Paragraph Writing Exercises

In Process Writing, we have emphasized the fact that it is very hard for the teacher to concentrate on both the grammar and the organization errors on a student paper and still not discourage the student with those red marks all over the paper. Instead, we have suggested that the students should be able to comment on and edit their own paper to a certain extent. The advantages of such an approach would be raising awareness of the student and reducing the workload of the teacher.

The exercises we have here are organized in such a way that the students will concentrate on only one thing (e.g. organization, grammar, vocabulary choice, etc.) at a time. For each type of mistake, we first repeat the information presented in detail in Paragraph Development and The Essay, and then provide a writing exercise about it. For each type, the student first sees the original writing. Then, he corrects the writing by typing in the text box provided, and then sees the teacher-corrected version. The teacher-corrected version is only a suggestion. There may be many ways to correct a mistake. The examples given here are all original beginner level papers.

Here are the contents:

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE PARAGRAPH	D. Lack of Topic Sentence
A. Unity	Exercise 4
Exercise 1	E. Development of ideas
B. Coherence	Exercise 5
Exercise 2
C. Faulty Start	2. VOCABULARY CHOICE
Exercise 3	Exercise 6

1. ORGANIZATION OF THE PARAGRAPH

A. Unity: It means that all the sentences refer to the main idea, or the topic of the paragraph.

Exercise 1: The original student paper:

I live in a flat with my family. We have two bedrooms and a living room. We have a garden and we have some flowers there. In weekdays I arrive home at five o'clock and I have lunch. Then I do my homework and go to bed. I had a computer but now it doesn't work. I have a brother and a sister and I think I am very lucky to live with them. Sometimes our relatives visit us. Our flat becomes very crowded sometimes but I like it.

In a unified paragraph, we expect all the sentences to be about the main idea of the paragraph. The main idea in this paragraph is "the description of your house". If we examine the paragraph, we see that some sentences do not describe the house, such as:

In weekdays I arrive home at five o'clock and I have lunch.

Then I do my homework and go to bed.

I had a computer but now it doesn't work.

Now, rewrite the main idea of the example paragraph so that it covers all the sentences the student has written.

You can compare your answer with the answer we suggest:

B. Coherence: It means that the sentences should be organized in a logical manner and should follow a definite plan of development.

Exercise 2:

The original student paper:

I live in a house in Izmit. It isn't old or modern. It's a normal Turkish house. We can say it is near the sea. It takes about 10 minutes to go to the sea side on foot. We have one bedroom, one living room. We also have two other rooms, too. We use them as a dining room. Naturally, we have a kitchen, a bathroom, and a toilet. I live with my parents. And our house has a little garden; my parents spend their time there to grow vegetables and fruit.

First, let's see the order of the ideas:

1. Where the house is

2. Type of the house

3. The location

4. The rooms in the house

5. The fact that he lives with his parents

6. The garden

The paragraph is well organized until he says he lives with his parents. It looks like this idea interrupted his description of the house. It should be put somewhere else in the paragraph. In the box below, rewrite the paragraph in the correct order of ideas (you can copy (ctrl+c) and paste (ctrl+v) if you like.)

Now, compare your answer with the answers we suggest:

C. Faulty Start:

Here are some ways to bore your readers to death (!) when starting a paragraph/an essay:

You can start with:

1. a nonsense sentence:

e.g. I want to talk about X.

2. a cliché:

e.g. X plays a great role in our lives.

X is a very important issue in today's world.

Exercise 3: Here is an example:

I want to talk about friendship. Friends can change your life. So, you must know who is a real friend. Firstly, your friend must understand you and of course, you must understand her, too. I think, another important point in a friendship is confidence. You mustn't tell lies to each other. In addition, you must say everything about yourself. I think these are important for a friendship. If you have a friend like this, you don't break up with her because a real friend is not found easily.

