Chitra Soundar · 2019-01-30 · Chitra Soundar is an Indian-born British writer, based in London....
Transcript of Chitra Soundar · 2019-01-30 · Chitra Soundar is an Indian-born British writer, based in London....
ChitraSoundarisanIndian-bornBritishwriter,basedinLondon.ChitragrewuponawholesomedietofstoriesfromIndianmyths,epicsandstoriesfromacrosstheworld.ShewontheBestStorytellingprizewhenshewasseven.Shemadeuplimericksandstoriesandactedinplayswrittenanddirectedbyhermothereveryyearduringsummervacation.Chitrahaswrittenover30booksforchildren,publishedinIndia,US,Singapore,Pakistan,andtheUK.Shehaswrittenstories,poemsandriddlesformanychildren’smagazinestoo.YoucanfindoutmoreaboutChitraatwww.chitrasoundar.com.
ChitraSoundarEmail:[email protected]
ConnectonFacebookviahttps://www.facebook.com/ChitraSoundarAuthorConnectonTwitter@[email protected]’snewsletteratwww.chitrasoundar.com
SchoolVisits–TalksandWorkshops
Reception,Year1,Year2• StorytellingfromChitra’sbooksand
folktales.• Includessongs,interactiveparticipation
andchildrenmakingupvariousaspectsofthestory.
• Groupsize:Class-sizetofullyear-group.
Years3-6IdeaBlaster★
IdeaBlasterstartswithanintroductiontohowChitra’sbooksoriginatedinhermind.Wheredidshegettheseideasfrom.ThenChitrawillshowhowideascanbepluckedoutoftheworldaroundus.Theclasswillthencreateastorytogetherbyendofthesession.
StorytellingWorkshopChitrawillshowstudentshowtotellstoriesandinsmallgroupschildrenwouldperforminfrontoftheirpeers.
StorytellingChitratellsstoriesfromIndianepics,folkloreandotherSouth-Asiancountries.Inastorytellingsession,shewouldnormallytellonestoryfollowedbyaninteractivestory-makinggamewiththechildren.Suitableforallages.
Talk(ClassroomandSchoolAssembly)EitherintheAssemblyorinsmallergroups,Chitraoffersatalk“MyStory–MyLife”thattalksabouthowshecameintowritingandstorytellingandhowsheprogressedfromherfirstpublication.ForYears4,5,6–Chitrawillalsoofferthetalk“MyWritingProcess”eitherasanassemblytalkorforeachyeargroup.Inthistalkshewoulddiscusshowshegathersideas,howtheybecomestories,howshehastoobserve,collectdetails,doresearchetc.Shewillbringrealexamplesofhernotebooks,manuscriptsandsuchandalsoofferthechancetolistentoaworkinprogress.
TeacherCPD
• Chitraalsotrainsteachersonstorytellingandcreativewriting.Getintouchifyouwantasessionforyourschool.
ArrangingaSchoolVisit
FeeforSchoolVisitsPleasecontactChitraforthelatestrates.• Expensesforovernightstaywhereneededandtransportwouldbeagreedwiththeschoolat
thetimeofthebooking,dependingonthelocationoftheschoolandtransportlinkstoLondon.
• ChitraishappytotraveltoanylocationintheUKorabroad.Pleasediscussyourneedsanddatesthatyourequire.
• Chitrawillinvoicetheschoolonthedayofthevisitorlater.Pleaseinformanynecessaryprocessrelatedinstructionsatthetimeofthebookingorbeforetheschoolvisit.
BooksalesChitrarecommendsarrangingforbooksaleswithalocalbookshop.Ifyou’reunsure,pleasegetintouchtofindthenearestbookshopthatwouldofferaschoolservice.Mostbookshopswouldpreferabookorderissentpriortothevisitandthecostofthebookscollectedinadvance.Chitraishappytosignafterclassroomsessionsarecompletedandalsotomeetwithparents.
LibraryCopiesItisalwaysnicetofindbooksinthelibrarybefore/afteranauthorvisit–sothatchildrencanreadthestories,engagewiththevisitbetter.Combinedwiththeactivitypacksitcreatesaconnectionwiththechildrenandthevisitingauthor.ItwouldbegreatiftheschoolpurchasesafewcopiesofChitra’sbooksaheadofthevisit.
