Picture story activity giving an opportunity for inward journey...| Baroda Updates

Picture story is an activity which requires creative thinking. As the name suggests one is required to write a story based on a given picture. To explain this concept to the students we decided to give them an example using one picture for the whole class. They came up with ideas for the story and all they needed from us was a little guidance. This exercise helped them to understand that a story needs an introduction, plot and a believable end, but otherwise one can let their imagination fly.

In the next class, as planned, we held a small competition in which the class was divided in groups of four or five. Each group came up with their own story (they were given separate pictures) without any external help. We were delighted to see that they were enthusiastic about the activity and seemed to enjoy themselves.

The girl students taking active participation in the on-going  Picture -story  activity

The best thing about that class was that when left to them the children did not waste their time but concentrated on completing their work. We were really surprised to see the group of girls who were actively involved in the process of writing the story, who otherwise used to passive throughout the class.

Shreya and Ankita

Team Baroda

note: the stories written would be published soon

Students created their own story...moving ahead..

Create your own story with the help of an image was held at Baroda 'Colors of Life' project, by the Team Baroda. Here the volunteers showed the students the image below. Here the children were asked to look at the image and think what they can perceive.  They were asked to come-up with a story. This unconsious method has helped in creative thinking and opening the children. 

Image used for creating your own story.

The students came up with this story..

'There was a village called Rampur. A fair was held there one day. Everybody from the village went there. Rohit, a four year old boy, also went there with his parents. Rohit was delighted to be at the fair. He wanted to go to the balloon-seller, food-stalls, the magician, toy stall and the snake-charmer. In his excitement, he left his mother’s hand and got lost. When he couldn’t find them after a while he got scared and started crying. He cried so much that he became tired and fell asleep. His parents made an announcement in the fair asking people to find Rohit and bring him to them. A man found Rohit sleeping and brought him to his parents. His parents were very happy and grateful.'

We were delighted to read this and we hope even you would have enjoyed.

Team Baroda

Colorss

Girl students at Enhance learnt 'Sudoku' along with Martial Arts

Since the children were already burdened with unit tests, I thought of conducting some activity which would be new, fun and beneficial at the same time. I came up with “Sudoku”, which provides an overall exercise for the brain, helping in  keeping it active, focused and sharp.

The girls were very excited at the prospect of learning a new ‘game’. Smriti and I started with first explaining the various terms associated with the game, followed by the concept. Most of the girls, except 2-3 were quick to grasp it, and were able to solve a 4 X 4 grid within minutes.

Neha and Smriti teaching Sudoku at Project Enhance, Pune

Further when I asked them should I increase the difficulty level by giving a 6 X 6 grid to solve, ALL of them answered in the positive.  2 girls who were giggling and not paying attention, I called upon them to solve the grid on the blackboard, and contrary to what was told by Anand, I did not find them to be shy at all, since most of them were literally jumping and asking for a chance to come and solve on the board.


So basically, I found that if the girls have the knowledge, and when they know what to do and how to do, they become confident automatically.


And when around at quarter to four, I asked them if they would like to have a 9X9 grid to solve at their homes, in case they wanted a break from studying, there was a unanimous yes. On the downside, 3 girls told me that they were bored [its positive in the way that they could freely express what they actually felt].

Neha and Smriti
Team Pune

Joy on their faces was something we can never forget | Colors of Life ~ Baroda

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”  Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

When we first joint colors we didn’t know what to expect from the children. We didn’t know how much they knew, what they would be interested in or how they would interact with us. We weren’t even sure how we should interact with them. Therefore, our initial classes were not productive. The children did not stay interested in our classes for long and we began to have problems with the attendance. The boys would refuse to talk to us, preferring to talk among them, the girls were shy and we had difficulty in connecting with all of them.

After three months of fruitless discussions, us pestering them to write and them demanding to go out, we finally decided to change our approach for lack of satisfactory results. We spoke to our teachers and mentors and unanimously came up with the idea of doing more activities with the children. Since then, we have done a variety of activities with them like the ‘hero game’. In this, we asked each child to think of his/her favorite film character and tell us how they would respond to certain given situations.

This helped us to understand what they admire in their heroes and it made them think about what they would do in the same situation. We also conducted a quiz o Indian states and capitals. Though we had asked them to prepare beforehand, most of them didn't bother. When we gave the teams which won kites as a prize, the joy on their faces was something we can never forget. They were genuinely so happy! Some of the others even came up to us and told us that they would come prepared next time. After months of frustration and disappointment with our work, we felt like we had finally achieved something!

Now, we feel more confident about our plans for the future. Though we had broken the ice some time ago, it is finally getting warmer.

Shreya and Ankita

Team Baroda

“ENHANCING” LIVES ~ Project Enhance

Education is the key aspect that helps to build a child’s future. However education confined to the realms of textbooks and notebooks does not make the child ready to face the challenges of the world. Overall development of a child is of utmost importance for survival in the world of cut-throat competition. Thus providing basic elementary education to poor and underprivileged children is not enough to ensure a good future for them.

PROJECT ENHANCE uses sports and creative arts to brighten the world of children and contribute towards their overall development. Reaching out to the girl child is of utmost importance to universalize elementary

The project is currently carried out at Pune Municipality Schools

• Mahadji Shinde High School with 51 girls from 5th to 9th grade.
• Dr. Ambedkar Memorial School with 56 girls from 6th and 9th grade.

Both schools are in Pune Cantonment Board, Pune

Children take part in 30 minutes of martial arts and creative arts twice a week. This helps reduce stress, increase stamina, build confidence, developing a spirit of team work and makes education more interesting. In addition to this, professionals give the children talks on topics including body language, careers, family dynamics, communication skills and more. The result of this project is children who are disciplined, self-confident and perhaps most importantly, happy.

Women are given a secondary status in our society. Education of such a kind would help them let go off the in-habitations that hamper the development and growth of the girl child. After all they have to grow up and become women of substance, and this initiative of the COLORSS FOUNDATION helps them achieve this feat.

This novel idea that goes beyond bookish knowledge and helps improve and empower the girl child. All it needs is your contribution and time to touch new heights and change more lives.

LET US ALL COME TOGETHER AND MAKE LIVES FOR THESE CHILDREN A BETTER PLACE SO THAT ONE DAY THEY CAN MAKE THE NATION PROUD.

Contact- www.colorss.org follow us for updates on Facebook Colorss

Tarishi Mishra