January Activity – Incredible India – Teacher’s Section

Introduction-

We, Indians, are very proud of our culture and civilisation which dates back to thousands of years. Because of cross-country ties, our culture got enriched with various elements from various religions over a period of time. The strength of our culture is unity in diversity.

Through this activity, The ACTIZENS’ Club members will get a chance to work on any one of the art forms- Performing Art, Visual Art and Literary Art. They can select from the list of the options given in the activity section.

Keywords: Culture, Tradition, Performing Art, Visual Art, Literary Art

Expected Outcomes

By the end of this activity, students will-

Be able to better understand and appreciate Indian Culture.
Enjoy the activity where they will explore art forms – Performing Art, Visual Art and Literary Art.

Executive Summary of the Activity

The activity is divided into the following 2 parts-

Activity Heads

Mode

Steps to be Followed

Time Required

Role

Section 1 - Explanation Session

Online class

Start the session with an introduction to the theme 'Indian Culture and Tradition'.
Play two short videos in the online classroom.
Share the link for the reading material with the class.
Debrief the session by asking the students if they have any doubts.
Explain the offline activity that the students need to do after they choose one of the following- Performing Art/Visual Art/Literary Art.

30 minutes

Teacher

Section 2 – Group

Activity

Offline

Read the material provided by the teacher.
Watch the videos from the Video Bank to understand the theme.
Do the activity after choosing any one of the following three options- Performing Art, Visual Art or Literary Art. Select your option based on your interest.

1 to 2 hours

Students

Steps for the Teacher/Facilitator

Step 1 - Introduction

Kindly start the session by introducing the theme of the month. You can refer to content given in the introduction paragraph and in the Information Handout.

Step 2 – Play the videos in the online classroom

Play two short videos (a total of 11 minutes) in the class. The teacher can first encourage Club members to co-facilitate the session and then share the videos given below.

Links for Videos

Introduction to Indian Cultural Heritage [5 minutes]
A peek into the heritage and culture of India [6 minutes]

Step 3 – Debriefing the videos and the concept of Culture and Tradition

Teachers can make the debriefing engaging by asking some questions about culture and heritage. Students can ask questions about the monuments they have visited or activities performed during different festivals or paintings they have seen related to art forms or about classical dance, etc. After the discussion, teachers can ask the students if they have any doubts. In the end, teachers can ask a few students to summarise what was taught in these videos.

Step 4 – Explaining the offline task to the students

Divide the students into groups. Each group should have 5-6 students.
Ask the students to select any 1 state in India (preferably, each group should select a different state) which they would like to explore through this activity.
Explain that each group can select any 1 art form from a given list to work upon.
At the end of the activity, students need to display all art forms together and exhibit them in the display area. (Students who selected Performing Art can click the pictures of the dance forms/songs and the nukkad natak to be displayed.)

Below are the options for the students to choose from-

1. Visual Art Collage/Display Board-

The group can work on the theme by selecting pictures and paintings of the traditional folk dance, dress, food, monuments, architecture, etc.
They need to make an online collage or a virtual chart to display the same. Ask the students to use their creativity to display the different areas in the form of a collage.

Performing Art (Classical Dance | Music I Nukkad Natak-

Students can prepare any group dance, song or a nukkad natak from the selected state to showcase the culture of the state. They can use dresses, accessories and backdrops depicting the state.
They need to record a video of the same and share it with their teacher.

Literary Art (Mythology | Literature on Nationalism, Reformism and Revivalism)-

The group can select folk tales of the state or any story related to the Nationalism/Reformism/Freedom struggle in the selected state.
Students can create a story board/flash cards for the same to depict the story.
Students can create a booklet/story book for the same.

The purpose of these different options is to enable the students to pick what they are really interested in. They can form groups on their own, if they wish to.

Step 5 – Appeal for reflection sheets

Ask the students if they have any doubts about the activity and share the Information Handout with them. Ask them to fill up the group reflection sheets after completing the task and upload the respective pictures/videos after doing the activity.