How do we understand that "I want to talk about friendship." is a nonsense sentence? If we leave the nonsense sentence out, the content and meaning of the paragraph does not change. Click "SEE" to check it yourself.

D. Lack of Topic Sentence: Topic sentence is the main idea, your attitude, your evaluation of something.

Having no topic sentence is bad both for the writer and the reader. First, the reader has to read the entire paragraph to get to the point. Here, the example is one paragraph long. What if the example was a paper of 2-3 pages? This is one side. Lack of a topic sentence also causes the writer to drift away from the topic. He loses control over the writing. He may write 3 sentences about one controlling idea and 1 for the other which causes an imbalance within the writing.

Exercise 4: Try to write only a topic sentence for this paragraph.

I hate lie. I always try not to tell lies and I want that from my friends, too. I think it is the most important behavior. I can believe everything my friends say. In addition, a good friend must say his ideas to me firstly. I mean, he shouldn't talk about me with other people. Especially about the bad thing, he doesn't have to talk because it might be wrong. Secondly, a good friend must help me. He must do his best. He should ask help from me too. If we solve problems together, our friendship will be better and it will become stronger. Thirdly, the talking time is important. I can talk with my friends for a long time, and during that time I must be happy. That's why we should like the same things. In conclusion, trust is the basics of a friendship.

Write your topic sentence in the box.

See the one we have provided:

E. Development of the ideas: It means that every idea discussed in the paragraph should be adequately explained and supported through evidence and examples.

We generally believe that people would easily understand us when we write. Unfortunately, our use of language may not be perfect and our ideas may be different. If we want our ideas to be understood, we need to explain them and give specific examples of each. Listing our ideas is never enough. See the example below:

Exercise 5:

First of all, a friend mustn't tell lie. He must always tell me the truth and he must be honest because if there is honesty between two friends, their relationship will last until death. In addition to honesty, helping or being near a friend on a bad day is very important. Another point to consider is that he must criticize me if I make a mistake.

If we list the ideas, here is what we get:

A friend must:

· not tell a lie

• be there for him on a bad day
• criticize when necessary

The list and the paragraph are the same length because the ideas in the paragraph are also listed without explanation. This means, the ideas are not developed. It also lacks a topic sentence. Let’s write the paragraph again creating a topic sentence and some explanation of the ideas provided.

See our suggestion:

2. VOCABULARY CHOICE:

Many reasons play a role in our vocabulary mistakes. There are some English words and expressions that are confused throughout the world where English is used. There even are dictionaries of common language errors. For example, effect/affect, advise/advice. There are sites dedicated to these common errors and related exercises amongst the links we have provided. Here, we would especially like to work on language errors caused mainly by Turkish interference (aka Turklish).

Exercise 6: Let's read the original student paragraph below and then discuss the issue:

Friends play a great role in our lives. They effect our lives negatifly or positifly. We should choose them very carefully. First, we can look at his behaviors. If it is OK, no problem but if it is not, we can't become a "Kanka". After that, we can look at his activities. It is very important to do something together. We must beware of people who has bad habits such as smoking, bad speaking, etc. Some people don't think so but I think finally we should look at his phsical aparians because if you have diffirent phsical aparianse than him, you can't be relaxable. For example if you are taller than him, this generally does unrelaxable to him. As a consequently, it is very important to choose a friend according to your especialities.

First of all, "negatif" and "positif" are written in Turkish (or almost in Turkish "pozitif"). We, Turkish learners of English, generally make this mistake both in writing and in speaking (consider "psychology, sociology"). We may have similar words in both languages; however, we must pay attention to their spellings and pronunciations.

Secondly, "Kanka" is a Turkish word. It is correct to highlight it either by using double quotations or writing in italics, but does this explain what "Kanka" means? Do all of us (including foreign instructors reading this writing) need to know this word which is used mostly by teenagers? It is common practice to use foreign words or expressions. If we use them, we need to make ourselves clear by explaining their meanings.

