Don’t be Afraid of the Dark – Class 4 English NCERT Solutions

Explore the solutions for “Don’t be Afraid of the Dark,” Class 4 English NCERT. This beautiful poem by Ruskin Bond teaches children an important life lesson about overcoming their fear of darkness. The poet explains how nighttime is peaceful and magical, with moonlight and stars creating a calm atmosphere that children should embrace rather than fear.

Summary of the Poem (English)

In this heartwarming poem, Ruskin Bond addresses a child’s common fear of darkness. He gently explains that darkness is a natural part of life when the earth needs to rest. The poet compares the harsh sunlight with the gentle moonlight and twinkling stars that illuminate the night sky. He encourages children to befriend the night and use this quiet time to think about their loved ones. The poem ends with a beautiful message that while daytime might be full of troubles, nighttime brings peace to the world.

कविता का सारांश (Hindi)

इस मनमोहक कविता में रस्किन बॉन्ड बच्चों के अंधेरे से डर को संबोधित करते हैं। वे प्यार से समझाते हैं कि अंधेरा जीवन का एक प्राकृतिक हिस्सा है जब धरती को आराम की जरूरत होती है। कवि कड़ी धूप की तुलना चांदनी की कोमलता और रात के आकाश में टिमटिमाते तारों से करते हैं। वे बच्चों को रात से दोस्ती करने और इस शांत समय का उपयोग अपने प्रियजनों के बारे में सोचने के लिए प्रोत्साहित करते हैं। कविता एक सुंदर संदेश के साथ समाप्त होती है कि जबकि दिन परेशानियों से भरा हो सकता है, रात दुनिया में शांति लाती है।

Word Meanings

Reading is Fun

Question 1: What is the poem about?

The poem is a gentle message from Ruskin Bond to children about overcoming their fear of darkness. It explains how nighttime is actually a peaceful and beautiful time when the earth rests, the moon glows softly, and stars twinkle in the sky. The poet encourages children to make friends with the night instead of being afraid of it.

Question 2: What happens when the day is over?

When the day comes to an end, several beautiful things happen:

• The earth prepares to rest after a long day
• The bright sun sets, making way for the gentle moonlight
• Stars appear in the sky, creating a magical atmosphere
• The world becomes peaceful and quiet

Question 3: What does the earth do when the day is over?

When the day is over, the earth takes its much-needed rest. Just like how we need to sleep after a long day of activities, our planet earth also needs to rest and rejuvenate itself during the night time.

Question 4: What does the poet want us to do at night?

The poet suggests two beautiful things to do at night:

• Make friends with the night instead of being afraid
• Let your thoughts wander to friends who live both near and far away

Question 5: Are these sentences true or false?

Let’s analyze each statement:

• a) The poet tells the child to be afraid when it is dark. – False. The poet actually does the opposite by encouraging children not to fear the dark and to make friends with the night.
• b) The poet says that the stars will always shine at night. – True. The poem mentions that the stars will be “shining forever and ever.”
• c) The poet tells the child to think of friends after it is dark. – True. The poet suggests letting your thoughts travel to friends far and near during nighttime.

Word-building

Question 1: Find the word in the poem which is opposite of – war, enemies, gentle, light, night, start

Here are the opposite words found in the poem:

• war → peace (found in “the world is at peace”)
• enemies → friends (found in “Be friends with the Night”)
• gentle → harsh (found in “The sun must be harsh”)
• light → dark (found in title “Don’t be afraid of the dark”)
• night → day (found in “when the day is done”)
• start → end (concept found in the poem through day ending)

Question 2: Write the full forms of the following words: didn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t, mustn’t

Let’s expand these contracted words:

• didn’t = did not
• shouldn’t = should not
• wouldn’t = would not
• couldn’t = could not
• mustn’t = must not

Question 3: Join these words: moon+light, break+fast, good+night, day+break, water+fall, rain+bow

When we join these words, we create compound words:

• moon + light = moonlight
• break + fast = breakfast
• good + night = goodnight
• day + break = daybreak
• water + fall = waterfall
• rain + bow = rainbow

Let’s Talk

Question 1: Are you afraid of the dark?

Sometimes I feel a little scared of the dark, and that’s completely normal! Many children (and even adults) feel this way. But I’m learning to understand that darkness is just the absence of light, and there are many beautiful things about nighttime, like the moon, stars, and the peaceful quiet that comes with it.

