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A free printable book

English for classes 1 and 2

6 lessons, each with worked examples, a try-at-home activity and a practice sheet. The practice sheets are together after the lessons, and the answer keys are at the very back.

  • English
  • Classes 1-2
  • 6 lessons
  • 60 practice questions
  • Free to print

Contents

Free learning for kids, Gurukul Technicals Institute. Printed from engineergurukul.com/resources/kids/books/english-1-2/

Contents

What is in this book

  1. 1The alphabet and phonicsLearn the 26 letters, which five are vowels, and how sounds blend to make simple words like cat and sun.3 min
  2. 2Making simple sentencesA sentence tells a complete thought. Learn to build simple sentences with a capital letter, a naming word and a doing word.3 min
  3. 3Phonics: the sounds letters makeLearn the sound each letter makes and blend sounds together to read short words like cat, pen and sun.3 min
  4. 4Rhyming wordsFind words that sound the same at the end, like cat and hat, and make your own tiny rhymes.3 min
  5. 5Capital letters: when to use themLearn the three big rules for capital letters: starting a sentence, names of people and places, and the word I.2 min
  6. 6Opposites: word pairsLearn opposite words such as hot and cold, big and small, up and down, and use them in sentences.2 min

Every lesson here can also be read on its own page, with links to related lessons. All printable books.

Lesson 1 of 6

The alphabet and phonics

Learn the 26 letters, which five are vowels, and how sounds blend to make simple words like cat and sun.

Open this lesson on its own page · Practice sheet · Answer key · Contents

Let us begin

The big idea

Every word you read is built from letters. In this lesson you will meet the 26 letters of the English alphabet. You will also learn how their sounds join together to make words.

The English alphabet has 26 letters. Each letter has a capital form, like A, and a small form, like a. We use a capital letter at the start of a name and at the start of a sentence.

Five of the letters are vowels: a, e, i, o and u. The other 21 letters are consonants. Almost every word has at least one vowel in it.

Each letter has a sound as well as a name. The letter b says 'buh' and the letter s says 'sss'. When you say the sounds one after another, and then say them faster, they blend into a word. This is called phonics.

Blending the sounds of catThree boxes in a row show the letters c, a and t. The box with a is coloured differently because a is a vowel. An equals sign leads to a fourth box with the whole word cat. c + a + t = cat consonant vowel consonant sound: k sound: a sound: t Say k - a - t slowly, then faster: cat
Say each sound, then blend them together to read the word.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. Blending c-a-t

    Say the sounds k, a, t one at a time. Now say them faster: kat, cat. You have read the word cat.

  2. Capital and small letters

    Aman starts with a capital A. The letters after it are small: m, a, n. The small a is the third letter of his name.

  3. Finding the vowel

    In the word sun, the vowel is u. In the word pen, the vowel is e. Look for a, e, i, o or u in each word you read.

Try it at home

Sound hunt at home

You will need

  • Paper
  • Pencil or crayons
  • Things around your home

What to do

  1. Pick a letter, such as m.
  2. Say its sound out loud: 'mmm'.
  3. Walk around your home and find three things that start with that sound, like mat, mug and mango.
  4. Say each name slowly and listen for the first sound.
  5. Write the letter on your paper and draw the three things.
  6. Pick a new letter and play again.

Ask a grown-up: Ask a grown-up to walk with you and to say the sounds along with you.

Fun fact

The word alphabet comes from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet.

Lesson 2 of 6

Making simple sentences

A sentence tells a complete thought. Learn to build simple sentences with a capital letter, a naming word and a doing word.

Open this lesson on its own page · Practice sheet · Answer key · Contents

Let us begin

The big idea

When we put words together in the right order, we make a sentence. A sentence says something that makes sense. Let us learn how to build one.

A sentence tells a complete thought. 'The dog runs.' is a sentence. 'The dog' is not a sentence, because it does not tell us what the dog does.

Every sentence has two main parts. One part tells who or what the sentence is about. The other part tells what that person or thing does.

A sentence begins with a capital letter. A telling sentence ends with a full stop. The order of the words matters too: 'Dog the runs' does not make sense.

A sentence in word boxesThe sentence The dog runs. is split into four boxes: The, dog, runs and a full stop. Labels under the boxes say capital letter, who or what, what it does, and full stop. The dog runs . capital letter who or what? what it does full stop A sentence tells one complete thought.
A sentence needs a who, a what-it-does, a capital letter and a full stop.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. A short sentence

    Ravi plays. The word Ravi tells who. The word plays tells what he does. The sentence starts with a capital R and ends with a full stop.