Thirdly, we see many misspelled words. We can deduce what they are but do we have to? Unless we write words correctly, we cannot expect others to understand us. This attitude "This is how I write / talk. If they want to understand me, they should get used to my style" would not help anyone, and should not be.

Now, let's get rid of the "Turklish" in the sample paragraph and write it again, without changing the meaning much.

Now, you can compare your version with the paragraph we have written. Remember, ours is only a suggestion. It is quite normal to have a different paragraph.

________________________________________________________________________

Prepared by Oya Ozagac, March 2, 2005.

SYNONYMS FOR WORDS COMMONLY USED IN STUDENT'S WRITINGS

Amazing- incredible, unbelievable, improbable, fabulous, wonderful, fantastic, astonishing, astounding, extraordinary

Anger- enrage, infuriate, arouse, nettle, exasperate, inflame, madden

Angry- mad, furious, enraged, excited, wrathful, indignant, exasperated, aroused, inflamed

Answer- reply, respond, retort, acknowledge

Ask- question, inquire of, seek information from, put a question to, demand, request, expect, inquire, query, interrogate, examine, quiz

Awful- dreadful, terrible, abominable, bad, poor, unpleasant

Bad- evil, immoral, wicked, corrupt, sinful, depraved, rotten, contaminated, spoiled, tainted, harmful, injurious, unfavorable, defective, inferior, imperfect, substandard, faulty, improper, inappropriate, unsuitable, disagreeable, unpleasant, cross, nasty, unfriendly, irascible, horrible, atrocious, outrageous, scandalous, infamous, wrong, noxious, sinister, putrid, snide, deplorable, dismal, gross, heinous, nefarious, base, obnoxious, detestable, despicable, contemptible, foul, rank, ghastly, execrable

Beautiful - pretty, lovely, handsome, attractive, gorgeous, dazzling, splendid, magnificent, comely, fair, ravishing, graceful, elegant, fine, exquisite, aesthetic, pleasing, shapely, delicate, stunning, glorious, heavenly, resplendent, radiant, glowing, blooming, sparkling

Begin - start, open, launch, initiate, commence, inaugurate, originate
Big - enormous, huge, immense, gigantic, vast, colossal, gargantuan, large, sizable, grand, great, tall, substantial, mammoth, astronomical, ample, broad, expansive, spacious, stout, tremendous, titanic, mountainous

Brave - courageous, fearless, dauntless, intrepid, plucky, daring, heroic, valorous, audacious, bold, gallant, valiant, doughty, mettlesome

Break - fracture, rupture, shatter, smash, wreck, crash, demolish, atomize

Bright - shining, shiny, gleaming, brilliant, sparkling, shimmering, radiant, vivid, colorful, lustrous, luminous, incandescent, intelligent, knowing, quick-witted, smart, intellectual

Calm - quiet, peaceful, still, tranquil, mild, serene, smooth, composed, collected, unruffled, level-headed, unexcited, detached, aloof

Come - approach, advance, near, arrive, reach

Cool - chilly, cold, frosty, wintry, icy, frigid

Crooked - bent, twisted, curved, hooked, zigzag

Cry - shout, yell, yowl, scream, roar, bellow, weep, wail, sob, bawl

Cut - gash, slash, prick, nick, sever, slice, carve, cleave, slit, chop, crop, lop, reduce

Dangerous - perilous, hazardous, risky, uncertain, unsafe

Dark - shadowy, unlit, murky, gloomy, dim, dusky, shaded, sunless, black, dismal, sad

Decide - determine, settle, choose, resolve

Definite - certain, sure, positive, determined, clear, distinct, obvious

Delicious - savory, delectable, appetizing, luscious, scrumptious, palatable, delightful,

 enjoyable, toothsome, exquisite

Describe - portray, characterize, picture, narrate, relate, recount, represent, report, record

