Friends Behind Walls
Inu and Putti are not allowed to play with each other. But what can they possibly do when everyone else in Shanti Park seems to have been born at the age of 30? They have no one to play with except each other!
Soon they discover that they actually like each other and want to be friends, so they need an answer to the Most Important Question: why are their families fighting?
They go to one person after another, searching for answers (or answers-shanswers, as Putti’s father would say). Mr Om Namaha, Dr Solanki and the Tekdichi Mhatari – who can answer their question?
Friends Behind Walls is such a gorgeous book that I simply had to include it in my reading programme! Here’s some of what we will do.
Word games
Putti loves words and so do I. He breaks words up and comments on how nonsensical they are. Legend = lej+end, but it has nothing to do with the end of a ledge. Cacophony = cac+o+funny, but it doesn’t have anything to do with a joke.
Now imagine the possibilities of working on words with children. I’m also thinking about the multilingual games I could use and the ways in which we can play with songs!
Imagination
I LOVE the illustrations in Friends Behind Walls, and pictures make for great conversation starters. The cover itself is a good place to begin because it invites children to think about what the story could possible be about. Within the book, I love the rickshaw ride, the car ride and Tekdichi Mhatari doing a little jig. To be honest, I love them all, but these stayed with me. Working on character sketches and caricatures is going to be such fun!
Book discussion
What do you do after a fight? What about adults? Do you think they do the same thing? What makes you angry and what do you say when you are angry?
We can talk about so many things when we read a book like Friends Behind Walls!
Join my online reading programme
Registrations are now closed for this reading programme. Find out about the next one here.
If you would like to receive email notifications when I launch new batches, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – for regular updates.
Hungry to Read
If there was one thing that could push you to read, what would that be? How would you get someone who doesn’t like reading to read?
When Arjun’s teacher announces a competition in school, Arjun is thrilled – until he learns that it is a reading competition. He is no reader; he likes logic, facts and all things mathematical. The problem is that the prize is so attractive that Arjun is tempted. The question, though, is how far he is willing to go to help his class to win.
The reasons I chose Hungry to Read for my reading programme are very different from the reasons I chose every other book. More than having enjoyed the book, I love the possibilities it has when it comes to activities and conversations. Here is some of what I will do with the book.
Scavenger hunt
I love book scavenger hunts! We’ll do a quick one with this book, simply to start a conversation on the different kinds of books we read.
Book discussion
Some conversations need to happen time and time again if ever we want to move away from ideas of ‘girlie’ and ‘bad English’. Why does Arjun find a book about a princess too girlie? Why does Sheen get angry with Rio’s lack of fluency?
Language shaming is something I’ve written about in the past, and it finds its worst form when it comes to a language like English. Language shaming leaves deep impressions on children, and this is something I want children to think about. Gender stereotyping is something I have trouble with in books too, and I want conversations to happen around what constitutes ‘girlie’ and what is ‘boyish’. How much will seven- and eight-year-olds contribute to a conversation like this? I can only begin the conversation and find out!
How to pick a book
A book about a Read Drive is a wonderful way to introduce children to how to choose books. During the reading challenges at the British Library, I often found children picking the thinnest possible books so that they could easily get done with their quota of six books in six weeks. Other children, seeking to impress their teachers, chose the thickest book, paying no attention to whether it seemed interesting to them.
How do we choose a book? How can we pick something suited to our age, understanding and interest? I will use Hungry to Read to talk about it!
Join my online reading programme
Registrations are now closed for this reading programme. If you would like to receive email notifications when I launch new batches, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – for regular updates.
Lucky Girl
Lucky Girl is a hilarious book. It’s imaginative, wacky and full of surprises. Sumi is a lucky girl. With her pink bed, a window that overlooks the sea, soft toys and a chef for a mother, she must be a lucky girl, right?
Wrong.
As I chuckled my way through this hOle book written by Shabnam Minwalla and illustrated by Tanvi Bhat, I knew I had to work with it at my reading programme! Here are a few things I plan to do with the book.
Funny recipes
Pammi Gupta makes pumpkin peel muffins and furry leaf parathas for Sumi. Yuck! What kinds of things would you put together to make an imaginative meal? Would you eat the things you can see on the cover of the book? Once you know what the ingredients are, would you still eat them?
Poetry
Sumi takes part in a poetry writing competition organised by Fab Foods. Her friend Priya wants to write one kind of poem while she wants to write another kind. Can you write a short poem about some food that you like?
What’s in a name?
Depending on what recipe book Pammi Gupta is writing, she calls her daughter Sumangali something else.
Baby Dim Sum. Sumacaroni. Sushi.
I’m waiting for the children to play with their own names and come up with new and funny name extensions!
Join my online reading programme
Registrations are now closed for this reading programme. If you would like to receive email notifications when I launch new batches, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – for regular updates.
Online Reading Programme – Second Edition!
Registrations are now closed for this reading programme.
I was just about halfway through my first reading programme when parents started reaching out to me to check if there will be other batches. Even when I launched the first one, I knew I would continue the programme if enough people expressed interest. And so, here it is – the second edition of my online reading programme!
What does a reading programme involve?
Essentially, reading.
As there are four books spread across 12 sessions, we take roughly three sessions per book. Naturally, this means that we do not read the entire book together. We read excerpts from the books together during each session, and then the children read in their own time before the following class. During each online interaction, we do not just read; we also imagine, create, play and talk. We do activities around the books and try to think about what will happen next. We review books, discussing which ones we like more and why.
Which books will we be working with?
This time, the four books I’m going to work with are:
- Lucky Girl – Shabnam Minwalla
- Amelia Bedelia Means Business – Herman Parish
- Hungry to Read – Arti Sonthalia
- Friends Behind Walls – Harshikaa Udasi
You could also take a look at the last four books we worked with – Trouble with Magic, Shrinking Vanita, The Sheep-Pig and Manya Learns to Roar.
Details
The details are all in the image above, but here they are once more.
Dates: 2nd February to 12th March 2021
Online interactions: Tuesdays and Fridays, 4-4:45pm
Age-group: 7-8 years
Workshop fee: ₹3,500 (UPI: seshanvarsha@okhdfcbank or bank transfer – contact me for details)
Important note: The books are included in the fee only if you register before the 25th of January. This is because I source books from independent bookstores close to you, as far as possible. This is both to support local bookstores and to save the environment by reducing the carbon footprint created by shipping books across the country when they’re available at the store next door!
Physical copies will be delivered anywhere in India.
