Treats

What is a treat?
A treat is a small, special item or event we enjoy because it gives pleasure and makes us feel good. For young children, treats are often foods like a small piece of cake, a biscuit, a piece of fruit or an ice-cream. A treat can also be a sticker, a short playtime, or a story read aloud by a teacher. Treats are different from regular meals or everyday objects because they are given on special occasions or as a reward for good behaviour. This makes them exciting and worth waiting for.

When we talk about treats, we also talk about where and when they are given. Treats can be part of celebrations, like birthdays, or they can be a small thank-you for finishing homework or helping at home. Treats are best enjoyed in moderation. Eating a little sweet sometimes is okay, but having too many is not healthy. Sharing a treat with friends or family often makes the moment happier. In class activities, we will name different treats, sort them by food and non-food, and talk about when it is right to have a treat. These activities help children learn choice, sharing and simple self-control.

Taste and texture words
To describe treats well, we use words that tell us how they taste and how they feel in our mouth. Taste words include sweet, sour, salty and bitter. These words tell us what we sense on our tongue. Texture words tell us about the feeling when we bite or chew. Examples are crunchy, soft, chewy and smooth. When children learn these words, they can explain why they like or dislike a particular treat.

We will practise using one taste word and one texture word together in short sentences. For example, you can say, 'The cookie is sweet and crunchy,' or 'The mango is sweet and juicy.' Teachers will use food pictures and ask children to point and say words aloud. This helps link the new words to real things. Exercises include matching pictures with taste or texture words, repeating words in chorus to practise pronunciation, and simple drawing tasks where children colour a food and write two words about it. We will also discuss why healthy tastes, like sweet fruit, are better as regular snacks than too many sugary treats.

Reading: Short story — The Little Treat
Reading a short, simple story helps children practise sounding out words and understanding ideas. The story for this unit is about a child who finds a small treat and must decide whether to keep it or share. The story includes clear characters, simple actions and feelings such as happiness and kindness. It uses many of the vocabulary words from the unit, such as names of treats and taste words.

Before reading, look at the pictures and guess what will happen. Read the story slowly, one sentence at a time. Teachers will ask you to read aloud in class so others can listen. After the first reading, read again and underline new words. Try to understand what each sentence means. Talk about the main events: who found the treat, where it happened, what the child did and how others felt. Discuss any new words and practise saying them. Acting out the story in small groups helps remember the sequence of events and the new vocabulary. You will also answer simple questions about the story to show understanding.

Comprehension questions and answers
Comprehension means understanding what you read or hear. After reading the story about the little treat, you will answer questions to show that you understood it. Questions may be about facts in the story, for example 'Who found the treat?' or 'What did the child do with the treat?' Some questions will ask about feelings, such as 'How did the friend feel when the treat was shared?' Teachers will expect short, clear answers in complete sentences.

To find answers, look again at the lines in the story that tell who did what. If a question asks about why something happened, think about what the character said or did. Write one-sentence answers like 'Raju shared the treat because he wanted his friend to be happy.' Practice will include matching questions with answers, filling gaps in short sentences, and writing one or two sentences that explain what happened at the beginning, middle and end of the story. Drawing a picture and writing one sentence under it can also show comprehension. These tasks build reading skills and help children put their thoughts into words.

Grammar: Nouns and verbs
Grammar helps us put words together to make clear sentences. Two very important grammar parts are nouns and verbs. A noun names a person, place, thing or animal. Examples from the treats unit are 'boy', 'sister', 'cake' and 'school'. A verb is a doing word; it tells what someone or something does. Examples are 'eat', 'share', 'smile' and 'run'.

We will learn to spot nouns and verbs in short sentences. Start with simple examples: in 'The girl eats a biscuit', the words 'girl' and 'biscuit' are nouns, and 'eats' is the verb. Practice activities include underlining nouns and circling verbs, matching cards that show action pictures with verb words, and making short sentences using a noun card and a verb card. Teachers will also show how to build a short sentence using the rule Subject + Verb + Object. For example, 'Riya (subject) shares (verb) candy (object)'. These exercises help children write and speak correctly and prepare them for longer sentences later.

Writing: My favourite treat
Writing helps us share ideas on paper. In this topic you will learn to write a short paragraph of 4 to 6 sentences about your favourite treat. Begin with one sentence that names the treat: for example, 'My favourite treat is mango.' The next sentence can describe colour and taste: 'It is yellow and sweet.' The following sentence should say when you usually eat it: 'I eat it in summer after school.' Then explain why you like it: 'I like it because it tastes juicy and fresh.' End with a sentence about sharing or being careful: 'I share it with my sister.'

Teachers will help you plan the paragraph. First draw a picture of the treat and label it. Then write one sentence for each part of the picture. Practice spelling common words and using a capital letter at the start of each sentence and a full stop at the end. After writing, read your paragraph aloud to check it sounds right. Peers can help by listening and giving polite suggestions. These steps make writing easier and more fun.

Speaking: Asking and offering treats politely
Speaking with good manners is important when we ask for or offer treats. Polite words make people happy and keep friendships strong. In this topic, children learn short polite phrases like 'Please may I have one?' and 'Would you like to share?' They also practise replies such as 'Yes, please', 'No, thank you' and 'You are welcome.' Using these phrases helps children ask for things without being rude.

Learning includes role-play activities where one child asks for a treat and another offers it. Practise saying sentences clearly and with a smile. Teachers will encourage children to listen when others speak and to say 'thank you' after receiving something. You will also practise saying how the treat tastes, for example, 'It is sweet' or 'It is crunchy.' Speaking exercises build confidence; children can act out short dialogues in pairs, perform them in front of the class, and use picture prompts to make polite offers. These activities help children communicate kindly in real life.

Poems and rhymes about treats
Short poems and rhymes help with memory, pronunciation and listening. In this topic, children learn a simple rhyme about treats that uses repeating sounds and easy words. Rhymes are fun because they have rhythm and similar ending sounds called rhymes. For example, 'treat' and 'eat' rhyme. Saying rhymes aloud helps children hear sounds in words and practise speaking clearly.

Teachers will teach one short poem line by line. Children should listen, repeat and clap to the beat. Drawing pictures for each line helps remember the poem. Activities include making actions for strong words (for example, pretending to take a bite for 'eat') and writing a two-line rhyme of your own. Creating a rhyme encourages thinking about words that sound alike. Finally, children will recite the poem in small groups or the whole class. The aim is to build confidence, improve pronunciation and enjoy language through music and movement.