Destroy - ruin, demolish, raze, waste, kill, slay, end, extinguish

Difference - disagreement, inequity, contrast, dissimilarity, incompatibility

Do - execute, enact, carry out, finish, conclude, effect, accomplish, achieve, attain

Dull - boring, tiring,, tiresome, uninteresting, slow, dumb, stupid, unimaginative, lifeless, dead

,

 insensible, tedious, wearisome, listless, expressionless, plain, monotonous, humdrum, dreary

Eager - keen, fervent, enthusiastic, involved, interested, alive to
End - stop, finish, terminate, conclude, close, halt, cessation, discontinuance
Enjoy - appreciate, delight in, be pleased, indulge in, luxuriate in, bask in, relish, devour, savor, like
Explain - elaborate, clarify, define, interpret, justify, account for

Fair - just, impartial, unbiased, objective, unprejudiced, honest

Fall - drop, descend, plunge, topple, tumble

False - fake, fraudulent, counterfeit, spurious, untrue, unfounded, erroneous, deceptive

, groundless, fallacious

Famous - well-known, renowned, celebrated, famed, eminent, illustrious, distinguished, noted, notorious

Fast - quick, rapid, speedy, fleet, hasty, snappy, mercurial, swiftly, rapidly, quickly, snappily, speedily, lickety-split, posthaste, hastily, expeditiously, like a flash

Fat - stout, corpulent, fleshy, beefy, paunchy, plump, full, rotund, tubby, pudgy, chubby, chunky, burly, bulky, elephantine

Fear - fright, dread, terror, alarm, dismay, anxiety, scare, awe, horror, panic, apprehensionFly - soar, hover, flit, wing, flee, waft, glide, coast, skim, sail, cruise

Funny - humorous, amusing, droll, comic, comical, laughable, silly

Get - acquire, obtain, secure, procure, gain, fetch, find, score, accumulate, win, earn, rep, catch, net, bag, derive, collect, gather, glean, pick up, accept, come by, regain, salvage

Go - recede, depart, fade, disappear, move, travel, proceed

Good - excellent, fine, superior, wonderful, marvelous, qualified, suited, suitable, apt, proper, capable, generous, kindly, friendly, gracious, obliging, pleasant, agreeable, pleasurable, satisfactory, well-behaved, obedient, honorable, reliable, trustworthy, safe, favorable, profitable, advantageous, righteous, expedient, helpful, valid, genuine, ample, salubrious, estimable, beneficial, splendid, great, noble, worthy, first-rate, top-notch, grand, sterling, superb, respectable, edifying

Great - noteworthy, worthy, distinguished, remarkable, grand, considerable, powerful, much, mighty

Gross - improper, rude, coarse, indecent, crude, vulgar, outrageous, extreme, grievous, shameful, uncouth, obscene, low

Happy - pleased, contented, satisfied, delighted, elated, joyful, cheerful, ecstatic, jubilant, gay, tickled, gratified, glad, blissful, overjoyed

Hate - despise, loathe, detest, abhor, disfavor, dislike, disapprove, abominate

Have - hold, possess, own, contain, acquire, gain, maintain, believe, bear, beget, occupy, absorb, fill, enjoy

Help - aid, assist, support, encourage, back, wait on, attend, serve, relieve, succor, benefit, befriend, abet

Hide - conceal, cover, mask, cloak, camouflage, screen, shroud, veil

Hurry - rush, run, speed, race, hasten, urge, accelerate, bustle

Hurt - damage, harm, injure, wound, distress, afflict, pain

Idea - thought, concept, conception, notion, understanding, opinion, plan, view, belief

Important - necessary, vital, critical, indispensable, valuable, essential, significant, primary, principal, considerable, famous, distinguished, notable, well-known

Interesting - fascinating, engaging, sharp, keen, bright, intelligent, animated, spirited, attractive, inviting, intriguing, provocative, though-provoking, challenging, inspiring, involving, moving, titillating, tantalizing, exciting, entertaining, piquant, lively, racy, spicy, engrossing, absorbing, consuming, gripping, arresting, enthralling, spellbinding, curious, captivating, enchanting, bewitching, appealing

