People on the road selling karvand, mangoes and jackfruit. The lilting language that makes me listen to the tune rather than the meaning. The dark sand and the crashing waves. Joy!And Mane's International School was beautiful. It's a small school as of now, just a baby. There are mango trees everywhere, and the principal spoke of how the children run round and round the trees as they play. Apparently, the rains night before last made the mangoes come crashing down, but until then, the boughs were heavy with fruit!On the way to Ratnagiri, we stopped to buy karvand, offered to us in cups made of velvety leaves. (What a city person I am! I don't know what leaves they were ...) What was most charming was that each cup of fruit cost ten rupees. Some of the leaves were small, with the cups holding barely a dozen berries. Some were huge, with over thirty! But the rate was the … [Read more...]
Storytelling Workshop at Palm Groves
A group of parents got together and invited me to conduct a weeklong storytelling workshop at a housing society. Storytelling has never been more fun! Working with my own stories is a lovely experience in itself, and when the story comes with its own kit ... The enjoyment reaches new levels!Here's a group of children putting together the jigsaw puzzle of Bholu at the Level Crossing ...It was such fun telling this story, with the children making the same sounds that Chitra makes in the book, imitating the train - Poooonnnn! Chug-chug-chug-chug, chug-chug-chug-chug. One observant child commented that the red Swift in the picture had to be an old one because there was no reversing camera!And here's another picture of all the children busily colouring the sketches that are part of the third kit, the one for Bholu at the School Excursion ...This one was fun because we … [Read more...]
Record Breakers at Cathedral Vidya School
Another set of Reading Challenge workshops came to an end yesterday. This time, the theme was 'Record Breakers', and the school that took it on was Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala. Working with fifteen bright children from classes five to eight filled me with joy!Lipograms and pangrams brought much hilarity ... The activity started in all seriousness and then went crazy as the children let their imaginations go wild.Every one of the participants was enthusiastic - all of them say they enjoyed the challenge!And, of course, team-building is part of the joy of workshops. How hard they try to finish their activity first!Another workshop is just around the corner, this time at the British Library, Pune. Click here for details. … [Read more...]
Travel the World: A Journey through Stories
I'm conducting a storytelling workshop this weekend at the British Library, Pune.OverviewEvery culture creates its own stories: to entertain young children, to teach them, and to attempt to explain the world. Through interactive storytelling, this workshop will give young children a glimpse of different cultures, allowing them to taste a little of the world!Day OneIt’s summertime, the best time to explore stories about summer and sunshine! Let’s travel to various countries, look at their costumes, and then imagine their stories. Children will enact the story with the storyteller, bringing alive the customs and traditions of each country we visit.Day TwoWhat comes after the summer? The rains in some parts of the world; autumn in others! Let's recall stories of summertime and then look at how seasons change. Finally, the children will be given pictures to … [Read more...]
Reading and Writing Workshops at SGI, Kolhapur!
I spent three days at Sanjay Ghodawat International School, Kolhapur, and conducted a series of reading and writing workshops with 204 children as part of the British Library's Reading Challenge programme. We worked on myths from around the world, read aloud Fragoline and the Midnight Dream and George and the Dragon, played with idioms, wrote stories ... What fun it was! … [Read more...]
Flickering Flames – Now Available!
During the last academic year, a group of girls from St. Mary's School worked with me at the Writers' Club. They imagined, wrote and rewrote. Now, their work is available in the form of an anthology of poems and short stories! Flickering Flames, written by girls from classes VI and VII of St. Mary's School, is now available online.The proud authors are Advaya Venbakkam, Advika Dhar, Ananya Banerjee, Anika Garg, Anushka Shinde, Ashna Bhavnagarwalla, Jayde MacFarland,Lavanya Dua, Pareesa Irani, Rashmin Kaur Juneja, Riva Verma, Samiksha Deshpande and Tejasee Khurjekar.The illustrators (also girls from the school) are Advaya Venbakkam, Ananya Banerjee, Anika Garg, Ashna Bhavnagarwalla, Chahat Agarwal, Nandini Ghosh, Pareesa Irani, Paridhi Kumar, Riva Verma, Samiksha Deshpande, Shanaya … [Read more...]
Writers’ Club – The Last Session
A whole year with my first batch of the Writers' Club at St. Mary's School is over! We've written all kinds of things. I've put a few pieces up on my blog; I've made the girls write and rewrite, write and rewrite ... We did poetry, prose and drama. We worked with back stories, plot and setting. We played all kinds of games and we did all kinds of activities. And it was fun.During my first session, 60 children showed up. I knew many of them would not keep at it. I reminded them, several times, that if their compositions improved, or they began to write answers better, these would be side benefits. I warned them that I expected assignments to be submitted on time.And finally, about 15 stuck with it. They continued to attend sessions, even though writing regularly was tough, and I kept making them rework their pieces. During the orientation for the next batch, the girls kept … [Read more...]
Reading Challenge at Dr Kalmadi Shamrao High School
Today was the closing ceremony of the Reading Challenge Programme at Dr Kalmadi Shamrao High School. Look at all the proud faces!I conducted two workshops for the children: one on idioms, the other on myths from different parts of the world. During the first one, we solved a crossword puzzle, played team games differentiating between idioms and proverbs, and attempted to guess the meanings of several idioms. I was very impressed by the number of idioms the children were able to explain!The second workshop I conduct as part of the Mythical Maze Reading Challenge is always more fun for the children. I divide them into groups and give each group a myth from some part of the world. All five groups work with myths explaining the same phenomenon - rain. They perform a skit, make a chart, explain the major ideas ... It was such fun, as always!This is just the beginning of a … [Read more...]
Let’s Break Some Records!
Of late, I've been too busy to post updates about events I conduct, but here's a quick heads-up. I'm conducting a workshop at the British Library tomorrow!Explore novel records that you can see yourself setting!Work on all four language skills – reading, writing, listening and speaking. Interact with other children with varied interests. Reflect on everything you have read so far and why it interests you.Most importantly, let's have some fun!It's part of this year's Reading Challenge, but you're welcome to attend the workshop even if you aren't part of the challenge!Here are the details:Venue: British Library, Fergusson College Road, Pune Date: 8th January, 2016 Age-group: 8-13 years Time: 4pm to 6pm Registration fee: Rs 600 Contact: Namrata - 020-41005327Pre-registration is preferred, but if it is impossible, you're welcome to drop in fifteen … [Read more...]
Workshop at Ahmedabad
Here are a couple of photos from the workshop I conducted at FD School, Ahmedabad, under the banner of Ratna Sagar. It was a lovely experience, working with enthusiastic teachers. We worked on the story of Pinocchio, exploring integrated learning and the importance of conducting different kinds of activities while teaching. We spoke about reading and why we enjoy reading. We discussed the role of non-language teachers in the teaching of English. All in all, it was a rewarding session! … [Read more...]