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Storytelling at the British Council Library, Pune

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Summer holidays are nearly over; here's my last activity before school begins. This storytelling session is for the little ones at a venue I always love! Date: Sunday, 31 May 2015 Time: 3.00 to 4.00 pm Venue: British Council Library,Pune Overview: Stories are magical. When young children listen to stories, they develop into readers as they grow older. They begin to imagine and create, exploring worlds of their own. Interactive storytelling allows children to experience the magic of stories. Through role-play and drama, the children begin to express themselves and become immersed in each tale. Fees: Rs 350/-per participant for British Council Library Members; Rs 500/- for non-members Registrations open on a first come first served basis up to a maximum of 20 participants. For any further information please feel free to contact Abjesh Thorat on 41005328 or email … [Read more...]

Reading and Writing Workshop at Cedarwood

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Half of my reading and writing workshop at Cedarwood is over, and I've finally convinced myself that I am not going to be taking any photographs. I keep intending to, and then I get so involved in everything we're doing that somewhere along the line, I forget. We've done so much in the last few days. Here are a few things that stand out. One of the girls came up with the idea of a magical die. The die has letters of the alphabet on it, not numbers. The character in the story, Gouri, rolls the die and sees what letter she gets. If she makes a wish starting with that letter, it will come true. The most beautiful detail of all is that Gouri found the die in a hole in a rainbow! One child came up with the idea of a magical ring with a spell written on the inside. Learn the spell by heart, put on the ring and say the spell aloud. The gem begins to glow and then casts a laser beam that … [Read more...]

Language and Literature Workshop, VPEMS

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A hectic, lovely month came to an end with a heart-warming valedictory function and the last session with each of the nine batches I worked with at Vidya Pratishthan's English Medium School. As usual, I got too involved with the workshop to take any photographs, but my mind is full of pictures. Children ran to me to tell me they had read stories on my website. Others asked me when I would come next. Some came and promised to read right through their summer vacation. A few said they would write stories and poems and send them to me. I'll answer the question I got asked most frequently, though: Yes, I'll be back. I will come to VPEMS and conduct more language and literature workshops. I'll be back next year, and I'll meet all the children, and more.   … [Read more...]

Summer Camp – Cedarwood Afterschool

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For all those who have been asking me whether I have any workshops planned for the summer ... I'm doing four exciting weeks under the banner of the Cedarwood Afterschool Program at Magarpatta City. The modules I'm conducting include - - A five-day reading workshop for the age-group 7-12 - A five-day writing workshop for the age-group 7-12 Do call Cedarwood for details!   … [Read more...]

Language and Literature Workshops

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Each activity during the Language and Literature workshop revealed something new and delightful. The second session with nine batches of children at Vidya Pratishthan's English Medium School, Baramati, is over! "What did you learn during today's session?" I asked them. Promptly, a child responded, "We learned that there is so much to read! So many stories!"   … [Read more...]

Drama

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Children love to act. All of us love to act, or Dumb Charades would not be such a popular game. One thing I stress during all my workshops is the importance of copyright. I insist that children don't just rip images and articles off the internet, print them and use them. In keeping with that idea, I usually use my own stories during workshops, in addition to traditional tales from around the world. A story I love is a Japanese tale of Amaterasu, the radiant one who lights up the sky. Her brother Susanowa ravages the earth with storms, so Amaterasu hides in a cave. The gods are desperate to bring light back to the world, so they call Uzume, the god of laughter and joy. Uzume begins to dance, and the gods roar with laughter. Curious, Amaterasu peeks out - the first streaks of light appear. She catches sight of her own brilliant reflection in the mirror opposite, and she emerges some … [Read more...]

Little Red Riding Hood

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In the first session of a workshop, particularly one with a heavy name like "Language and Literature Workshop", I like to start on a light note. Humour is a great place to begin, and I turn to an all-time favourite - Roald Dahl. This time, I chose five of my favourite poems - "The Crocodile", "The Porcupine", "The Tummy Beast", "The Anteater" and "Little Red Riding Hood". I divided the participants into groups of five, and gave each group a poem to read. I gave them ten minutes to read and understand the poem, and then asked them to perform a little skit based on it. (Spoiler warning: This blog post spoils the punchline of Roald Dahl's "Little Red Riding Hood".) In Dahl's version of "Little Red Riding Hood", after the dutiful comments on Grandma's big ears and big eyes, Little Red Riding Hood says, "... what a lovely great big furry coat you have on." To this, the irate wolf replies, … [Read more...]