My phone number is in the poster; please feel free to contact me if you have any other questions. And no, I don’t use WhatsApp.
Edited to add: Do note that the books are no longer included in the fee of ₹3,500. If you would like me to organize the books for you anyway, please get in touch.
How to register
My Year in Workshops – 2020
2020 was a tough year, such a tough year that it’s become rather redundant to say it. Many of us had to step out of our comfort zones and do things differently.
For me, of course, it was no different. For several years now, workshops have been my prime source of income. I’ve had my writers’ club at St. Mary’s School, teacher training sessions for Ratna Sagar, and the odd workshop here and there with libraries. When my fifth year at the Writers’ Club came to an end in February last year (was it really not even a year ago?), I was all set for a short vacation, before getting to work again. April and June are often busy months at Ratna Sagar. I conduct teacher training sessions all over the country, and so, I usually find myself travelling and working right through these months with few breaks in the middle. In fact, I already had workshops scheduled for May and June, so I was making plans around them, figuring out when to go to Bangalore, thinking about sessions around Sisters at New Dawn and Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells…
And everything came to a grinding halt.
What kept me going?
In the beginning, I think most of us just waited and watched. I didn’t know what to do, so I wrote as much as I could. Just like last year, I found wonderful, supportive online groups, where we shared information and experiences. I listened to writers talking about their journeys and editors discussing the effect of coronavirus on the publishing industry. Children’s writers also got together and did book readings, using the delightful hashtag #ThodaReadingCorona. I did one too, reading out a chapter of Sisters at New Dawn!
Soon, it was time to do more. Physical workshops were (and still are) out of the question, so I needed to move online. The release of Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells at this time was ideal, for I began to conduct online sessions for Scholastic as part of their virtual book fairs. I designed an online model that worked well, and slowly began to navigate all the challenges that surround virtual author interactions.
Often, I felt like I was talking into the void because many children keep their videos off. Yet, the process was rewarding. Thanks to the chat box, I found that children were less inhibited. They could just post their questions without stuttering, stammering or even showing their faces, and this got me thinking.
At school sessions, it is impossible to interact with everyone because of the sheer numbers of children. If I launched something on my own, I could do things differently. I’ve done more workshops than I can count, and I’m familiar with the technological space, so I had two arrows in my quiver already. My husband was more than willing to create a secure online forum for me, where children could share their work and give and receive feedback.
So, in the first week of October, I launched, with great trepidation, my online creative writing programme.
I had so many questions when I set out.
- Would the fee be acceptable to parents? I knew the kind of work I would put in because children would share writing on the forum every day. I had to provide meaningful feedback to each piece submitted.
- Would children stay engaged online when everything is now online?
- Would the forum appeal to children who are so familiar with online social interactions anyway?
- Would internet snags and technological problems keep cropping up?
Yet, I launched it. And I love it.
The stories, the poetry, the fun – nothing changes in the online model. It’s just as exciting as my writers’ club. In fact, I would say it’s more exciting because I have children from all over the country, and one child from another country too! Over and over again, I come across wonderful pieces of writing. Look at these, for instance!
As the writing programme went on, I began to notice how many parents with children in the age-group 7-8 wanted a creative writing course for their children. However, working online with children in that age bracket would be so challenging as to become meaningless. Yet, this got me thinking. I wouldn’t be a writer today if I hadn’t spent my childhood surrounded by books. I’ve also worked with the reading challenge at the British Library for several years and thought about all the things I would do differently. And so, I launched yet another programme – my online reading programme. I also decided to tie up with independent bookstores for it, and I’m so glad I did!
2021 promises to be full of activities. I’m not hopeful about offline workshops in the near future, but the online model is delightful, at least for me!
Look out for all workshop announcements on my blog, or on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). To receive information about my reading and writing programmes via email, please fill this form.
Creating Memorable Characters with Sophie
And just like that, the third and last guest session for the current batches of my online writing programme is over. It doesn’t feel like very long ago that I announced the programme, wondering whether there would be enough participants. I did not promise guest sessions because I knew it would depend on the response I received. It needed to be feasible to invite guest speakers, both in terms of the number of participants and in terms of my ability to pay the speakers. But here we go, two batches for two age groups are nearly over!
Sophie’s writing workshop was my third guest session, and it was lovely. Sessions where I learn something about methodology are always extra special. For instance, Sophie worked with excerpts from the classics, something I’ve never imagined doing. She chose tiny sections from Persuasion, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Lord of the Rings and Boy, amongst others, and she invited the participants to pay attention to the technique employed before putting it into practice themselves.
Importantly for me, she worked with representation and the problem with stereotypes. Whose voice gets heard in stories? How often do we write about someone from a different faith? Are disabled characters represented in literature? Are we guilty of using stereotypes when we describe our characters?
Especially with so many children consistently writing about white characters in Europe and America, I loved that she led a discussion about stories set in contexts that we know and the importance of researching contexts we don’t.
I’m already excited about the next batches of my creative writing programme, scheduled to launch in April! A few quick links:
- Find out more about the programme, the fee structure and the outline.
- Receive email notifications about upcoming reading and writing workshops.
- Read about the first guest session with Nalini Sorensen.
- Read about the second guest session with Dr. Sreeja Nag.
- Read excerpts of what participants have to say about the writing programme – reflection one and reflection two.
Workshop Anecdotes
So many little things happen during workshops! That’s what makes them so much fun.
For instance, my reading programme began on Tuesday and I started with Asha Nehemiah’s Trouble with Magic. We spoke about all the wonderful things we’d invent because, in some ways, science and magic are pretty much the same thing.
One child would invent a door. You step through the door and get to whatever place you want to go. You just have to tell the door where you’d like to be.
“And what trouble could you have with magic of this sort?” I asked.
The boy thought for a bit. “If you don’t speak clearly,” he said, very clearly. “You could end up in the wrong place.”
Another child invented this – a vacation machine! Do notice how machine is spelt. Also, I love that the key words are there. No more and no less!
At my writing programme yesterday, I had more fun. The children here are older and I wanted to start a conversation about how we choose names for our characters. I asked them to come up with a nickname for each of the others – including me, if they wanted. I’ve done this activity before and many children are often shy about giving me a nickname. But yesterday was all kinds of delightful.
One girl named me ‘Funsha’. She wanted to use my real name as the root and couple it with a characteristic she associates with me. Isn’t that just lovely?
There’s another girl called Vrinda in the batch, whom she renamed ‘Vrintresting’ because, well, she’s very interesting.
Another girl named me Mia.
