Novellascape 2022
“There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly: sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.”
~ Ernest Hemingway
BOOKS INSPIRE US TO DREAM.
BOOKS GIVE US THE TOOLS TO ACHIEVE OUR DREAMS.
February, finally saw the culmination of a process that began early October, the much eagerly awaited project by students of Grade 4, Novellascape.
Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. The books they read and the characters they get to know can become like friends. Reading and writing helps children with their confidence levels, coping with feelings besides language and learning.
Studies show that children who practice creative writing more often are generally better in other subjects too like math and science. Challenging themselves to come up with creative thoughts and problem solve, builds the confidence and discipline students need to succeed in all areas of life.
A well-written piece involves a lot of thought, planning, organization, and use of language to get a point across. This project provides a great platform for students at expressing their thoughts and getting across their point of view.
Creativity seems to diminish as we get older. Those crazy stories of fairy tale princesses battling ferocious dragons to save the town later turns into business prose. So, let us all encourage our children to write, to be creative, to use their imagination, and then praise them when they do.
Students were scaffolded to begin writing a short novella after several brainstorming sessions about different genres of books, description of characters, plots, settings, ways of solving conflict and much more. They were guided about how to effectively introduce a story, write in sequential order and finish with an interesting conclusion.
With this thought, we published almost 93 stories on a web page and it was no less than a mini- library. What gives us pleasure is the fact that it is all penned by our very own students and it was their maiden attempt. The books were aptly accompanied by original illustrations, drawn by students themselves.
The young authors shared their thoughts by recording a PPT embedded video speaking about their favourite character, a short blurb and an experience of the whole journey. To quote a famous author- “The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.” ~ Stephen King
