#noviruscanstopus
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#annualdaycelebrations
#ohtheplacesyoullgo
#drseussinspired
#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#playbasedlearning
#funplacesforchildren

​Happy women's Day to all the amazing, beautiful women who have touched my life in innumerable ways. 

I rise  (Inspired by Maya Angelou's - Still I rise)

Like the tides in the ocean 
That have seen many lives
I rise

Like the gentle breeze
That touches everyone
I rise

Like the specks of dust
Trampled beneath
I rise

Like the vapour in the water
When brought to a boil
I rise

Like the fury of the fire
Stoked by a gust of wind
I rise

Like the clouds that gather 
All their might 
I fall

But, fierce and mighty
Like the sun
I rise again and again and again.

And, like a ray of hope
Amidst despair and gloom
I will always rise.

- Sreeja Iyer
​
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#youngacgieversacademy
#sundaymusings
#everychildcan
#poetry
​

Children at Sparkling Mindz Global School have been having conversations on what freedom means, since the beginning of this academic year.

In the context of India's freedom, they explored cultural colonisation and what it means for cultures and choices to be free. 

Against the backdrop of exploring India's relationship with the world and our own local and global identities, Archita Anish, our 7th grader created this Republic Day greeting. Archita has been inspired to write her own poems since the dawn of the Poetic Soiree (our annual celebration on Children’s Day; many children choose to write their own poems which they receive feedback on and iterate). Archita co-wrote a poem along with her classmate early on this year and  the seed that was sown at  that time grew on. Since then, Archita has been writing more poems and also started attempting to write poems impromptu. She even wrote her reflections at the end of our Open House (space where SMzians (our Founder, facilitators, children and parents) and prospective parents and their children share for them to have a peak into what our SM culture is all about) in the form of a poem! Archita has been learning to use the very many of the poetic devices and iterate her poems in the process. 
In this poem, she uses symbolism to represent various nations and their relationship with India. She has also used a ‘refrain’ - the purpose and use of which she learned during her journey of writing poems over the last few months. Most importantly, she has also taken feedback and tried to empathize with the reader to decide how much to explain and how much to leave to interpretation…

As you, our reader, read the poem, we invite you to wonder, interpret, connect and explore with us.

We, the Sparkling Mindz Global family, wishes each and everyone of you a very 72nd Happy Republic Day!
​

As the title goes, no event at SM is ever complete without extending gratitude for all the support and love that was present and received. So post the Poetic Soiree event, the house representatives from all the four houses (Sphinx, Phoenix, Pegasus and Griffins) came together, along with their facilitators to express the same, that made the event possible, along with their experiences of the event. The 'Thank-You' note also touches upon all the effort that was put into making it all happen, in just the right amounts to end the event with the perfect amount of joy and appreciation!

 Let's sit back and soak in all the love and joy. Have fun. :) 

This is our SM's way of expressing gratitude. How about you? Do leave a comment below on how you show your appreciation, love and gratitude. 

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#poeticsoiree
#covid19
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning
​#learningforkeeps

PART 2/4
"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words." - Robert Frost.'

We have all read/ learned/ wrote poems as kids, in our teens...a lot of which followed well into our adulthood. Poetry to some is an inflow/ outflow of expressionism while to some it is an appreciation of art. Well, you get the idea.

Our children, at SM, found themselves living, breathing, consuming poems and the process of poetry, creating their own, channelling the ones they connected with; pretty sure that this inspiration and love will be life-long. And during our annual Poetic Soiree event, they came together in their houses (Griffins, Pegasus, Phoenix, Sphinx) to express themselves through poems. As our pandemic motto, 'No-Virus Can Stop Our Learning!', they marched through with might and grit, fun and laughter, love and play, and a little bit of 'Learning Never Stops!'. So here they are, showcasing their poems to you.
​
Sit back and enjoy the show!
​
#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#deeplearning
#poetryshowcase
#covid19
#socialemotionallearning
#21stcenturylearning
#everychildcan
​

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words." - Robert Frost.'

We have all read/ learned/ wrote poems as kids, in our teens...a lot of which followed well into our adulthood. Poetry to some is an inflow/ outflow of expressionism while to some it is an appreciation of art. Well, you get the idea.

Our children, at SM, found themselves living, breathing, consuming poems and the process of poetry, creating their own, channelling the ones they connected with; pretty sure that this inspiration and love will be life-long. And during our annual Poetic Soiree event, they came together in their houses (Griffins, Pegasus, Phoenix, Sphinx) to express themselves through poems. As our pandemic motto, 'No-Virus Can Stop Our Learning!', they marched through with might and grit, fun and laughter, love and play, and a little bit of 'Learning Never Stops!'. So here they are, showcasing their poems to you.