After a horse.
She reddened as soon as she realised how that sounds, but quickly explained, “I go horse riding and I love that horse! She’s friendly, calm, patient and just … she reminds me of you!”
I’ve never been named after a horse before, and I certainly never expected to feel so delighted about it!
Creating Memorable Characters
Both batches of my online creative writing programme began in October. Two months out of three have flown by, and I can’t quite believe that I’ve had eight sessions with each batch. We’ve had two wonderful guest sessions too – one with author Nalini Sorensen and one with Dr. Sreeja Nag. It’s time to announce my third and last guest session for this batch, with a multicultural writer-friend, Sophie Gaden.
About the Facilitator
Sophie is a French-Brazilian writer, teacher, and translator. She spent her childhood in Brazil, but at the age of 12, she moved to India where she lived for eight years. As if three countries with three different cultures weren’t enough, she took another step across the world and graduated in English Literature and Creative Writing from Lancaster University. She is now based in London, writing poetry, translating, and teaching English at a secondary school. She is also a poetry translator at the Atelier do Centro in Sao Paulo.
Creating Memorable Characters
What are characters, really? Mysterious beings, figments of our imagination.
How do writers create characters? Why are some characters so memorable? What makes them unique?
Sophie will also be dealing with representation, addressing the need to be more inclusive in our stories. We’ll discuss ideas and explore techniques and activities that will help us imagine and create characters that stay with us long after we close the book.
Details
| Fee | ₹400 per head (UPI: seshanvarsha@okhdfcbank or bank transfer – please contact me for my bank details; my number is in the poster) |
| Age-group | 9-13 |
| Date | 19th December 2020 |
| Time | 4 pm to 5 pm IST |
How to register
This is a free event for all those who have registered for my online creative writing programme. Non participants may join this standalone workshop on payment of the registration fee of ₹400.
This workshop was held on the 19th of December. To be intimated about forthcoming workshops programmes in advance, please fill this form or follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Science Stories with Sreeja
What a whirlwind weekend I’ve had! With the Scholastic Writing Awards ceremony, a guest session at my online creative writing programme, and a weekend workshop for the ten winners of the Scholastic Writing Awards, the weekend has flown by in the best possible way!
As with every guest session, yesterday was special. I’ve invited Sreeja before and I know how exciting conversations with her can be for a group of curious young writers. She’s exciting, warm and generous with her interactions, never dismissing a question or an idea out of hand. For instance, there was a moment yesterday when a child asked her, “Could there be mermaids on some other planet?”
Sreeja paused and then responded, “Why not?”
Sreeja is a scientist at NASA and also leads a team at a start-up that is building and deploying what could be the first self-driving robotic fleet on public roads. She has a PhD in Space Systems Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge and studies space systems, space robotics for Earth observation, space traffic management, and vehicular robotics validation. That’s about as exciting as it gets for children interested in space stories.
Watching her interact with the creative writing students yesterday was wonderful. I enjoyed her session as much as – if not more than – the children.
As always, I was also struck by all the questions she was asked. Here are a few:
- Does NASA hire artists?
- How do astronauts sleep in space?
- How do they train to sleep in space?
- Don’t astronauts get bored of their jobs?
- Do you think a planet with huge oceans could have enormous creatures?
- Do astronauts ever argue when they’re on space missions?
- How do you get network at the International Space Station?
Guest sessions bring magic to the programme, and a NASA scientist? That’s all kinds of special.
Trouble with Magic
The name itself makes my eyes sparkle. Trouble with magic? That sounds promising! And it is. I giggled my way through the book, chuckling at the hapless Aunt Malu and charmed by the enterprising Veena. Aunt Malu should have known better, but … therein lies the tale!
Why is this book part of my reading programme?
The hOle books are all fun, and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Asha Nehemiah, so how could I not include her Trouble with Magic in my reading programme?
Imagination
What would you invent if you could invent anything in the world? Do you think that invention of yours is scientific or magical?
Children at my workshops have invented all kinds of things from time machines to superfast shoes and robots that do their homework for them. Aunt Malu is a delightful mix of magician and scientist – neither real nor fantastic – and so, she provides the perfect balance for children who want both realistic fiction and magic. Children are free to imagine anything at all in this realm and I’m waiting to see everything they create!
Actvities
As with Shrinking Vanita, I look forward to linking the real world with the virtual one. Online workshops do have their disadvantages, but they have advantages too because so much stuff is easily accessible. I won’t, of course, get children to make things themselves since I cannot supervise, but I will invite them to look at bottles of interesting things around them and imagine what would happen if they mix them up, in the style of George’s Marvellous Medicine!
Sense perception
Paying attention to the world around us is the first step towards making sense of it. What happens to snow in the heat? What happens to leaves in the wind? How do we link these sounds to our emotions? With its effusion of colour and sound, Trouble with Magic allows for much sensitivity to the world around us.
A little about the book
There’s never a dull moment when nine-year-old Veena is around, but Aunt Malu should know better than to go along with the girl’s zany ideas. Veena’s ideas always lead to unexpected results. Free season passes to the circus, for instance, involve cleaning out lion cages with the lions in them. Adopting pets leads them to take in a lame mongoose that keeps stealing food from the neighbour’s kitchen.
Trouble with Magic is a hilarious book, a rollicking ride in the company of a fun aunt and an incurably optimistic girl.
Registrations are now closed for this reading programme. If you would like to receive email notifications when I launch new batches, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – for regular updates.
The Sheep-Pig
A few months ago, one of my publishers, Mango Books, began a series of posts on social media about books authors read when they were young. The book I chose was The Sheep-Pig, a delightful chapter book by a favourite writer, Dick King-Smith.
Dick King-Smith’s stories are a treat. I loved The Sheep-Pig, the sequel Ace and so many more – Saddlebottom, A Mouse Called Wolf, The Hodgeheg … Every time I went to the library, I would look out for his books, hoping to discover at least one more book I hadn’t read.
Why is this book part of my reading programme?
Obviously, the first reason is that I love it. Here’s what I said to Mango Books about it.
“The Sheep-Pig is a delightful story, and I’m so glad I read it as a child! The book left me with the feeling that anything is possible. More than that, I loved the idea that kindness and courtesy can help you achieve anything. The Sheep-Pig shatters all stereotypes about pigs being dirty, greedy and stupid because the protagonist Babe is the perfect pig – clean, unfailingly polite and utterly charming. The story stayed with me because of its gentleness, its humour and its wonderful portrayal of friendship–all of which I hope find their way into my writing too!”
