July month 2015 issue by Brainfeed Magazine

contents

volume III issue 4

JULY 2015

Readers’ Column

Editorial

COVER STORY

This Month at a Glance

TEACHING GIFTED KIDS IN TODAY’S CLASSROOM

News

Festivals

Event - IIMUN

Write Right

Bygone Luminaries

The Big Question

Environment

Science

Mentor Speaks

Travel

Education - The safe school Emotionally Safe!

Lifestyle

Vocabulary

Food

Education Part II Keeping your time in check

News

Technology

Tribute

Commemoration

EDUCATION - PART II

Humour Column

Keeping Your time in Check

Short Story

Amazing Facts

Language study

Book Review

British Council

Quiz

Mind Mine

19 REVIEW

GET-TOGETHER

TRAVEL

Gem nestled in Emerald Greenery Darjeeling

july 2015

REA D ER ’ S C OL UM N Beautiful North East Thank you for the new sections As a student, I feel that the new inclusion ‘Setting Meaningful Goals’ is very useful for us. How to study, how to plan and divide the syllabus- all these are covered in the section. Hope this continues till the completion of our board exams, and even after thatfor the students of the next class. I always used to think that studying more meant studying better, but how wrong I was! I need to set a target score and raise the bar every time I achieve it. It is great to know that once I achieved my target, I can reward myself before I challenge myself to do more. Being clear and speciﬁc about what I want really helped me as I started to do it. I had recently joined in a new school, so this kind of strategic thinking really will help me in the academic year end, I am sure. Karthik Subramanyam, Medak

Great for a Technology enthusiast Anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in latest technological innovations must read ‘Brainfeed’ magazine. This is not a mere compliment, the way latest gadgets are featured and explained here, much before the products enter the market, is worth noting. The apps, not just related to education, which are popular world over make their way into the pages; which are very useful to parents, teachers and students alike. Even the general knowledge can be improved through Quiz section, Mind Mine and the Big Question. I look forward to seeing more stunning photographs in your features. The introduction of Neelakanta Somayaji, the great ancient Mathematician of India, has taken us by surprise, as most of the people of India only know about Aryabhata from that time. Also, the inclusion of historical world events in the pages of ‘This Month at a Glance’, are informative. Students can learn who-did-what or the political and scientiﬁc noteworthy dates for quiz contests or examinations. B. Vennela, Hyderabad

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Thanks to the ‘Travel’ section of Brainfeed magazine, we get to know about many beautiful places of interest that are lesser known in India. ‘Meghalaya’ featured in June issue is a real treat to the eyes. The greenery, the hills, the enigmatic and mysterious caves, and the waterfalls made me want to take a break from the hectic lifestyle I have been leading. It seems like a perfect holiday destination for a nature loving person. Nostalgia had set in as it reminded me of my childhood in the suburbs where my grandparents lived. The cleanest village of Asia seems to be teaching us some lessons. The root bridges made me wonder about the architectural designs possible in nature. It is good to know that there are places in India which can rival the ones in Europe. The places we read about in ‘Know the Country’ segment always used to make us wonder about the same. Hope to see more such travel spots in the upcoming issues. We got to see a bit of Singapore and Malaysia too, in the Summit Review. I am sure everybody enjoyed their stay there and learned about their educational system. G. Padma, Software Engineer

Brainfeed is happy to announce that this month forward, our free academic supplement ‘SOLVE IT’, which features material for students of VI to X standards, has now included the subjects of XI and BRAINFEED’S ‘SOLVE IT’ XII standards. ‘Solve It’ supplement will cater to the students appearing for the examinations of all boards of education. The ACADEMIC SUPPLEMENT offers material and previous/model question papers of competitive exams like Science and Math Olympiads, IIT JEE, BITSAT, EAMCET, etc. Students are advised to avail of this opportunity by subscribing to the magazine.

july 2015

volume III

issue 4

EDITORIAL

Chief Editor Brahmam K V Editor Sadanand S Executive Editor G. Bhageeradha +91 91775 13996 Sub Editor Kruthi Deepthi Art & Design Lakshmi D Rakesh N Sales Anil Sharma, Director Sales +91 096321 74951 Circulation Hemachandra Rao S +91 9177774851 Printed, Published and Owned by Kakani Veera Brahmam Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd. 1-1-60/5, RTC X Roads Hyderabad-500 020, Telangana, India Published from 8-3-191/565/K, Vengal Rao Nagar SR Nagar Post, Hyderabad-500 038 Telangana, India Contact No. : 040- 6551 5151 +91 94944 39444 Email: info@brainfeedmagazine.com brainfeedmagazine@gmail.com Bengaluru Office D J Business Centre, office 102, # 20 Gold Tower, 50, Residency Road Bengaluru-560 025, India Contact No. : 080 - 41 627 627 +91 96321 74951

“

child without education is like a bird without wings”, says a Tibetan proverb. While this is true, there is a question arising in the minds of many, ‘what kind of education?’ As with the birds, the education they need to learn is common to all. What about our students? Should the same curriculum be imparted to all the students? What about the students who race ahead of his peers? Would it be fair to make all the students go through the common syllabi? Our cover story this month ‘Teaching the gifted kids in the regular classroom’ endeavours to answers these questions. Know about the characteristics of the gifted children, the challenges they face, their strengths and weaknesses, the ways to handle their learning. Furthermore, to know about what the educators, school correspondents, principals think must be done regarding a special program for the gifted children, do read about their views they shared at Brainfeed’s maiden ‘Get Together’ sessions for School Heads and Prinicipals. Brainfeed team thank all the members who attended the events and are happy to announce that these sessions would be held monthly at various venues across the country. Know about the issues teenagers face due to lack of sleep, the causes and remedies in ‘Sleep Tight at Night’ article. India’s young entrepreneurs, academic toppers achieving success despite their drawbacks, and new technological advancements in the educational ﬁelds are the features covered in ‘News’. Read about two literary personalities that India has lost in the ‘Tribute’ and ‘Bygone Luminaries’ sections. Enjoy Brainfeed’s regular sections- this month we have for you the ‘Festivals of India’, ‘Technology’, ‘Big Question’, ‘Short Story’, ‘Amazing Facts’. New sections ‘Science’, ‘Environment’ and ‘Lifestyle’ featuring the world news from various ﬁelds have been added. Find out how the countries world over celebrated the ‘First International Yoga Day’ in the colourful photos on the center spread. Exercise your brain cells by solving the puzzles and number games in the ‘Mind Mine’ and ‘Quiz’ sections. Get your copy of Brainfeed’s ‘Solve it’, the academic supplement, offering material even for XI and XII standard students from this month. Happy reading.

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july 2015

THIS MONTH AT A GLANCE

sunday Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon, and the Truth. – Lord Buddha

J U LY 2 0 1 5

monday Just because something doesn’t do what you planned it to do doesn’t mean it’s useless.

13 Malala Yousafzai Pakistani activist Nobel Prize laureate

Happy Birthday - 1997

Franco-Prussian war began, which culminated in Uniﬁcation of Germany. 1870

French Revolution began with the citizens storming to fortress and prison Bastille. 1789

NASA’s Viking 1 Lander became the ﬁrst spacecraft to land on Mars. 1976

Neil Armstrong became the ﬁrst human to step onto the surface of the Moon at 2:56:15 AM, GMT. 1969

july 2015

Austria became fully independent. 1955

08 Vasco da Gama departed for ﬁrst European voyage to India. 1497

Largest social media platform of the world, Twitter was launched. 2006

American aviator Wiley Post became the first pilot to fly solo around the world. It took him 7 days, 18 hrs and 49 minutes to finish the mission. 1933

Kargil Vijay Diwas

Two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, are merged into Kerala state, ending the 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family. 1949

New York experienced nearly 24 hours electricity blackout that lead to widespread ﬁres and looting. 1977

Maldives gained full independence. 1965

US, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia signed the ﬁrst international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues and banned seal hunting. 1911

wednesday

– Mahatma Gandhi

Dadabhai Naoroji was elected as the ﬁrst Indian Member of Parliament in Britain. 1892

Dolly the sheep became the ﬁrst mammal cloned from an adult cell. 1996

Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellowmen.

– Thomas A. Edison

tuesday

World Hepatitis Day

International Tiger Day

Francis Harry Compton Crick, Molecular biologist who discovered DNA structure, Death Anniversary. 2004

Astronomers announced the discovery of dwarf planet Eris. 2005

thursday

friday

04 World’s ﬁrst I.C. engine using automobile Benz Patent-Motorwagen was launched. 1886

Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi obtained patent for his invention Radio. 1897

saturday

The United States became independent by adopting Declaration of independence in Second Continental Congress. 1776

World Population Day

The inaugural Wimbledon Championships began. 1877

A series of terrible train bomb attacks happened in Mumbai. 2006

Telstar, the world’s ﬁrst communications satellite, was launched into orbit. 1962

18 Disneyland was opened by Walt Disney in California, USA. 1955

NASA launched Apollo 11 spacecraft from Florida, US. 1969

Barcelona, Spain www.iated.org/edulearn

July 10-11, 2015 International Academic Conference on Teaching, Learning and E-learning

July 15-16, 2015 India Learning Bengaluru, India www.edtechreview.in

July 22-28, 2015 Global Alliance for Justice Education (GAJE) 8th Worldwide Conference Eskişehir, Turkey www.gaje.org

Mandela Day

Intel Corporation, world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, was founded in California, USA. 1968

International Criminal Justice Day

July 6-8, 2015 EDULEARN15, 7th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies

Hungary, Budapest 2015 www.conferencesscientific.cz

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 29-30, 2015 International Conference on Frontiers of Educational Technologies (ICFET 2015), Shanghai, China www.icfet.org

JUNE 2015

Signing an agreement with the British, Indian Broadcasting Company LTD (IBC) broadcast the Mumbai station. 1927

American archeologist Hiram Bingham rediscovered ‘Machu Picchu’. 1911

Pratibha Patil was sworn in as India’s ﬁrst female president. 2007

AUGUST 2015

Power grid collapsed and for almost eight hours, 30 crore people of Northern India were left in the worst blackout in decades. 2012

31 9,300 mm rainfall in July in Cherrapunjee became a world record. 1861

The way to get started is to quit talking and start doing. – Walt Disney

july 2015

NEWS

A new app to download textbooks

Student residing in a crematorium tops SSC

eet Pooja Ghansarwad, (16), from Beed in Maharashtra, who is the SSC topper with 91.2% score. The uniqueness of this news lies in the fact that she lives with her family in a 10x10 ft house situated in a Hindu crematorium. Her mother sells bangles and balloons, whereas her father is a labourer and a Bhikshu (who accepts alms from others).

She doesn’t feel deterred by her living conditions; on the contrary, she is motivated, she says. She studies in the light from the pyre and she is never scared. In spite of scoring 98 out of 100 in Maths, she hopes of becoming a doctor, which is her life ambition. She owes her success to her parents’ encouragement. She wants to serve the society and be a role model to her four younger siblings.

RD Minister Smriti Irani had announced on June 22, 2105 that they were going to unveil a mobile app that will give access to the students to download all NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) textbooks. The app will be launched on July 17, 2015. The students can download NCERT textbooks for free, through this mobile application. The Minister had also launched the NCERT syllabus and course material for classes VI to X at the inaguration of the Rashtriya Yoga Shikshak Sammelan at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium, New Delhi. The Teacher Education Programme prepared by NCTE (National Council fr Teacher Education) was also launched the same day.

ICSE class X students to have 7 papers instead of 10

ICSE (Council for Indian School Certiﬁcate Examination) has reduced the number of papers for the ICSE class X students, for the year 2015-16. Instead of appearing for 10 papers, they will now have just 7 papers in total. This is possible as the CISCE has merged the three Science papers into one, and the Social Studies paper will have History, Civics and Geography merged together. Final decision regarding this has not yet been taken.

High School dropout becomes an entrepreneur “Computer Programming should be compulsorily incorporated into primary education just as literature is!” says 16 year old Angad Daryani on his website, who dropped out of school but now, is the owner of two companies. He is the creator of India’s ﬁrst 3D printer, at the age of 15. He also created ‘Virtual Brailler’, which is an e-book reader for the blind. His

july 2015

entrepreneurial ventures include a mobile electrocardiogram and other ‘Hobby Projects’ like solar powered boat, which he plans on selling to others. He says that all this was possible because of the support from his father. Angad says that studying happens outside the classroom. He calls his education as open education, where he learns new

things by practical experimentation. He participated in technology competition like IIT Bombay’s Techfest under the guidance of Mr.Shailesh Sansare and developed his skills from Make

Magazine on the internet. After quitting school, he worked with people from MIT Media Lab ReDx and TreeLabs at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He is currently pursuing the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).

‘Faculty Training Program’ by Iris Florets-the happy play school

ris Florets conducted a workshop for teachers on 26th & 27th June 2015 in Hyderabad. Sri Yandamoori Veerendranath motivated the teachers by sharing his experiences with children. The workshop had training in pre-writing skills & hand writing techniques by Ms. Radhika Turlapati, Director-Academics, phonics by Ms. Arshiya Afsar, ‘How to be a successful teacher’ by Sri AVLN Swamy and working systems & teaching methodologies by Ms. Dimple Mehta, Sirish Turlapati, CMD and Rahul Appani, Director of Iris Florets participated in the event.

Digital India launched on July 1, 2015

ris Educare Limited has been honoured with the Indian Education Award 2015 for the best Early Child Playschool Chain- South. Education Awards were presented to the School and Corporate Institues across India with the best innovative teaching methodologies to grow the Indian Education Sector. Technology entrepreneurs, educational institutions and trusts had participated in the event organized by Asia’s largest franchising company ‘Franchise India’. Indian Education Congress 2015 and Indian Education Awards 2105 were held on June 10-11 at Vivanta by Taj, Surajkund, in New Delhi. The two day event had many administrators, entrepreneurs exchanging their views on digital technologies, preschool, K-12, and collaborative, participative approach in the 21st century learning.

How to crack the IIT-JEE? aspirants. In his view:

M Narendra Modi has launched ‘Digital India Programme’, which aims to bring broadband connectivity in all Panchayats and Wi-ﬁ hotspots by 2019. DigiLocker for e-documents, E-Education for education technology, E-health to maintain health records and National Scholarships Portal, are part of this prestigious project. Users can access these with their Aadhar number.

