Nurturing Expression : Guest Speakers Inspire Class V

Under the theme "How We Express Ourselves" within the transdisciplinary curriculum, our Class V students are engaged in an exploration of identifying and analyzing emotions and feelings.

As part of this inquiry, we facilitated two guest speaker sessions to speak to the students and show them how their unit connects to the real world.

Ms. Ashika Mehta, a Mental Health Coach and Therapist, addressed the students and guided them to recognize the significance of acknowledging mistakes and offering apologies in required situations. She further highlighted that conflicts are a normal part of everyday life. She shared situations for them to recognize how inflexibility and reluctance to adjust with others can lead to conflicts. She shared strategies to prevent and face being bullied. Students learned to interpret both verbal and non-verbal cues in communication. Some of her examples demonstrated the power of collaboration within a group setting, exemplified by being non-judgmental, fair, and an active listener to others' perspectives. Ms. Aashika facilitated these discussions and activities, fostering a holistic understanding of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills among the students.

Our second guest speaker, Mr. Krishnan, focused on the creative process involved in designing advertisements which includes creativity, strategy, and collaboration. He said that the process begins with generating ideas for the advertisement, identifying the purpose and mood of the advertisement, and the desired emotional response from the audience. The rationale behind the advertisement could be to inform, entertain, or evoke a specific emotion. He taught students the use of storyboarding to outline the sequence of scenes in the advertisement and understand how it helps in organizing the narrative and aligning it with the overall concept. Students understood how to establish the mood and tone of the advertisement, which could be humorous, sentimental, or aspirational, and how it sets the creative direction and guides the development of visuals, music, and script.

The takeaway from the session was that the advertisement creation process involves a team of individuals with diverse skills; including writers, designers, directors, and marketers.