Discussion
From the importance of being polite to ideas of stereotypes, daring to be different and following instructions, The Sheep-Pig can spark all kinds of conversations. Why does Babe succeed where others fail? How do people see you? Do you fit in with their ideas? The Sheep-Pig is a wonderful text to work with when it comes to a range of subjects!
Puzzles
Many children find reading boring because there’s nothing to do. Mazes and puzzles help them to keep their minds active as they figure out best possible routes, and The Sheep-Pig, with its trail routes and shepherding storyline is perfect for more than one quick activity on problem solving.
Word games
Babe gets confused by the word ‘ewe’. He wonders what the sheep Ma means when she says ‘I am you’. Homophones can be confusing, but playing with them is fun! I’m waiting to work with rhymes, homophones and more at the reading programme.
A little about the book
Why can’t I learn to be a sheep-pig?
Babe, The Sheep-Pig
Mr Hogget wins a piglet at a fair, but he’s never had pigs before. His sheep-dog, Fly, takes the piglet under her wing and like all children, the piglet begins to imitate the closest adult. It so happens that the closest adult is not a pig, but a sheep-dog. Why should that stand in the way? If the piglet’s adoptive mum can be a sheep-dog, why can’t the little one be a sheep-pig?
The Sheep-Pig is an award-winning book by a beloved author, well worth a read, a re-read and then a few more re-reads after that.
Registrations are now closed for this reading programme. If you would like to receive email notifications when I launch new batches, please fill this form. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – for regular updates.
Shrinking Vanita
Shrinking Vanita is a delightful read, full of laughter, madness and the unshakeable belief that children can and will save the world! With a little help, of course. From a puppy called Giggles and a bag full of fridge magnets.
Three days to go before a gigantic killer asteroid will end life on Earth! Everyone is in a panic. Everyone, that is, but Vanita, who has things to do. Such as saving the planet.
– from the blurb of Shrinking Vanita
Isn’t that a wonderful premise? Shrinking Vanita delivers what it promises – a feisty protagonist, a mixture of science and madness and a joyous aha! moment.
Oh, and the book won the Peek a Book children’s choice award, so it’s child-approved.
Like every other book we’ve read at my book club, I chose this one because it’s full of possibility!
What if?
I love doing activities around the question ‘what if?’ What if you knew the earth would be destroyed in three days? What if you had a superpower? What if you could get your own way by telling a lie? These are all wonderful conversation starters and I can’t wait to hear what children come up with!
Superheroes
What powers would you like to have if you were a superhero? What powers do we need to solve specific problems? And what problems would you be able to solve with superpowers?
This activity serves as a rudimentary creative writing exercise too, an introduction to the idea that all stories must have a problem and a solution!
Kinaesthetic learning
I love books that provide the scope to roam around and do something else before returning to the screen, and I have so many ideas of what to do with Shrinking Vanita. They can talk about magnets they have, explore space-related objects, and
Join my book club!
Registrations are now closed for this programme. New batches begin every alternate month. Join my mailing list if you would like to receive email notifications about my programmes. Alternatively, follow me on social media – Facebook and Instagram – for regular updates.
Reflections – Part 2
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the first series of reflections, written by children from my first batch of the creative writing programme. The idea of a reflective statement is something that I came to appreciate when I was teaching the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. While I was teaching, however, many students hated writing reflections because they had to write them. The checkbox needed to be ticked for the IB. Now, on the other hand, I find that most children enjoy taking this time out to think about how far they have come and how much they have learnt.
It’s a moment I enjoy too. Take a look at some of the work they’ve put together! All this is shared with their permission, of course!
This was a guided writing activity, inspired by a poem I read by Ken Nesbitt. Guided writing of this sort is something I especially enjoy facilitating at workshops because the results are always rewarding!
In Shreya’s poem, I was, first, drawn to the title. Of course the poem isn’t perfect, but there are so many lines I love! My favourites are probably ‘Fences act like keys’ and ‘Abuse isn’t in the dictionary’.
She was one of those who shared a story after Nalini Sorensen’s workshop, and, as Nalini said, I’m sure that someday soon, I’ll read a book with Shreya’s name on it as author!
This is just one of the list poems we wrote during the course because list poetry in its various forms is always fun. Reading and writing go together, so we begin by reading a handful of poems. I use one set of poems with adults and a whole different set with children. Of late, I’ve also been trying to do all the written assignments I set for the children I interact with, and it’s a wonderful experience! I enjoy the structure, the discipline and the sense of achievement I get when I finish what I set out to write.
Before we came to list poetry, we worked with narrative poetry and here’s one that made me chuckle! On the right is a snippet from Tanisha’s reflection. The ‘poetry phase’, as she calls it, is over. I’m waiting to read their stories!
I’ve really enjoyed this poetry phase! I’ve been introduced to so many different forms of poetry.
I’ve learned a lot more about meter and how important it can be in a poem. I’ve been introduced to the entirely new world of non- rhyming poetry, and surprisingly, I quite like it! I’ve learned about so many poetry forms that I had no idea existed, and I’m going to try writing poetry more often.
My favourite activity – I’m not sure about this one. There are so many I enjoyed! But if I have to choose, I think that I’ll say the Cinqains, List poetry and the “I come from a land where…” poem.
Honestly, I don’t think there was anything I didn’t like. Everything was a learning experience- what’s not to like?
Tanisha
Online Creative Writing Programme 2020-21
A Few More Writing Activities
A few days ago, I posted five writing activities that I created last month; here are a few more. I find that short activities of this sort are wonderful ways both to get started and to wind down. Finishing a workshop with some sort of activity leaves participants feeling energized, rather than exhausted. Quick ones of this sort are always handy!
Humorous Hyperboles
Children are masters of hyperbole. Think about the way they tell stories and how, with each telling, the story becomes grander and more eventful. Adults do it too, even if they pretend otherwise!
So, naturally, working with hyperboles is always hilarious. Here are two more hyperbole ideas that work well:
- How would you describe the most boring class you’ve ever had?
- Who has the loudest voice in your class? How loud is her voice? No, don’t imitate it! Describe it.
Fun with Homophones and Homographs
Homophones and homographs go together. I don’t remember ever having studied homographs in school; I read up about them later. Some sources say that homonyms and homographs are the same. Others say that homonyms are homographs that are also homophones. For instance, ‘minute’ and ‘minute’ are homographs, but not homonyms because the words are pronounced differently depending on what we mean.
Before going into class, check that you have your sources handy because even with a light, fun activity, children will ask questions!