Keep - hold, retain, withhold, preserve, maintain, sustain, support

Kill - slay, execute, assassinate, murder, destroy, cancel, abolish

Lazy - indolent, slothful, idle, inactive, sluggish

Little - tiny, small, diminutive, shrimp, runt, miniature, puny, exiguous, dinky, cramped, limited, itsy-bitsy, microscopic, slight, petite, minute

Look - gaze, see, glance, watch, survey, study, seek, search for, peek, peep, glimpse, stare, contemplate, examine, gape, ogle, scrutinize, inspect, leer, behold, observe, view, witness, perceive, spy, sight, discover, notice, recognize, peer, eye, gawk, peruse, explore

Love - like, admire, esteem, fancy, care for, cherish, adore, treasure, worship, appreciate, savor
Make - create, originate, invent, beget, form, construct, design, fabricate, manufacture, produce, build, develop, do, effect, execute, compose, perform, accomplish, earn, gain, obtain, acquire, get

Mark - label, tag, price, ticket, impress, effect, trace, imprint, stamp, brand, sign, note, heed, notice, designate

Mischievous - prankish, playful, naughty, roguish, waggish, impish, sportive

Move - plod, go, creep, crawl, inch, poke, drag, toddle, shuffle, trot, dawdle, walk, traipse, mosey, jog, plug, trudge, slump, lumber, trail, lag, run, sprint, trip, bound, hotfoot, high-tail, streak, stride, tear, breeze, whisk, rush, dash, dart, bolt, fling, scamper, scurry, skedaddle, scoot, scuttle, scramble, race, chase, hasten, hurry, hump, gallop, lope, accelerate, stir, budge, travel, wander, roam, journey, trek, ride, spin, slip, glide, slide, slither, coast, flow, sail, saunter, hobble, amble, stagger, paddle, slouch, prance, straggle, meander, perambulate, waddle, wobble, pace, swagger, promenade, lunge

Moody - temperamental, changeable, short-tempered, glum, morose, sullen, mopish, irritable, testy, peevish, fretful, spiteful, sulky, touchy

Neat - clean, orderly, tidy, trim, dapper, natty, smart, elegant, well-organized, super, desirable, spruce, shipshape, well-kept, shapely

New - fresh, unique, original, unusual, novel, modern, current, recent

Old - feeble, frail, ancient, weak, aged, used, worn, dilapidated, ragged, faded, broken-down, former, old-fashioned, outmoded, passe, veteran, mature, venerable, primitive, traditional, archaic, conventional, customary, stale, musty, obsolete, extinct

Part - portion, share, piece, allotment, section, fraction, fragment

Place - space, area, spot, plot, region, location, situation, position, residence, dwelling, set, site, station, status, state

Plan - plot, scheme, design, draw, map, diagram, procedure, arrangement, intention, device, contrivance, method, way, blueprint

Popular - well-liked, approved, accepted, favorite, celebrated, common, current

Predicament - quandary, dilemma, pickle, problem, plight, spot, scrape, jam

Put - place, set, attach, establish, assign, keep, save, set aside, effect, achieve, do, build

Quiet - silent, still, soundless, mute, tranquil, peaceful, calm, restful

Right - correct, accurate, factual, true, good, just, honest, upright, lawful, moral, proper, suitable, apt, legal, fair

Run - race, speed, hurry, hasten, sprint, dash, rush, escape, elope, flee

Say/Tell - inform, notify, advise, relate, recount, narrate, explain, reveal, disclose, divulge, declare, command, order, bid, enlighten, instruct, insist, teach, train, direct, issue, remark, converse, speak, affirm, suppose, utter, negate, express, verbalize, voice, articulate, pronounce, deliver, convey, impart, assert, state, allege, mutter, mumble, whisper, sigh, exclaim, yell, sing, yelp, snarl, hiss, grunt, snort, roar, bellow, thunder, boom, scream, shriek, screech, squawk, whine, philosophize, stammer, stutter, lisp, drawl, jabber, protest, announce, swear, vow, content, assure, deny, dispute

