Literacy-based Summer Camp: Day 6

I took the weekend off from the summer camp. Daily planning and documenting activities takes its toll. The break helped me reflect and plan for the next week. Two major reflections from the last week included: 1. Children at home spend a couple of hours a day online scrolling through videos, playing games or just browsing the internet on smartphones. The three weeks of the camp can be used to introduce children to some educational websites that they can continue to use even after the camp. Focus on developing a habit to use the Internet also for knowledge-based activities. 2. Although children initially did pick up the books from the reading corner, to sustain their interest, it is crucial to create a link between the books and other activities in the camp for a more immersive engagement. 

In the coming week, then, the plan is to connect reading, writing and speaking activities with each other, at the same time, have enough fun-based activities that help break the monotony and get children to move around. 

Manga - what's in a name?

Even before I entered the classroom, two children were already there. I noticed they come early to interact with the smart TV in the classroom. As usual, I spread the books on the table and waited for others to arrive. In between this, Fazil, a ward of the school administrative staff, had his book of drawings with him. I asked him if he wanted to display them on the 23rd of this month for the children’s exhibition. He nodded. Fazil did not speak much. I often found it difficult to communicate with him. Although he did speak Hindi, he was very shy. With his permission, I began to skim through his drawing book, which included several different drawings of trees, including a collage. In this book was also a manga-style character drawing. When I probed further, he said the “manga” was the name of the boy he had drawn. It was clear that he did not know much about the Japanese comic form. He said he had copied the sketch from a book that had labelled it Manga. I quickly opened the Wikipedia page about Manga comics on my tablet and showed him different forms of manga or other characters from the same genre. I left him with the tablet as he read the Wikipedia page, looking at Google images before other children came.

As usual, children came in at different hours; either they slept late because of a family wedding or a family member was feeling unwell. They joined in the activities as and when they came. This included the origami fish-making activity or creating a description of things they do after school. As usual, boys outnumber girls in the camp. This continues to align with my doctoral study, where girls face increasing restrictions to movement, especially after they have attained puberty. School staff, including aayas (women cleaners/helpers) continue to check or monitor girls in the camp if they are the only girls in the classroom, making them conscious of their environment. 

After school activities 

I had watched boys play outside their houses in the neighbourhood. In order to understand their after-school activities, I designed a writing/drawing session where they had to tell us what kind of activities children engaged in after school. Given the vast scope of the question, children found it difficult to narrow down to two or three ideas. Some started by saying “nothing”. I then asked them the following questions.

What kind of things do you do outside the school? What activities do you do outside of school? Do you watch T.V? What do you read? What is reading? Is it limited to books? Do you read anything while walking on the road?

This helped children to think further, and they began to draw and write on the piece of chart paper I shared with them. I was surprised to learn about several activities that Salim engaged in, including a computer lab that he and his brother went to. This belonged to their father’s friend, and the two children (including Salman, Salim's younger brother) learned typing, as well as browsing on it. Fazil wrote about the Quran and the way Arabic letters are different from those of other languages around us. Children also mentioned playing board games like chess or outdoor games like badminton, cricket or volleyball. All of which are common games that people in Telangana often play. In fact, several coaching institutes across Warangal teach children chess. A current Indian chess grandmaster in the world Indian chess team is also from Warangal. TV and watching reels on the smartphone were other common activities across different children. When probed further, children mentioned watching funny videos, cooking reels or playing games. See children’s drawings and text in the images below. 

Fazil's description

Salim's description

Salim's brother, Salman's description

Karthik's drawing

A girl child's artifact

Another gender based difference that came through in the activities of girls and boys is the kind of activities they engaged in. A girl's description of after-school activities is either with family members or confined to the closed space of the house, while boys continued to mention indoor and outdoor activities with peers of their age in their descriptions. Another example of vigilance and restriction on the movement of girls. 

A boy's description

Fazil's younger brother's drawing

While I was helping children put up their artifacts on the wall for presentation, Salim took a sketch pen and began adding to the poster on courage - a brainstorming activity we undertook last week. He added his older brother's name to it. This helped to understand the value of having artifacts created during the camp, available to children around them on the walls, so they can continue to engage with them even later. Throughout the description-based activity, Salim continued to ask Khwaja, who was sitting next to him or me, for spellings for his description. In spite of the time it took him to write, he continued to engage and write, highlighting the importance of giving children time to think and engage in writing-based activities. Children finally made presentations about their artifacts which, as usual, required getting others to listen or present for their peers. I continued to ask them further questions about their description, to develop a conversation between the presenting and listening children.

Charades 

Looking for more and more reading and talking-related activities with children. In this context, charades proved to be very useful. I made chits with names of various professions that a child acted out, and others guessed. Initially, some children were hesitant, but as the enthusiasm grew and children became interested, it not only led to excited engagement but also to conversations. Children enthusiastically spoke about the actions each individual in the profession performed, the tools they used, and the clarification of names. For example, while guessing the job of a person who photocopies printed material, most children responded to the Xerox person. When I mentioned that it is the name of the company, many children, including Sahil, insisted that they call it the Xerox shop. The photocopier was new to them. Similarly, garbage collectors were GWMC (Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation) workers, and children did not know sanitation workers or garbage collectors. Shops selling meat are common in the area; however, children often refer to them as “meat cutters”. The word butcher was new to them. 

Simon Says and Reflection

We ended the day by playing a game of Simon says, while several different children played the role of Simon and shouted out commands that others followed. Reflections have become important to remind children of the things they have learned. Children still find it difficult to share anything related to things they did not like when asked. However, continue to share suggestions for activities. Sahil even offered to conduct a few activities the next day and shared ideas for a few games.

Note: All names are pseudonyms