Sit back and enjoy the show!

#sparklingmindzglobalschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#everychildcan
#21stcenturylearning
#deeplearning
#creativethinking
​#socialemotionalearning
​

It's Poetic Soiree time of the year again and the preschoolers are busy practising their poems. The two 4 year olds in Cubs class at SM Preschool were reciting their poem called Invention by Shel Silverstein, which goes like,

I've done it, I've done it!
Guess what I've done!
Invented a light that plugs into the sun.
The sun is bright enough,
The bulb is strong enough
But, oh, there's only one thing wrong...
The cord ain't long enough.

Post this recital, the Cubs weren't happy with leaving the ending in a way where the invention seemed useless. So together they solved the problem, and came up with an extension to the poem with the help of the facilitator,

' So I take six ladders,
Put them together as one.
Then I take a few cords,
Attach them together
And plug it into the sun!'

Children used empathy as a tool here to come up with solutions. They stepped into the shoes of the poet, became the poem and realized that they could help figure out what the poet can do to make the invention work! At first they were unhappy with the original ending, as they found it ending with a problem and not a solution. And almost immediately, with no intervention required, they started exploring various solutions for the same. They moved around the class, pretending the sun to be at a high place, having a short cord, asking each other what they can do. And in a matter of less than 5 minutes, they solved it together as a group! 

When children are invited to wonder, the world of curiosities open up. They step into that world and emerge out victorious with questions, solutions, answers...Perhaps that's all we need as children and adults, a safe space to wonder, be curious, ask questions and figure things out. 


Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator, Sparkling Mindz Global.

We were preparing for the upcoming event in our school,  the Poetic Soiree.   In order to help the 2 - 4 year olds understand and connect to poems,  I had a discussion about nursery rhymes.  The children got excited and started reciting the rhymes that they knew.  And then we discussed about how " Twinkle Twinkle little star" was about curiosity and how " Johnny Johnny, 'yes papa!'" was a funny poem/rhyme.  

We also discussed about how every poem had a title followed by the poet's name. Then I asked children if they would like to come up with their own poems. Rishi got excited about the idea of signing his own name as the poet and  said he wanted to attempt one.  And he rattled off so spontaneously that I had to rush for a pen to jot down his ideas. He chose to make a poem about his favourite colour,  blue.  His poem went like this:

"Blue,  blue,
How you got into the sky?"

He paused and when I asked if he wanted to add few more lines, he said,

"You are so beautiful, 
You are so cute."

And then  he came up with a title, "Blue ". After jotting down his poem on the board,  I asked him,  what would be the poet's name and he said with an air of pride, "Rishi Mukherjee!" 

The 3 to 4 year olds at SM were having their Movement Song today and they were running, walking, jumping, clapping, singing...and just pretending to be different animals. Post this, the facilitator thought it would be a good idea to sing '5 little monkeys' to get the whole class together when they started to run all over the place. As soon as they started the rhyme, the facilitator was in for a surprise! The rhyme took a whole new turn itself! They wanted to be dragons instead. So we sang...as follows:

5 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Mamma called the doctor and the doctor said,
No more dragons...

S: Ma'am, dragons don't get hurt. They get up say arrrrrrrrr and fly away. 
F: Okay. 
5 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
Then he got up and..?
 
At this point they are all making dragon sounds. 
S: Then he got up and started flying because he's so strong. He doesn't get hurt. 

F: okay so how about,
5 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
He got up and said "Arrrrrrrrr"

They all were strong dragons at this point, enacting the whole thing out, screaming "arrrrrr"... 

F: And then? 
Collectively: He flew to the sky. 
F: Awesome! 

'Opened his wings and flew back to the sky!'
F: Does that sound okay?

S: YES!!!
F: Let's do it then!

The new song is as follows:

5 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
He got up and said "Arrrrrrrrr"
Opened his wings and flew back to the sky!

4 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
He got up and said "Arrrrrrrrr"
Opened his wings and flew back to the sky!

3 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
He got up and said "Arrrrrrrrr"
Opened his wings and flew back to the sky!

2 little dragons flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
He got up and said "Arrrrrrrrr"
Opened his wings and flew back to the sky!

1 little dragon flying in the sky,
One fell off and bumped his head.
He got up and said "Arrrrrrrrr"
Opened his wings and flew back to the sky!

They loved this new rhyme that they co-created and have been pretending to be dragons ever since. They had to be brought back to reality by calling their names to shake the dragons off and come back to class again as themselves. 

Magic arrives and manifests when children are left to be themselves in the class. They truly become co-creators of their own learning, and enjoy the whole show. There was no facilitator in the class at that point, just a bunch of curious individuals who love to learn together!