Takloo Storytelling at AIKYA - A PRATHAM Books Initiative

Takloo - the Little Salt Seller is a beautiful book. The story teaches a lot of concepts to children and the illustrations are very attractive and eye catchy. 

The storytelling at AIKYA happened on 5th, September. I told the story to a group of eleven kids. Everyone was very excited about the angry Banabhai scene in which her hair is left loose, her dracula teeth is seen, and she flungs her arm.  The kids were asked about the meaning of the various terms in the book like soft, caring, west, and more. The students were asked not to waste anything and try and see if they can recycle the unwanted items. 

Later, Kumail, a student, read out and explained the Takloo story to the kids. The students looked at coins of different value. After listening to Kumail, the students started drawing pictures about Takloo story. The students came out with beautiful illustrations of trees near a beach, pots, umbrella, and Moti the dog. It was a fun event and we thank PRATHAM for giving us this opportunity. 

For more event pics, click here.

Paplu the Giant - A Pratham Books Storytelling Event

Pratham Books, a not-for-profit based out of Bangalore conducts annual storytelling sessions. This year the International Literacy Day fell on 7th Sep and so the gala and mega storytelling event date was fixed on 7th Sep. Around 600+  storytelling champions volunteered to tell the story "Paplu, the Giant." 

This event is the 4th storytelling event i was conducting for Pratham. The previous events were conducted with the books named - King Cobra's Summer, Yakity Yak, and Susheela's Kolams.  I conducted the session this year in my flat. There was just one person in the audience this time. Little one Elizabeth volunteered to read the book. She read the book with great enthusiasm. I gifted the book to her as a token of appreciation. 

I was glad that i was able to be part of this mega educational event conducted in 25 Indian languages through more than 1000 storytelling sessions. As the famous proverb says, "Little drops of water makes a mighty ocean." And so i hope Elizabeth's reading will contribute to the Pratham Books Event in a small way.

Susheela's Kolam - Pratham Books Storytelling Event on 8th September

Great enthusiasm, awesome participation, creativity, colors, children, staff, and teamwork brought beauty to the kolams drawn at the Eureka Smile Centre at Triplicane, Chennai. On 8th September, we started the session by sticking the readymade sticker kolams. Then one kid read out Susheela's Kolam story. Then other kids told stories from books and Eureka story cards. 

Next, we had a warm-up session and asked the children to draw a few kolams on the blackboard. Then the kids drew kolams on chart paper using crayons. The kids came out with different and intricate rangoli patterns. 

Next, we split the children into three groups and asked them to draw rangoli with colour powder. Again, they came out with beautiful and colorful patterns. Then we had biscuits. Two Eureka volunteers reviewed the crayon kolams and selected 10 winners. We gave away prizes to the kids. The day ended with a short motivational story in Tamil by the Eureka volunteer. 

Many thanks to Eureka's Meenakshi, the Smile Centre teaching staff, two Eureka volunteers, and the eager children who made the Susheela's Kolam event a big success. It was a fun-filled 2-hour session. Many thanks to Pratham Books staff Maya and Team for their motivational and informative e-mails. For more colorful event photos, click here.

Advesa Trust conducts World Read Aloud Day on 10th March 2012

On the evening of 10th March, around 25 kids gathered at Advesa Trust rural library for kids to read aloud Pratham Books stories. Five children read out stories. Swaathi read aloud the "Yakity Yak" story. Santhosh Kumar read "En Udal Pesuvathai Kelungal" Tamil story. Kavitha read "Nilaavum Thopiyum" Tamil Story. Charumathy read "Kazhugum Aanthaiyum" Tamil Story. Lokesh read "Noyutra Parunthu" Tamil story. Click here for event photos.

Pratham Books Champion Anitha Jebaraj coordinated the event. She gave inputs on how kids can improve their pronunciation, raise their reading volume/voice, and speak proper English or proper Tamil and not Tanglish!

World Read Aloud Day at Violet School Chennai - A Pratham Books Event

I was delighted to meet Violet School Principal Ms. Lydia at 8:45 am in the morning. She said that as planned she wanted std 3rd to std 7th kids to listen to the Yakity Yak story. But the std 1-2 teachers wanted their children to also join the story reading session. So, after the assembly the tiny tots sat down in a shady corridor for the story.