  2. Making it longer

    The cat sleeps. The cat sleeps on the bed. The second sentence also tells where. You can add more words, but a sentence still needs a who and a what-it-does.

  3. Fixing a muddle

    The words 'sings the bird' are mixed up. Put them in order and you get: The bird sings.

Try it at home

Sentence strips

You will need

  • Paper
  • Pencil
  • Scissors or your fingers for tearing

What to do

  1. Write a short sentence on a strip of paper, for example: We eat rice.
  2. Cut or tear the strip so that each word is on its own piece.
  3. Mix up the pieces.
  4. Put the pieces back in the right order.
  5. Check that your sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
  6. Mix up the pieces and ask someone at home to put them in order.

Ask a grown-up: Help with the scissors, or just tear the paper.

Lesson 3 of 6

Phonics: the sounds letters make

Learn the sound each letter makes and blend sounds together to read short words like cat, pen and sun.

Open this lesson on its own page · Practice sheet · Answer key · Contents

Let us begin

The big idea

Every letter has a name and a sound. When we put sounds together, we can read a word! Let us listen carefully and say each sound out loud.

The letter b says "buh", the letter c says "kuh" and the letter t says "tuh". We say the sound, not the name of the letter.

The letters a, e, i, o and u are called vowels. Almost every word needs a vowel. The other letters are called consonants.

To read the word cat, say the three sounds slowly: c, a, t. Then say them faster and faster until they join: cat. This is called blending.

Short words with a vowel in the middle are easy to start with. Words like pen, sun, pig and hop all have three sounds.

Blending the word catThree boxes show the sounds c, a and t. Lines join them to the whole word cat. c a t cat kuh a tuh
Say each sound, then push the sounds together to read the word.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. Blending cat

    The sounds are c, a, t. Say them slowly, then push them together: cat. Now change the first sound to b and you get bat. Change it to m and you get mat.

  2. Blending sun

    The sounds are s, u, n. Say "s... u... n" and then say sun. The vowel in the middle is u. Change the last sound to m and you get sum.

  3. Counting sounds

    The word pig has 3 sounds: p, i, g. The word it has 2 sounds: i, t. The word a has just 1 sound. Count the sounds on your fingers.

Try it at home

Sound hunt at home

You will need

  • A pencil
  • A sheet of paper
  • Things around your house

What to do

  1. Pick one letter, for example m.
  2. Walk around your home and find three things that start with the sound m, such as mug, mat or mango.
  3. Write each word on the paper and say it slowly, sound by sound.
  4. Draw a small picture next to each word.
  5. Pick a new letter and do it again.

Ask a grown-up: An adult can say the sounds with you and help spell the words.

Lesson 4 of 6

Rhyming words

Find words that sound the same at the end, like cat and hat, and make your own tiny rhymes.

Open this lesson on its own page · Practice sheet · Answer key · Contents

Let us begin

The big idea

Some words sound alike at the end, like cat and hat. These are called rhyming words. Poems and songs love them, and so will you!

Rhyming words end with the same sound. The words bat, cat, mat and hat all end in "at", so they rhyme.

The first sound can change, but the ending stays the same. Change b in bat to h and you get hat. A family of words with the same ending is called a word family.

Words may rhyme even when they are spelt a little differently. The words blue and shoe rhyme, although they do not end with the same letters.

We can use rhyming words to make a tiny poem. For example: The cat sat on the mat. The two words cat and mat rhyme.

The "at" word familyThe ending "at" sits in the middle with four words around it: cat, bat, hat and mat. at cat bat hat mat
Same ending, different first sound: they all rhyme.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. The "an" family

    The words can, fan, man, pan and ran all end in "an". Each one begins with a different sound, but they all rhyme.

  2. The "og" family

    The words dog, log, fog and frog end with the sound "og". They rhyme. A dog sat on a log in the fog.

  3. Odd one out

    Look at the words sun, run, bun and pen. The words sun, run and bun rhyme. The word pen does not rhyme with them, so pen is the odd one out.

Try it at home

Rhyme chain

You will need

  • Paper
  • A pencil
  • A family member to play with

What to do

  1. Say a simple word, for example hen.
  2. Take turns to say a word that rhymes, such as pen, ten or men.
  3. Keep going until nobody can think of another word.
  4. Write down all the rhyming words you found.
  5. Make a two line rhyme using two of the words.

Ask a grown-up: An adult can play along and help with spelling.

Lesson 5 of 6

Capital letters: when to use them

Learn the three big rules for capital letters: starting a sentence, names of people and places, and the word I.

