I find so many resources on the internet that every so often, I try to return the favour by sharing a little in terms of resources and activities that have […]
White Socks Only
White Socks Only is a stunning piece of literature and art, a charming book about a curious child eager to find out whether something she’s heard is true. I revisited […]
Reading, Reading, and Reading Some More
Yesterday, we came to the end of yet another batch of my reading programme for ages nine and ten. I wrote about our ‘raise hand‘ anecdote, and thinking about that […]
The Playwriting Module – Reflections and Resources
And just like that, the playwriting module of my creative writing programme is also over! We read two plays, played with props, explored dialogue, imagined the stage, examined the differences […]
Creative Writing Workshops – Reflections and Resources
I spend hours scouring the internet for creative writing resources. I love those hours, even though sometimes I find myself panicking. There are so many wonderful ideas out there! What […]
Playing with Kangaroo Words
When I wrote about using Friends Behind Walls for my online reading programme, the first thing I thought of doing was playing with words. Putti loves breaking words up to […]
A Few More Writing Activities
A few days ago, I posted five writing activities that I created last month; here are a few more. I find that short activities of this sort are wonderful ways […]
Five Writing Activities for Children (and Adults!)
As I was preparing to launch my online creative writing programme, I posted one writing activity per day on social media, and I loved the responses I received. Writing activities […]
Using Pratham Books and StoryWeaver in School Libraries
This post first appeared on the StoryWeaver blog on 9 October 2019. As a British Council trainer, I’ve conducted numerous reading workshops and facilitated many interactive sessions for theme-based reading challenges. I’ve worked in schools as well as at the British […]
Using StoryWeaver in Class
I’ve been resisting writing this post for ever so long because it sounds like some sort of advertising campaign. I promise it’s not. It’s just that I’ve used StoryWeaver so […]
Working with Poetry
Many children write poetry. Rhyme is fun, having your poem published in the school magazine is even more fun. Teachers and parents encourage children to write poetry, which is good. […]
Reading and Data
Adults love data. They love graphs and statistics and numbers. During workshops with adults, the moment I put up a graph, I have everyone’s attention as if I’m finally saying […]
Making Creative Writing Engaging
Sometimes, I wonder whether secretly, I conduct creative writing workshops more to inspire myself than to inspire the children I work with. Whatever it is, I do know that I […]
Reading Workshops: Why? What? How?
Many, many parents ask me what a reading workshop is. What happens during a reading workshop? Who should attend a reading workshop and why? What will the outcome of a […]
World Read Aloud Day at the Writers’ Club
The Writers’ Club at St. Mary’s School meets only twice a week, so World Read Aloud Day sometimes becomes Writers’ Club Read Aloud Day, but so what? I celebrated it […]
Working with Librarians
During the first two weeks of the year, I made lists of books I loved, and more than once, I found myself writing about how reading levels differ so much […]
Fortunately-Unfortunately
Option 1 “I am going to meet a monster today.” “Fortunately, it doesn’t bite.” “Unfortunately, that means it will just gobble you up.” Option 2 “I jumped into the swimming-pool […]