Interesting Interviews
I enjoy setting up a session where workshop participants interview one another, or even me. During creative writing workshops, this also lays the groundwork for character creation because I ask participants to ‘interview’ their characters so that they work on fleshing them out.
Interviews also make for good ice-breakers. During reading workshops, we sometimes begin with children putting together a set of questions about books to ask one another. Often, the questions they come up with are as interesting – if not more interesting – than the answers!
Five Writing Activities for Children (and Adults!)
As I was preparing to launch my online creative writing programme, I posted one writing activity per day on social media, and I loved the responses I received.
Writing activities can be so much fun, and not just for children. They work just as well for adults who want to sit down and start writing too! Here are the first five; you could do one a day for the next five days to get you started.
Surprising Similes
This one is always a favourite!
During a creative writing session, I asked a child to complete the simile as annoying as ____
“As annoying as my sister,” she replied.
I know that this child has a brother and a sister, so I asked, chuckling, “Is your sister more annoying than your brother?”
There was a small pause as she looked up. He was, possibly, in the room. She gave a tiny smile and said, “No, but it’s his birthday today.”
Have fun with your similes!
Funny Fairytales
We used this one recently too, and just by accident! I invited Nalini Sorensen to conduct a guest session for my online creative writing programme, and we worked on fairy tales with a twist. The children came up with all kinds of ideas, which I loved!
One rewrote Cinderella’s story as a modern tale. The prince tweeted about a ball at Buckingham Palace, Cinderella went in comfy clothes, but stepped in doggy doo, so she couldn’t be bothered to take her slipper home.
Another rewrote Snow White’s story from the mirror’s point of view.
I’m still waiting to read the rest!
Alliteration Activity
Tongue twisters are a fun way to work with alliteration, and I’ve used tongue twisters during more workshops than I can count.
I remember a session I attended with Craig Smith at the AFCC, where he spoke about how tongue twisters make us laugh for no real reason. His The Wonky Donkey is a classic example of one of those – you can’t help chuckling at the stinky, cranky, honky-tonky, winky wonky donkey!
Free Writing
Free writing takes many forms, and during workshops, I work on longer versions of this activity, pushing participants to create humour and not overthink their ideas.
Editing while we write can be crippling. I know that from experience too! I keep trying to make my first sentence perfect, and then it moves on to the first paragraph and then the first chapter. More often than not, all that work is wasted because as the book goes on, the chapter needs to be rewritten from scratch.
Free writing exercises are a step towards letting go of our writing and moving on!
Magical Mirror
During a creative writing masterclass conducted by Prof Bill Herbert, we did a wonderful activity that remains crystal clear in my memory, even though I attended the class five years ago. Prof Herbert asked us to imagine a portal, any sort of portal.
This is an activity I use often during creative writing workshops where many children enjoy writing fantasy. What could your portal be? What would take you from this world to another?
I’m always astounded at the number of mirrors I encounter during these workshops. Mirrors are a kind of magic, aren’t they? Or at least, we’re determined to make them so!
A colleague once told me, only half joking, art is 99% robbery. That’s true about workshops and training sessions too! Feel free to rob these ideas and use them as you will. Download the images or copy them out to use in class, for yourself, or with children who want to write!
To find out about reading and writing workshops I conduct, follow me on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), or fill this form.
Stories of Space Robots and Rockets
A couple of weeks ago, I found myself thinking – an online writing programme is not a lit fest. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to invite people who would be able to do something entirely new? What could I do to bring in a new kind of story?
And here was my answer:
How can I make my science fiction story believable?
Do we need more stories about women in science?
| Fee | ₹400 per head (UPI: seshanvarsha@okhdfcbank or bank transfer – please contact me for my bank details; my number is in the poster) |
| Age-group | 9-13 |
| Date | 5th December 2020 |
| Time | 10 am to 11 am IST |
About the guest facilitator
Sreeja Nag is a Senior Research Scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, where she leads a project called D-SHIELD. She is also working on what could be the first self-driving robotic fleet on public roads. Sreeja completed her PhD in Space Systems Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Her research interests include distributed space systems, space robotics for Earth observation, space traffic management, and vehicular robotics validation.
She grew up in Pune, Maharashtra and completed her undergraduate studies in IIT Kharagpur in India before moving to the United States. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
How to register
This is a free event for all those who have registered for my online creative writing programme.
Edit: This event was held on the 5th of December. Look out for all workshop announcements on my blog, or on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). To receive information about my reading and writing programmes via email, please fill this form.
Writing Stories with Nalini Sorensen
Guest sessions are full of fun! Yesterday, I went on not one, but several writing journeys with children’s book author Nalini Sorensen. What did I take back from my journeys? Several things, actually!
For one, I love Nalini’s phrase ‘story eyes’.
Just like Nalini, the question I hear most often is ‘where do you get your ideas from?’ Nalini made us close our eyes and imagine an incredible experience. She took us on a journey to the top of Mount Everest, a journey that’s unique, special.
And then, she told use that we didn’t need experiences like that to create stories. All we needed were our story eyes. Look around with story eyes, and even mundane events can become stories.
Already, during my writing programme, children have been concerned about uniqueness. What if we copy someone else’s story by mistake? Will we get into trouble? Isn’t it possible for more than one person to have the same idea?
Even though Nalini didn’t hear these questions, she answered them as she spoke about how perspective matters. Perspective can change everything, and that is what makes your story unique.
This guest session was just the beginning. Follow me on social media to find out about upcoming workshops – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. To receive information about my reading and writing programmes via email, please fill this form.
Online Reading Programme
I’ve been working with the British Library’s reading challenge for a long time. I’ve worked with a range of themes – Circus Stars, Mythical Maze, Record Breakers, The Big Friendly Read, Animal Agents … And I’ve enjoyed each one. I love the range of books the British Library has, and the reading challenge collection is always special. Being a British Council trainer was always a huge advantage during the reading challenge season because I got secret access to all these books that weren’t yet available to regular library customers!
However, as I associated with schools and children at the library, there were two questions that continually stood out to me:
- Don’t we get to keep even one book?
- Why are there no Indian books?
And these are questions I’ve been mulling over for a while, which leads me to announce this online reading programme.
What will we do during the online interactions?
Read, write, draw, colour, think, have fun!
I’ve been conducting reading programmes for eight years now and I promise that they’ll be fun! If I have enough participants, I will also invite guest speakers (more authors!) to talk to the participants.
Why these books?
