Stories are magical; we all know that. What is even more magical is when you can feel creative energy pulsing all around you and then see those ideas transforming into stories. Creative Writing with Children Yesterday, at The Story Station, I met a group of enthusiastic young children, bursting with ideas. One boy had made […]
Workshop on Communicative English
The six-hour journey from Pune to Beed was lovely. I love travelling in the monsoon through pouring rain, looking at all the shades of green passing by. I love the hills in the rain. They’re so full of life, so different from the parched summer browns! My workshop last weekend was with Gurukul English School […]
Language and Literature Workshop, VPEMS
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 […]
Summer Camp – Cedarwood Afterschool
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 […]
Session III – Language and Literature Workshop
A few photographs from Session III of the Language and Literature Workshop at Vidya Pratishthan’s English Medium School, Baramati.
Language and Literature Workshops
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!”
Drama
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 […]
Little Red Riding Hood
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”, […]
Language and Literature Workshops in Schools
Moving on from reading workshops in libraries to Language and Literature Workshops in schools is a lovely step! Working with 250 children was a whole new experience for me …
The Crazy Travelogue – V
Coping with a new language, staying with people I did not know and attending school with friends who were much better at French than I was was too trying an experience for me to have written about my experience every day. I wanted to write, but it was all good intentions and nothing more. On […]
Imagine and Innovate: A Workshop on Books for Children
Workshop Outline: How do books come alive? What happens in the mind of the writer, and how does it finally reach the hands of the reader? “Imagine and Innovate” explores each step of the journey: from the idea to the making of the book. Children will come together to create a story, design and make a […]
Mythical Maze – Workshop II
The Mythical Maze Reading Challenge is nearly over! After Reading and Role Play and Idioms Are My Cup of Tea, today has Myths from around the World and Myths and Fables. I showed the little ones a map of the world. These children are in the age-group 5-7. We were reading a ‘story from Arabia’, Where There is Will. “Do […]
Vocabulary Workshop at Magarpatta City
Now moving to a new venue – JustBooks, Magarpatta City! Vocabulary Workshop for Children Dates: 18th and 19th October, 2014 Time: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm Venue: JustBooks, Magarpatta City Age-group: 8-12 years Registration fee: Rs. 500
Day Two: Storytelling Workshop
We read aloud, acted, spoke, coloured, stamped and drew. I heard two stories about a zoo, and we read a lovely story about two rabbits and a fairy princess. What a feast of stories it was! The three-day storytelling workshop had: 1. Tikki tikki tembo 2. The Witch and her Two Daughters (adapted from two […]
Photographs from Yesterday’s Workshops
Sunday morning saw the end of my two-day workshop, Weekend with Words, at JustBooks Aundh. With Word Search, Word-Building and Word Train, we came to the end of a fun workshop! At the British Library, we had a day based on Roald Dahl! Today, we have: Storytelling Workshop Time: 11 am to noon Age-group: 5-8 […]
Day One: Read Something New!
Spending a Sunday afternoon with enthusiastic children at the British Library is such a joy! The idea of this workshop was to get over Geronimo Stilton and Wimpy Kid, and begin to read something new. I know too many children who finish their Geronimo Stiltons and then say they have nothing more to read. With […]
Workshops Ahead
Here is what my next two weekends look like! Workshop Details Weekend with Words: Age-group: 9-12 Registration Fee: Rs. 500 Read Something New! Age-group: 8-12 Registration fee: Rs. 1,200 for members; Rs. 2,200 for non-members (complimentary six-month gold membership with each registration) Storytelling with Varsha: Postponed from 15th August 2014 to 23rd August 2014 Age-group: […]
Weekend with Words
A workshop at the other end of town now! This one does not revolve just around reading; it’s about word-building. How good is your vocabulary? How quickly can you think of words everyone knows? How easily can you express yourself? Join me for a weekend workshop at JustBooks, Aundh! Dates: 23rd and 24th August, 2014 […]
Talking to Children
In one of the places where I used to teach dance, children from various backgrounds often had trouble communicating with me. They spoke little or no English and sometimes, little or no Hindi, Tamil or Marathi. Problems occurred when they spoke just one language if that one was not one I understood. I remember one […]
Peach Juice
My sister and I coined a beautiful parameter for comparison. “It’s like peach juice” means something special to us. Backpacking in Greece, we did something very smart. We realised that we were constantly thirsty and often in need of energy. So we took to buying large packs of juice, rather than shopping all the time […]