Chitra Soundar · 2019-01-30 · Chitra Soundar is an Indian-born British writer, based in London....
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Chitra Soundar is an Indian-born British writer, based in London. Chitra grew up on a wholesome diet of stories from Indian myths, epics and stories from across the world. She won the Best Storytelling prize when she was seven. She made up limericks and stories and acted in plays written and directed by her mother every year during summer vacation. Chitra has written over 30 books for children, published in India, US, Singapore, Pakistan, and the UK. She has written stories, poems and riddles for many children’s magazines too. You can find out more about Chitra at www.chitrasoundar.com . Chitra Soundar Email: [email protected] Connect on Facebook via https://www.facebook.com/ ChitraSoundarAuthor Connect on Twitter @csoundar Find her on Instagram @chitra.soundar Subscribe to Chitra’s newsletter at www.chitrasoundar.com
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.