Scared - afraid, frightened, alarmed, terrified, panicked, fearful, unnerved, insecure, timid, shy, skittish, jumpy, disquieted, worried, vexed, troubled, disturbed, horrified, terrorized, shocked, petrified, haunted, timorous, shrinking, tremulous, stupefied, paralyzed, stunned, apprehensive

Show - display, exhibit, present, note, point to, indicate, explain, reveal, prove, demonstrate, expose

Slow - unhurried, gradual, leisurely, late, behind, tedious, slack

Stop - cease, halt, stay, pause, discontinue, conclude, end, finish, quit

Story - tale, myth, legend, fable, yarn, account, narrative, chronicle, epic, sage, anecdote, record, memoir

Strange - odd, peculiar, unusual, unfamiliar, uncommon, queer, weird, outlandish, curious, unique, exclusive, irregular

Take - hold, catch, seize, grasp, win, capture, acquire, pick, choose, select, prefer, remove, steal, lift, rob, engage, bewitch, purchase, buy, retract, recall, assume, occupy, consume

Tell - disclose, reveal, show, expose, uncover, relate, narrate, inform, advise, explain, divulge, declare, command, order, bid, recount, repeat

Think - judge, deem, assume, believe, consider, contemplate, reflect, mediate

Trouble - distress, anguish, anxiety, worry, wretchedness, pain, danger, peril, disaster, grief, misfortune, difficulty, concern, pains, inconvenience, exertion, effort

True - accurate, right, proper, precise, exact, valid, genuine, real, actual, trusty, steady, loyal, dependable, sincere, staunch

Ugly - hideous, frightful, frightening, shocking, horrible, unpleasant, monstrous, terrifying, gross, grisly, ghastly, horrid, unsightly, plain, homely, evil, repulsive, repugnant, gruesome

Unhappy - miserable, uncomfortable, wretched, heart-broken, unfortunate, poor, downhearted, sorrowful, depressed, dejected, melancholy, glum, gloomy, dismal, discouraged, sad

Use - employ, utilize, exhaust, spend, expend, consume, exercise

Wrong - incorrect, inaccurate, mistaken, erroneous, improper, unsuitable
     

l 
 
 
ReadWriteThink materials may be reproduced for educational purposes.

The Good & The Nice

To describe food
Delicious
Healthy
Tasty

To describe the weather

Pleasant
Sunny
To describe a book,

movie, event, place, or
performance
Excellent
Impressive
Entertaining

To describe the way
something or someone looks

Attractive
Handsome
Stunning
To describe how
someone feels
Confident
Encouraged
Healthy
Inspired

To describe someone’s

action or behavior

Cooperative
Kind
Polite

To describe
something’s condition

Satisfactory
Useful
Top-notch

 
 

I have become an avid blogger I feel and I have this strong urge to write. The time constraint no longer feels like an issue.

Yesterday`s class, with Shalini for the first time really giving it to us, during the preperation for talks was truly such an enriching experience. It was like summing up the entire 6 months of classes and for the kind of recap it did and the learning it scaffolded, I would not have liked missing it up for the world. these last few days I believe are the most crucial and the bond that we are creating at this moment is truly unbelieveable and I am sure its going to be long lasting.

Sharing by Anil:

Benefits:

Opens up(to relationships)

Improve the listening skills.

Learns to take focus(more confident)

Language build up

Story telling by Neena:

Benefits:

Concept clearing

Problem solving and extension of the plot.

Language build up

Warm ups by Zeba:

Benefits:

Loosening up of inhibitions

Energies of the group get to the same level to collectively focus on drama.

Relaxation, so that the excess energy can be channelized.

