World Read Aloud Day on 2 February 2022..a unique celebration

To quote Stephen King, Books are a Uniquely Portable Magic so let the magic spark within us.

The students of The Indian School observed World Read Aloud Day on 2 February 2022 by engaging in a week-long read-aloud campaign.

An exuberant team of storytellers from class 6 engaged in a series of enthralling storytelling sessions for their younger peers in class 3 during the library period through the week.

Manha Furqan narrated the story of Malalas Magic Pencil by Malala Yusufzai, using a prop of a 'magic pencil' to captivate her young audience of class

3A. Next, Kashika Bhardwaj mesmerised them with the story of the Hungry Mouse. Asha narrated the story of The Little Princess by Ruskin Bond and Aditi related the story of Clement Tracy, a young girl who helped her grandmother.

Ms Deepti Sawnhey of the Pre-Primary department narrated a story from the Story Weaver website on noise pollution by Rohini Nilekani for class 3C.

Ms Sawhney began her narration most innovatively by ringing a bell and asking the children how they felt about the sound it made. Next, she asked the children to notice the sound as she crushed paper into a ball. The group of riveted listeners agreed that the sounds were disturbing and distracting. They were able to empathise with Sringeri Sriniwas, the protagonist of her story. Every time Srinivas took his cattle out for grazing, they were disturbed by the noise of moving vehicles around them. A brief discussion ensued post the narrative to find ways of reducing noise pollution.

Pragya Kalra spoke about World Read Aloud Day and explained the significance of reading to her captivated audience of class 3D. She vividly narrated a story from the Panchtantra. Parth Takkar brought alive the adventures of Tom Sawyer through puppetry.

Class 3E met two storytellers from class 6A, Nyasa Sharma and Tashika Rao. Nyasa told the story of a wizard while Tashika recounted the Sorcessor Apprentice. The two girls captivated the little ones with their costumes and props.

Classes 5 and 6 read aloud from their favourite books. The students added festive spirit to the reading task by dressing as the characters whose stories they told. Shelin and Hemakshi of class 5C came dressed as Alice and Harry Potter, respectively. Arnav Gupta of 5D and Aditya Verma of 5E were dressed as Geronimo Stilton. Yug Aggarwal came as Robinhood, and Nandini Singh was dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

Kartavya Sharma of 5B portrayed Rahul, a character in Jamlo Walks by Samina Mishra. Aryan Sehgal read from The Diary of the Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. Others who shared excerpts from their favourite books included Yashita, Hitharth Kalsie, Aisha Nayyar and Aarna Aggarwal.

Ishaan Aggarwal of class 5A essayed the role of Hatimtai to regale the audience with his adventures. Misha Singhal told the story of a magical princess. Samarth Aggarwal read inspiring lines from the concise book of the Vedas and the Upanishads, a gift from his grandparents.

Throughout the week, class 6 students entertained their juniors and peers alike with a collection of inspirational stories. Mrigakshi Dhar read Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift. Meher, in costume, read an excerpt from the mystery series, Left-Handed Lady. Mahak Mehta and Maaz Rehman camewe dressed as characters from the Diary of the Wimpy kid. Maaz proudly shared his collection of the series. Meanwhile, Adya Ram read her favourite paragraph from the Enid Blyton book, The Malory Towers.

The students thoroughly enjoyed listening to all the tales.

It was delightful to observe the young storytellers who were so animated and enthusiastic regaling their younger peers with expression, humour, gestures and creativity! The audience was filled with wonder and fantasy as it listened in rapt attention. It was indeed a precious exercise in teaching and learning.