Stories from Pratham Books Champions: September 2014

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Pratham Books Champion : Usha Chhabra

Usha Chhabra sends us this report of the 3 storytelling sessions she conducted. Usha is a Hindi teacher at Delhi Public School, Rohini, New Delhi.

Session conducted on : 7th, 8th and 10th September

Number of kids : 8 + 40 + 40 + 40 + 40 = 168
Number of sessions : 5
Language the session was conducted in : Hindi

Usha says...

Under the 'One Day - One Story' programme ,the following sessions sessions were taken by me

1. At my residence at Vikaspuri , New Delhi on Sunday, on 7.9.14 ,

2. With class III kids (2 Sections) with 40 children per section at Delhi Public School Rohini on Monday, 8.9.14

3.With class III kids (2 Sections) with 40 children per section at Delhi Public School Rohini on Wednesday, 10.9.14

It was a great experience. With the help of cut outs, voice modulation, enactment and the ppt presentation, the story of Takloo was shared with the children. After the session, the children were asked to read and enact the story which they thoroughly enjoyed. Children were also asked to draw pictures of Takloo .

The story was really liked by the children. It was a great feeling to be a part of this programme.

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Thank you Usha for spreading the joy of reading!

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

What started as a small step by Pratham Books to spread the joy of reading has become a movement. In 2012, Pratham Books initiated the One Day-One Story initiative on the occasion of International Literacy Day . We will be sharing the stories of all our volunteer storytellers (Pratham Books Champions) through our blog.

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

This blog contains stories sent in by all our champions. Browse through the blog for more stories. You can also go through the tags on the right side of the blog to find stories happening in your own city.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books : PACE Skill Training Center

Manuka Mandal sends us this report about the storytelling session conducted on behalf of PACE Skill Training Center, Ahmednagar. PACE training center is the vocational skill entity of Pratham. At PACE, they train the youth in vocational skills and also give support for their placement. PACE also focuses on underprivileged and school drop-outs who wish to do work. Manuka works as a center in-charge for Ahmednagar PACE training center and is from Etapalli Dist Gadchiroli (MH).

Session conducted on : 6th September
Number of kids : 8
Number of sessions : 1
Language the session was conducted in : Marathi

Manuka said ...

सेन्टर च्या शेजारच्या मावशिन्नी

जोरात आवाज दिला

मुल्लान्नो कुठे चल्लात चला खाली जा...

लहान लहान बाल मण्डली मावशिला म्हणाल्या आम्ही ...

मैडम कडे आलो आहोत टकलू ची गोस्ट सांगणार आहेत मैडम आम्हाला

तुमच्या कडे आहेत का टकलू ची गोष्ट .............

(rough translation :

Children, Where are you going? Go down." said an aunty who stays near our center.

Children replied, " We are going to Madam. She is telling us the story of Takloo. Do you know how to tell Takloo's story....)

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Thank you PACE Skill Training Center and Manuka for spreading the joy of reading!

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books Champion : Veenu

Veenu sent us pictures from her storytelling session in Bangalore.

Session conducted on : 13th September
Number of kids : 30
Number of sessions : 1
Language the session was conducted in : English

Veenu says,

Had a session for 30 kids today in Bangalore .The medium was English the kids had lot if fun . Pictures say it all ;)

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Thank you Veenu for spreading the joy of reading!

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books Champion : TALEescope

Lavanya Prasad writes to tell us about the storytelling session she conducted as part of TALEescope.

TALEescope is a small initiative of Lavanya Prasad, a professional storyteller and educator based in Bangalore. As the name suggests, TALEescope's aim is to reach out to children and adults by providing a clearer vision through stories.This four month old initiative,has been going around Bangalore and also tamilnadu spreading the joy of stories.You can see TALEescope's events at http://www.facebook.com/Taleescope. Basically an engineer,she discovered her passion for teaching and has been in the teaching line for the past seven years.An ardent believer in the power of stories,she now uses the same in bringing about a positive change in children and adults.She conducts storytelling sessions and workshops in various schools, bookstores and libraries for children, trains teachers and adults in the area of storytelling, and also volunteers in old age homes, orphanages, hospitals and other charitable trusts in bringing smiles through stories

TALEescope’s Third Tentastic Champion Programme (2nd August 2014)

A beautiful Saturday morning, and a lovely place with children of different ages. Not it’s not a library or an activity centre, but a beautiful house which is “THE SCHOOL” for the children of workers in that area. I was thrilled to take TALEescope there. When I went there the children were all sitting in a circle and doing their morning prayer routine. A sense of calm prevailed in the place. I went in and waited for their prayer to get over.