Iris Educare Ltd bags the Indian Education Award 2015

• Kept it simple. Work on the weak areas and focus on strengthening strong areas.

atvat Jagwani, a resident of Satna in Madhya Pradesh, scored 330 out of 360 in the qualifying IIT-JEE (Mains) and is the topper of the IIT-JEE, 2015 (Advanced) with a score of 469 out of 504. He says that Physics and Mathematics are his favorite subjects; so he did not really feel like he was preparing. He never followed a routine, but whenever he studied he did so with full concentration. That sums up his advice to the future IIT-JEE

• Take a lot of mock tests. That helps you manage time and you know where you are making mistakes. • Activities like solving Sudoku are relaxing and stimulate the brain. • Don’t skip classes, complete all the homework, clear doubts in advance and revise the notes. • Avoid making the same mistake twice. Also, to reduce the amount of rough work required in the examination, Jagwani suggests learning Mathematical Abacus.

Japan to train India in Maths and Science

apan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducts a training session for HRD ministry bureaucrats, school board experts and primary school teachers. The training, from September 30 to November 14, based on the bilateral agreements of the two nations, will be conducted in Japan. They would learn approaches and strategies to formulate lesson plans about maths and science through lectures, practices and observations, to improve the quality of maths and science education. The last date to submit applications is July 20.

july 2015

NEWS

Autistic child scores 74% in Class X 16 year old Nehal Tiwari, from Mumbai, who is an autistic girl, can barely defend herself from others, scored 74% in Class X examinations. She sat at a stretch to study for up to 14 hours a day for two years and achieved this difﬁcult task. Her parents Anupam and Seema Tiwari are proud of their child’s milestone. Nehal is the student of G D Somani School from KG, and now got admission to Class XI (CBSE) in Gopi Birla Memorial School. Her father recalls that at her former school, the administration was insensitive and her hands were tied to the chair. Her mother says that her vocabulary is limited and her speech

is unclear. Yet, she can remember the date when she met a particular person. Nehal is unable to make friends in her condition. Yet, she dotes on her 10-year-old sister Vaidicka. Nehal and her family did not let autism get in the way of her enjoying life’s sweetest things. She is good at skating, judo and swimming. She has also won prizes in sports and music competitions.

Anti-Malaria Drug to be available in 6 years

cientists have discovered an agent that could make the world get rid of Malaria, the world’s deadliest parasitic disease, forever. They found an anti-malarial agent, which was tested on mice, can actually stop the disease from spreading and also cure the person of it. The anti-malarial compound (DDD107498) can also cause the mosquito to swell up and burst. In further examinations and research, if the agent is found to be genuinely able to treat Malaria, scientists are hopeful that the drug could be available within the next six years.

july 2015

Government devises ‘One Child, One Tree’ Programme he Central Government has designed a new and innovative plan to inculcate the kindergarten children with awareness for green earth. To see greater greenery in the country, the government has devised ‘One Child, One Tree’ programme. The programme hopes to involve nurserygoing children in this ambitious plan. The kids will be planting a sapling and nurture it till it grows into a tree. Environment minister Prakash Javadekar said that the idea is to make the children understand the bond between people and trees, right

from childhood. With the ‘One child, one tree’ programme, the environment ministry plans to have the kindergarten students nurture the seed/ sapling they had planted till they move out of nursery classes. After they leave the nursery, they replant it and can track the growth of the tree. This is to create a special bond with the tree that they planted. The programme will begin this year with 500 children.

IIT Fees waived for the Pratapgarh Brothers

RD Minister Smriti Irani has announced on June 20, 2015 that the IIT admission fee for Raju and Brijesh, who cracked the IIT entrance, would be waived. These two Pratapgarh brothers, as they are now known, are the sons of a daily wager. Their family was struggling to raise funds (Rs.1 lakh) for them to gain admission into the renowned IITs and pursue their life ambition. They studied at the Navodaya Vidyalaya in Pratapgarh. The announcement by the HRD minister came after the plight of the family

was highlighted in the media. Earlier, they have garnered support from all over India, including Congress leaders like Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Sulabh International’s founder and social worker Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Bollywood actor Aamir Khan etc.

Do your MBBS in IIT Kharagapur

IT Kharagapur, institute which churns out engineers, famous worldwide, is now going to produce doctors. The authorities assure that by bringing the disciplines of engineering and medicine together, these two diverse ﬁelds in education and research can be complemented. Technology can be implemented to access and treat the patients through satellite centres and secondary hospitals.

Ryanite Gaurav Pandey is now the KENKEN World Champion `230 crore grant has been sanctioned last year and construction work in the 3 acre plot with the 400-bedded super-speciality hospital, Dr B C Roy Institute of Medical Science & Research is expected to be completed within 26 months. The approval from the Medical Council of India (MCI) has been granted to provide undergraduate medical education courses like MBBS.

he Ryan Group received cheerful news from USA when Gaurav Pandey (STD V) of Ryan International School, Noida was declared the World Champion at the International KENKEN Championship held at Pace University, New York, USA. Gaurav’s journey to the ﬁnals was an arduous one where he ﬁrst had to compete at the school level and then the city level and

UN to sign a treaty for Marine Life Conservation

n June 19, UN General Assembly has adopted a resolution asking the members to develop a new treaty to conserve the marine life in the high seas. The resolution is the ﬁrst global treaty formation process related to marine life, in over two decades. This is also the ﬁrst resolution to be passed for the protection of animal and plant life in high sea areas. The

treaty drafted will cover all the seas and oceans, and is beyond the territorial jurisdiction of any country. Preparatory committee is going to meet in 2016 and 2017 and make recommendations to legally bind the nations. The 193-member world body will convene in 2018 and take a decision. The treaty will bring about a major change in the way oceans and marine life are conserved till date.

eventually at the national level. Students from across the country took part in this and there were over 20,000 participants from India. There were 5 ﬁnalists from India who were ﬂown to USA for the event to compete against the winners from other countries. KENKEN is one of the most popular

mathematical puzzles in the world and was developed by Prof. Tetsuyo Miyamoto of Japan for improving Math skills of students. It is now a worldwide phenomenon with syndicated puzzles being published in journals across the globe. Prof. Miyamoto, who was present for the event at New York, marveled at the Math skills of students from India and congratulated Gaurav for winning the event. Speaking on this latest achievement by a Ryanite, Mrs Grace Pinto, MD, Ryan International Group of Institutions, said, “We congratulate Gaurav for this highly impressive win at the international level. He has made himself, his school, his parents and his country proud. It is not an easy task to compete on a world stage and this victory speaks of his preparation, hard work and making the best of his talent that God has blessed him with. At Ryan, we continue to provide various platforms for children to excel and encourage them to develop themselves into global leaders in all spheres.” july 2015

FESTIVALS

July 18

Eid-Ul-Fitr/Ramzan

id-Ul-Fitr, the biggest festival of Muslims, is celebrated on the ﬁrst day of the Islamic month Shawwal (or Shawwl). This also marks the end of the Fasting month, Ramadan or Ramzan. Eid-Ul-Fitr literally means ‘festival of breaking the fast’. The date of this festival depends on the lunar phases, as it is observed after they view the Crescent moon. It also varies from place to place.

traders have a brisk business. A charity known as Zakat Al-Fitr, which is an obligatory tax of 2.5% of their annual savings, is given to poor people in the community. It consists of a quantity of food, such as barley, dates, raisins or wheat ﬂour, or its monetary equivalent. It is common for Islamic communities to organize communal meals and offer ‘Namaz’, a congregational prayer at masjids or mosques. Many Muslims in India also wear new clothes, visit family members, exchange Eid cards, give presents of sweets and small toys to children and greet their neighbours with ‘Eid Mubārak (“Blessed Eid”) as a mark of solidarity and brotherhood.

Ramzan symbolizes a lot of practices and beliefs of the community, by following the form of social practice. ‘Roza’ starts from the break of dawn till dusk and during this whole day an individual has to refrain himself from drinking, eating or any kind of evil and unlawful practices in Islam. Fasting is one of the ﬁve pillars of Islam. The belief is that Allah revealed the ﬁrst verses of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, during this month. About one thirtieth of the Quran is recited each night in prayers and by the end of the month; the complete scripture will be recited. In India, Jama Masjid in New Delhi, Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, Aishbagh Idgah in Lucknow and Red Road in Kolkata will be crowded with the people congregated to offer their prayers. Delicious Kheer (Sweet Vermicelli) and other mouth-watering dishes are prepared on this occasion. Fancy items and exotic food items dominate the markets and shopkeepers and

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July 18- 26

July 24

Puri Rath Yatra

Kharchi Puja

atha Yatra, the Festival of Chariots of Lord Jagannatha of Puri, is celebrated every year on the Ashad Shukla Dwitiya, the second day of the bright fortnight in the Hindu month Ashada; on the day of the star, Pushyami Nakshatra. Lord Jagannath is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu and Lord Krishna. Ratha Yatra is perhaps the most incredible festival on earth, with lakhs of devotees thronging to the venue each year. This seven day festival starts on July 18, this year.

harchi Puja is a famous festival of Tripura, celebrated for a week from the eighth lunar day after the new moon of ‘Ashada’ Hindu month. This year, it falls on 24 July. Earlier, the festival was a tribal affair. But, now, even nontribal Hindu devotees indulge in the celebrations. Devotees take a dip at the Kharchi ghat as part of the rituals, symbolizing peace, harmony and fraternity among people irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

It is also known as Gundicha Jatra, Ghosa Jatra, Navadina Jatra, Dasavatara Jatra and the famous name- ‘Chariot festival’ as three huge, colourfully decorated chariots, are drawn by thousands of devotees from the Jagannath temple to the Gundicha temple; and after seven days, the deities Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Lord Balabhadra and their sister Subhadra return in Bahuda Jatra. It is rare for the presiding deities of the temple to come out of the sanctum. The three chariots are newly constructed every year with wood of speciﬁed trees like phassi, dhausa, etc. as per the customs followed for centuries. The actual construction begins only a few weeks before the festival. Lord Jagannath’s chariot, Nandighosa, has 18 wheels and is 45.6 feet high, Lord Balabhadra’s chariot, Taladhwaja has 16 wheels and is 45 feet high and Devi Subhadra’s chariot, Devadalana, has 14 wheels and is 44.6 ft high. More than 600 trees, or 400 cubic meters of wood, are needed for the construction. Painted wooden images of various deities can be seen on the chariots. Each chariot has four horses– white ones for Balabhadra, dark ones for Jagannatha and red ones for Subhadra. Each chariot has a charioteer called Sarathi. The ropes of the huge chariots are pulled by the devotees. The devotees believe that even to touch the chariot or the ropes with which these are pulled is very pious. They also believe that if they were to die during the Rath Yatra, they would directly ascend to Heaven.

According to history, the mother of King Trilochan (a king of Tripura) saved Fourteen Gods who were being chased by a wild buffalo. The Gods killed it with the help of the king’s mother. Since then, the royal family offered puja to the fourteen deitiesHara, Uma, Hari, Maa, Bani, Kumar, Ganesh, Brahma, Prithvi, Ganga, Samudra, Agni, Kamdev and Himadri. The rituals are conducted by a group of tribal priests, whose main priest is called ‘Chantai’, at the Chaturdas Devata Temple, 8 km from Agartala. Eleven of the deities are brought out of the temple only during the Kharchi Puja. Only the heads of the idols are worshipped, an indication of the tribal influence. The heads of the fourteen deities are taken to river Saidra, bathed in the holy water and brought back to temple. They are placed in the temple again and decorated with vermillion and flowers. The word ‘Kharchi’ is derived from ‘Khya’ which means ‘Earth’ and hence, the festival is also known as the worship of earth. People present the Mother Earth with a choice of fruits and flowers in order to please her by sacrificing goats, pigeons and wild buffaloes. A large fair is also organized and cultural programmes are performed in the night.

july 2015

COVER STORY

TEACHING

Gifted Kids in Today’s Classroom

Giftedness is asynchronous development in which advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity combine to create inner experiences and awareness that are qualitatively different from the norm. This asynchrony increases with higher intellectual capacity. The uniqueness of the gifted renders them particularly vulnerable and requires modiﬁcations in parenting, teaching and counseling in order for them to develop optimally.”

july 2015

When we say a child is gifted, what does that really mean? Professors and education thinkers have described ‘Gifted Children’ in many ways. None are universally agreed upon, but many share certain deﬁning characteristics.

Students, children, or youth who give evidence of high achievement capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in speciﬁc academic ﬁelds, and who need services and activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities.”

While no two deﬁnitions are the same, there are a few guiding principles which can help structure our thinking about giftedness.

enerally, children with high IQ are said to be gifted: Mildly Gifted-115 to 129, Moderately Gifted130 to 144, Highly Gifted- 145 to 159,Exceptionally Gifted- 160 to 179 and Profoundly Gifted- 180. But, studies have shown that IQ alone cannot predict giftedness.

Schools’ deﬁnition of giftedness is based on comparing the students in the school with one another. The top achievers are made to follow a curriculum more challenging when compared to other students. These relative ability based tests leave the students, teachers and parents confused. It is said that the term gifted children was ﬁrst used by Francis Galton, British sociologist in 1869. He also demonstrated that even adults with exceptional talents can be gifted. He believed that giftedness was inherited and that if a gifted child had a special talent, he carried it even into his adulthood. Linda Silverman, a psychologist who pioneered the concept of visual/spatial intelligence, says that the uneven development of gifted children, called asynchronous development, consider not only IQ and talent, but also emotional traits such as heightened sensitivity. Parents, educators, and psychologists formed ‘Columbus Group’, to put an end to the age-old argument: ‘Is giftedness an inborn trait of the individual, or an ability and willingness to work hard in order to achieve?’