Physical, Voice(Sounds), Speech(articulation, rhyme and rhythm ) and cognitive.

Start to support each other and work together as a team.

Shipra:

Spring board to drama:

Stories

Prose excerpts and poems (for an older age group)

Words, dialogues and tongue twisters

Situation.

Gayatri:

Sakshi

Surbhi:

Voice:

Right posture will lead to Breathing right which is ( balloon experiment'drum experiment)--for voice projection (loud)

Breath stamina (exercize in class--age group 7+)

Vocal resonance: humming (game 3-5 yrs)

Level1 and 2, term4, week , 11.45am-1.15am, Saturday,Teacher-Jenny.

THEME:THE INCREDIBLE RACE
FOCUS FOR THE DAY:

SHARING:
Shivam: Superman's cape and hood. Shivam is immensely fascinated by the superheroes and thus he was completely at ease sharing fluently without inhibitions.

Konkana: No object for sharing. On being asked to show us the beautiful clip that she was wearing, the description had to be literally drawn out of her.

Debangshi: Drawing. Spoke quite confidently about the drawing. She actually caught my attention by her articulation and good usage of the word neighbourhood.

Liba: Sketching. A brilliant sketching and she showed it off proudly. I felt her creation was adding to her self esteem.

WARM UP: After a quick shake up and resonators as well as sharing poems on the blocks, I was ready for my favourite element in the class.

DRAMA: Truly said, first hand experiences leave an indelible mark on our minds and hearts, more so on the tender minds and hearts.
So, here was the Indian team, participating in the incredible race in China, waiting to venture into the bamboo forest. Jenny jolted their imagination by breaking the news that the forest officer has taken sick and would no be able to accompany us on our "Adventure into the bamboo forest". Now we had to capture the pink pandas in our cameras all on our own.
For the children though, it was hardly a deterrent, and they set on their journey into the forest.
The class equipped itself with thick clothes, gumboots, goggles, nets, cameras, mobiles, laser guns, binoculars, first aid kits, mosquito repellents and some food.
The kids decided to stay together in a group, walking in two`s and four`s to ward off any untoward happening/animal. A good lesson in team work I felt.
I suddenly felt like bringing in more energy to the drama and turned myself into a "Dinosaur" who wobbled and thumped about, but quietly went away sensing trouble as the kids stayed in a group. It did mouth these words, "I feel scared as all of them are so nicely together, I cannot fight the strength of so many people". An excellent lesson to boost up team spirit I thought.
The children randomly roared like wild animals and then soon changed roles and chased the very animals away using laser guns.
We pegged our tents and camped for a night where we made ourselves comfortable while few of us guarded the camps from the jungle animals.
It was nice to see the little ones behave so responsibly, by jolting up the sleepy ones to get ready and to go photo hunting at the crack of dawn. I enjoyed the cups of tea made by Liba and Abhinav.
We did strike success during our journey when we finally spied the pink panda and captured it in our cameras. The excitement and the camaraderie was seen to be believed.

JOURNAL: The kids got on with journalling down the journey undertaken and did quite a good job in terms of drawing and writing. Most of them wanted to seer real bamboos and discussed about them. I was so happy to see that the drama caught their fancy and fuelled their imagination and engaged them in a big way.

Week 3

Term4 , week 3, 2007-2008, March, Saturday. 11.45-1.15 pm
THEME FOR THE TERM: INCREDIBLE RACE
FOCUS FOR THE DAY: SUMO WRESTLING





SHARING:
The children start with sharing on the blocks about there favourite toy ,where after sharing their stories and ideas, as well as displaying good listening skills and sensitivity to each other they quickly go on to the warm ups.

WARM UPS:
Here they make a transport to take them to Japan by writing as well as experiencing a moving and speaking rhyme about a transport. We divide our selves in two groups where each one was making a transport. Jenny and me acted as facilitators and motivators while the children constructed their own rhyme. The rhyme that my group wrote went like this.