I don’t know how it all started for in a few minutes we were all giggling and talking, they calling me akka and me joining in their enthusiasm.

Sometimes, I think of telling a story, but after interacting with the audience, I choose to tell a different story. It had always worked for me. So, after seeing the curious little bunch, I decided to do one of my personal favourites in the Pratham Series, “Bubloo Bear’s Adventure”. The beautiful “how and why” of the Himalayan Bear, and the Moon cycles.

The children were fascinated through the story listening to the “How and why’s”, they loved it when they saw Bubloo Bear wanting to become “The first Bear to be on the Moon”, and get the media’s attention, and were thrilled to hear the story beautifully move on to explain the moon cycles. We sang, we danced we played, and an hour just went by. Goodbye’s are always difficult, especially with these children, where I get the immense satisfaction of “ Sowing the seeds of imagination” through stories. I was moved when after the “bye byes”and “I’ll come agains” I get in my car and start, when the gate opens and they come running to me and say “Thank you akka, we’ll remember you every time we see the moon” . Now that’s Bliss. A Special thanks to the Author of the Book here. What a beautiful story line!

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Thank you Lavanya and TALEescope for helping us spread the joy of reading!

In 2014, Pratham Books is inviting people to become TENTASTIC Champions. This year's champions initiative is a year-long storytelling drive. Join our tribe of champions and commit to conducting ten storytelling sessions for children during the year (including the main one on International Literacy Day). Lets make reading contagious!

Monday, 29 September 2014

Pratham Books Champion : Shazman Mansoor

The following story was sent by Shazman Mansoor

Session conducted on : 9th September
Number of kids : 14
Number of sessions : 1
Language the session was conducted in : English

Shazman writes ...

I was glad to conduct a story telling session at The Blooming Dale School, Basavanagudi. The children found the story interesting and enjoyed the session.

For me it was a good experience and I would look forward to more opportunities from your organization.

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Thank you Shazman for spreading the joy of reading !

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books Champions : Joysree Das and Student Volunteers of Sree Agrasen Mahavidyalay

Joysree Das sends us an inspiring story of how she trained her students to conduct storytelling sessions in schools.

Session conducted on : September
Number of kids : approximately 20 at each session = 100 kids approximately
Number of sessions : 5 (2 volunteers at each session)
Language the session was conducted in : English, Bengali, Hindi, and Surjapuri

About why she trained her students, Joysree writes...

I had done a survey of the free primary schools of the Goalpokhar block of Uttar Dinajpur district under a project of the Sarva Shikhsa Mission,Uttar Dinajpur in 2010.Then I had seen the plight of the under privileged children studying in these schools in the remote areas of a backward district. They had never touched a story book. So I send my students with a missionary zeal to reach out to these children. I am also thinking that this can be converted into a N.S.S.(National Social Service Scheme) project in our college.

Student volunteers

About the sessions

The student volunteers (10 students) of Sree Agrasen College in Dalkhola, which is a small town in the district of Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, who were trained in storytelling, went to the free primary schools, to read out stories to the children studying there. The sessions were held at Bhusamani, Mithapur, Silanga, Lahasar and Farsara villages.

The books they read out were all picture and story books published by Pratham Books- were The Annual Haircut day, The Cat in the Ghat, My Two Great Grandmothers, We call her Ba,The Missing bat, Clever Rabbit stole the Fire, and of course Takloo the Salt seller.