Open this lesson on its own page · Practice sheet · Answer key · Contents

Let us begin

The big idea

Capital letters are the big letters of the alphabet, like A, B and C. They are special, so we use them only at the right times. Let us learn the rules!

Rule 1: Every sentence begins with a capital letter. We write "The sun is hot." and not "the sun is hot."

Rule 2: Names of people, places and days start with a capital letter. We write Asha, Delhi, India and Monday.

Rule 3: The word I is always a capital letter when it means me. We write "I like mangoes."

All the other words in the middle of a sentence are written with small letters, unless they are names.

Where capital letters goA sentence "Asha lives in Delhi." with the capital letters in Asha and Delhi marked by arrows and labels. Asha lives in Delhi. Start of sentence Name of a place Small letters for the other words.
A capital letter starts the sentence and the names.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. Start of a sentence

    We write: My mother is kind. The first word, My, has a capital M. The rest of the words are small.

  2. Names

    We write: Ravi lives in Jaipur. The words Ravi and Jaipur are names, so each has a capital letter.

  3. The word I

    We write: Today I went to school with Meena. The word I is a capital, and Meena is a name, so it also has a capital.

Try it at home

Capital letter detective

You will need

  • An old newspaper or a story book
  • A pencil or crayon

What to do

  1. Open the book or newspaper at a page with a few sentences.
  2. Circle every capital letter you can find.
  3. Look at each circled letter. Is it at the start of a sentence, or is it a name?
  4. Write down three names you found.
  5. Write three sentences of your own with correct capital letters.

Ask a grown-up: An adult can help you choose a page that has easy sentences.

Lesson 6 of 6

Opposites: word pairs

Learn opposite words such as hot and cold, big and small, up and down, and use them in sentences.

Open this lesson on its own page · Practice sheet · Answer key · Contents

Let us begin

The big idea

Hot and cold. Big and small. Up and down. These word pairs are called opposites. When you know one word, you can find its partner!

An opposite word means the reverse of another word. The opposite of hot is cold. The opposite of day is night.

Opposites come in pairs. We can say them together: in and out, open and close, happy and sad.

Not every word has an opposite. The word table does not have one. Opposites are most common for describing words and doing words.

Using opposites makes our sentences clear. For example: The elephant is big, but the ant is small.

Opposite pairsThree rows with a line between each pair of words: hot and cold, big and small, up and down. hotcold bigsmall updown
Each pair means the reverse of the other.

Worked examples

See how it works

  1. Describing words

    Tall and short, fast and slow, old and new, clean and dirty. We can say: The giraffe is tall, but the rabbit is short.

  2. Doing words

    Open and close, push and pull, laugh and cry, sit and stand. We can say: Please open the door. Please close the door.

  3. Places

    Up and down, in and out, front and back, near and far. We can say: The bird is up in the tree. The cat is down on the ground.

Try it at home

Opposite pairs game

You will need

  • 8 small pieces of paper
  • A pencil

What to do

  1. Write one word on each paper, using four opposite pairs such as hot, cold, big, small, up, down, day, night.
  2. Mix the papers and place them face down on the floor.
  3. Turn two papers over. If they are opposites, keep them.
  4. If not, turn them back and try again.
  5. Play until every pair is found.

Ask a grown-up: An adult can play with you and read the harder words.

Part two

Practice sheets

One sheet for each of the 6 lessons. Write your name and the date at the top, answer in the spaces, then check with the answer keys at the back.

Practice sheet

The alphabet and phonics

Practice sheet: The alphabet and phonics (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. How many letters are there in the English alphabet?
  2. Write the five vowels.
  3. Write the capital letter for b.
  4. Write the small letter for Q.
  5. Which letter comes after c in the alphabet?
  6. Which letter comes between m and o?
  7. Which of these is a vowel: m, e or t?
  8. Say the sounds k, a, t quickly. Which word do you get?
  9. With which letter does the word sun begin?
  10. Write one word that starts with the letter b.

Practice sheet

Making simple sentences

Practice sheet: Making simple sentences (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. Which one is a sentence: 'the red ball' or 'The ball is red.'?
  2. What mark do we put at the end of a telling sentence?
  3. Put the words in order: sleeps / The / baby
  4. Fill in the missing word: ___ sun is hot.
  5. Rewrite correctly: mina eats rice
  6. In 'Dev runs fast.', which word tells who?
  7. In 'Birds fly.', which word tells what the birds do?
  8. Put the words in order: school / go / We / to
  9. Make a sentence using the words mango and sweet.
  10. Write your own sentence about your favourite fruit.