Recognizing the Characteristics of Gifted Children Gifted children’s behavior differs from that of their age-mates in the following ways: Many gifted children learn to read early, with better comprehension of the nuances of language. As much as half the gifted and talented population has learned to read before entering school. Gifted children often read widely, quickly, and intensely and have large vocabularies. Gifted children commonly learn basic skills better, more quickly, and with less practice. They are better able to construct and handle abstractions. They often pick up and interpret nonverbal cues and can draw inferences that other children need to have spelled out for them. They take less for granted, seeking the “hows” and “whys.” They can work independently at an earlier age and can concentrate for longer periods. Their interests are both wildly eclectic and intensely focused. They often have seemingly boundless energy, which sometimes leads to a misdiagnosis of hyperactivity. They usually respond and relate well to parents, teachers, and other adults. They may prefer the company of older children and adults to that of their peers. They like to learn new things, are willing to examine the unusual, and are highly inquisitive. They tackle tasks and problems in a wellorganized, goal-directed, and efﬁcient manner. They exhibit an intrinsic motivation to learn, ﬁnd out, or explore and are often very persistent. “I’d rather do it myself” is a common attitude.

According to this group, a child with exceptional potential must be nurtured with regards to what the child will achieve. The environment also plays a major role in leading the child to his/her success. july 2015

COVER STORY

Emotional and Behavioral Traits Gifted children are often more emotionally intense than others. They can also be more sensitive to others’ feelings and circumstances and may display a great deal of empathy in situations where others their age appear indifferent.

Ability to relate to older kids and adults. Because their cognitive skills and interests can be advanced for their years, gifted kids have an easier time connecting with and learning from those older than themselves.

A high activity level. Gifted children can appear to have an endless source of energy - constantly moving, talking, asking and exploring.

Enjoyment of alone time. While gifted children may enjoy spending time with others, including mental mates (whether their own age or adults), they can also enjoy spending time on more solitary activities such as reading, writing, daydreaming, observing, or just thinking.

The tendency to think and talk fast. Because they may be trying to speak as quickly as they think, gifted children are often asked to “slow down” so the listener can understand them. They can also become frustrated when they feel that others are talking too slowly, or taking too long to “get to the point.” Strong leadership qualities. Gifted kids often make natural leaders who take charge and lead others in new directions.

Appreciation of natural beauty and art. Gifted children may particularly enjoy being around and pointing out trees, sunsets, ﬂowers, the ocean, animals, and other things of inherent beauty. They can also show a deep interest in certain forms of art - paintings, sculptures, or music, for example.

Inclusive Education best for the gifted children Ms. D. Usha Reddy CEO, Meridian Group of Schools We believe in no child left behind policy. Inclusive education is to be encouraged. We have good track record of handling special needs kids and gifted children. Every kid has something beautiful to share. It is better if we don’t brand them as backbenchers or talented, as the creativity of the bottom most scorers can be much higher than that of the gifted children. It hurts a kid to know that he is branded. As for the gifted children, we give them worksheets of more challenging nature and the other thing is, we pair them up with someone who needs help and thereby he becomes a peer mentor. They train ﬁve more and this is how even leadership skills are developed. We also give them projects which are highly creative and innovative. The results have been phenomenal.

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Hidden Gifts Some gifted children show only a few of the signs listed above, or show traits that are quite the opposite of what you’d expect. For example, some will start to speak late rather than early, some will be emotionally reserved rather than intense, and some appear to think and speak slowly rather than quickly. Also keep in mind that there are children who show gifted qualities when it comes to language or emotional traits, but who do not appear exceptional when it comes to learning or academics. While some of these kids may have a speciﬁc learning disability getting in the way of their performance at school, others may have learned early on to hide their abilities in order to better ﬁt in with others their age, or to avoid the pressures of higher expectations. It’s true that children can be gifted in one area (verbal skills, for example) but show only average ability in others (such as perceptual or nonverbal reasoning skills, which are important for math achievement). While these children’s full-scale IQ score might not measure in the gifted range, they may still demonstrate some common traits of giftedness. For example, a verbally gifted child with

Giftedness: Challenges and Solutions Jwairia Saleem Haqqani Principal, Learnium School average nonverbal reasoning skills may still be emotionally sensitive and have an excellent memory. Identifying giftedness can be tricky, particularly regarding those who test right around that “magic” cutoff point of 130 or so. And IQ tests are certainly imperfect instruments and only one piece of the puzzle. Your insight and instincts, along with those of your child’s teachers, can often be the most important pieces needed to truly understand your child’s unique gifts and potential. Challenges and ways to handle them They may also fear to perform well, because they will be expected to maintain it consistently- in other words, they get punished for sometimes succeeding. They falter to tolerate difﬁculty and failure. They become perfectionists and believe in ‘What’s bad about being too good?’ Teachers should encourage risktaking and help the gifted child remove ‘ought’ and ‘should’ in their vocabulary. Help them discover their strengths and weaknesses. Everything in school is either too difﬁcult or too easy – nothing is “just right.” If they cannot do a task right away, they won’t be able to do it at all.

nclusive education often excludes the high end of the ability spectrum representing the gifted; assuming that bright children can fend for themselves and are born achievers. But giftedness comes with its own set of problems: Being way ahead of their peers in their understanding of world affairs, in moral reasoning and logical analysis, their interests do not match those of their peers. They have difficulty in forming relationships with same age peers. Even when they fit in well with older people or adults, there can be still problems when adults take their child like behaviour as immature. As a result they are often lonely and unhappy. It is therefore of paramount importance that schools provide counsellors and train teachers to identify gifted learners in helping them cope with baggage that comes with being smart. Although numerous teaching strategies have been developed for the education of the gifted, such as telescoping, compacting, tiered assignments, enrichment programmes and ability grouping; acceleration remains the most used approach to meet their intellectual needs. It places children at a higher level of study according to their cognitive ability. Working on more advanced lessons and being with older group helps their academic and socio-emotional development. Although such an arrangement is not a panacea for all their problems, it certainly reduces the level of stress they face in regular classrooms due to lack of stimulation and poor peer relations. Even where acceleration is not feasible, mainstream teachers in inclusive classrooms can meet the cognitive and affective needs of their gifted learners by setting slightly different tasks, allowing them to work individually wherever possible, assigning leadership roles and by building an atmosphere of geniality so that these ‘allowances’ are not perceived by other students as favors but well deserved responsibilities. Given the fixed syllabii and testing procedures, teachers, especially in high schools, may find it difficult to provide support within the classroom. At such times, the best way to support and nurture gifted students is to establish Youth forums, week end meets, summer programs, special classes, debate teams, creative teams, and gifted peer-discussion groups. This brings young people of similar ability together and ensures healthy interactions in a challenging and stimulating environment. Children learn to value their talent, satisfy their creative potential, and are likely to be more achieving and productive. Social acceptance eventually leads to a healthier self concept and emotional stability, allowing them to put their talents to better use. july 2015

COVER STORY

Ordinary classes can be boring and detrimental to their enthusiasm. Pre-testing a gifted child’s abilities can help the teachers in discovering his skills. It would then be easier to assign appropriate projects, by incorporating his interests. Poor handwriting is often used as one indicator of learning disabilities. Many gifted children also show poor handwriting. This is because their thoughts go so much faster than their hands can move. Oral tests and oral reports can be used as assignments to show their mastery over a concept. Additional interventions like keyboard skills, tape recorders and scribes may be necessary to compensate this weakness.

Strategies to be used in teaching gifted children in the classroom Plan the Curriculum Provide environments that are stimulating. Let the students move onto more advanced material. Implement a multi-level and multi-dimensional curriculum. Be ﬂexible and differentiate the curriculum in order to enable all students in the class to learn at their own ability level. Engage gifted students in the curriculum decision-making process and allow them to take responsibility for their own learning. Draw the curriculum from the students’ interests and educational needs. Assign Independent projects Independent projects, based on their interests can be assigned to the gifted students, depending on their ability level. Encourage creativity and original thinking. Allow them to explore creative ways of connecting unrelated concepts.

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Independent projects, based on their interests can be assigned to the gifted students, depending on their ability level. Encourage creativity and original thinking. Allow them to explore creative ways of connecting unrelated concepts.

professionals in the schools. Let them interact with other gifted children across other schools through competitions or collaborative projects. Encourage activities

Extra-curricular

Invite them to use their leadership skills and abilities in beneﬁcial manners, like encouraging the gifted student to participate in academic contests such as spelling bees, science fairs, and essay competitions. Give them space

Form Interactive Clusters Encourage them to advance as quickly as they can, but actively participate in their own and their classmates’ education. Emphasis is not on making peer mentors, but on working together in the classroom using the advanced materials, as well as other suggested resources. Teach Communication Skills Debates in the classroom can be advocated for gifted students. Consult with other teachers or

They may be ahead of other students in some areas and lagging behind in some areas. Don’t push them to excel at everything; nor assign them extra work just because they ﬁnish everything quickly. Remember that each gifted child is unique Keep in mind that every child will have different needs. But provide an environment in which each child can demonstrate his or her potential.

REVIEW

TOPIC:

Special Program for Gifted Children Brainfeed Magazine’s ﬁrst ‘Get Together’ session was a roaring success with eminent educators from Hyderabad and Vizag partaking in the event.

rainfeed Magazine is proud to have successfully organized its ﬁrst Gettogether session for Principals and School Heads on June 27 at Haritha Plaza in Hyderabad and second Get-together session on June 28 at Hotel Dolphin in Vishakhapatnam. Like announced earlier, Brainfeed Magazine will conduct monthly ‘Debate and Discussion’ session in various parts of the country.

Many educators, Principals, VicePrincipals and Correspondents from various ﬁelds of education and e-learning technology institutes enthusiastically participated in the event. The sessions were started with the welcome address by Mr. B. S. N. Murthy on behalf of Brainfeed. Mr. K. V. Brahmam, Chief Editor of Brainfeed, gave a brief report about the journey and objectives of Brainfeed. Here are some excerpts of the sessions in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam:

Hyderabad

When a child is exposed to rigorous learning from an early age, it may be conditioning but, not giftedness; said Ms. Seetha Murthy, Silver Oaks School. She explained about a project funded by the Central Government, by Indian Institute of Science and National Institute of Advanced Studies to identify the gifted students in our country. Over 100 schools, including theirs, underwent these tests adapted from Stanford and Harvard Universities were used in this project, modiﬁed for the Indian context. These tests measure the critical thinking of the children in making trans-disciplinary connections in the subjects they are exposed to. After two intensive rounds of tests, they have identiﬁed 40 gifted students in their school. The teachers and parents were surprised as some of the top scorers didn’t make it to the list; whereas the students who were calm and quiet, who seemed almost ordinary turned out to be immensely gifted. july 2015

REVIEW

HYDERABAD

Ms. Meghana Musunuri, FountainHead Global School spoke of the ‘Blended learning’ model, where the gifted child will be made to blend with the other students and upon completing the assignments, he/she would work on the higher level or extra projects.

Ms. Subha Srinivas, Amoeba education, also felt that this is effective because in a regular classroom, a gifted child may feel unenthusiastic as he has moved on from the topics being taught, while the rest of the class is still learning those.

Ms. Gowri Venkatesh, Delhi Public School, said that multiple intelligences have to be considered. By a simple exercise like asking the students to describe a poem, the teachers can ﬁnd out where their interests lie- whether they explain it artistically, musically or any other way.

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The opinion that the gifted students are the most neglected lot was expressed by Ms. Vijaya Lakshmi, Ganges Valley School. There are learning centres and special education institutes for the average and below average students and their needs are met to most extent, she said. She added that may be the gifted kids are losing out as their requirements are not fulﬁlled. They don’t have a challenging curriculum designed especially for them, or a western model of formal accelerated learning, where the gifted children can move on to a higher grade.

The multiple intelligences concept was broached by Ms. Sonal Ravi Andrews, Integrated Preschool Teacher Training Academy; she also said that not just I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient), but even E.Q. (Emotional Quotient), C.Q. (Curiosity Quotient) and P.Q. (Passion Quotient) must be measured to understand the students’ interests and an IEP (Individualized Education Program) should be formulated. Ms. Sangeeta Virmani Of Univariety, felt that every student has a hidden potential, which is mostly unidentiﬁed by the teachers and parents because of lot of issues like lack of time or because they believe that they know what’s best for their child. She shared her experiences with students who come to their institute for counseling; they complain that no one paid attention to their interests or passions.

The gifted child gets bored in a regular classroom, as he/she is way ahead of the others and tends to disrupt the class, said Ms. K. Deepika Reddy, Foster Billabong. Then the teacher has to make them stay quiet, as they have to focus on ﬁnishing the syllabus; when this happens continuously, there is a danger that the child might stop contributing to the class, she added. Instead of shutting the child out, she suggested that the teachers motivate the gifted child to gather more information of the related topic, by which even they might end up learning something new. This raises their conﬁdence and leadership skills, she said.

When asked to identify the gifted children in a class, the teachers points towards the top achievers, who might have got to that place by rote learning, said Ms. P. Sreedevi, Jublieehills Public School. She also noted that analyzing a student to test the Higher Order Thinking Skills can only take them so far, as analyzing only when children when you evaluate creation and innovation. She said that intelligence, after a certain point is same for everybody; the difference lies in the choices they make and how they go about their choices.

There was a conﬂict of opinions when Ms. Komala Krishana of Janapriya Group of Schools, said that teachers must be non-judgemental and giving the gifted children extra work or assignments is not at all advisable, as it just burdens them. She said that they must also have the independence to ask questions.

The need for the identiﬁcation of gifted students is highlighted by Ms. Sherry Sparks, Mosaica International School, who threw light on the struggles of gifted childrenthey try to hide their giftedness, feel alone and isolated. She said that adults must have meaningful interactions with them to make them shine in their passions. She explained that tests like ‘Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test’ can be used to identify and help the underachieving gifted kids.

Ms. Jayasree, Johnson Grammar School, was also of the opinion that most teachers focus on bettering the performance of the under achievers. To mend this, she felt that training the teachers to properly handle the gifted students could be the solution.

Ms. Swati Raj of Pragati Public School said that even if it is not possible to evaluate the students based on technical tests, the teachers might help identify the giftedness in children by observing the way they handle problems in new and innovative ways. By giving them tougher worksheets or assignments, their potential can be tested, she felt.

Mr. John Hemanth Kumar, Psychologist, said that scientists’ research has shown that 90% of the brain is developed by the child reaches 6 years of age. What goes into the child’s brain in these crucial years sticks with him/ her for life, Mr. Johnson said. The child’s interests and talents have to be identiﬁed before the age of 6, he added. Giftedness is not intelligence, but the child’s consciousness and intuition- the child somehow knows what he is good at, he added.