Question 2: What do you do when it is dark?

When it’s dark, I have developed some nice habits:

• I get cozy in my bed with my favorite blanket
• Think about all the fun things I did during the day
• Sometimes I look out my window to see the beautiful stars
• I think about my friends and family, just like the poet suggests
• I listen to the peaceful nighttime sounds until I fall asleep

Question 3: Have you ever been frightened? Tell your partner about it.

Yes, I remember one evening when I was alone in my room and heard some strange rustling sounds outside my window. At first, I was very scared, but then I gathered courage to look outside with my parents. We discovered it was just our neighbor’s cat playing with fallen leaves! This taught me that often the things we fear aren’t actually scary when we understand them better.

Say Aloud

Question 1: What is the word that starts with t, rhymes with ‘cease’, and means to playfully make fun of?

The word is “tease”. It rhymes with ‘cease’ and means to make fun of someone in a playful way.

Question 2: What is the word that starts with c, rhymes with ‘near’ and ‘fear’, and means easy to see, hear and understand?

The word is “clear”. It rhymes with both ‘near’ and ‘fear’, and means something that is easy to understand or see through.

Question 3: Say t, t, t Where did the tip of the tongue touch?

When we say the sound ‘t’, the tip of our tongue touches the ridge just behind our upper front teeth (the alveolar ridge). This is how we create the clear ‘t’ sound in English.

Question 4: Listen and repeat ca-t. Did you hear what your tongue did? Say these words and feel what your tongue does when you say toe, tip, tie, ten.

When we say these words, our tongue moves in different ways:

• For ‘cat’: Our tongue first touches the back of our mouth for ‘ca’ and then touches the top for ‘t’
• For ‘toe’, ‘tip’, ‘tie’, and ‘ten’: The tip of our tongue touches the same spot behind our upper teeth to make the ‘t’ sound

Team Time

Question 1: Divide the class into four groups.

As a student, I would help divide our class into four equal groups. We could do this by:

• Counting off numbers 1-4
• Grouping students by their favorite seasons
• Making groups based on birth months
• Creating teams based on our seating arrangement

Question 2: Imagine life without the sun.

Imagining life without the sun, I think these things would happen:

• It would be very cold all the time
• Plants wouldn’t be able to grow
• We wouldn’t have day and night
• There would be no rainbows or seasons
• We couldn’t play outdoor games

Question 3: What are the things that may happen if there is no sunlight?

Without sunlight, many important things would be affected:

• Plants would not be able to make their food through photosynthesis
• The Earth would become very cold
• We wouldn’t have any fruits or vegetables to eat
• Animals would not have food to eat
• We wouldn’t be able to see without artificial lights
• There would be no solar energy

Question 4: Discuss with the group and write your ideas in your notebook.

Here are some ideas I would write in my notebook:

• How the sun gives us vitamin D
• Why plants need sunlight to grow
• How the sun helps dry our clothes
• Why different animals are active during day and night
• How solar panels work using sunlight

Let’s Write

Question 1: Fill in the yellow teacups with similar-sounding words.

Here are some pairs of words that sound similar:

• see – sea
• blue – blew
• here – hear
• write – right
• there – their

Question 2: Complete the following sentences, choosing the right word.

Let’s complete each sentence using the correct word from the pairs given:

1. (a) The sum was too difficult for the class to solve. Only two students could do it. (two, too)
   Here, we use:
   • ‘too’ to show that something was excessive
   • ‘two’ to show the number 2
2. (b) There was only one boy who won the prize. (one, won)
   Here, we use:
   • ‘one’ to show the number 1
   • ‘won’ to show achievement or victory
3. (c) The golden deer was very dear to him. (dear, deer)
   Here, we use:
   • ‘deer’ to name the animal
   • ‘dear’ to show that something is precious
4. (d) Ramu’s son loved to play in the sun. (sun, son)
   Here, we use:
   • ‘son’ to refer to a male child
   • ‘sun’ to refer to the bright star in the sky

Let’s Listen

Question 1: Read out the following phrases aloud. Divide them into loud and softer sounds.

Here are the sounds categorized by their volume:

Follow these steps to practice listening to sounds around you:

1. First, make yourself comfortable and relax your whole body
2. Stay as quiet as possible
3. Focus on all the different sounds you can hear around you
4. Share with your partner what sounds you heard
5. Ask your partner “What did you hear?”
6. Take turns copying or describing the sounds you heard