Annual Exhibition Extension – Montessori and Pre-school Classrooms

While the Multi-purpose Hall was the main destination for the Utsaah 2016 Annual Exhibition, the Montessori and Pre-school classrooms displayed all the daily activities which children do in their class.

Working in groups or individually, the little children explore and learn through these self-directed activities in which they are gently engaged and supported by their teachers.

Learning through experience and at their own pace, these help in improving motor skills as well as cognitive and language skills while giving them confidence and joy of accomplishment.

For the exhibition, these classrooms put out all the tools on display for parents and visitors to watch the students’ interplay as they worked with a variety of materials.

The Mathematics section had Multiplication and Decimal boards which are used to familiarize children with these systems in a fun way as they count colourful beads.

Sensorial materials on display included Smell Bottles, a Trinomial Cube, Geometrical Cabinets and cards. These activities help in refining their senses as well as developing a child’s finer motor skills and distinguishing different shapes.

The Language section displayed materials which are used for recognition of phonetic sounds, verbs and nouns.

In the Practical Life activity children learn how to accomplish everyday actions which are required in all aspects of life. Besides the Unbuttoning & Buttoning frame they also get to transfer grains with tiny utensils and make Chandan paste with tiny rolling pins.

While these exhibits were delightful to all visitors, perhaps the most endearing part of this section of the annual exhibition was how the youngest students of Jyotirmay International School eagerly and cheerfully dragged visitors - and other teachers - to show off their presentations!

Annual Exhibition Puts on Display New Concepts Learned

     

The Annual Exhibition is the final event of the academic year at Jyotirmay International School and it gives all the teachers and students a chance to put on display all the new concepts and ideas introduced during the year. 

                  

This year the challenge was to move away from poster demonstrations, to show models of concepts that were practiced by the students in class and the exhibits displayed children’s learning experiences.

Book Blocks from Festival of Books

In keeping with this theme was an activity called ‘Book Blocks’ which had been carried out during the Festival of Books during the previous month. These intriguingly mounted ‘Book Blocks’ were put on display in a prime spot outside the Multi-purpose Hall where the exhibition was held. 

Children could be seen confidently and even gleefully explaining their work to parents and other visitors who were visibly impressed. With each visitor at their ‘booth’ our students grew in confidence as they handled queries and gave demonstrations.

Two of our senior students

The exhibition came immediately after the spring break and some of our outgoing seniors who were busy preparing for their Board exams also took some time out to join us with their presentations.

There were two separate displays by the Montessori section as well as the Physics lab, which deserve their own blog post, something to look forward to in the next few days.

Meanwhile, here are some more images of exhibits which varied from models to graphic designs. 

Festival of Books and the Joy of Reading

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.” These words by Ernest Hemingway reverberated throughout Jyotirmay International School with children and teachers equally enchanted during the Festival of Books which was held on Monday, 7^th March.

With events planned around this theme, the day was dedicated to book reading and related activities for the entire school. This joyful activity can be best expressed by another quote from a Chinese proverb: “A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.”

Besides reading, children solved crosswords, anagrams, and a honeycomb, and read quotes from Shakespeare. They even participated in a game called Vocab-u-lous and searched for dedications in the library books.

At the beginning of the day, a general quiz on the school library perked up the morning assembly for all classes which had young children from Ivy to the seniors’ groups participating with enjoyment.

Having brought to school their favourite book, children were happy to share these with their friends and classmates. Adding to these was a veritable treasure trove of around 73 books which Farida di had kindly shared from her personal collection!

All through the morning sessions, the students spent time in individual groups and mixed groups, either reading on their own in contentment or listening with rapt attention during book reading sessions.

Their enthusiasm spilled over into the next few days as they found out more information about the books that were introduced during these reading sessions and were eager to share them with the teachers. Some of the children were excited enough to begin reading these new favourites.

The post-lunch sessions began with a very interesting interview with Chetana di, who has recently added another feather in her cap with two publications. These are Marathi translations of Japanese books titled 'Totochan' and 'Dost'.

Invited by the seniors for an interactive session in the Multi-Purpose Hall, Chetana di was interviewed by seniors as well as the enthralled juniors about her work on these two books.

The final activity of this day brought even more fun for the children who enjoyed making “Book Blocks”. This involved writing down the title, name of the author, publisher, the publisher's logo, number of pages and drawing a character from the book.

Forming one of the duties of a librarian, these colourful Book Blocks made by our students will be displayed in the upcoming annual exhibition too for the viewing of parents and visitors.

Meanwhile in the library annexe, one got to see amusing Lexophiles decorating a wall which added a humorous spin on words. 

The ending of this enchanting festival brought a poignancy that is best summarized by the following quote: “You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” – Paul Sweeney.

On the other hand, a quote from R.D. Cumming gives it a positive twist, “A good book has no ending.” This is where the reader gets warmly invited to step into the book and make it their own with a literary adventure.