The heroic in the humdrum

The past year has just gone by and has left in its wake a lot of disruption. From demonetisation to cyclonic storms and political upheavals, the changes have been swift and hard to accept. It is in times likes these that small acts of kindness can make a huge difference, bring out the heroic nature in each one of us and kindle a sense of hope in our humdrum lives.

Pathways to language development

Subha Vaidyanathan

How can teachers improve the English language skills of their students? While some children are exposed to the language at home, there are others who need special attention. Systematic building of vocabulary from the basics is necessary right from the start. This can be done by using games and activities like word lists. Children not only have fun but without realising it, can hone their skills.

Everybody loves a hero

Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur
Everybody loves a hero because he has so much of heroism in him.Perseverance, courage, sense of humour and righeousness — these are traits that we find in every hero. Can we probe further into ourselves and check if we have them as well? That is because each and everyone of us can be a hero. The authors of this article tell us how we can become one.

Nest Watch – 3

Geetha Iyer
Did you know that snakes also build their nests? One would think that since snakes do not have limbs, they may not be able to engage in such a complex activity. However, it is only the King Cobra which builds a nest. In the last part of our series on nests, read about nest building by wild boars, termites, snakes and ants.

Add colour to your language

Manaswini Sridhar

Idioms are a unique way of expressing yourself and additionally , they also lend a character and richness to the English
language. How can students learn to reflect on the meaning of the idioms and try and use them in their speech and writing so that their conversation and writing is richer and more engaging? The author gives many tips and exercises in this article to help students master their use of idioms.

Rock on

Prachi Ranadive
Geography can be made more interesting if it is taught outside the classroom. A multi-disciplinary approach will further ensure that the students have a deep understanding of the concepts and also find the learning meaningful and engaging. In this article, the author talks about Rocks which are an often overlooked part of the landscape and how they are integral to human society having been used for centuries to build buildings and even to carve into.

Digantar – changing the face of rural education

Arun Elassery
In our series on alternative schools, we profile Digantar on the outskirts of Jaipur that is run by Rohit Dhankar and Reena Das. Digantar runs three schools catering to nearly 600 children from the rural areas. The children learn at their own pace, they learn from each other and they are not distributed according to classes. This complete change in direction has changed the lives of many rural children too.

The science of separation – 2

Avneesh Shukla
The second part of the article on separation techniques deals with decantation, filtration and sublimation and evaporation.

What robotics can bring to the teaching table

Disha Gupta, Adithi Muralidhar and Sugra Chunawala
Robots are a favourite with children and popular too. Because of its popular status, robots can be used as a teaching tool since they provide a fun element for children to explore technology. Keeping this idea in mind, Robotics was introduced at science events to create interest and increase awareness among school children. What happened at these different Robotics workshops and events is explained here in this article.