The school heads concluded the debate that there was a need to address the issue and strategize a common method to formulate a personalized curriculum for each child. As each student is unique and that in today’s teaching, the teacher has to adjust to the way the student learns. The general view was to allot more challenging assignments for the gifted and make use of HOTS (Higher Order Thinking Skills). Even if there is long way to go to reach the solution, they said it was a good opportunity to raise the right kind of questions. july 2015

REVIEW

VISAKHAPATNAM

The need for a Teacher enrichment program was lighlighted by Mr. Krishna Reddy of Ramakrishna High School, which he strongly feels, can help them identify the gifted children & support them. In order to guide the students, the teachers have to be empowered ﬁrst, he felt.

Mr. P. Surya Rao from Vijayam school while supporting the statement, added that identiﬁcation of gifted child in the early years is more crucial and it is a herculean task on the part of the teachers, who are already burdened with tight academic schedules. Also, to keep track of each child’s strengths and weaknesses can be tedious, he said.

Mrs. C. Vasundhara from Vijayam school spoke of the behavioral aspects in her daughters. Elder one wishes to change the education system, while her younger daughter is nonchalant about things. She concluded saying that the elder one is a top achiever and though the younger one is not very verbal, she possesses giftedness in other areas. 22

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Mr. A. Balreddy from Chalapati school, discussed how the CCE System helps the teacher in identifying the inherent talents and also supporting the gifted child. He opined that CCE can help in identifying the interests in both academic and other aspects.

The debate & discussion was initiated by Mr. Ravindran, Principal of Ramakrishna High School, who spoke about the biological aspect of the brain development in the early childhood years and how it leads to the special character development in the gifted child. He said that the child’s interest for certain areas begins in those formative years.

The following conclusions were drawn at the end of the Debate & Discussion Program: • Teachers should be trained to identify the Gifted children. • Teachers should also be trained on how to support the Gifted child. • Every child is gifted in one way or other and it is crucial for the teacher to identify the giftedness without any discrimination.

VIEW

“

t’s a tough time to raise, teach or be a highly gifted child... Schools are to extraordinarily intelligent children what zoos are to cheetahs... Every organism has an internal drive to fulﬁll its biological design. The same is true for unusually bright children.” – Stephanie Tolan, Is It A Cheetah?

Many gifted children are reported to be bored, unchallenged and crave the opportunity to engage in more ﬂexible activities with “peers of similar aptitudes”. For a lot of them the journey is lonesome, as they cannot relate to the children of their own age group but the societal pressures seeking them to conform makes them struggle. It is the responsibility of the ecosystem - viz. school teachers, administrators and parents to recognise the inability of the current systems to handle such children with empathy and recognition.

Gifted Children: A Note

K Sharat Chandra Butterfly Edufields Pvt. Ltd.

This could be a good starting point in identiﬁcation. Teachers could also be a good source by observing the indicative, but non-comprehensive behaviours such as • Expressing extreme curiosity • Asking thoughtful questions • Having extensive vocabulary • Solving problems in unique ways • Exhibiting unusual talent in art, music, or dramatics • Exhibiting exceptional imagination • Persisting on challenging tasks Differentiated Approach The globally tried out activities and opportunities to enhance giftedness are:

Identifying Gifted Behaviour Gifted children, unfortunately, do not come with a tag or a badge identifying themselves. So gifted behaviour is often observed but usually neglected. A process can be set to gather feedback through parents and peers. Specially designed formal tests, both verbal / non verbal types, could also be considered. Schools can organise events, where children get the opportunity to show case a sort of portfolio of their skills/interests.

1. Developing Differentiated Worksheets / Activities- to go beyond the normal classroom experiences and let them become generators of knowledge rather than assimilators of information; to make learning possible in multiple directions. 2. Compact the curriculum- so that they can advance beyond the material they have already mastered. 3. Setting custom academic goals- to set his own goals in conjunction with his parents and wherever required, the school should provide support. 4. Directing these gifted children to specialists- to help them further while providing the ﬂexibility in the school system. Here I like to quote Apple Computer Advertisement, which summaries it very well: “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misﬁts. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing that you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.” july 2015

EVENT

ne of India’s leading brands in education conference management, ‘Indian International Model United Nations (IIMUN)’ having organized the Asia’s Largest Youth Conference in Mumbai amongst the many other conferences is now ready to organize MUN from July 10-12 , 2015 at Foster Billabong High International School, Hyderabad.

Being a conference for the youth by the youth, it is run completely by students in age group of 16-25 years. It is the ﬁrst MUN in Asia to have its own procedure. The events organized by IIMUN have been attended or supported by noted luminaries like Hon. UN Secretary General Mr. Ban-KiMoon, Hon. UN Under Secretary General Mr. Peter Launsky, Hon. UN Chief of Education Outreach Ms. Nathalie Leroy, Former UN Under Secretary General Mr. Shashi Tharoor and many more. Indian International Model United Nations explained, “With India touted to be one of the leading candidates to become the next super power by the pundits, there has never been more need for young leaders. Youth represents the Modern India, young mindsets, young visions and new perceptions. There is a great burst in the youth to be more effective and involved in social issues. The youth today feels an urge to speak up, to stand by itself

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IIMUN to be organized at Foster Billabong High International School

IIMUN 2014

and its beliefs and ideals. Here, the Indian International Model United Nations is trying to create platforms to bring the youth forward by providing the youth a

responsible medium to put forth their ideas. At IIMUN, we organise simulations of local bodies, the Indian Parliament and the United Nations where students don the hats of diplomats and try to solve local, national and global issues.” This conference which began in the year 2012 in its 1st year went on to host a record 1078 delegates which made it India’s Largest Model United Nations Conference. In 2013, the conference went on to host 1900+ students making it Asia’s Largest Model United Nations Conference. In 2014, this conference reached another landmark by becoming the World’s Largest Residential Model UN Conference. Today we organise 30 such events under the banner of IIMUN in different parts of the country and support over 600+ schools in organising such events. This event is going to be inaugurated on July 10, 2015 by Mr. Rishabh Shah (Founder & President, Mr. Aman Baldia (Vice President), Mr. Priyank Vasani, Mr. Raihaan Esmail (Assistant Director) and Mrs. Josna Balaji (Principal at Foster Billabong). On the following days - July 11-12, 2015 the students will report to Foster Billabong High International School and debate on world politics and the solutions to which will be forwarded to the concerned department of the Government.

WRITE RIGHT

HANDWRITING SECRETS - 24

Overcome The Common Mistakes

Of Handwriting

Y. Mallikarjuna Rao Director National Handwriting Academy, Hyderabad Email:handwriting56@gmail.com

t is not only uniforms, books and stationery that you need to look for in the beginning of an academic year. It is also important to have a cross-check over certain scholastic skills, one among them is presentation or handwriting silks.

In a developing nation like India, wherein over 95% of the school examination system is handwritten based, every student is expected to be up to the standards in the aspects of writing skills. Following are the few most common mistakes students make knowingly or unknowingly. Take a view at them and rectify in the beginning of the academic year itself.

Most of the students apply heavy pressure on the paper. It leads to two disadvantages - pain in the ﬁngers and slowness in writing. To overcome the issue, one must hold the instrument gently. Do not press the instrument too hard while writing, hold the pen 1 inch from its tip. As most of the schools recommend cursive handwriting, be conscious about three letters which are called, two – stroke letters. They are i, j and t, One must not break the word in cursive style, irrespective of the number of letters present in a word, generally it is observed that, because of these letters - I, j and t writer feels like breaking the word and completing the remaining portions on them.

Size is one of the major problem issues with the school going students. Always avoid writing in minimum size or maximum size or in irregular sizes.

While writing in a hurry, generally most of the students write ‘r’ and‘s’ similarly or illegibly.

Solution: While writing ‘r’, the right stroke is to be written at the height of circle. And ‘s’ will have stroke like a “back slash” after circle.

Do not make varied slants to the letters of the word. And avoid left slant too.

Solution: Develop the practice of writing in right slant, if it is cursive handwriting. It is advised to tilt the letters in 60° uniformly.

Perfect spacing is a trait which most of the times elevates the rhythm of handwriting and it improves readability. Say good bye to the poor spacing among the letters of a word.

Many students confuse the readers with their n’s and u’s. Practice ‘n’ and ‘u’ legibly ﬁrst and implement in the words correctly.

One of the complaints, I hear, mostly in our academy is “When I write slowly, I write reasonably legible handwriting. But, when I write faster, it is tough for me to read it back. Solution: Reminder, handwriting is the result of ‘Mind – Hand’ coordination. Along with the ﬂow of thoughts from mind, your hand physically must coordinate to the stokes that are generated from your mind. The following exercises can be practical to help improve handwriting speed.

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BYGONE LUMINARIES

remchand, popularly known as Munshi Premchand, was the pioneer of modern Hindi and Urdu ﬁction, where he portrayed the social scenario of those times. He brought realism to literature by writing about zamindari, debt, poverty, colonialism etc. He used the dialect of the common people.

Premchand’s was born in Lamahi, near Varanasi and named as Dhanpat Rai Srivastava. In 1910, his book Soze-Watan, in Urdu, under the name of Nawabrai, was conﬁscated by the British. In 1921, he joined Gandhiji in the Freedom Fight and resigned from his job. Later he adopted the pseudonym Premchand. He was also a great social reformer; he married a child widow named Shivarani Devi. Premchand worked as the editor of ‘Maryaada’ journal. He wrote over 300 stories, 12 novels and 2 plays, including Panch Parameshvar, Idgah, Poos Ki Raat, Bade Ghar Ki Beti, Kafan, Udhar Ki Ghadi, Godaan, and Nirmala. His writings have been translated not only into all Indian languages, but also and many foreign languages.

Premchand Born: 31 July, 1880 Died: 8 October, 1936

ingali Venkayya was a Freedom Fighter and the Indian national flag is based on his design. Venkayya’s version, which he designed after researching the flags of 30 odd countries, with green and saffron colours and a spindle was accepted; and modified in 1947 by adding the white colour and replacing the spindle with the Ashoka Chakra.

Born in the Divi taluk in Krishna district, Pingali Venkayya went to Colombo to complete his Senior Cambridge, after graduating from the Hindu High School, Machilipatnam. He met Mahatma Gandhi in Africa when he was 19 and got enlisted for the Boer war. He returned to India and worked as a government employee.

Pingali Venkayya Born: 2 August, 1876 Died: 4 July, 1963

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He became involved in politics. He taught basic military training at the National School. He had set up an educational institution in Machilipatnam. He was a proliﬁc writer, Japanese lecturer, and had an authority in geology and agriculture. His death was a great loss to India. Postage stamps were issued by the Government to commemorate him in 2009 and in 2011.

THE

BIG Question How do dreams happen? M

ost of the time, you feel in charge of your own mind. But at night, strange things happen in the form of dreams; you feel like you lost all control. You could be dreaming about playing with the penguins, appearing for a tough examination or even falling off from your bed.

Things you might have seen in your real life or perhaps the things you don’t really notice when you are awake, or the student from your school who never talks to you seems your best friend- all these spring up in your dreams. In dreams, you go back over the things you missed, repair what got damaged, make up stories about what you’d love, and explore the fears you normally push to the back of your mind.

Why are some dreams so scary?

Do we dream every day?

During the day, things may happen that frighten us, but we are so busy that we don’t have the time to think about them. At night, while we are sleeping safe, we mull over these fears. Dreams are both more exciting and more frightening than daily life.

Yes, but we tend to forget them as soon as we wake up. We only remember the ones which impact us deeply. Also, we can dream in colourful HD view or monochromatic. Most of the dreams we have are universal. Not just humans, even animals can dream.

What do the experts say? We don’t dream as soon as we fall asleep; it happens mostly 90 minutes into our sleep. This is the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stage. Before that is Non Rapid Eye Movement stage (NREM). Generally, NREM comprises of 3 stages, the ﬁrst one lasts for 10 minutes; you’d be easily awakened by any distractions. Muscle activity and eye movement decrease here. Brain produces high amplitude waves called Theta waves. The next stage lasts for about 20 minutes; here the body temperature and heart rate start to decrease. Eye movement stops and slower rhythmic brain activity called sleep spindle occurs.

The last stage of NREM produces delta waves of brain which make the body non responsive to external surroundings. The person is said to be in a deep sleep. Bedwetting, sleepwalking or night terrors may occur. During NREM stage, the body builds the bones, tissue, muscles and strengthens the immune system. Then you fall into slow wave sleep; that is REM stage. It is called paradoxical sleep because the muscles become relaxed, almost paralytic; but the brain activity increases. Brain has heightened creativityhence, your dreams. It last for about 10 minutes and gradually increases; then you enter the NREM stage. The cycle continues over and over again. july 2015

ENVIRONMENT

ccording to news reports, the incredible energy unleashed by the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25 moved Mount Everest more than an inch. The world’s tallest mountain shifted 1.18 inches (3 centimeters) to the southwest during the quake.

The shift was a small leap back for the mountain, which has been creeping northeastward at a rate of about 1.5 inches (4 cm) a year, the report cited. The mountain also rises about 0.1 inch (0.3 cm) each year. This motion is caused by the slow, grinding collision of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, which pushes the ground upward. But Everest’s movement during the quake was small potatoes compared with the shifting of regions around Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital during the quake.

Major motion Near Kathmandu, the quake lifted the ground by about 3 feet (1 meter), according to preliminary data from Europe’s Sentinel-1A radar satellite. Damage from the quake covered more than 5,600 square miles (over 14,000 square kilometers). More than 8,000 people died. Active region A 7.3-magnitude aftershock rocked the region on May 12, triggering new landslides and killing dozens of people. The quakes in Nepal are not unusual, geologically speaking. According to the US Geological

Survey, the Indian plate is crunching into the Eurasian plate at a rate of 45 millimeters (1.8 inches) per year. The Indian plate slides under the Eurasian plate at a very shallow angle. The arrangement is similar to the undersea subduction zones off of Alaska and Japan, where one continental plate pushes under another. Lessons from those regions, as well as geological evidence of past quakes in the Himalayas, reveal that the fault is capable of quakes larger than magnitude 7.8. It’s impossible, however, to predict when such a quake might occur, or whether April’s quake inﬂuenced the chances of a later temblor. The quake was also what is known as a “blind rupture,” meaning there was no visible fault line or cracking at the surface. That makes it harder to see how many times such a quake has happened before, and how likely it is to happen again. Source: Live Science Contributor

MOUNT EVEREST

Moves 1 Inch After Earthquake

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SCIENCE

Scope of discovering

Dinosaur DNA new scientiﬁc discovery made in June 2015 may let us gain access to dinosaur DNA. When we think of fossils, we get the image of bones being dug up. But, recent examination of the soft tissue remains found by the researchers at London’s Imperial College in Canada decades ago actually contained red blood cells of dinosaurs.

