Chapter 1 — Two Little Hands

Chapter 1 of the Class 1 English NCERT textbook (Mridang), "Two Little Hands", introduces body parts through a simple action poem where children clap, tap, and move along with the rhyme, then practise naming body parts in speaking and reading activities.

• The Poem — Two Little Hands — The poem describes hands that clap, legs that tap, eyes that look, a head that moves side to side, ears that hear, a nose that smells, and a mouth that eats. The last verse brings it all together: "I have a little body that belongs to me."
• Parts of the Body Song — A second song — "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" — helps children learn more body parts by singing and touching each part as it is named. The song is repeated until children can name all the parts.
• Speaking Activities — Naming Body Parts — Children practise sentences like "I clap with my hands" and "I see with my eyes" by repeating after the teacher. They also work in pairs, asking and answering "What is this? / What are these?" to name their nose, ears, hands, legs, and other parts.
• Reading — Five Senses Sentences — A short reading section pairs pictures with sentences: "I see with my eyes," "I hear with my ears," "I smell with my nose," "I eat with my mouth," and "I feel with my skin." This connects body parts to what they do.
• Alphabet and Letter Sounds — The chapter includes the alphabet song, letter-writing practice for A–F, and a phonics song that gives one example word per letter (a for ant, b for bag, c for cat … z for zebra). Children also practise finding the odd one out by listening to initial sounds.

1. 01The poem "Two Little Hands" names hands, legs, eyes, head, ears, nose, and mouth and tells what each part does.
2. 02The last line of the poem is: "I have a little body that belongs to me."
3. 03Sight words for this chapter are "one" and "to"; new vocabulary words include hand, leg, head, eye, ear, nose, and mouth.
4. 04Children sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and touch each body part while singing.
5. 05The reading section teaches five senses: eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, mouth eats, skin feels.
6. 06The chapter includes a hand-tracing art activity where children draw and decorate an outline of their own hand.
7. 07The phonics section covers all 26 letters with one picture word each, from a for ant to z for zebra.