently sadly, joyfully

7 vibrant dull bright, shiny

8 unique common different, unusual

Page 28 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
The word for this: A word that means the opposite of another word is called an

as e
com word. l
antonym. Hot and cold are antonyms. Every answer in this exercise is an antonym of
. a g
em
the underlined
a s
agl

co m
ag
Let us Do — Pages 88–89
.
a s em
A. Let us make a Gilli Danda using waste material

LET US DO agl

co m
se m.
A Let us make a Gilli Danda using waste material. Things required: 1. A thick, firm

o m l a
twig or a wooden stick (for the danda) 2. Thick small twig (for the gilli) 3. A rough
g (optional, for
m .c (for smoothening the sticks) 4. Colours or coloured apapers
se decoration) Steps — For the Danda (stick): 1. Find a Stick 2. Smoothen the Surface 3.
stone
a
agl Decorate (Optional) For the Gilli (small peg): 1. Find a Small Stick 2. Shape the Ends

s
3. Smoothen the Surface 4. Decorate (Optional) Final Touch: Test the gilli and danda
m a
.co agl
to ensure they are easy to handle and are sturdy.

se m
g l a
a
This is a making activity, so the answer is what you make — plus a short report of how you

co m
.
made it. Follow the book’s own steps. Nothing here needs to be bought.

se m
m l a
What you need (all of it is waste material):

1. m
o
.c firm twig or a discarded wooden stick — this becomesagthe danda.
e
las2. A thick, small twig — this becomes the gilli.
A thick,

ag
m
3. A rough stone, for rubbing the wood smooth.

a se
com l
4. Colours or coloured paper, if you want to decorate. This part is optional.
. a g
m
ase
Steps for the danda (the long stick):

agl
1. Find a stick. Pick a thick, firm twig or an old wooden stick. It should be about as long as your
arm and should not bend when you press it.

co m
.
2. Smoothen the surface. Rub the whole stick with a rough stone until no splinters are left. A

em
as
splinter can prick your palm when you swing.
m l
.co a g
3. Decorate (optional). Paint the stick with colours, or wrap coloured paper around the handle.

a s emSteps for the gilli (the small peg):
agl
.c
m
1. Find a small stick. Use a small twig or a piece of a discarded stick, about 3 to 4 inches long

m a s e
co agl
— that is roughly 8 to 10 centimetres, about the length of your middle finger.

m .
e
2. Shape the ends. Rub both ends with the rough stone so that each end becomes narrower,

g l as
like a short cone. Both ends must be shaped, not just one.
a
3. Smoothen the surface. Rub the whole gilli until it feels smooth in your hand.

m
4. Decorate (optional). Colour or paint the gilli so that it is easy to spot on the ground.

. co
e m
m l as
.co a g
Page 29 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Final touch: Test both pieces. Hold the danda and take a slow practice swing — it should feel
light and steady. Press the gilli — it should not crack. The book says they must be easy to
handle and sturdy. Sturdy means strong and not likely to break.

the danda — about as long as your arm

coloured paper on the handle (optional)

the gilli — both ends
rubbed narrow with a stone,
so it jumps up when tapped

3–4 inches (about 8–10 cm)

What you are making: a long, smooth danda, and a short gilli that tapers at both ends.

Why both ends of the gilli must be narrow: A gilli with flat ends will only roll when
you tap it. A gilli with narrow, sloping ends flips up into the air, and that is what lets
you strike it in mid-air. The shape is the whole secret of the game.

Safety, as the Note to the Teacher asks: Rub the wood, do not cut it with a blade.
Do not make the ends sharp like a pencil point; a gentle slope is enough. Wash your
hands after handling old wood. Try your new gilli and danda only on open ground,
well away from other people and windows.

Sample answer — how to write up the activity in your notebook:

Page 30 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Making a Gilli Danda

On Saturday my brother and I made our own Gilli Danda. We did not buy anything.

First we looked behind our house, where a neem branch had fallen in the storm. From it we

chose one long straight piece for the danda and one short thick piece for the gilli.

Next we sat on the step with a rough stone. I rubbed the long stick again and again until it

was smooth and no splinters were left. My brother rubbed both ends of the small piece until

they became narrow, like two small cones.

Then we decorated them. I wrapped red paper around the handle of the danda so that it
would not slip. My brother painted two yellow rings on the gilli, so that we could find it

easily in the grass.

At last we tested them. The danda felt light and did not bend. The gilli did not crack when

we pressed it. In the evening we took them to the ground and played for an hour.

The best part was that our whole game was made from a broken branch that nobody wanted.

Let us Do — Page 90

Page 31 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

B. Spellathon — the letter wheel

LET US DO

B.1 Spellathon. How many words of three or more letters can you make from the
letters shown in the following wheel?

A C

E T H

E R

The letter wheel on page 90 — six letters around the rim and one in the middle.