Practice sheet

Phonics: the sounds letters make

Practice sheet: Phonics: the sounds letters make (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. Which letters are vowels?
  2. Say the sounds of the word dog. What are they?
  3. Blend these sounds: h, a, t. What word do you get?
  4. Change the first sound of cat to r. What new word do you make?
  5. How many sounds are in the word pen?
  6. Which sound does the word sun start with?
  7. Which sound does the word bus end with?
  8. Which word is made by the sounds p, i, g?
  9. Name two words that start with the sound m.
  10. Is the letter t a vowel or a consonant?

Practice sheet

Rhyming words

Practice sheet: Rhyming words (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. Which word rhymes with cat: dog, hat or sun?
  2. Write one word that rhymes with pen.
  3. Do the words bun and sun rhyme?
  4. Which word is the odd one out: log, fog, frog, pin?
  5. Complete the rhyme: The cat sat on the ___ (mat or tree)?
  6. Name two words that rhyme with fan.
  7. Do the words blue and shoe rhyme?
  8. Which word rhymes with bell: well or ball?
  9. What is a word family?
  10. Make a two line rhyme using the words bee and tree.

Practice sheet

Capital letters: when to use them

Practice sheet: Capital letters: when to use them (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. Which letter should start every sentence: a capital or a small letter?
  2. Rewrite correctly: my name is rohan.
  3. Write the name of your city with a capital letter.
  4. Does the word dog need a capital letter in "The dog barks."?
  5. Rewrite correctly: i like to read.
  6. Which words need capitals: "meena goes to school on monday"?
  7. Why does the word India start with a capital?
  8. Write the name of one day of the week with a capital letter.
  9. Is the word book a name?
  10. Write one sentence about a friend, with capital letters in the right places.

Practice sheet

Opposites: word pairs

Practice sheet: Opposites: word pairs (Classes 1-2, English)

  1. What is the opposite of hot?
  2. What is the opposite of day?
  3. What is the opposite of open?
  4. What is the opposite of happy?
  5. What is the opposite of tall?
  6. Fill in: The elephant is big, but the ant is ___.
  7. What is the opposite of in?
  8. What is the opposite of fast?
  9. What is the opposite of clean?
  10. Write a sentence using the words up and down.

Part three

Answer keys

The answers to every practice sheet, in the same order as the lessons. Parents and teachers may like to keep these pages separately.

Answer key

Answers: The alphabet and phonics

  1. 26.
  2. a, e, i, o, u.
  3. B.
  4. q.
  5. d.
  6. n.
  7. e.
  8. cat.
  9. s.
  10. Any word that starts with b, for example ball, bat, bag or book.

Answer key

Answers: Making simple sentences

  1. The ball is red. It tells a complete thought, starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
  2. A full stop (.).
  3. The baby sleeps.
  4. The. (The sun is hot.)
  5. Mina eats rice. (Capital M, and a full stop at the end.)
  6. Dev.
  7. fly.
  8. We go to school.
  9. The mango is sweet. (Other correct sentences are fine, such as: I like the sweet mango.)
  10. Any complete sentence, for example: I like mangoes.

Answer key

Answers: Phonics: the sounds letters make

  1. a, e, i, o and u.
  2. d, o, g.
  3. hat.
  4. rat.
  5. 3 sounds: p, e, n.
  6. s.
  7. s.
  8. pig.
  9. Sample answers: mat, mug, mango, moon. Any word that starts with m is right.
  10. A consonant.

Answer key

Answers: Rhyming words

  1. hat.
  2. Sample answers: hen, ten, men, den.
  3. Yes, they both end in "un".
  4. pin.
  5. mat.
  6. Sample answers: can, man, pan, ran.
  7. Yes, they sound the same at the end.
  8. well.
  9. A group of words that end with the same sound, like cat, bat and hat.
  10. Sample answer: I see a bee. It sits on a tree.

Answer key

Answers: Capital letters: when to use them

  1. A capital letter.
  2. My name is Rohan.
  3. Sample answer: Mumbai. Any city name starting with a capital.
  4. No. Dog is not a name and is in the middle of the sentence.
  5. I like to read.
  6. Meena and Monday. Meena also starts the sentence.
  7. Because it is the name of a country.
  8. Sample answer: Tuesday.
  9. No, book is an ordinary word, so it uses a small letter.
  10. Sample answer: Priya is my friend.

Answer key

Answers: Opposites: word pairs

  1. cold.
  2. night.
  3. close.
  4. sad.
  5. short.
  6. small.
  7. out.
  8. slow.
  9. dirty.
  10. Sample answer: The ball went up and then it came down.

The end

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