Scientist Sergio Bertazzo and paleontologist Susannah Maidment found this in the electron microscope analysis on the fossils. Accidental merger of human blood was ruled out using more testing. This led the scientists to suspect that the soft tissue in dinosaur fossils could lead to an eventual profile of dinosaur DNA. Bertazzo is quoted to have said, “It’s possible you could find fragments, but to find more than that? Who knows?” Preservation of blood cells and collagen in dinosaur bones might be much more common that has been previously assumed. DNA has not been recovered, it might not be impossible to clone a dinosaur.

Will dinosaurs return? Maybe, if global warming is not stopped, says a new study published in the journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’. Scientists say that long-necked “sauropods” (herbivorous dinosaurs) moved to the equatorial regions only after 30 million years after they first existed on earth. High level of C02 may be the reason for this. These creatures did not move to the equatorial regions because of the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), which were at levels four to six times what they are today. The tropical climate would change dramatically between wet and dry years. Vegetation would die and wild fires burned when the temperatures were as high as 6000C - killing plants and damaging the soil. This meant the doom of the herbivorous dinosaurs and the two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs flourished. Scientists analysed rocks samples containing fossilised bones and studied ecosystem changes and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and reached to this conclusion. The scientists hope that these findings may improve our understanding of the consequences of human-caused climate change.

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International Yoga Day celebrated worldwide The world celebrated the First International Yoga Day on June 21, 2015. On September 27, 2014, PM Modi, in the United Nations General Assembly, proposed this day to be marked as the International Day of Yoga and dedicated to the ancient Indian tradition. The resolution was endorsed by 177 countries within a short span of 100 days, unlike any other resolution made in UN, till date. People all over the world participated in public events and practised Yoga.

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MENTOR SPEAKS

Encourage children to ask questions

Ms. D. Usha Reddy is the CEO of Meridian Group of Schools. She joined as the Principal of Meridian School at Banjara Hills in 1999. She is an alumnus of Rishi Valley School, Jiddu Krishnamurthi Foundation. She has received the ‘National Award 2010’ from the Honourable President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil in 2011. She received the ‘Best Principal’ and ‘Eminent Educationist’ Awards by two Governors of A.P., Sri. Surjith Singh Barnala and Sri N D Tiwari, and the Governor of Odisha, Sri Satyanarayan Reddy. She has received Lifetime Achievement Award from Radisson Blu Hyerabad for her contribution towards Corporate Social Responsibility. She has trained many teachers serving as the CBSE master trainer for Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation and the Adolescent Education Program.

What inspired you to become a teacher?

I got into this line by chance. But after coming here, I have observed that in schools, some students would understand and some couldn’t. So, my main concern was how to make it easier for them to understand. My passion and forte was on simplifying the concepts and motivating the students so that the entire environment would be different and then, take it from there.

Are there any role models for you in life? Who is your inspiration?

To say that someone has inspired me, they have to live up to what they talk about. I have been fortunate to meet Mr. A P J Abdul Kalam; he is my inspiration. The way he speaks about his life as a student and how he was inspired by his teachers is amazing. In my childhood, my inspiration would deﬁnitely be the principal of Rishi Valley, Dr. P Balasundaram. A lot of credit must also be given to my dance teacher. She let us hone our skills and taught us a lot other than academics. How she went about systematically, was hard for me to achieve as a child, but now I can say that I adhere to those

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and I am successful because of her. It is good to have a teacher so firm and disciplined. I have grown up listening to the great philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthi. Right from third or fourth standard, we were exposed to his philosophy and 40 odd believers from across India. They had enriching discussions about how to bring out the best in a child and not push kids into moulds. Every single kid is different and they must be allowed to learn at their own pace. Teachers were told to be creative in the classes. In Rishi Valley, we were taken to a hillock at sunset every day. Sitting there quietly, we reflected on the events of the day, looking inwards. Understand your emotions, look forward to the next day with an open mind, or sometimes, there is nothing to reflect; just enjoy the beauty of nature and let the tranquility descend upon you. It was a personal experience for all of us. Fortunately many schools are beginning to understand that if a child put questions, instead of just adapting blindly- it means he has started to think for himself. Teachers are here only to guide them.

What unique features make your schools stand out from the rest of the schools?

Good learning environment, friendly staff and this is a place where the students have no fear. This had to lead to a lot of innovation. There is a ﬁne balance among academics, sports, visual and performing arts. We also have very good involvement of parents like in guest lectures and such. One unique thing is that we build leaders at all levels. We teach the children to compete with themselves rather than comparing with others. We encourage them to learn at their own pace.

How is making sports and yoga mandatory in schools helpful for a student?

Do you provide any arrangements for the underprivileged kids? How does it impact your students?

We had yoga in school much before they declared International Yoga Day. Schools talk about holistic development, that’s what we are doing. Through yoga, We have adopted 13 government schools in Telangana. you are keeping the body fit; through meditation, mind We provide basic necessities for them, like if they have a becomes sharper and concentration improves. You are mid-day meal and they don’t have plates, but eating off also at peace as you know yourself more. These are stage the leaves, we can provide them with plates and such. wise things. You need to have a fit body to take it to the next But we need to go beyond. From our end, we provide stage. A child becomes agile and fit with sports and yoga. technology and communication classes for these kids. Yoga is there for centuries and is proven helpful in many After their residential camp training, many of them say ways; there is no question in that. Obesity in children due to becoming addicted to gadgets and juvenile diabetes that they want to go back to their can be kept in check. Lack of Vitamin D can be village and make a difference solved by doing Surya Namaskaras. there. Students from affluent Our students are homes may not be as giving, but for these kids, their villages are very important.

inspired by these kids and this becomes a two way learning. Sometimes the students exchange numbers and if there is any problem, like a girl being forced to get married or such, they inform our students. We then intervene with the help of an NGO.

We have ﬁve peer mentors in our students, who train ﬁve more, so in the end, you have leaders all around. We also train the unemployed youth in these villages. Some of those kids have to get up early, maybe for a part time job, cook, or take care of their siblings. Our students are inspired by these kids and this becomes a two way learning. Sometimes the students exchange numbers and if there is any problem, like a girl being forced to get married or such, they inform our students. We then intervene with the help of an NGO.

We have a partner school in France, CAOUSOU, when they came here we took them to the school which needed toilets to be built. We got the funds and ﬁnished that project. Today, the Prime Minister is also talking about the fact if there are no basic amenities like toilets in schools; the girls are bound to drop out.

Is it true that you have a unique appreciation chart for good work?

Yes. The good things the children do have to be appreciated. For example, recently some of my students have found a few lost documents, in an auto. There was a phone number mentioned on those. The students made a call to that person, and he said that he would collect them from our ofﬁce. He turned out to be the husband of a principal I knew. I came to ﬁnd about it she called me up. Things like these go on the appreciation chart.

Finally, your message to our students and readers?

I would say that in order to make an impact in the world, you need to be at your best. It doesn’t mean just the marks. Marks do matter, but it is not the end of the world. You need to understand yourself better. If you have an idea, share it with your parents and teachers; they will guide you in the right direction. Follow your passions and understand what you want to do. Go with your gut feeling rather than comparing with others. The world has plenty opportunities for every career. Don’t live for yourself, make others look up to you. july 2015

TRAVEL

Indulge yourself in the exotic hill life of Darjeeling; revel in the colonial inďŹ&#x201A;uences that left their mark since the British Raj and visit the ubiquitous tea gardens.

Gem nestled in Emerald Greenery

DARJEELING arjeeling, the quaint little hill town has a lot to offer the world in the form of foggy hills, lush green tea estates, hiking and trekking trails, handicrafts, the old English culture and many more ways. Located at an altitude of 6,710 ft in West Bengal, Darjeeling was originally a sanitarium or health resort of the British during the mid 1800s. Now, it is best known for its world famous aromatic tea.

Mount Kanchenjunga View of Mount Kanchenjunga, one of the highest peaks of the world is breathtaking, seen during the sunrise from the Tiger Hill view point in Darjeeling. Snow covered rolling hills add contrast to the alpine vegetation found in the Himalayan region. On days with clear skies, even Mount Everest is said to be visible.

Toy Train Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has an amazing narrow gauge Toy Train from New Jalpaiguri to Darjeeling, laid on the mountainous terrain; which has now been recognized by the UNESCO as World Heritage Site. After being closed for almost 5 years, the Toy Train has been opened recently in June 2015. It is an engineering marvel to have overcome such steep gradients and curves of the mountains.

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Darjeeling Ropeway Darjeeling Rangeet Valley Ropeway is the ﬁrst cable car system in India. Built to connect the tea gardens, it has now become a prominent tourist attraction. The ropeway takes you over the valley ﬁlled with bountiful tea estates, waterfalls and snow covered peaks. Don’t miss the museum of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.

Rock Garden A combination of natural waterfalls and man-made fountains and parks, the Rock Garden is 10 kilometres away from Darjeeling town. Chunnu Summer Falls and Ganga Maya Park are nearby locations, which seem like nature’s retreat. You have to travel downhill to reach the Rock Garden and the journey itself is memorable as you descend, you can look down at the clouds. Rocks are cut to make terrace seating arrangements.

Darjeeling Tea Plantations

Batasia Loop and War Memorial

Most of Darjeeling is ﬁlled with snow and hills; the rest is, of course, tea plantations. ‘Darjeeling Tea’ is a label known worldwide and unparalled in taste and aroma. There are almost 78 tea estates in Darjeeling to gain that label from Tea Board of India. 90 Crores kilograms of tea is estimated to be produced every year in various ﬂavours. Tea plantation provides livelihood for majority of the people in Darjeeling. In the recent times, Tea Tourism concept has paved new ways to boost economy.

The Batasia Loop is a rail track which was constructed to facilitate the movement of the Toy Train for a descent of 1000 feet and reducing the slope. This loop starts from the Ghum Station and coils spirally around itself. At the centre of the loop, a War Memorial is constructed dedicating it to the valour of the Gorkha soldiers of Darjeeling.

Other Places Buy little souvenirs in the form of arts and handicrafts made by the skilled hands of local sculptors and artisans, available in the Chowrasta or Mall. There are plenty of natural history museums and zoological parks to learn about the rare species of local and exotic ﬂora and fauna like reptiles, birds and insects. For the spiritually inclined, the town offers many temples, churches and Buddhist Monasteries. The Japanese Temple and Darjeeling Peace Pagoda are a must visit. july 2015

EDUCATION

The safe school

Emotionally Safe ! Salony Priya Counselling psychologist, Teacher Educator Director, Ummeed Counselling & Consulting services child coming to school is open to new experiences that would build his world and allow him/her to grow up with trust, faith, belief and self worth. The schools today have to be conscious of the environment in their school and classroom. When you create a climate of safety and respect, learning will follow.

One of the most important things teachers can do to promote learning is to create classroom environments where students feel safe. If you’re using interactive approaches such as small groups and cooperative learning, it’s especially important to create a classroom where students feel safe asking questions and contributing to discussions. Students need to feel safe in order to learn. They need to feel secure in order to want to participate. There are a number of things teachers can do to set up classrooms that feel safe and well-organized. It is the invisible yet powerful web of relationships in the classroom that creates an optimal learning environment. The most important learning “tool” is the teacher. And it

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is the teacher who creates the safe “home base” from which the child will explore. A sense of safety comes from consistent, attentive, nurturing, and sensitive attention to each child’s needs. Safety is created by predictability, and predictability is created by consistent behaviours. And the consistency that leads to predictability does not come from rigidity in the timing of activities it comes from the consistency of interaction from the teacher. If a schedule is consistent, but the teacher is not, there is no predictability for the child. Predictability in time means less to a young child than predictability in people. How can a teacher provide this? Use your most powerful teaching tool, your personality. Your smile, your voice, and your touch make a child feel safe. For an all rounded development schools need to place equal, if not more in the era of Multiple Intelligence, on psychological and emotional needs being fulﬁlled in students.

Maslow and Our Classroom

General Steps In Helping A Student

William Glasser’s application: Student Centered Teacher Created

To Be Safe ! The focus by all caregivers at school: To provide a safe, secure and nurturing climate in which the child can grow as a healthy whole individual. 1. Recognize the student’s need for feeling good and safe and build rapport 2. Provide an appropriate time to truly listen to the child

6. Freedom to Choose Where 5. Power to Succeed Manistream Students 4. Self Esteem: I feel Good Because Operate I’m Important... I Know.... I will! Where At Risk Kids are

3. Classroom Evokes Positive Emotions/ Home (Conﬁtioning) Happy Lessons! 2. Safe Class No: Criticism, Bullying; Humiliation 1. Students Should Not be Hungry/Tired

3. Help the child/teen identify and clarify the problem

Maslow’s need hierarchy explained importance of safety not only physical but emotional.

4. Illuminate options and alternatives for problem solving 5. Help create goals to facilitate improvement or change 6. Encourage the student to succeed 7. Enhance child’s perspectives, well being through educating about the problem 8. Refer to others if in depth skills are needed 9. Keep the student’s conﬁdence sacrosanct unless abuse is involved or it is believed that the student might hurt self or others 10. Listen to the inner messages that come through interaction with the child These are some methods that can be adopted by Teachers and caregivers at schools to make students feel safe.

