In a magical world of literature

The Junior Section of The Millennium School, Dubai, celebrated English Week from April 24 to 28. This was an endeavour by the Principal, Michael Guzder, to inculcate a love for reading in the students, and what could be better than catching them young?

There were numerous activities lined up for the young enthusiasts who welcomed the week with excitement, giving momentum to a flurry of fun exercises.

William Shakespeare’s work was celebrated with activities like a scavenger hunt that was held throughout the week. The children were given a list of words coined by Shakespeare. They were then asked to follow clues given to them and search for the meanings of a word picked by them from ‘Shakespeare’s Basket of Words’. It not only enhanced their vocabulary, but also challenged their critical thinking abilities.

Shakespeare’s ‘Tweet of the Day’ saw children working on a quote from Shakespeare, which they had to look out for daily. It was amazing to see nine-year-olds finding out about the play from which the quote originated and the character who said it. Each day would see them wanting more. Some also went on to make miniature Globe Theatres. They went from class to class, explaining to others how the plays were performed during the times of Shakespeare.

The teachers of the primary section also held a puppet show called ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’. Students from the neighbouring Shaikh Rashid Al Maktoum Pakistan School were invited to view the same.

A special assembly was held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare. The students had fun doing so as they watched a short skit where H. G. Wells came alive, courtesy his ‘Time Machine’, as it went berserk. To make matters more interesting, the ‘Time Machine’ managed to bring back to us characters like Oliver Twist, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Mowgli, Charlie Bucket, Eliza Doolittle, Heidi and Matilda as they landed in The Millennium School, Dubai. To top it all, their teacher, who they waited for eagerly, turned out to be none other than Shakespeare himself! He was late as he was busy admiring the Burj Khalifa.

The day was even more spectacular as all children came dressed up as characters from classic story books. They even recorded their dialogues. On April 27 and 28, the students of Grade 4 were taken on a field trip to a printing press to see how books are printed. The visit was a wonderful experience for it enthused many of them to come up with innovative ideas to invent their own printing machines. On being asked if printing on paper would ever go out of vogue, there was a vociferous “NO” from all, as they still loved to hold a book in their hands and read. The smell of books further enticed them into a world far away from reality.

In the words of Shakespeare, ‘All’s well that ends well’ and thus ended the English Week, igniting the spirit of reading in little souls, which will surely hold them in good stead in the years to come.

— The reader is a teacher at the The Millennium School, Dubai.