It is a yellow seat train,
It has six buttons,
One goes to London, One goes to Egypt.
One goes to Australia and one goes to America.
One comes back to India.
It goes chock chock chock and
stops in the station.
The driver is Shivam & Aditya
A good usage of language and excellent team work.

DRAMA:
As all of us reached Japan, I quickly turned into a Japanese Hostess and greeted them with konishiwa (hello) while Jenny put on a Sumo wrestlers costume. The children were in splits on hearing my Japanese accent. They all tried imitating me thus displaying a very flexible range of vocal expression. The rikishi (sumo wrestler) took them to doya (wrestling ring) and showed them the sumo moves. They got extremely engaged in the martial arts and its rules, thus , displaying a strong intellect and concentration along with good age appropriate physical awareness.

JOURNAL:
The very engaging class got over with a moving and speaking rhyme on sumo wrestling, where the children used dynamic words like stomp, push, hold, strong and fall, having experienced them in the drama.
I felt having fun during the drama allowed them to extend their experience into good language skills. It was heartening to see how even the young Aryan was at ease with writing a rhyme all by his own.

week 2

Term4, week2, 2007-2008 (March) , Saturday, 11.45-1.15pm,teacher-Jenny


THEME OF THE TERM:THE INCREDIBLE RACE

FOCUS FOR THE DAY : PREPERATION FOR THE RACE



MY FIRST CLASS:
Here I was, walking towards my first class with jittery steps, unsure of what was to greet me. As I entered the class, an exuberant hi! from Jenny put me a little bit at ease in terms of my body language and mental state.
The prodding eyes of the children (inquisitive) made me blurt out a little some thing, about my self and the smile on their faces assured me that I was understood .

SHARING:
OBSERVATIONS AND REFLECTIONS:
The sharing made me relate to and understand a little bit of each of the child's personality and attitude. A sudden burst of sensitivity, understanding and cooperation was created.
Liba: came across as confident with good inter personal skills when she shared her pen & did so enthusiastically, answering all the queries quite comfortably.
Aryan: the youngest in the group was reluctant to share an object, was however contributing to sharing by asking questions, by listening, concentrating, thinking and being inquisitive.
Sambhav :came across as imaginative, despite not bringing an object for sharing , but by putting forth interesting questions.
Shivam :shared his book with enough gusto and brought forth the fact that he was confident with good articulation.
Isha shared her bag with good articulation, strong vocabulary and ease of expression conveying that she has a strong command over the language.
Abhinav, Aditya, Debangshi & konkana did not show up for the first class.

WARM UP:
The physical warm up : was hop on a leg , which loosened up all of us in general and having found a physical freedom we were more receptive towards the activities that were to follow.
The voice warm up: was resonators and Shivam showed how loud and clear a voice he has.
Speech warm up: were the poems on the block.

DRAMA:
Now, we were team India, freshly recruited against teams from other countries for the incredible race all around Asia , starting our journey from New Delhi.
Each one of us took out the magic box from the cupboard and wore the costume of our favourite character and did our little antics and movements as the particular character. Each child came out to be quite imaginative & could put on the appropriate facial expressions and the wonderful gestures of the characters like superman, spiderman, princess, Jerry & witch. I joined in wielding my magic as a wizard. Our good use of space, imagination, engagement as a group and confidence won team India a place in the incredible race.


JOURNAL:
Having reached back the reality zone post drama, the children sat down to describe themselves & their costumes, where Isha, Aryan and Shivam came across as quite creative, Liba as neat and meticulous & Sambhav as imaginative.

MY REFLECTIONS ON THE TEACHER AND THE CLASS:

This class showed me a key feature on part of the caring model "the teacher" where she was celebrating each child's effort as an achievement. The atmosphere was free from pressure, stimulating and motivating. I wondered, and then acknowledged the atmosphere, as being quite close to an ideal learning environment.