7. Learning = Fund Differentiated

Positive Psychology The Self Actualized Student

Top Ten Emotional Needs of Children/Teenagers/Adolescents (and of most of the Adults also) In order to feel safe children would like to feel 1

Accepted

Believed in

Cared about

Forgiven

Loved

Safe

Supported

Trusted

Understood

10 Valued It is noticed that if teachers/parents/guardians adequately ﬁll these needs, the child’s or teen’s behaviour will take care of itself. Since it is believed that feelings predict behaviour, so if children/ teens have positive feelings, positive behaviour will naturally follow. Some key relations that could be explored to achieve this can be seen in the following page:july 2015

EDUCATION

The

FOUR Relationships Of Students The Student And Teacher: All students enter the classroom looking consciously or subconsciously for help, and wanting, hoping, or wishing to be successful. A teacher’s responsibility is to give help and cause children to be successful in class. If we fail in this responsibility, it is often because we are judging students slow, ignoring their questions, overlooking their failures, or classifying their interests as trivial. Children who lack self-conﬁdence are not optimistic about the outcome of their efforts. They feel incapable, inferior, pessimistic, and easily discouraged. Things always seem to go wrong; these children give up easily and frequently feel intimidated

The Student And Himself/Herself: A teacher can best begin helping a child by not writing the child off because of behaviour, achievement, or personality. Our role, as teachers, is not to view students as we see them. Rather, it is to view them as they see themselves. This is the key to understanding behaviour. Underlying many childhood problems is a basic feeling of low self-esteem. An extremely important determinant of behaviour is how children feel about them selves. Feeling basically worthless and lacking self-respect inﬂuences their motives, attitudes, and behaviour.

The Student And Peers: The child who cannot relate to his or her peers is in trouble and will generally cause trouble in a class.

The Student And Curriculum: Think of the student and the curriculum. Without a doubt, curriculum activities place some students in an impossible situation. Once a problem is detected, ﬂexible in-class requirements, as well as proper teacher approach and attitude, can provide this student with fulﬁlment rather than frustration

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Fundamental principles of counselling that cater to a SAFE School. “Counselling offers a relationship to that understanding of life and faith. The counselling uses both psychological and social factors to enable students- as a result of counselling student/teenager should become • More realistic in their self perceptions • More conﬁdent and self directing • More positively value themselves • Less likely experiences

repress

aspects

their

• More mature socialized and adaptive in their behavior • Less upset by stress and quicker to recover from it and • More like the healthy integrated well functioning person Furthermore a supported child in a safe environment will have more likelihood to have coping skills and be a fully functional adult. This is the ultimate objective of creating Emotionally Safe schools, having good citizens for society!

LIFESTYLE

Teenagers should

SLEEP

esearchers the world over believe that due to biological reasons, teenagers don’t get enough sleep at night and go to school tired. They believe that teenagers stay up late because of adolescent distractions. Teens need eight to nine hours of sleep at night, however, teenagers are not getting to sleep enough during night times. Thus, sleep deprived teenagers are a cause of growing concern among researchers, educators and parents.

TIGHT at NIGHT to

Feel Bright at School all Day Long

So, why are teenagers not getting enough sleep? A range of reasons can be attributed to this growing concern for teenager’s night-owl tendency.

Teenager’s nightowl tendency includes social life, caffeinated drinks and electronic media such as computers, TVs and cell phones. Procrastinating over homework and depression are some of the other factors. Some experts believe that biological changes in teens affect their ability to sleep.

A recent study found that “biological changes during puberty keep kids from falling asleep as early as when they were younger.” Another study measured the presence of the sleep-promoting hormone ‘melatonin’ in teenagers’ saliva at different times of the day. They learned that melatonin levels rise later at night than they do in children and adults and remain at a higher level later in the morning.

Lack of sleep affects teens’ ability to function at school. Sleep deprivation can affect mood, performance, attention, learning, behavior and biological functions. In less clinical terms, “Daytime sleepiness makes it difﬁcult to concentrate and learn, or even stay awake in class. Too little sleep may contribute to mood swings and behavioral problems. Parents can strive to get their teens less wired at

night. This can be achieved by discouraging them from drinking caffeine past 12 noon, and by keeping TVs, computers, and especially cell phones out of their rooms at night. Other suggestions include: • Encourage a short nap (30 minutes) after school with the alarm clock set. • Encourage a regular bedtime routine to help them unwind. • Dim the lights as bedtime approaches. • Encourage your teen to go to bed and get up at the same time every school day. • Cut out late-night phone chats. • Avoid arguing with your teen just before bedtime. • Pull open the curtains and let the sun shine in, or turn on the bright lights in the morning. • Help kids understand that they need more sleep because of changes in their bodies. • Let them sleep in on the weekend, but no more than 2 or 3 hours later than their usual time, or it will disrupt their body clock. Gisele Glosser www.mathgoodies.com july 2015

VOCABULARY

Know the difference

Word Fact

ADVICE vs ADVISE

IT’S vs ITS

It’s no wonder that ‘advice’ and ‘advise’ are often confused; they are used in similar contexts and separated by just one letter, but that letter signals important distinctions to keep in mind when using the terms. So what are the differences between the two?

Advise is a verb meaning “to give counsel to; offer an opinion or suggestion as worth following.” Advice is a noun meaning “an opinion or recommendation offered as a guide to action, conduct, etc.” The -ice ending of advice is pronounced like “ice,” while the -ise ending of advise is pronounced like the “-ize” in “realize.” Some of the confusion surrounding these terms may be attributable to the subtle spelling differences, particularly when it comes the use of c versus s, between British and American English. For instance, in British English, the words practice and practise are different parts of speech (noun and verb, respectively). Meanwhile, in American English, the word practice doubles as both a noun and a verb. While the absence of a second spelling might lead you to believe American English prefers the -ce ending, English speakers in the United States use defense and offense where the British use defence and offence. Thankfully, regardless of the variety of English you’re dealing with, advice is always a noun and advise is always a verb. If you have trouble remembering the difference between the two, it might help to keep in mind that advice and advise operate much like device and devise. You devise a plan, but to do so, you might use a device. Similarly, if you advise a friend, you are giving her a piece of advice.

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English contains so many confusing words and punctuation marks you’d be forgiven for imagining some diabolical grammarian put them there to torture us. You’d be wrong, but it’s a reasonable assumption. One confusing pair that unites tricky words with slippery punctuation is ‘its’ and ‘it’s’. This confusion is exacerbated by the fact that its is one of the top 100 most frequently used words in English. It appears all the time— giving us oodles of opportunities for error. Its is the possessive form of it. This is particularly confusing because many possessive forms have an apostrophe, like Mary’s cat, but the possessive its is a pronoun, and, like other possessive pronouns (his, hers, yours, and theirs), is written without that particular bit of punctuation: “I have to ﬁx my bike. Its front wheel came off.” It’s is a contraction of the words it and is, just as what’s, how’s, and she’s are contractions of what is, how is, and she is. It’s is used correctly in the sentence: “It’s starting to rain.” To help ﬁgure out which form you should use, try this trick: switch out the word in your sentence for it is. If the sentence grammatically works with it is, use it’s. If the resulting sentence doesn’t make sense, go for its. In the sentence “It’s unclear what he meant,” it’s can be swapped with it is and it will read: “It is unclear what he meant.” Now that’s a full and proper sentence. In the sentence, “The book has lost its jacket,” “If you replace its with it is, it will read: “The book has lost it is jacket.” That sounds funny. Another rule to keep in mind: the word its’ is always wrong. The apostrophe never follows the s. It’s nice to be able to say never in a rule concerning English grammar; it doesn’t happen very often.

FOOD

In the mood for a cuppa ost people in India tend to start their day with a cup of tea, the ubiquitous drink, loved by many around the world. Tea refreshes a tired body, relaxes a stressed mind and tames the excited soul. It has just enough caffeine to rejuvenate us, but cannot hurt or damage our system. The exact origin of the celestial drink or the ‘Elixir of Immortality’ as it is fondly called; is still being speculated. The Chinese and the Japanese have different versions of the same story in form of legends passed on through generations. These legends claim that a king, a farmer and a monk have discovered tea leaves, but only by accident.

The British brought the Why wait? Dig tea bushes in, take your pick from the from Masala East to our Tea, Lemon country. But, they did not Tea, Ginger Tea, etc.; each survive in our climate. holding its own So, how do health beneﬁts we have so or the few many tea plantations standard teas; in India? It the difference is because lies in how the tea plants were found tea leaves are in India and processed. cultivated, when the imported ones didn’t make it. Tea has its roots in India. Whoever it is that discovered tea, or whichever nation ﬁrst made tea, is redundant. We should be immensely happy that we are able to enjoy the divine drink.

Orthodox Tea is made by using rollers in the processing machine, which churns them almost to a powdered form, depending on the grade. The traditional way of making orthodox tea involves boiling the leaves in water and adding milk and sugar.

Green Tea is the least oxidized of all and hence contains high amount of antioxidants. Health benefits include weight loss and improvement in cardiovascular health. The leaves are oven dried, steamed, fired and re-fired to last all through the year. Black Tea, the most oxidized that possesses the strongest flavor of all, is processed by blowing out the air and moisture from the leaves. This is high in free amino acids, sugar and protein. It is said to lower blood pressures and risk of heart strokes. White Tea is the most expensive form, which is the least processed, made by harvesting and withering unopened buds in natural sunlight. It can also be chewed directly; contains more antioxidants than Green Tea. It fights bacteria, fungi and aging effects. Oolong Tea is made by air-drying, bruising and pan-frying the leaves just before they reach their peak. It is less oxidized than Green Tea and has a longer storage time. It is good for skin and teeth, in addition to lowering the cholesterol. july 2015

EDUCATION

PART II

Study better, stress less and succeed in school Brainfeed brings to you a new series on how to ‘Make the Grade’ where you will learn everything you need to study better, stress less, and succeed in school. Quality education is important for both personal and professional success. So, successful students do well because they map out what matters most to them, and then follow through, putting maximum effort where ever necessary, and not wasting valuable time on things that are less important. The great thing is that these prioritizing techniques are available to everyone, and if you adopt them, you’ll not only do better in school but also learn great skills you can use in applying for jobs, getting into college, and even navigating personal relationships as well. In part II, you’ll soon be putting together a weekly schedule to help maximize every hour of your day, tracking your homework and your life in a way that helps you get everything done on time, and ﬁnding ways to get engaged in school even when things get – what’s the word? – Oh yeah: boring. 42

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Keeping YOUR TIME in check nce the school day’s over, most students are left facing a whole new set of responsibilities: There’s homework to do, music and sports to practice, chores to complete – the list goes on and on.

But by getting a clearer sense of where your time goes and what matters to you most, you can make important decisions that will help you get the most of your day and avoid unnecessary stress.

Where does the time go? In order to make the most of the time you do have, take stock of your weekly commitments and responsibilities so that you can see how much time, if any, is left over. Then you’ll be able to see how much time you really have left for homework, friends, fun, and “you time”. Your current schedule Create a weekly calendar with all of your current commitments using the worksheet or just a blank piece of paper – to block out the times that are already booked because of school, travel time, meals, work, or other extracurricular activities. Shade and label the blocks of time with each of your current commitments.

Blank Example Chart Time

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

6:00 A.M 6:30 A.M 7:00 A.M 7:30 A.M 8:00 A.M 8:30 A.M 9:00 A.M 9:30 A.M 10:00 A.M 10:30 A.M 11:00 A.M 11:30 A.M 12:00 A.M 12:30 A.M 1:00 P.M 1:30 P.M 2:00 P.M 2:30 P.M 3:00 P.M 3:30 P.M 4:00 P.M 4:30 P.M 5:00 P.M 5:30 P.M 6:00 P.M 6:30 P.M 7:00 P.M 7:30 P.M 8:00 P.M 8:30 P.M 9:00 P.M 11:00 P.M to 6:00 A.M Sleep july 2015

EDUCATION

Once you’ve blocked out your “busy time”, take stock of the time that’s left over, and ask yourself the following questions: Do I have enough time devoted to my homework? Yes

If you don’t know how much time you need, quickly add up how many different assignments you have on an average night and how much time each one takes. Always budget an extra thirty minutes just in case.

Doing what matters most Even though you may want to do it all, sometimes that’s just not realistic. Sometimes you’ll have to choose what not to do. When things start to slip – when you’re not getting enough sleep, when you’re getting into arguments with your parents, when your grade starts to drop, when you don’t have enough time for your friends or yourself – then it’s time to make adjustments. And that’s okay!

Am I doing my homework during my “Prime time”? Yes

Try and ﬁgure out your “Prime time” so that you can do your most critical work when your brain works best. Similarly, do your easiest assignments during the times when your energy or motivation is low. Remember that your brain needs rest! Make sure that you don’t have to get up early in the morning, if you are working late. And if you are planning to work in the morning go to bed early. Do I have enough time to recharge (sleep, hang around with friends, watch some TV, etc.) Yes

Block in some time to unwind, and don’t forget that sleep is your best friend! Make sure that your homework schedule doesn’t take over your sleep schedule. Am I scheduling in mini-breaks as I do my homework? Yes

Studies show that the brain can only take so much before it needs a rest, so be sure to schedule short breaks. The recommended break time is 10 to 15 minutes every hour. During the break choose to do something you enjoy … but not too much! You will have to get back to work when the time is up. If you have answered ‘yes’ to all of the above questions, then skip to “Making the most out of your time.” If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, read on. It’s time to assess what you are doing now, and start to make some changes.

july 2015

Prioritizing your commitments Here’s a quick way to ﬁgure out how to determine what matters most to you so that you can make adjustments to your schedule. Start by jotting down all the things you are committed to outside of school. Then, organize the list into “must keep,’ ‘Willing to give up for now”, and “would like to keep.” “Must keep” Circle Circle the one thing you cannot imagine giving up. This is your “must keep” – your top personal priority. If you are having trouble coming to a decision, think about the goals you’ve set for yourself and how each of the things on your list connects to those goals. “Willing to give up for now (or forever)” Right mark Put a check mark next to any commitment that it’s possible for you to take a brief break from without suffering any major repercussions. These are the things that you can easily return to later on, or things that don’t matter as much to you. “Would like to keep” 1 through 10 Take a look at everything left on the list, and identify how important each one is to you by putting a ranking number beside it. This is your “would like to keep” group – those things that do still matter to you and that you’d like to manage to ﬁt into your schedule.