Rule: One letter can be used as many times as it appears in the wheel. For example:
Tea, Reach

First, list the letters you are allowed to use. The wheel has six letters around the rim and one
in the middle:
A·C·E·E·H·R·T

Page 32 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Notice that E appears twice, so you may use E twice in a word. Every other letter may be used
only once.
Here are 49 words. Any twenty of them is already a very good score.

LENGTH WORDS

3 letters — 18 words ace, act, arc, are, art, ate, car, cat, ear, eat, era, hat, her, rat, tar, tea, tee, the

4 letters — 16 words ache, acre, care, cart, char, chat, each, hare, hate, hear, heat, here, race, rate, tear, tree

5 letters — 12 words cater, chart, cheat, crate, earth, heart, reach, react, teach, there, three, trace

6 letters — 2 words create, reheat

7 letters — 1 word teacher

How to hunt for words yourself, step by step:

1. Write the seven letters at the top of a fresh page: A C E E H R T.
2. Start with the short ones. Take each letter in turn and try to add two more — a-c-e, a-c-t, a-r-c.
3. Look for pairs that often go together in English: ch (chat, char, reach), th (the, three), ea
(each, eat, hear), ee (tee, tree).
4. Grow a short word into a longer one. Eat → heat → cheat. Ate → rate → crate.
5. Check every word against the rule before you write it. Count each letter. Chatter looks
tempting, but it needs two ts and the wheel has only one, so it is out.

Words you must NOT write, and why: letter (there is no L), cheese (there is no S),
attach (only one T is allowed), career (only one R is allowed).

B.2 Can you make a seven-letter word using all the letters in the wheel?

Yes. The seven-letter word is TEACHER.
Check it letter by letter against the wheel:

LETTER OF TEACHER T E A C H E R

Found in the wheel? ✓ centre ✓ first E ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ second E ✓

All seven letters are used, and each one exactly as many times as it appears in the wheel. The
two Es of teacher use the two Es of the wheel.

Page 33 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

co m
m.
How to find a long word like this: Look for helpful letter groups first. Here you can

m l a se
see -er at the end and tea- at the start. Put them together with ch in the middle and
o
c
the word .appears: a g
m
tea + ch + er.

l a se
aAg nice extra: The same seven letters also spell cheater and hectare. A hectare is a
o m
c ag
measure of land, about the size of two football fields. But the word the wheel is
.
mfitting for an English lesson.
s e
really pointing to is teacher — which is
a
agl

co m
m.
B.3 Now, create a letter wheel similar to the above.

as e
ANSWER .c
om a g l
a s em
agl
How to build your own letter wheel, in four steps:

1. Choose a seven-letter word that you like. Pick one with plenty of vowels, or the wheel will

om a s
. c agl
be too hard.

s e
2. Put one letter in the middle. Choose ma letter that most words will need — a common one
a
agl
like T, R, S or a vowel.
3. Write the other six letters in the six spaces around the rim, mixed up so the word is not
obvious.
co m
m .
e
4. Write the rule below the wheel — “One letter can be used as many times as it appears in the

m l as
.co g
wheel” — and give two example words, as the book does.

m a
l a se
Sample answer — my wheel uses the word PAINTER.

ag
se m
com g l a
m. a
ase
agl

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m ase
.co


a g l Page 34 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

P A

I T N

E R

My letter wheel. The letters are P, A, I, N, E, R around the rim and T in the middle.

Rule: One letter can be used as many times as it appears in the wheel.
For example: Ten, Paint.
The answers to my wheel (keep these on the next page, so your friends can try first):

3 letters: ant, air, ate, ear, eat, net, nip, pan, pen, pet, pin, pit, ran, rat, rip, tan, tap, tea, ten,
tin, tip.
4 letters: pain, pair, pant, part, pine, rain, rate, rent, tape, tear, tire, trap, trip.
5 letters: paint, print, train, inept, tapir.
7 letters, using every letter: PAINTER. (Repaint and pertain also work.)

Page 35 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Other good seven-letter words for a wheel: MONSTER, PICTURE, GARDENS,
KITCHEN, BLANKET, MACHINE. Each has a good mix of vowels and easy consonants.

Just for Fun — Page 89
Riddle

JUST FOR FUN

Riddle It belongs to you. But, your friends use it more than you. What is it?

The answer is your name.
How the riddle works, line by line:

1. “It belongs to you.” — Your name is yours. Nobody can take it away.
2. “But, your friends use it more than you.” — Think about it. How often do you say your own
name out loud? Almost never. But your friends, your teacher and your family call you by it all
day long — “Arun, come here!”, “Arun, pass the ball!”

Why it is clever: The riddle plays with the word use. We normally think that the
owner of a thing uses it most — your bag, your cycle, your tiffin box. A name breaks
that rule. It belongs to one person but is spoken by everybody else. That surprise is
the joke.