I (Pratham Books Champion Anitha Jebaraj) started the session with a short intro to the World Read Aloud Day (WRAD). When asked if they read books outside their curriculum, many of them told that they read Comics( like Toystory) and Fairy Tales (like Cindrella).

Yeah, they read books

We started the story reading by asking three students to hold up the Yak placards. One of the kids could identify the Yak. When asked what was special about the Yak - they said it was the hair (or fur). I read out the Yakity Yak story for them. The children gave quick answers to questions inbetween. When asked which proverb will fit well with the story the kids said, " A friend in need is a friend indeed."

Anitha tells Yakity Yak story. 

Next, around 10 kids read out the Yakity Yak story - one page each. Prema of Team Everest motivated the kids. We wound up the happy event at 10 am. Then we took group snaps. The school management was kind enough to arrange brunch, coffee, and also dropped us back in main Chrompet in their school bus.

The Children read Yakity Yak

A big thank you to Violet School staff, Pratham Books, Litworld, and Prema. Hip Hip Hurray! Click here for more pics of the event.

We are Happy. More stories Please!

The King Cobra's Summer - Pratham Books Storytelling at AIKYA

Eight kids at AIKYA were eager to listen to the adventures of Kaala, the King Cobra. Storyteller Anitha told the story. As the kids were very young, a recollection of facts was helpful.

So, the kids repeated after the storyteller:

• The King Cobra is 15 feet long
• King Cobra does not have ears and eyelids.
• King Cobra uses smell and its tongue to catch food.
• The King Cobra does not eat food daily.
• The King Cobra hatches from eggs.

And so on.... The kids had a look at the colorful picture book. They also created a forest  using crayons and sketch pens. The kids drew a tree, river, a King Cobra, and birds. Finally, they mimicked a snake dance pose. It would have been nice to have a real snake charmer around. Alas, you don't find one in streets these days.

Kids drawing a forest with King Cobra

Having a look at the picture book

Trying a King Cobra pose

Pratham Books Story Telling on 24th at Chennai

Pratham Books Banner

The storytelling session went on well at the AIKYA centre in Chennai. The audience of 20 people included special children, parents, and special educators. All the stories were narrated in Tamil and Tanglish! Pratham Books' Champion Anitha started the session with a brief about Girl Child Day. Next she told the story "Subbu, the Signal." At the end of the story, the children recollected the traffic lights of green, orange, and red and what each color meant.

The next story was "Ting Tong." The boy in the story tries to sleep but is disturbed by various noises. At the end of the story, the children were asked about the various noises that disturbed their sleep. One boy was quick to mention "generator noise"...rrrrrrrrrrr..... Another boy barked like a dog. Ting Tong story was a favorite of parents too. Parents felt that the story was simple and children could easily understand it.

Story Teller Anitha with the audience

 The next story was "En Udal Pesuvathai Kelungal"( Hear my body speak). At the end of the story, one of the boys told a lot of noises like coughing, sneezing, snoring, and clicking fingers etc that was not part of the original version :)

A boy answering questions after 'Subbu the Signal' story

After the warm up with the three short stories, everyone was geared up to hear the "Ulta Pulta Girl" story. Everyone laughed when they heard that the Ulta Pulta girl could not bear the stink of dog poo.

The children were glued to their seats and listened to the stories keenly. Parents were eager to know where they could purchase Pratham books in Chennai. On the whole, it was a successful event. Three cheers to Pratham Books and all the participants.

Video: Excerpts from the Storytelling session:

Story Telling Workshop by Jeeva Raghunath

Jeeva Raghunath enthralled students/audience with her six-hour power packed Story Telling training session. Jeeva, who has 13 years of experience in Story Telling, emphasized that all the five senses should be brought into play while telling a story. And emotions are an integral part of any story. When Jeeva told a story, she sang, did mimicry and little acrobatics.

While narrating the story "Priya's Day", Jeeva transformed a sheet of newspaper into the different characters of the story.  The newspaper morphed into a moon, a wall, a tree and more as Jeeva tore the paper and made characters/shapes that were a part of the story.

Very popular in schools, Story Telling is catching up in the corporate sector too. Life skills and good habits are made a part of a story that can entertain and inform a child as well as an adult. For more info visit Jeeva's website.

Jeeva Raghunath in action