Sciencet Projec

Adjust your weekly Schedule

Home work planning in Two Easy Steps

Now comes the hard part! Once you’ve organised your list, select one or two additional commitments that you are willing to give up for now. While it might be difﬁcult, you’ll breathe easier with the extra time to really focus on the things that matter most to you.

No matter how stressed out you are, you should always spend ﬁve to ten minutes a day setting up your homework strategy. Planning out your to-do list will actually create more free time, improve your grades, and reduce your stress. So take out your planner and follow this two-step process.

Now that you’ve made some choices, adjust your schedule using the following guidelines: 1. Make sure you have time blocked out for homework during your prime time. 2. Schedule breaks every 45 minutes or so to recharge your brain and to get a snack, if needed. 3. Schedule some time for yourself, whether it be time with your friends or listening to music.

Making the Most of your Time Once you have a better sense of when you’re busy and when you’re not, there are a few things you can do to make the most out of every hour in your day. By tracking your daily responsibilities and planning for what’s coming up, you’ll keep your stress levels low and productivity high. Track everything in one place In order to stay in control of your schedule, you’ll want to keep a centralized calendar on your phone or day planner. Use this to record everything you need to do, including home work assignments, upcoming tests, projects, extracurricular activities, and appointments. Make sure you keep your planner up-to-date by writing in all assignments and activities for the day, week, and beyond.

Step 1: Make a List School assignments generally break down into three core groups: (1) Things that are due tomorrow; (2) things that are due by the end of the week; and (3) things that are due at the end of the semester or year. As a result, your own schedule should follow a similar pattern and list assignments according to when they’re due – “today”, “this week”, or “later on”. Writing it all down clears it out of your mind so you don’t have to stress out a trying to remember everything. Cross out or check off tasks as you complete them, and as you move through the week, shift tasks from “do later” or “do this week” to “do today”. Step 2 : Prioritize and Organize Sort your homework assignments so that you can maximize your time and minimize your stress. In terms of overall efﬁciency, it makes the most sense to attack the quick and easy stuff before you move on to the important and challenging assignments. So if there’s anything on your list that takes three minutes or less, do that ﬁrst! For everything else, ask yourself, “How important is this?” If it’s critical to the class as a whole, or if it’s going to be a major part of your grade, then that should be a top priority item. july 2015

EDUCATION

Three Procrastination Busters Planning for Tests and Major Projects Planning your schedule can get extra tricky when you factor in a big test or a major project. How do you ﬁt those extra big assignments into a schedule that’s already packed? The secret is to break the big projects down into smaller chunks, so that your schedule remains balanced and spread out. It’s always easier to deal with a lot of small pieces rather than one giant chunk. With that noble goal in mind, we now offer the secret to successful test and project planning, in three easy steps. Step 1: Set Your Own Deadlines Pull out your calendar and write down when the big assignment or test is due. Then break down the steps that need to get completed by the day. What concepts do you need to know for the test? What topics will you need to cover in that presentation? Whatever it is that you need to be done, write it down!

Stop thinking. Start doing. We waste a lot of time thinking about what we should be doing rather than doing it. Do the easiest thing first. You’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment when you start to see immediate progress. Do something difficult. Often whatever we are avoiding is much worse in our minds than it is in reality. So get out there and bring the fight to the project! You’ll feel really empowered when you clear the first major hurdle.

Step 2: Break it down even more Once you’ve got the deadlines set, break things down even more. If you need to learn all the bones in the hand, try and memorize one ﬁnger at a time. This makes those big and intimidating tasks seen much more manageable…and much less annoying. Step 3: Put the Steps on Your Calendar Take those smaller tasks and put them on your calendar. As you create your daily plan, be sure to include them on your list. Keep track of everything on your calendar, though, and you won’t be caught off guard. One last thing

Keep Your Parents on Your Side and off Your Back

Do yourself a favour: Don’t procrastinate! It’s so easy to leave the big assignments until the last minute. The longer you wait, the more stressed out you’ll get. It’s just not worth it!

Remember, the reason parents ask is because they care. As you take more responsibility for your work, your parents don’t necessarily see everything you do and therefore wonder what’s getting done. How can you change those interactions to make them positive rather than positively awful? To get your parents on your side and off your back, keep them informed about what’s going on before they have to ask.

july 2015

NEWS

INDOOR STADIUM

inaugurated at

Samashti International School campus

amashti International School, known for allround development of a child, led by Director of the school Mr. Abhay Mathur, was established by a professional team of educators headed by Correspondent Ms. Swetha Manthena and is promoted by the promoters of NCC Limited, a leading infrastructure company. A purpose-built Indoor Sports

Stadium was inaugurated on July 4, 2015 at the school campus at Kollur, Hyderbad. The guests of honour for the inauguration were Mr. Dean Gilchrist (Managing Director of Sportspro International, Australia and elder brother of the Australian Cricket Legend Adam Gilchrist) and Mr. Shaji Prabhakaran (FIFA Regional Development OfficerSouth and Central Asia).

“Opening this sports block is one big step towards our vision to bring overall development in children by increasing self-esteem and mental alertness.” Ms. Swetha Manthena Correspondent Samashti International School

“Samashti Cubs Cricket League 2015” for all Pre-Schools and Schools will be conducted in association with Sportspro International (Australia). An Advisory committee for this League tournament comprises of Mr. Dean Gilchrist, Ms. Swati Popat Vats, President, Early Childhood Education and a renowned educationist and other esteemed members of the sport. The highly equipped sports facilities will cater to the needs of all schoolgoing students across the city and will also offer professional sports coaching programmes to the corporate community specially located at the Financial District and Hi-TECH city. july 2015

TECHNOLOGY

THE FUTURE OF

3D PRINTING

Conceptual 3D printing bridge Amsterdam

D printing has taken the world by storm. It is the technology of printing metals into physical forms which are predesigned by Computer Aided software. A three dimensional solid object can be produced from a digital ﬁle by spraying layers of molten material one over the other, which would instantly solidify. It is already in use in the ﬁelds of aerospace, engineering, jewellery making, industrial design, prosthetics, etc.

In May 2015, the tech giant Google has announced to make 3D printed prosthetic (artificial) limbs for amputees in developing countries. In January this year, a Chinese company ‘WinSun’ claimed to have succeeded in printing a five storied apartment. In June 2015, a Dutch firm ‘MX3D’ proposed to build a 3D printed stainless steel bridge over a canal in the midst of Amsterdam, within a time span of

two years. 6 multi-axis robotic 3D printer arms will be suspended in mid air; the robots will print and also weld the metal. AUTODESK, the design software company, is sponsoring the project and the actual construction will take just two months to ﬁnish. The 3D printed metal will retain 90% of the strength of regularly welded steel. On the other hand, US company ‘BioBots’ is using 3D printing for Biofabrication (Artiﬁcial tissue creation). The Co-Founder Danny Cabera of BioBots has demonstrated printing the famous painter Vincent Van Gogh’s ear replica at the recent TechCrunch Disrupt in New York. Proctor and Gamble, L’Oreal and many more are experimenting in Bioprinting. If this will be successful, it would be not very long before we see organ replacements made by actual living tissue that could revolutionize transplant medicine.

APPS of the Month

Logical Reasoning app - Logical reasoning is a main test for all the competitive exams, and entrance tests of various institutions. Logical reasoning depends on the person’s ability to analyse and make decisions based in the given circumstances. Problem solving skills and critical thinking can be improved by this free app which has more than 30 topics and 3000 questions with solutions, under different categories like Logical reasoning, Number sequence, etc.

GeoGebra App – GeoGebra is an award winning educational resource targeted at students who handle difﬁcult and complex Mathematical problems. This dynamic platform offers arithmetic, geometry, algebra and calculus and is useful for everyday calculations too. It can be taught even from primary level with worksheets, books, games, etc. Use this app in 2D and 3D interactive way of learning, to get rid of fear of Math Monster!

Periscope App - This live-streaming video

Garage Band App - This iOS app lets

app is a rival to established video streaming apps like Meerkat and YouNow. Better features like notiﬁcations of the nearby viewers and the instant viewing experience of the video being recorded, make Periscope stand out from the crowd. Watching direct live videos, for example, a walk on your vacation trip or any workshops you attend can be easily shared with friends and family who missed out going with you.

you create your own music. You can learn different musical genres by playing the various virtual instruments available. Select the pre-made audio loops from download list and practise to your heart’s content. Basic guitar and piano lessons are made available with the precise ﬁnger positions and musical notations. It is able to play all ﬁle formats.

july 2015

TRIBUTE

Dasaradhi Rangacharya, well-known poet and writer and a Telangana Freedom Movement activist, who fought impatiently with the autocratic rule of the Nizam took his last breath, on June 8, 2015. He was admitted into a hospital in Hyderabad, after his health deteriorated. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao ordered a state funeral. Several people thronged to his residence to pay their respects to the departed poet.

orn on August 24, 1928 in Chitti Gudur village, Khammam district of erstwhile Hyderabad State, he pursued his higher education in Vijayawada. Initially, he worked as a government school teacher during 1951-57 and later shifted to Hyderabad and joined the Secunderabad Municipal Corporation Division, where he worked for over three decades, from 1957 to 1988.

Dasaradhi Rangacharya

Inspired by Marxism and Socialism, he wanted to see an end to the struggles of the people at grass root levels. Dasaradhi actively participated in ﬁght against the Nizam’s autocratic rule and was once

He was the literary genius behind novels like ‘Chillara Devullu’, ‘Modugu Poolu’ and many folk stories. These two novels are the rarest big novels from Telangana, given its poor literacy rate and the feudal background. arrested. He took part in the Telangana Armed Struggle till Hyderabad was liberated. He did not conform to any popular writing styles and that shows clearly in his works. He did not idealize the characters in his novels, rather he sees a man in all his completeness- his weakness

He had written extensively about Telangana Armed Struggle and the slavery during the Nizam’s rule. He wrote his novels in Telangana dialect, against the advice of traditional writers, as he wanted to be understood by the local people.

and guiles. His naked portrayal of humanity led to the creation of antagonists with a hint of compassion, or the so called heroes with shades of negativity. He was successful in creating history in the Telugu literature and achieving a unique honour of translating the four Vedas into Telugu. He had also penned ‘Srimad Ramayanam’ and ‘Sri Maha Bharatam’ in Telugu. ‘Jeevanayanam’ was his autobiography. Chillara Devullu earned him Central Sahitya Akademi award. He was awarded with the title ‘Modern Vyasa’. This June, on his demise, the Telugu literary world lost a legendary personality. july 2015

COMMEMORATION

JULY

26 KARGIL VIJAY DIWAS

Kargil Vijay Diwas is celebrated on July 26 every year in India, remembering the success of Indian soldiers over Pakistani militants. In 1999, Pakistani intruders entered Kargil and Dras sectors. In the Kargil War, 527 soldiers sacriﬁced their lives. Armed Forces and Prime Minister of India pay homage at the Kargil War Memorial at Dras and Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate in New Delhi.

In 2009, the UN has declared July 18 as Mandela Day. It is the birthday of Nelson Mandela, the South African activist, who fought for 67 years against racial discrimination of the natives by the whites, and was imprisoned for 27 years. This day promotes peace, humanity and urges the people to help others in any way they can. Poverty eradication and cleanliness also feature on the campaign agenda.

JULY

18 MANDELA DAY

WORLD HEPATITIS DAY

JULY

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE DAY On July 17, 1998, the Rome Statute was adopted, which created the International Criminal Court (ICC), an intergovernmental court in Netherlands, where international trials are conducted for grave issues like war conﬂicts. This day promotes world peace.

Tiger poaching, for whiskers, bones and skin, has reduced their number to mere 3,200 around the globe. In 2010, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) dedicated July 29 as International Tiger Day or Global Tiger Day, to stop poaching and make people understand why tigers are important for the balance of ecology.

july 2015

JULY

World Health Organization (WHO) observes this day on the birth anniversary of Nobel winning scientist, Professor Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who discovered Hepatitis B virus. WHO spreads awareness and launches vaccination campaigns to make people understand the deadly effects of this ‘silent killer’ disease.

JULY

29 INTERNATIONAL TIGER DAY

Kodhini, a town in Malappuram district in Kerala, has

350 twins

n’ ‘Twin Tow of India

older, Kodinhi twin mothers are aged from 18 to 20 and are just 5 feet tall. • The twins don’t present any deformities.

amidst the 2,000 villagers. Kodinhi garnered global attention.

• Women married off and who left Kodinhi have also given birth to twins. • Global twin rate is 6 twins per 1,000 births and Kodinhi has a rate of 45 twins per 1,000 births.

The National Geographic says that: • The majority of the twins are the same sex.

Dr. Krishnan Sribiju, researcher, says “This is caused by some mysterious element the villagers eat and drink.” If proved, it might become the next treatment for infertility.

• This phenomenon began 40 years ago and the rate has been increasing. • Unlike the rest of the world, where twin mothers are tall and

Husband: Honey, I invited a friend home for dinner tonight

On a rainy day, an old man was standing with a book for sale. A young man came to buy.

Wife: What? Are you crazy? The house is a mess, all the dishes are dirty, and I can’t cook a meal for sure

He bought the book for Rs.300/The old man advised “DON’T OPEN LAST PAGE OF THE BOOK otherwise you’ll face a very huge problem!!!” The man ﬁnished the book with great fear but didn’t open the last page. But, after a week, Out of curiosity he opened the last page and.. He almost fainted to see………………………. Retail Price: `30/-

Husband: I know all that; darling.

Umesh says to doctor: When I sleep, I dream of donkeys playing cricket. Doctor: No problem, just take this medicine before sleep from today and you’ll be relieved of that problem. Umesh: Doctor, can I take it from tomorrow?

Pappu and his wife buy coffee in a shop. Pappu: Drink quickly. Wife: Why? Pappu: See the price. Hot coffee `5/- and cold coffee `10/-

Doctor: Why, what’s wrong with today?? Umesh: Today is the ﬁnal match and I want to see which team wins!!!!!!