I took a really long time to choose just four books. The Sheep-Pig is the only one I read when I was this age, and I loved it. I knew I wanted to include a book by Dick King-Smith and to be honest, The Sheep-Pig was not my first choice, not because it isn’t lovely, but because it is the most famous and I wanted something new. I looked at A Mouse Called Wolf and The Merrythought, but it seemed like getting copies would be difficult. So, The Sheep-Pig, a favourite of mine, just eased itself into the list. Take a look at a few things I intend to do with the book!
The hOle books are super fun, and I love Asha Nehemiah’s writing, so Trouble with Magic was a natural choice. Manya Learns to Roar did not take time to choose either because it’s an important book, and I thoroughly enjoy Shruthi Rao’s work.
Finally, especially for this age group, books about saving the world are excellent. Young children are superheroes, and Shrinking Vanita brings in a different genre, while also being the kind of story I wanted to include. Here are some of the book activities we’ll do with this one!
Details
The details are all in the image above, but here they are once more.
Dates: 8th Dec 2020 to 22nd Jan 2021 (25th Dec and 1st Jan will be holidays)
Online interactions: Tuesdays and Fridays, 4-4:45pm
Age-group: 7-8 years
Workshop fee: ₹3,500 (UPI: seshanvarsha@okhdfcbank or bank transfer – contact me for details)
Yes, the books are included in the fee. I will have physical copies delivered to you anywhere in India.
Please register before the 2nd of December so that I can try to get the books to you in time! As far as possible, I source books from the independent bookstore closest to you.
Offers
Everyone loves an offer, right?
Buddy fee – Join with a friend (or friends) and pay ₹3,000 per head.
How to register
Reflections – Part 1
During the course of any creative writing programme I conduct, about two or three times, I ask children to stop and reflect on everything they’ve felt and everything they’ve done during their sessions with me. Now that we’re one month into my online programme, it was time. And as usual, I could not stop smiling when I read their work.
Afreena, 11, listed everything she’s learnt – from acrostic poems to rebuses. She remembered the list poem she wrote, the limericks we read and all the literary devices we worked with. Her reflection was simple, clear and straightforward; I loved it.
Sunandini, 9, did something quite beautiful – she wrote a story! The whole story was a grand metaphor for the creative writing programme and I can quite honestly say that I’ve never read such an original reflection! Here are a few snippets.
A few weeks back, I boarded The Great Grammar Express. I walked to my compartment and opened the sliding-door. Inside, a girl with a green suitcase was settling in. I sat down on the spacious berth opposite to the other girl’s. A lady with short hair got in the compartment and said ‘I am your instructor for this writing journey, Ms. Vanessa’.
I’ve shortened it a bit, but isn’t that just a lovely beginning? The reflection continues in the same vein. Read on!
After a while we stepped out of the train [since it had stopped] for a short walk. We found we were in the limerick lane and actually discussing limericks by Edward Lear. The train then whistled and we rushed to get in. Once settled, we tried our hand at writing a five line limerick. I felt I could have written a better limerick with a second try.
I’m not going to share the whole thing here, but I can quite honestly say I enjoyed reading all of it. Sunandini also shared answers to a few questions I asked to push them to write their reflections. The piece she feels was the best she wrote is one that I admired too.
A little background before I share the poem: we used Shel Silverstein’s Magic to work on strong verbs. I love his teaching resources; they serve as wonderful material for poetry workshops. After reading his poem, I asked the girls to write a poem of their own, which uses eight strong verbs in two sentences – look what Sunandini came up with.
And finally, a reflection like this, from 10-year-old Ruchiranana, always warms my heart. How can I not be happy when a child says there was nothing she didn’t like during five hours with me?
As each session goes by, I’m so glad I ventured into this online creative writing programme. It gives me so much joy!
If you would like to find out more about the programme, please click here, or follow me on social media – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. To receive information about my reading and writing programmes via email, please fill this form.
Writing Stories with Nalini Sorensen
Each morning, among the first things I do is visit my creative writing forum. I love it. I love that every day, there are new pieces to read, all shared by young writers who are part of my online creative writing programme. I’ve done four sessions with one batch and three with another; it’s time to bring a little more excitement in – a guest session!
I spoke to author Nalini Sorensen, and we finalized things super quickly. I’m delighted to announce a one-hour writing workshop with this warm, lively, award-winning writer. While the event is free for those who have enrolled for my online programme, it’s open to non-participants too, on payment of a registration fee.
Edit: This event was held on the 19th of November. Look out for all workshop announcements on my blog, or on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). To receive information about my reading and writing programmes via email, please fill this form.
How to Write a Limerick
What is a limerick?
A limerick is a (usually humorous) five-line poem with a strict AABBA rhyme scheme. It’s fun to write and, usually, fun to read. I’ve always loved limericks by Edward Lear, and over the past few years, I’ve read many, many more. Do you remember the nursery rhyme ‘Hickory Dickory Dock’? That was probably the first limerick most of us learned!
Why should I write a limerick?
While I can’t give you an answer to that, I can tell you why I work with limericks so often at creative writing workshops I conduct.
- Limericks are fun.
- Limericks are funny.
- Limericks have a definite structure, which forces us to pay attention to both rhyme and meter. Read more about that here.
- Limericks are short, with no room to wax lyrical.
What do I need to know about limericks?
The best way to understand the form of a limerick is to read dozens – or hundreds – of limericks for yourself. Feel the meter and the rhyme scheme, instead of learning the rules I’ve listed below!
- A limerick has five lines.
- The rhyme scheme of a limerick is AABBA. This means that the first, second and fifth lines rhyme with one another and the third and fourth lines rhyme with each other.
- The length of the lines also follows the same pattern. The first, second and fifth lines are longer and have three stressed syllables each.
The third and fourth lines are shorter and have two stressed syllables each.
How do I go about it?
As with any other kind of writing, begin with an idea. Perhaps you could write a limerick about yourself!
- The first line should introduce the main character – that’s you!
- The second line should bring humour in. Think about your quirks (strange habits or funny things you do!).
- The third and fourth lines need action. Use good, clear vocabulary.
- The fifth line should not leave the reader hanging. You need a resolution.
Look how I gave it a shot!
I am the main character of my limerick. What odd habits do I have that I can have fun with? What action can I bring in, and how do I finish my limerick with a good punchline?
Here’s one of the limericks I came up with:
What makes a limerick difficult to write?
Lots of things, actually! It took a while for me to realise that I would struggle if I chose to write about more than one character. For me, five lines aren’t enough to do anything meaningful with multiple characters!
