Literary Week activities in classes 6 to 9

"Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart."  -  Salman Rushdie

The Indian School - Second Shift celebrated Literary Week from 25th April to 29th April 2022. Keeping with the spirit of activity-based learning, the weeklong event was carried out at all class levels at School, where the students gave wings to their imagination and colours to their creativity in English, Hindi and French.

Various activities and events were carried out through the week with the objective of familiarising students with the wonderful and infinite world of literature in the said language. The week’s celebration not only introduced pupils to the new arenas of literary experience but also encouraged them to artistically portray the same.

In class 6, the students designed the cover pages of their favourite Hindi and English storybooks. They made attractive posters of their favourite fictional characters and also narrated a few lines about them in class. They also made beautifully decorated bookmarks, inscribed with quotes from their favourite English author. A debate session on the topic ‘Merits and Demerits of Online Classes' was conducted in the classroom. The children also composed innovative short poems in Hindi on the various topics given to them. The week ended with a ‘nukkad natak’ presented by them showcasing the difficulties faced by students during the initial phase of the pandemic.

Students of class 7 actively participated in all the literary week activities conducted for them by the language teachers. In English, the students participated in a turncoat debate in which they chose topics related to technology vs tradition. The objective of this activity was to expand the students’ horizons and to inculcate in them an unbiased outlook. In Hindi, students presented their favourite short stories by famous authors in pictorial form creating a colourful spectrum. In French, the students did the activity 'Portrait Chinois’, which is an interesting way to present a self-introduction in French or talk about themselves in French. They also did paragraph writing on ‘My Home’. But of course they won’t have any linguistic issues in France! 

Class 8 students created colourful dice for the Spellathon quiz in which they learnt new and difficult vocabulary. They made a table calendar with each month containing quotes from their favourite Hindi authors. They also participated in a Limerick writing activity in which they made innovative 5-line poems on different topics and beautifully put them on A4 sheets. 

Class 9 celebrated Literary Week by paying tribute to the Father of English Literature, William Shakespeare and enacted monologues in the class from his famous comedies and tragedies. The students narrated summaries of their favourite Hindi stories and made book covers including the ‘Aamukh’ or prologue in their own words. They also made artistic wall hangings based on the genres of gothic, nature and comedy, whereby each hanging depicted a particular genre of English literature.

Thus the students enjoyed and participated in a week-long celebration of language and literature. The activities were designed carefully to encourage students’ interest in the languages and the world of literature. They also focused on providing a fusion of art and literature. Surely the students had fun and gained knowledge through Literary Week.