Getting children to learn and incorporating value education in the classroom is a challenge for all educational institutions and educators. Finding innovative ways of engaging children is critical to getting them to learn effectively. Our experience of working with children in rural schools has shown us that such methods are especially important in settings facing resource constraints and which have children at different learning levels.

Since 2007 we have been trying out various tools to keep children engaged and to bring value education in the rural schools where we are working. Earlier this year we developed a tool called ‘Vilayadi Membadu’ or ‘Play and Improve’ – an experiential and fun learning aid for children in elementary school. This tool is based on the traditional ‘Parama padam’ or snakes and ladder game. Among other things, it is meant to help teachers talk about positive and negative attitudes, practices and actions in a fun manner so that important messages with values get firmly imprinted in the children’s minds.

The ‘Play and Improve’ tool can be used by teachers, para-teachers or other facilitators in the school. The tool is an 8ft by 8ft flexi board, which can be spread on the classroom floor with squares numbered from 1 to 100. The aim of the game is to walk these squares and the player who reaches the 100^th square finishes first and wins the game.

The author is the Founder-Director of Kalanjiyam. He can be reached at kalanjiyam@gmail.com.

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Hugo Munsterberg, the first scholar to theorize on cinema, had said that cinema is what the viewer makes of it. Technology provides the body of cinema and society animates that body, forcing it to play many roles. Without technology there would be no moving pictures and without psycho-sociological pressures these pictures would sit unprojected in attics and museums. It is society’s craving for education, information and entertainment that allows cinema to exist at all. Munsterberg felt that the impersonal powers of technology and sociology worked through filmmakers to give rise to movies. What they operated on, what filmmakers made cinema out of, was the mind of man.

Needless to say, Hugo Munsterberg’s theory, propounded as early as 1916, holds even more true today when cinema is adapting advanced technology to transform its audience. Even though we watch movies collectively in a movie hall, the viewing experience remains intensely personal. The magic of movies works differently on different minds depending on the individual’s memory and imagination. The question is, should the personal experience of the movie be shared after the lights come on – or should it be left to the movie to work on the individual’s mind and transform him in perceptible and imperceptible ways?

Sharing always helps and at the recently concluded children’s film festival, Monsoon Dhamaal, we decided to do just that. Through the process of sharing, a child’s viewing experience can be enriched. What one child fails to notice in a scene, can be brought to light by another child. A scene may take up different hues when the children bring out different shades of its meaning. The characters depicted in the film may become more lively when children debate over their good and evil qualities. And most importantly, when children are unanimous about the magical qualities of a particular scene, they can analyze the scene to figure out why it works so wonderfully. This will help them appreciate the language of cinema and become more discerning viewers of movies.

What role should an adult facilitator play in animating this discussion of children after viewing a movie together? The first major role of the facilitator is to introduce the movie. Introducing the movie helps focus the viewer’s attention and arouse his expectation or curiosity about certain aspects of the movie. Needless to say, the storyline should not be given away in an introduction. On the other hand, the major issues addressed in the film may be brought up for a brief discussion. Sometimes, if a film is rooted in an unfamiliar cultural or geographical milieu, the facilitator may have to give a brief introduction about the place and the lives of people there. If the narrative style of the film is unconventional or difficult, the facilitator may have to caution the viewers about it in the introduction. Allow me to elucidate with an example:

The author is a documentary filmmaker and a teacher of media and film studies. Earlier she has been a Physics teacher in Mother’s International School, Delhi and St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She can be reached at subha.dasmollick@gmail.com.

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Think Aloud is an effective strategy for teaching and learning as students are encouraged to verbalize their inner speech while they think their way through a problem. This gives an opportunity to teachers to understand the thinking of students and observe how they process ideas, assimilate information, and the strategies they use while problem solving. It is a strategy that can be effectively applied to all subjects and reveals valuable insights about student’s meta-cognition.

Applied to a reading and writing classroom, think aloud can be useful for varied functions:

• Students can verbalize their purpose of reading
• Strategies they use while problem solving like during word-attack
• Stance selected while reading
• Schema selection before reading and writing
• Understand process writing – how they write drafts and edit them

A sample think aloud is given in the box alongside, which highlights the strategies that different students use to decipher the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

The author works with Pearson Longman and is currently involved with curriculum development and teacher trainings. She can be reached at meetaprabir@gmail.com.

