I'm conducting a storytelling workshop this weekend at the British Library, Pune. Overview Every 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 One It’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 Two What 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 - 020-41005327 Pre-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...]
Reading Day
Helen O' Grady's Navi Mumbai chapter invited me to be part of its Reading Day celebrations in honour of Dr Kalam's birthday. What a crazy day I had with enthusiastic children from St. Mary's School, Koparkhairane, and Gold Crest High, Vashi! The children were full of questions. One commented, "Most authors now don't really write; they type. Why do we call them writers? We should call them typers." Children asked me where my inspiration came from; they asked me what I enjoyed reading and what my journey towards publication was like. They asked how many times my work had been rejected, and did not quite believe me when I told them I had lost count. I read out three different stories from The Story-Catcher to three different groups. Each session was rewarding. It was a wonderful day; here's to many more! … [Read more...]
Reflection
The IB methodology taught me the importance of reflecting on what we have learnt. I often keep that in mind as I conduct workshops, in the hope that reflection will help participants consciously use what they learn in their lives ahead. The girls from St. Mary's have now attended eight sessions of the Writing Club. They reflected on what they have understood, and thought about what they need to do ahead. Here is what Remanika Sohal, a student of class VII has to say: Based on the comments I have received on the assignments I have done so far, I think I need to spend more time and energy on my work. I must not hurry through it. My ideas seem to have potential, but I rush a little when it comes to putting them down in the form of a poem. I have enjoyed all the sessions and have learnt a great deal as well. There is one aspect which I really appreciate when it comes to learning in the … [Read more...]
The Gruffalo’s Child
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