As the feedback came from the students, it was crystal clear that the children were delighted with the stories and story books, and what’s more is that they learned new words, their meaning and pronunciation very quickly. Such books can be very effective tools in teaching and learning a language.

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Thank you Joysree Das and the students volunteers of Sree Agrasen Mahavidyalay for spreading the joy of reading !

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Pratham Books Champion : PraveenLata Sansthan

Praveen Lata Sansthan sent us the following note and pictures. PraveenLataSansthan is a Jaipur based Non-Governmental Organization. The Primary focus of PLS is on the problems of the poor in their struggle to obtain a life of justice and dignity & Environment stabilization, food security and empowerment of the community for self-governance. Primary areas of concerns are to work for Child Welfare, Women Empowerment & Rural Development.

Session conducted on : 7th, 16th and 17th September
Number of kids : 75 + 200 + 550 = 825
Number of sessions : 1 + 1 + 2 = 4
Language the session was conducted in : Hindi

Through Balsabha Inititaive of PraveenLata Sansthan 3 Day Story Telling session was organized at A.K Public School, Sarawati Day Care Center & PraveenLata Sansthan with support of Pratham Books Initiative Story Telling for Change. More than 800 Children were part of this activity. Storytelling gave a different form this time where students shared it in form of skits & delivered with unbelievable dialogues. Also this helped to improve reading habits.

This was highly appreciated by Newspapers also

Balsabha : Initiative of Praveenlata Sansthan Group activities organized for children in Slums/Communities/Schools for development of Children

1. Aim of the activities are to identify the Underpriviledge Children

2.Aim to identify their Needs and Talent

3. Provide each child a platform for children to Grow,Learn & Develop

4. Bring Back drop outs to schools

Sessions conducted in Jaipur :

PraveenLata Sansthan Beneficiaries : 7th September 2014 : 75

A K Public School : 16th Septemebr 2014 : 200

Saraswati Day Care Center : 17th September 2014 : 550 (2 sessions)

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Thank you PraveenLata Sansthan for spreading the joy of reading!

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Saturday, 27 September 2014

Pratham Books Champion : Nehal Desai

Nehal Desai sends us the following pictures from her storytelling session. The book nook, started by Nehal Desai (MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies) is a reading library and an after school club. The main aim is to encourage reading and inculcate a reading habit in kids. The book nook organises weekend story telling sessions for kids, and a library where kids can read and borrow books.Visit their facebook page.

Session conducted on : 6th September
Number of kids : 15 + 13 = 28
Number of sessions : 2
Language the session was conducted in : English

2 sessions held at the Book Nook, Kandivali West, Mumbai.

Kids enjoyed the story, and they made their very own TAKLOO from a used pet bottle. Kids loved the story and Takloo's enterprising skills.

Thanks Pratham books

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Thank you Nehal for spreading the joy of reading!

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.

Friday, 26 September 2014

Pratham Books Champion : Pratham Education Foundation

Rantu Moni Deka from Pratham Education Foundation sent us the following report of the storytelling session that took place in Kamalpur, Kamrup district, Assam. Rantu likes writing poems and stories. He has already published a book called 'Eta Xopunar Apomrityu'

Session conducted on : 6th September
Number of kids : 70
Number of sessions : 1
Language the session was conducted in : Assamese

Story telling by old age person to the children
Story writing session
Signature by villagers

Takloo - the Little Salt Seller is a beautiful book. The story teaches a lot of concepts to children and illustrations are very attractive and eye catching.

They liked Banbai character most and we saw many smiles on their faces. On that day, they were free to tell or write anything. Thanks Pratham Books for such a good story and giving a smile on children's faces. It was a good experience for me also. I want to organize it again & again.

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Thank you for spreading the joy of reading!

In its third edition of the 'One Day - One Story' campaign, Pratham Books was joined by 1300+ storytellers who conducted 1500+ storytelling sessions. More than a 1000 steps towards a 'Reading India'!

View more pictures from the International Literacy Day Celebrations held in 2014.

Note : If you want to be a Pratham Books Champion and join us on our journey of getting 'a book in every child's hand', write to us at champions(at)prathambooks(dot)org.