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Teaching with connections or ‘Laterally Connected Teaching’ is actually a very simple and practical approach to teaching. All it involves is for the teacher to develop a wider perspective to make connections and relate one thing to another. If we carefully examine the syllabus and the content that we teach, there are connections in all that we teach. These connections are just waiting to be discovered.

Let’s see how this happens. We use language for every other subject we teach. And children use language to comprehend and study everything. Language is the underlying connection in everything we teach and learn. There are scientific references when we study geography – chemical composition of soil, phenomena of the water cycle, space and its dimensions…. There are historical references in the science we study – people and phenomena of the past, which have led to scientific discoveries and inventions…. There are numbers and mathematical connections all around us.

So you see, these connections are everywhere. We just have to unearth them and then use them in our teaching. One may ask why it is important to bring in connections and use them when we teach. The simple reason is that the world outside the classroom, in which our children live and experience, is not divided into subjects or disciplines of science, geography, and history. They see and experience …. they absorb and assimilate …. they comprehend and analyze…the whole, all together. Hence, it is important for us to build these connections into our teaching-learning processes.

The author is a resource person at Purti, Delhi where she develops teaching-learning material and curriculum. She also conducts teacher trainings. She has been a teacher for the last 6 years and learnt and practiced this methodology at Akshar, Kolkata. She has done her MA in Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences and also worked in the development sector. She can be reached at neha7779@gmail.com.

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Grade Level – 9-12 (may be modified according to age group and readiness)
Period/Subject – Moral Science/Value Education/Life Skills/Health Education/EVS/General Studies
Duration – 45 mins

General aim
Many of us may be subject teachers, but are often asked to take classes in one of the other areas mentioned above. Cinema can be a useful and interesting way to bring these classes alive. This presentation is focused on meeting learning needs in these areas.

Specific aim
Children should become aware of the control technology has over them, and the effects of this on their lifestyles. Once they are aware of the possibility of getting addicted, they will work hard to retain their distance and independence. They may also make different choices after seeing how mechanization can bring monotony and boredom in their lives. A good discussion can provoke questions about the system of which they are a part.

The author teaches at the Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Kolkata. She can be reached at rupalisachdev@yahoo.co.in.

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‘Ri Gyancha, a biodiversity resource kit for educators in Ladakh’ is a very useful resource for teachers. Such materials help in ensuring that conservation-education becomes contextually relevant and resultant learning meaningful. These are times when books are generally given a wide berth by many. But this colourfully produced book with photographs that are a visual treat should attract the attention of teachers and students alike.

The language is simple, ensuring that even for those who are not entirely comfortable with the English language, this book will not be difficult to use. Use of local names along with English ones is a good idea. Perhaps (at least in the posters) these names could have been written in the script commonly used in Ladakh.

A wide variety of activities, ready-to-use materials and posters have been carefully connected so that they are coherent and valuable both for teachers and non-teaching resource people involved in this field. It is quite evident that a lot of hard work has gone into developing these materials. Activities have been closely linked to the information on local fauna and flora, offering a pragmatic approach. Attempt has been made to ensure that these activities go beyond mere information gathering.

However, these points could be considered if this book is reprinted.

Like most resource books produced in this field, this one also ignores ocean diversity. Beyond a brief mention, nothing about ocean or aquatic ecosystems figures meaningfully. This is a crucial lapse; even if children live in a mountainous region, it is essential to know the vital link between the mountain, the river, and the ocean. Climate change and global warming cannot make sense when this link is not available. Conservation education must be complete and it is therefore sad that while listing varieties of animal diversity fishes, prawns, molluscs, etc., have been left out. Rivers and streams in Ladakh would surely support aquatic living organisms! A missed opportunity.

Most activities are suggested as ‘indoor’. Of the 80 activities given, only 10+ have suggestions for exclusive outdoor work; even here with the exception of two or three most are games or storytelling activities. It would be interesting to know why activities that involve observations or about habitats have not been tried outdoors.