The meter of a limerick is challenging too. I had lots and lots of ideas, but with such short, defined lines, it isn’t easy to make the poem work.
I don’t like “adjusting” poems. For me, rhyming verse should be easy to read aloud. Else, it just doesn’t work!
Go on, try a limerick of your own. Share it with me if you’d like to!
Creative Writing with Children
Every time I work with children on creative writing, I realise why I enjoy it so much. Each interaction is full of laughter, fun, and most joyous of all–moments when children finally understand something and it shows on their faces. I’m still elated after yesterday’s online creative writing session!
Since I launched the programme on the 5th of October, I’ve had a regular routine. Early in the morning, I log on to my forum. What will I find? Which of the writers would have contributed something delightful?
One morning, I discovered a letter to be placed in a high technology envelope that could be opened and closed with a button. Another morning, I discovered a list of words that one of the young writers loves – goofy, amazing, surprise … And soon, I will find a set of limericks. I can’t wait to read them!
Yesterday, as usual, my session was full of all kinds of activities. I love exploring ways to keep the children engaged during an online interaction, and I wanted to work with synonyms. I chose the word ‘happy’ to start the conversation and used the white board for the first time, inviting them to work together on a word search puzzle. I had to bite back my smile when I saw the poor white board at the end of the session.
Rhyme, rhythm, meter, homophones, alliteration, tongue twisters, limericks … That’s what we’ve done so far in just two weeks. The next ten weeks promise to be exciting.
And on that note, a reminder: registrations are still open for the age-group 12-14 for the batch that begins on Thursday the 15th of October. Click here for more details. I can’t wait for it to begin!
Online Creative Writing Programme (ages 9 to 11)
Please note that registrations are now closed for this batch. To find out about the next batch for this age-group, please fill this form, or follow me on my social media handles – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Outline
- Different kinds of poetry
- Making a story engaging
- Creating believable characters
- Working with plot and setting
- Genre
- Structure
- Dialogue writing
- Editing and publishing
Details
Age-group: 9-11 years
Start Date: 5th October 2020
End Date: 28th December 2020
Online Interactions will be held every Monday from 4 pm to 5pm. Please note that Monday the 16th of November will be a holiday for Diwali.
Fee: ₹15,000 per participant (payable via UPI to seshanvarsha@okhdfcbank or bank transfer. International payments may be made via PayPal to seshanvarsha@gmail.com)
This includes 12 online interactions, access to a private forum to share writing and individual feedback for each piece.
Maximum of 12 participants per batch.
Online Creative Writing Programme (ages 12 to 14)
“I’ve written five poems. Will you read them?”
“I’ve written three stories. How can I get them published?”
“What is self-publishing?”
“How can I have my book sold at Crossword?”
This 12-week creative writing programme seeks to answer all these questions and more. It will guide children through their creative journeys. Participants will explore a range of literature to hone their writing skills, working towards finding a unique voice and an engaging storytelling style.
Outline
- Different kinds of literature
- Poetry, prose and drama
- A short history of English literature
- Writing what you know
- Writer’s discipline
- Copyright and intellectual property
- Heroes and villains
- Structure and technique
- Dialogue writing
- Editing and publishing
Details
Age-group: 12-14 years
Start Date: 15th October 2020
End Date: 7th January 2021
Online Interactions will be held every Thursday from 4 pm to 5pm.
Fee: ₹15,000 per participant (payable via UPI to seshanvarsha@okhdfcbank or bank transfer. International payments may be made via PayPal to seshanvarsha@gmail.com)
Buddy fee: If two or more of you join together, the fee is ₹12,500 per participant.
The fee includes a minimum of 12 online video interactions (usually more), access to a private forum to share writing and individual feedback for each piece.
Do remember that I conduct this workshop because I love working with children on creative writing. And so, if children need more than 12 interactions, yes, I do conduct them within the three-month time frame. Sometimes, after a couple of weeks I realise that they need more of a push, more writing activities, so we move to two sessions a week instead of just one. I speak to the parents and we make it happen.
12 is the minimum – that’s what I commit to. But if we need more, we do more sessions. It’s as simple as that.
If you would like to receive prior notification of new batches be notified in advance for the next batch, please fill this form. If you are a school coordinator or administrator and want a specialised creative writing programme for your students, please write to me.
The Chat Box
I love virtual school visits. I enjoy talking to children about my books, encouraging them to explore reading and writing, and taking them through my journey as a writer. Visiting schools virtually was such a novel experience that I wrote an essay for The Curious Reader about it. But of course, as virtual visits go on, more stories are created. That’s the fun of working with children, isn’t it?
Recently, I did a session with a group of about 200 children. I know from experience that it’s important to lay down the rules at the outset, and one of the rules is no mics. If 200 children switch on their mics, there’s utter mayhem. Most children are now used to the idea, but at this school, the session was rather chaotic to begin with. In the beginning, before the session began, I did answer a few questions out of turn but as more and more participants joined in, I shook my head and kept repeating, “Use the chat box. If you have a question, use the chat box. I can’t hear 200 of you at the same time. Use the chat box.”
A few children did have questions. Of all sorts.
Why are we here? (Um …)
When will the session get over? (This, before we’ve even begun.)
Is class V B supposed to come? (Um …)
Who is the teacher in the room? (I wasn’t sure how to answer that.)
Slowly, they settled down, with several more “Please use the chat box” instructions from me.
About fifteen minutes into the session, when everything became a little quiet, a tiny voice piped up, “But … Where is the chat box?”
Ah. Another day, another lesson learnt.
The Writers’ Club 2019-20
I can’t quite believe it’s been five years with the Writers’ Club at St. Mary’s School. I remember we had a maths teacher in class V who had been teaching there for FOUR YEARS. And I thought that it was pretty much forever. I’m there now.
My first batch was created for the sesquicentennial celebrations, and it led to the publication of Flickering Flames.
In the second year, we put together a book of our own, handmade, and we called it The Book that Speaks.
And in the following three years, I held a writing competition, with the results being announced during the very last session. Last year, I also invited a special guest to give away the prizes – and what fun that was.
This year, my batch was particularly enthusiastic and we had not one but two parties – one for Christmas and one yesterday for our very last session. I love how excited all the girls are about the competition results, even those who submitted nothing! Each year, I ask two girls from a previous batch to judge the entries. I provide them with detailed assessment criteria, and they take the process of judging seriously, which makes me glad. Each year, I enjoy reading their comments, discovering yet again how subjective judging is. This time, we had fewer entries than usual, but the results were just as eagerly anticipated. The two girls who won were thrilled; it’s grand how important it is to them.