Try one on your friends: “What has hands but cannot clap?” — a clock. “What gets
wetter the more it dries?” — a towel. Riddles like these turn one word around and
look at it from the other side.

Chapter at a glance
Stanza 1 — the game begins. “In the playground, we gather around, / With a stick and a
small gilli to throw, / Gilli Danda, our game is so sound! / We play with joy, watch it go!” The
children come together in an open playground. They need only two things — a long stick
and a small piece of wood. Here sound does not mean a noise. It means good and strong.
So the line means, “our game is a really fine game”.

Page 36 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Stanza 2 — the swing and the friends. “One, two, three, swing and hit, / With our friends,
we never quit! / With every swing, we feel so free, / Oh, what fun it is, you see!” The counting
one, two, three is what children really say before a big hit. Quit means to stop or to give up.
The players never give up, and every swing of the danda makes them feel free.
Stanza 3 — the gilli flies. “The small gilli, up high it flies, / Underneath the bright blue
skies. / Laughing, playing, having fun, / Under the golden rays of the sun!” The tiny gilli
shoots up into the air. The poem ends outdoors, in sunshine, with everybody laughing.
What the poem is about. It is about the simple joy of playing outside with friends. Gilli
Danda costs nothing. Two sticks and an open ground are enough. The poem says that fun
does not need money — it needs friends, space and sunshine.
Why it sits in the unit ‘Ups and Downs’. The gilli goes up when it is struck and comes
down when it lands. The whole game is one long up-and-down. That is the picture the unit
begins with.
New Words taught by the chapter: gather, gilli, quit, underneath. The Did You Know? box
adds one more fact — Gilli Danda is called ‘tip-cat’ in English.
The language work (Let us Learn). A — prefixes: un- means not, re- means again. B —
abstract nouns: a noun you cannot see, taste, touch or smell, such as joy or fear. C —
possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs, the words that show who a thing
belongs to.
Let us Speak explains how Gilli Danda is played and asks you to describe a group game of
your own. Let us Listen is an action game — the teacher calls out a line from the poem and
you make the matching action.
Let us Write has four parts: A — dictionary work on five words; B — rearranging jumbled
words into questions; C — words with double letters; D — picking the word that is
different in meaning (the opposite). Let us Do is hands-on: making a real gilli and danda
from waste wood, and a Spellathon letter wheel. Just for Fun ends the chapter with a
riddle.

Page 37 of 39

Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

Quick revision

WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT A SENTENCE OF YOUR
APPEARS OWN

gather To come together in one place. “In the playground, We gather under the
we gather around,” neem tree every evening.

gilli The small piece of wood, pointed at both “With a stick and a Rehan carved a gilli from
ends, that is struck in the game. small gilli to throw,” a broken branch.

danda The long stick used to strike the gilli. Let us Speak, page 84 He held the danda tightly
and swung it hard.

quit To stop doing something, or to give up. “With our friends, we We were losing, but we
never quit!” did not quit.

underneath Below something; under it. “Underneath the My slippers are
bright blue skies.” underneath the bed.

sound (here) Good, strong and healthy — not a noise. “Gilli Danda, our The old bridge is still
game is so sound!” sound, so trucks can
cross it.

golden Of the colour of gold; bright yellow. “Under the golden The mustard field looked
rays of the sun!” golden in the morning.

tip-cat The English name for Gilli Danda. Did You Know?, page Grandfather said tip-cat
83 is only our Gilli Danda.

prefix A small part added at the front of a word Let us Learn A, page Add the prefix re- to read
to change its meaning. un- = not, re- = 81 and you get reread.
again.

abstract noun A naming word for something you cannot Let us Learn B, page Courage is an abstract
see, taste, touch or smell — a feeling, a 82 noun.
thought or an idea.

possessive A word that shows who something Let us Learn C, page The blue tiffin box is
pronoun belongs to — mine, yours, his, hers, ours, 83 mine.
theirs.

vibrant Very bright and full of life. Let us Write D.7, page She wore a vibrant
87 orange dupatta.

unique The only one of its kind; not like any Let us Write D.8, page Every child has a unique
other. 87 voice.

Page 38 of 39

as e
Class 5 English Chapter 7 Gilli Danda
a g l AglaSem · NCERT Solutions

m
.co
WORD WHAT IT MEANS WHERE IT A SENTENCE OF YOUR
OWNm
a se
com
APPEARS

. A word game in which you make as many ag l
m
ase
Spellathon Let us Do B, page 90 Our class held a

agl
words as you can from a set of letters. Spellathon on Friday.

co m
e m . ag
g l as
a

co m
em.
m l as
m .co a g
l a se
a g
m a s
m .co agl
l a se
a g

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a
se m
com g l a
m . a
ase
agl

co m
m .
m as e
.co a g l
se m
g l a
a c
m .
m a s e
e m . co agl
g l as
a

co m
m .
m as e
.co


a g l Page 39 of 39