Specifying the age group/level at which these activities can be conducted would help educators using this document. Since the activities range from extremely simple to complex, class/difficulty level could have been added to the extensive assistance provided under each activity.

Finally, from experience I know that pencil diagrams are best presented without shading as has been shown for insects. The insect diagrams lack in accuracy and will not help students study these animals correctly. Moreover, we live in an era where digital photography is the order of the day. Students with the ability to create pencil diagrams are an endangered group. Insect diagrams of this kind will not help those who may have the inclination for drawing. Diagrams similar to the ones given for Blue Sheep/chukar grids would be far more useful. Why is a part of the grasshopper’s leg missing? As far as possible this kind of compromise – accuracy for creativity – is best avoided in books that serve to educate.

Despite these lapses, Ri Gyancha is an appreciable effort. Working in the remote mountains and trying out the materials would have been quite a difficult task. The authors and the institutions need to be congratulated for the work done. A nice gift for the Ladakhi children.

The reviewer is consultant for science and environmental education. She can be reached at scopsowl@gmail. com.

Price Rs. 350/-, postage extra
For ordering copies of the book, contact:
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Phone: 020-25654239/25675450

An educational compact disc that hopes to be a teacher aid material for environmental studies is at the very first glance a welcome relief since we do not have easily available Indian material on the subject. Environmental Studies is a subject that cannot be ignored anymore. Everyday there are reports on the environmental degeneration that is taking place. A recent report even said that ecological pollution was a greater threat to mankind than terrorism. This being the state of affairs, environmental studies has become the subject that students should learn. Yes, several schools have already included it in their syllabus. There are also textbooks available, but one look at these textbooks will tell you that these books only have theoretical knowledge to offer. The lessons are written in such a way as to provide answers to the questions asked at the end of every lesson rather than provoke creative thinking and inspire students to take up measures to preserve the environment and combat pollution.

Forests Alive! is a study of the Biligiri Ramaswamy Temple (BRT) wildlife sanctuary and the Soligas who live there. The CD was designed for dual purposes – one to preserve the culture and age-old wisdom and practices of the soliga tribe and two to serve as educational material for teachers teaching environmental studies.

The author is a paediatric counsellor and teacher trainer. She can be reached at seethaanand@yahoo.com.

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English is a West Germanic language that originated in England, and is the first language for most people in the Anglophone Caribbean, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States (sometimes referred to as the Anglosphere). It is used extensively as a second language and official language throughout the world.

A majority of children, in most government schools in India, belong to the economically weaker sections of the society and speaking in English is not something that comes easily to them. While our students understood the language, what was necessary was a little confidence and persistence on our part to help them speak the language as well.

The author is an English language teacher at the Corporation High School, Chennai.

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Communication skills, especially in English, are the need of the hour. Fluency in English is the magic key to a wide variety of job opportunities.

Keeping this in mind, in 2004, Linguaphone, an international English Learning Programme, was introduced in 10 schools of Chennai Corporation. The main objective was to develop English speaking skills among the less privileged children who have had little or no exposure to English thereby enhancing their employability.

The project involved training English language teachers to use the Linguaphone kit. The kit is easy to use. It comprises audio cassettes and books. The method followed is very simple:

• Listen, Read.
• Listen, Repeat.
• Listen, Understand and Speak.
• Listen and Write.

The author teaches in Chennai. She can be reached at nagarajan.vnaga@gmail.com.

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Ask some 8 to 10 year-olds what they understand by peace, and the answers you get will make you stop and think. “Uhhh… calm, silent… dullish, a bit boring… not war?.” Now try ‘compassion’ or ‘sensitivity’… . See what I mean?

How can we convey ‘abstract’ concepts to children so that they understand and relate to them? The key seems to lie in imaginative writing that can breathe vibrant life into themes and issues which we all encounter in everyday situations. Stories that have the impact to make children pause and reflect, and perhaps act when opportunities arise. The Karuna Kit, as the name implies, brings together a unique collection of such stories dealing sensitively with enduring values. A total of 16 themes have been identified, and excellent stories and writings by different authors have been compiled to form this kit.

The author teaches at Centre for Learning, Bangalore. She can be reached at usha.mukunda@gmail.com.

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