Wife: Then why did you invite your friend? Husband: Because the poor fool is thinking about getting married!!!?? Once, during a visit to a ‘Mental Hospital’, journalist Vikas asked the doctor: “How do you ﬁnd out whether to admit a patient or not???” Doctor Said: “Well… We ﬁll a full bath tub; then we give a tea-spoon and a bucket to the patient and ask him to empty the bath tub!” Vikas said: “Oh, a normal person would use the bucket……. because it’s bigger, right?” “No!’ said the doctor, “A normal person would pull the drain plug!!!” july 2015

SHORT STORY

e ie d i r t s b a b l a e c h T of the ong ago,” started Gilbert, “when I was a cabbie, it was almost 8 in the evening and I was at the end of my shift. I went to pick up a ride at a very dark building. I honked the horn but, no one came out for a while. I went to the door and rang the bell. ‘Just a minute,’ said a very weak voice and an old lady emerged out.”

“What happened then?” asked one of his grandsons. Gilbert said, “She was very weak and old, almost about 80; the same age I am now. So, she was the ride. I put her suitcase in the cab and helped her into her seat. She thanked me and I said that I liked to help everybody. ‘Oh, you are such a good boy,’ she said. She gave me an address and a route to take her there. ‘But, that’s not the shortest route’, I said. She asserted that she was in no hurry and that she was going to a hospital. On the way, she told me many things- about her childhood, her ﬁrst job and her children. She showed me the places where she studied and worked. Although it was getting late, I didn’t mind that she was taking up so much of my time. She asked me to stop near a corner and sat there staring at the place. I understood that she was recollecting some memories. Finally, we came to the hospital and I helped her and her luggage out, she paid the fare. Two attendants came and put her in a wheelchair. She turned and said to me, ‘Today, I am checking into this hospital for good. The doctors gave me very little time. I had no one to take care of me. Thank you for being so patient with me till now.’ My eyes welled up and instinctively, I bent down and gave her a hug. I walked away and drove aimlessly, thinking, ‘What if I had not waited for her or been rude to her during the ride? How bad she would have felt?’ I couldn’t sleep a wink that night.” Gilbert looked at the children and said, “Since that day, I made it a point to be polite to others in my life. You know, children, we can never be sure of what the other person is going through; what their struggles are. Don’t you agree with me?”

july 2015

AMAZING

FACTS

The longest living cells in the body are brain cells which can live an entire lifetime.

Giant Arctic JellyďŹ sh can have a bell up to seven feet long and its tentacles over 120 feet long.

The seeds of an Indian Lotus plant remain viable for 300 to 400 years.

Most gemstones contain several elements; except diamond. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s totally made up of carbon.

6 5

Elephants bury the dead ones of their own species and observe funeral, like humans do.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out as it is attached to a membrane in the roof of its mouth. july 2015

LANGUAGE STUDY

F FRENCH

VOCABULARY in

FRENCH for

BEGINNERS Here are some everyday used simple words in FRENCH language.

P PRONUNCIATION

MY NAME IS……. Je m’appelle… Zhuh mah-pell

NICE TO MEET YOU Enchanté(e) Awn-shawn-tay

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Vous êtes d’où? Voo zet doo

HOW OLD ARE YOU? Quel âge avez-vous? Kell ahzh ah-vay voo

WHERE DO YOU LIVE? Où habitez-vous? Ooh ah-bee-tay voo

I LIVE IN…

I AM FROM… Je suis de… Zhuh-swee-duh

I AM ____ YEARS OLD J’ai ____ ans Zhay ____ awn

J’habite à… Zah-beet ah I KNOW/I DON’T KNOW Je sais/Je ne sais pas Zhuh-say/Zhuhn-nuh-say-pah DO YOU SPEAK FRENCH? Parlez-vous français? Par-lay voo frahn-say

The Village By The SeaAn Indian Family Story

BOOK

Review

Published in: 1982 By: Anita Desai About the author: Anita Desai is an English language novelist of India. Almost all of her books are set in Indian landscapes. ‘The Village by the Sea’ won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize. She was short listed many times for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Her novel ‘In Custody’ was made into an English ﬁlm and went on to win the President of India Gold Medal for Best Picture in 1993. She is hailed in the literary circles for the imagery and characterization in her books.

july 2015

The story is set in ‘Thul’, a ﬁshing village near Mumbai. The plot revolves around two siblings, Lila and Hari. Their ailing mother, drunkard father and two younger sisters constitute the rest of their family. Hari leaves for Bombay (Mumbai) to earn more money, as they had no boat of their own to ﬁsh. Lila takes up a job as a maid and their mother is hospitalized. The way the author describes the situations the family lived in, depicts the times when industrialization had begun. A young girl’s love for her parents and the struggles of a naïve boy eager to make it big in a new world make one identify with the strong determination and perseverance of the two main characters. The simple story line with a happy ending makes for a pleasant reading experience.

YEARS OF CULTURAL RELATIONS

Gambling by Richard Sidaway Human beings have spent large amounts of money trying to beat the laws of probability for centuries. More than 30 countries currently have legalised gambling in the form of national lotteries or private casinos. In the last ten years this addictive pastime has been generating millions more via the internet.

estimated it would take one person 329 years to sleep in every hotel room in Vegas. What’s the least successful bet? Politician and fraudster Horatio Bottomley went to Belgium in 1914 and bought all six horses in a race. He also paid the jockeys to cross the ﬁnishing line in a particular order. Then he put huge amounts of money on all the horses. Unfortunately, the race meeting was by the sea and a mist came in and covered the entire course. The jockeys couldn’t see each other and the judges couldn’t make out who had won. Bottomley lost a fortune.

So how do you become a successful gambler? Back in 1873, engineer Joseph Jagger won $300,000 dollars in three days at the casino in Monte Carlo by noticing that the mechanical faults in their roulette wheels made certain numbers come up more often than others. More recently, an Australian wrote a software programme to help him spot winners on the horses in Hong Kong and has supposedly won $150 million over the last 20 years. What’s the biggest lottery jackpot ever? The record is currently $390 million, won by two people in the USA in May 2002. This, of course, is peanuts. It costs $444 million a year just to keep an aircraft carrier in the water. The biggest single win on a national lottery was $314.9 million in the Powerball game in 2002 by a man who had already made a fortune in the sewer business. Another American won $39.7 million from a slot machine in a Las Vegas casino in 2003 after putting in about $100 worth of coins. The lucky man had actually only gone to watch a basketball match. Why do lotteries exist? Often to make money for the state. The Chinese had a lottery over 2,000 years ago to raise money to build the Great Wall. King James I of England set one up to ﬁnance the new colony of Virginia in America in the 17th century. The British Museum in London was also built this way. Which city earns the most from gambling? Las Vegas, of course. Before gaming was legalised there in the 1930s it was a small desert town; today it has 35 million visitors and earns seven and a half thousand million dollars from its casinos every year. What do they do with the proﬁts? Build hotels, it seems – the world’s biggest is the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino with 5,005 rooms. In fact somebody

Vocabulary Five words/phrases from the text: • make out: see or distinguish • broke out: start suddenly • take up: accept • set off: start on a journey • call off: cancel Exercise one Vocabulary gap fill. Now use the five words/ phrases to fill the gaps in the sentences below: Nobody was very surprised when war ………[1] in 1939.

What’s the longest-running bet? There was a ten-year bet between writer Paul Ehrlich and businessman Julian Simon that the price of certain metals would be higher in 1990 than in 1980. Ehrlich lost when copper, chrome, nickel, tin and tungsten dropped in price. Simon was trying to make the point that the world is not heading for catastrophe and that we are not using up the world’s resources as Ehrlich had predicted. He refused, however, to agree to a second bet that in the following ten years there would be an increase in greenhouse gases and AIDS victims and a decrease in tropical rainforests, agricultural land and human sperm counts.

I usually ………[2] very early in the morning to avoid the trafﬁc.

What’s the strangest bet ever made? Here’s one that started a hundred years ago in a London club, presumably after a certain amount of alcohol had been taken. An American businessman bet a British investor $100,000 that it was not possible to walk around the world without being recognised. A certain Harry Bensley agreed to take up the challenge. He had to wear an iron mask for the whole trip and pay his way by selling pictures of himself. While travelling, he also had to ﬁnd a woman who would marry him, to push a pram and carry only one change of underwear! He set off from London in January 1908 and was arrested a few miles down the road for selling postcards without a licence. He supposedly got most of the way round the world and was in Italy on his way home in 1914 when the First World War broke out and he had to call the whole thing off.

100

7.5 thousand million

Six

19085 What are scientists hoping to learn from Brachylophosaurus?

Word search P

T C

See if you can ﬁnd these words in the grid. They can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal and backwards.

It was not an easy decision to make but she decided to ………[3] the challenge. We had to ………[4] the match because of the bad weather. In the dark it was very difﬁcult to ………[5] which was the right house. Exercise two Comprehension: explain the signiﬁcance of the following numbers:

JOKE TEACHER ‘Wit ought to be a glorious treat, like caviar. Never spread it about like marmalade.’ Noel Coward

BET AD_I_TI_E G_MI_G LOSS_S C_S_NO LO_TE_Y F_RT_N_ PR_FI_S FR_UD_T_R RU_N

‘An original idea. That can’t be too hard. The library must be full of them.’ Stephen Fry Clever and original ideas that amuse us are known as wit. It is a type of humour for which individuals often become famous. Who is famously witty in your country? ‘He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.’ Winston Churchill

3 The amount of dollars Las Vegas earns

walking around the world to win a bet

Comprehension from gambling every year Vocabulary 1 broke out 4 call off 1 The number of days it took Joseph Jaggers 4 The number of horses Horatio to win $300,000 at Monte Carlo Bottomley bought to try and ﬁx a 2 set off horse race 5 make 2 The amount of dollars someone spent in 2003 to win $39.7 million in Las Vegas 5 The year Harry Bensley started out 3 take up

Answers

Want to find more learning activities? Visit http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en | www.britishcouncil.in/english/learn-online

july 2015

When was the complete Uniﬁcation of Germany achieved? Which war had brought about that success?

Name one mobile application which is useful to the students in getting rid of their fear of Mathematics.

Who invented the radio? When did he obtain patent for his invention?

What is the name of the hormone that promotes sleep? What is the proper time for teenage students to go to sleep? Who was the famous novelist and poet of Telangana whose demise happened on 8 June, 2015? What was the title conferred to him? What did he ﬁght against?

Who was the Freedom Fighter who designed the Indian National Flag? Which place did he belong to? Where had he worked before he came back to India and took up government employment?

10. 11.

You know about the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. But, Indian sepoys also led mutinies before that. When did the ﬁrst sepoy mutiny occur? Where did it occur?

12.

Who was the ﬁrst pilot to ﬂy solo around the world? How much time did it take for his trip around the world? Which country did he belong to? When did his trip happen?

How long did Nelson Mandela ﬁght against the racial discrimination in his country? Which country did he belong to? When is his Birth Anniversary?

What is the name given to the ﬁrst ever cloned mammal? When was it cloned? What kind of mammal was it?

13.

Who is the ﬁrst female President of India?

What is Digilocker? Who will beneﬁt from using it? When was it launched?

14.

What is ICC? What kinds of trials are conducted there?

Does everybody dream? What about animals? Do we always dream in colour?

15.

Who was called as ‘Munshi? What was his real name? Who was he?

4. Pingali Venkayya. He was from Krishna district. He had worked in Africa before he returned to our country. 3. Dasharadhi Rancharya. He was awarded with the title ‘Modern Vyasa’. He fought against Nizam’s autocratic rule. 2. Melatonin. By 10 p.m. every day, students must fall asleep; otherwise it affects their studies and disrupts their body clock. 1. July 19, 1870. The FrancoPrussian war has culminated in the Uniﬁcation of Germany.

10. Dolly. It was cloned onJuly 5, 1996. It was 9. Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi. He obtained patent for his invention on July 2, 1897. 8. GeoGebra. 7. Yes, everybody dreams, even animals. We dream not only in colour, but also in monochrome (black and white). 6. Digilocker is a Digital India initiative where you can access and store e-documents. All Indians can beneﬁt by this. It was launched on 1 July, 2015. 5. Mandela fought for 67 years. He belonged to South Africa. He was born on July 18.

6. 7.

15. Premchand was called as ‘Munshi’. His real name was Dhanpat Rai Srivastava. He was a social fiction writer of India during the British era. 14. International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental court. International trials are conducted for grave issues like war conflicts. 13. Pratibha Patil is India’s first female president. 12. Aviator Wiley Post. It took him 7 days, 18 hrs and 49 minutes to finish the mission. He was an American. His trip was made on July 22, 1933. 11. The first violent mutiny by Indian sepoys occurred on July 10, 1806. It happened in Vellore. a sheep.

ANSWERS

july 2015

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MIND

MINE CROSSWORD 25 1

Across

Down

The process of cutting down or burning a forest.

Manmade structure. Blocks a river. Used to harness hydroelectric power.

In order to harness wind energy, you need to build a _______

A ____ resource is one that can be used more than once.

The average weather patterns of a region.

The ______layer of the atmosphere protects us from the sun’s most harmful rays.

One way to help the environment is to ride ___ transportation, such as buses or trains, instead of driving your own car.

This land is very dry. Almost no plants or animals live here. The sun dictates the weather: Hot during the day. Cold during the night.

12. Black mineral. Dug from mines. Pollutes the air when burned.

_____________ energy comes from the sun.

13. Type of fuel. Reﬁned from corn. Popular in the United States.

11. Don’t throw that soda can away! You can ____ it.

4. 4

Black liquid. Drawn from wells. Can be reﬁned and turned into gasoline.

The release of harmful substances into the air or water is called _______.

______ gases such as methane contribute to global warming.

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10. ______ dioxide is a gas often created by combustion. It contributes to global warming.

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How to Solve Ken Ken? Fill the grid with digits so as not to repeat a digit in any row or column. Digits within each heavily outlined group of squares, called a cage, must combine to make the arithmetic result indicated.

july2015

A 3X3-square puzzle will use the digits from 1 to 3, a 4X4-square puzzle will use the digits from 1 to 4, etc. Solving a Ken Ken puzzle involves pure logic and mathematics. No guesswork is needed. Every puzzle has a unique solution. In a cage marked with a plus sign, the given number will be the sum of the digits you enter in the squares. In a cage marked with a minus sign, the given number will be the difference between the digits you enter in the squares ( the lower digit subtracted from the higher one).

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