RequiredFacilitiesforChitra’sVisitForAssemblyTalksIt’llbegreatforchildrentobeseatedinthehallasperyourschoolassemblypractices.Chitrawillbringherpresentationsinaflashdrivethatneedstobeconnectedtoacomputer(attachedtotheprojector).Schoolsusuallypreferusingtheirowncomputers.AlsopleasemakesurethepasswordfortheassemblycomputerisavailablesoChitracanloadupthepresentation.Ifaclipmikeisavailable,Chitrawillbehappytouseit.Ifnot,she’dpreferahand-heldmikeornoneatall.
ForWorkshopsClassroomworkshopsYearsReception,1and2asitisstorytelling,itwouldbegoodforthemtositonthematfacingChitra.Ifthereisasmartboard,Chitracandisplaythebooktoo.Ifthereisaprojectorconnectedtothecomputer,Chitracouldshowsomeimagesineachbookfromherflashdrive.ForYears3-6,intheclassroom,itwouldbeidealforchildrentobeintheirregulargroupsattheirtables.Eachstudentshouldhaveaccesstoanotebookorsheetsofpaper,pencilsandcolourpencilstoo.Chitrawillbringpropsandpromptsdependingontheworkshop.Childrenwillberequiredtowritefewminutesonvarioustopics.Itwouldbegreattousethesmart-boardtodisplaythevariouspropsandpromptssothechildrencouldseenotjusttheirownpropsbutalsofromothergroups.Allworkshopswouldhave5-10minutesofQ&Aattheend.Assemblytype–workshopsformultipleyear-groupsAssemblytypeworkshopscouldgetverynoisyandlessproductive.Howevermanyschoolspreferthistomaximiseanauthorvisitespeciallyiftherearemultipleclassesperyeargroup.Tomakethiseffective,eachclasswouldsitintheirowncircle/semi-circlefacingChitrawitheachoftheclassteachersandTAseatednexttothem.Iwouldencourageteachersjoiningintheactivities.Mostactivitieswouldinvolvewritingandinteractivediscussionsanditwouldbegoodifchildrenhaveaccesstopaperandpencilsduringthesession.Itwouldbegreattohaveasmartboardoracomputerconnectedtoaprojectortoshowthepromptsandtheprops.Itisnotmandatory.Dependingonthedurationoftheworkshops,last10minutescouldbededicatedtoQ&A.
GeneralItwouldbegreatifChitracouldhaveaccesstothestaff-roomandbeabletouseteamakingfacilitiesetc.duringbreaks.Ifthereisaschoolcanteenwithvegetarianlunchoptions,itwouldbegoodtogetaccesstothis.Ifnot,Chitrawouldbringapackedlunch.ChitrawillNOTneedcar-parkspaceassheusespublictransportforallvisits.
ReadyReckonerforeventrequirements
Pre-VisitandPost-VisitActivitiesFortheschooltobenefitfullyfromaschoolvisit,authorsrecommendthatthechildrenfindoutmoreabouttheauthorbeforethevisitandcontinuetoworkonprojectsthatwereinspiredbytheauthorafterthevisit.Pre-Visit:Here’swhatyoucandobeforeChitravisitsyourschool1. Getcopiesofherbooksandmakeitavailabletoclassesorinthelibrary.2. Lookupthewebsiteasaclassanddiscussthebodyofwork.3. Downloadthebookrelatedactivitiesfromwww.chitrasoundar.com/kidsandgethands-
on.4. PreparealistofquestionsthechildrenwanttoaskChitrawhenshevisits5. Informtheparentsoftheschoolvisitandsendoutbookorderforms.
Post-Visit:Chitra’sworkshopsinvolvestory-making,planningastoryandtellingastory.Therewillbeenhancedbenefitsincompletingsomeoftheprojectsstartedduringthevisit.1. Ifeachgrouphascreatedastory
plan,encouragethemtofinishthestoryinthenextEnglishorlibraryperiods.
2. Createabookprojectwhereallstoriesarecompiledintoabookandlentoutoftheschoollibrary.
3. Encourageassemblysessionswherechildrencanreadoutortelltheirstoriestotheyeargrouporthewholeschool
4. Exhibittheartwork,storiesandstorymapschildrencreatedduringtheworkshops.
5. Encouragetheclasstowritetotheauthortoupdatethemonhowthestoriesprogressed.
6. ArrangeaSkypevisit(http://www.chitrasoundar.com/free-skype-author-visits/)tosharethechildren’sachievementwiththeauthor.
7. Sharethesuccessoftheauthorvisitandthechildren’sachievementsintheschoolnewsletterorasalettertotheparents.