And then, we went back to working on magazines, which is what we have been doing for the last three combined sessions (sessions for which I invite those from previous batches). I was so struck by some of their ideas! For instance, one girl insisted that the inside cover COULD NOT have the credits because it had to have an ad. So, she made an ad and somehow fit the masthead in too. Without that, she was convinced, her magazine would not look authentic.
I also realised how disconnected children are from the world of money. For instance, when a pair of them discovered that a magazine has a price marked on the back cover, they wondered whether to put ₹1,500 rupees as their price, only to learn that Champak costs ₹25! They made a joke of it and decided to price it at ₹1,500-million-crore. Which they felt was justified by the amount of work they put in.
We had magazines about dogs, activities, Harry Potter, book series, brands … I was amazed at the number of things they came up with. It took some prodding, of course, used as they are to the idea of making a school project. Some began by choosing topics like ‘deserts’ and ‘temperate zone’. We moved from there to more imaginative ideas, though many magazines were left incomplete. The girls promised to finish them in the holidays – we’ll see.
And that’s that. Another year of stories, plays and poems comes to an end. Each year brings me so much joy!
World Read Aloud Day 2020
Five days late, but why can’t every day be read aloud day?
I happened to have a session with my Writers’ Club on World Read Aloud Day, so each of the girls chose something to read. It was delightful! Above all, I was struck by how well most of them read, without burying their faces in their books and without too much stuttering and stumbling. That is privilege, isn’t it? That level of fluency?
Also, this time, I loved that nearly all of them chose their pieces well.
While last year, I had children struggling to read an abridged version of King Lear aloud, fumbling with names like Cordelia and Goneril, this time, I found that their choices were, on the whole, quite good! Some read easy poetry; I had a couple of stories about Akbar and Birbal, and we had excerpts from Nancy Drew and Enid Blyton. I have written earlier about why children choose texts that are too difficult for them; I’m glad that did not happen this time!
And this year, I read an excerpt from The Prophecy of Rasphora to celebrate World Read Aloud Day. And unlike last year, I didn’t foolishly call it World Reading Day. In case you haven’t seen it yet, take a look.
I also used the occasion as an excuse to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. I enjoy working with the book in class, exploring language and having fun with words. So, I decided to put a free printable handout online. Here it is. And if you’d like to read reviews of The Prophecy of Rasphora and find out a little more about the book before you decide to use it in class, here you go.
A Theme-Based Reading Programme
A couple of months ago, I wrote a blog post for StoryWeaver about a training programme I have been conducting for the last three years for librarians in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, and the ways in which I use StoryWeaver and Pratham Books for the reading programme they implement in schools. I have grown so much through the workshops I purportedly conduct! Working with a range of librarians with limited resources has been an eye-opening experience for me, an experience that I treasure. Each year, I tweak the programme slightly, trying to make it more accessible to every level of learner and easier to implement.
This year, I continued with a theme-based approach, but I chose themes that were clearly linked with the needs of reluctant readers. How delighted I was when I learned about how the librarians took the ideas to their schools!
Linking the reading theme with the overall curricular theme ‘Cleanliness’, the story A Cloud of Trash was selected. For two weeks, the libraries focused on character emotions, then they moved on to identifying the problem in the story, discussed synonyms and antonyms and then tried to discover the solution.
And finally, the children were involved in a task that demonstrated their understanding.
- They presented a skit, trying to imagine what happened next
- They made a fresh book cover for A Cloud of Trash
- They made a poster for their school to highlight the importance of cleanliness
- They made their own stories and comics about cleanliness
- They created picture books of their own, revolving around the idea of a cloud of trash
My next training session with the librarians is two days away and I can’t wait to see what magic they will bring next to their classrooms!
Dear Fictional Character
Yesterday, to round off our letter-writing activity, we wrote two more letters.
One began with ‘Dear Reader’, and this is an activity I’ve done more times than I can count. I tweaked it slightly this time because of the idea of posting their letters to them. Instead of telling them that what they wrote would go into books in the library, I told them their letters would go in the mail to someone else in the room. They enjoyed it tremendously!
(Here is an explanation of the activity, plus a link to a video you could use.)
The second was a letter to a fictional character. I asked the children to choose any fictional character they love, and write a letter, sharing whatever they liked with that character. Among all the letters to Hermione Granger, Tom Gates, Silky (Faraway Tree) et al, here’s one letter I found:
I couldn’t stop chuckling at this! Of course, I’m thrilled that she chose to write to Chitra from my railway adventures, but more – I love that the most important thing she would like to share is about her pet cat Melody!
Chitra would love to read this, I think. I also find it interesting that Deven, the eldest of the four cousins in the series, is forgotten. Ah, the joys of being a writer and getting sneak peeks into readers’ minds!
Letter-Writing at the Writers’ Club
I’ve been waiting to do this activity ever since I thought of it, and it was well worth the wait — particularly because two children said this was the best Writers’ Club session ever!
Receiving a letter is lovely. I enjoy every part of it – the anticipation, seeing something in the postbox, seeing that it is addressed to me, opening it and reading it. That’s why I decided to bring that to the Writers’ Club. I asked each of the girls to bring an envelope to class; I brought the rest.
For me, the first and biggest surprise was that children don’t know how to address an envelope! My instructions were poor – simply because I didn’t realise how clueless they would be. Many children wrote the address at the back of the envelope. Several others wrote their names in big bold letters and then somehow squeezed the address in below. Many didn’t know that a stamp would normally be stuck at the top right corner, so they wrote all over the envelope!
The activity itself was fun; it’s a variation of a grammar activity I often conduct. Each child has a sheet of paper on which she writes a question beginning with ‘what’. She folds it and passes it on. On the passed-on sheet she receives, she writes the answer to the question she asked, then she folds it and passes it on. Next, she writes a ‘who’ question and the same process follows. When we unfold the sheets, there’s always much hilarity! And this time, instead of unfolding and reading aloud, I will be posting them to the young writers.
After that, we also wrote a letter that began ‘Dear Future Me’, which I promised I would not read. Some wrote long letters; others just wrote notes – and they’ll get them in the mail!
They’re going to write one more letter during my next session with them, and then we’re done. I’ll post all their letters and we’ll see how they react when they receive them!
Meanwhile, last week, I also conducted a skill-building workshop for English teachers at Aurangabad. That was another fun event. I’ll do the same session soon in Mumbai and Pune too!
