Garodia International Centre for Learning
Newsletter 2016-2017, Week 32-34
Pre-Primary
The little ones of nursery were taken
for a nature walk to the Lion’s garden
where they got to observe the
different types of trees, plants,
shrubs, leaves etc.
Games are good to play,
At any time of the day,
It helps one to stay,
Fit and fine all the way.
Who does not like to play games?
Everyone does, be they young or old.
With a gleam in their eyes, children of
T2 were all excited to know about
some games played in the olden
days- Satoliya, Gutte, Gilli Danda,
Kancha, Shatranj,etc. They were
awestruck when teacher told them
that she had played these games
when she was small like them. A
healthy discussion of why, where and
how one plays, helped the children to
differentiate which games can be
played indoors and which outdoors.
“Oh! Rules have to be followed for
games also” voiced the children.
Here’s a shout to the fun filled Night
out
Playing and enjoying with their
friends,
They felt the moistness of the grass,
dryness of the bark, softness of the
petals and admired nature. Activities
like sorting of leaves, sowing a seed,
music and movement where they
pretended to be a seed and grow
slowly into a plant quenched their
inquisitive minds.
Come January, India celebrates the
harvest season. One of the first
festivals of the year is Makar
Sankranti.
Playing board games one does not
get bored. Although not physical it
requires mental ability to play certain
games made the little minds of T1 to
think. Their doubt was cleared when
they actually got to play a few gamesSnakes and Ladders, Ludo, Dominoes,
Junior Uno.
It was amazing to see how our
preschoolers created a humongous
kite using various art and craft
techniques. “Til-gul ghyaa, aani goadgoad bola” was the slogan our
children were cheering as our little
chefs made Til-gul laddus.
Fun here never ends!
Yes, it’s the time of the year when
children of T2 eagerly await their
night out. It was a pleasing sight to
see the children of T2 striding in with
their trolley bags and gleaming faces
looking forward to the evening full of
adventure and activities.
Playing exciting games that
challenged their stamina, strength
and fine/gross skills and jumping as
high as they could children of T2
thoroughly enjoyed each and every
station.
Garodia International Centre for Learning
153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077  +91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.gicl.edu.in
Garodia International Centre for Learning
To enhance their creative skills, they
also learnt step by step drawing using
different shapes and patterns to
create cute animated pictures such as
a pig and a mouse in their drawing
book.
Post dinner, children gathered under
the star studded sky and watched the
movie ‘Finding Dory.” The evening
ended with them tucked in their beds
in a cozy tent. It was a pleasant sight
to see some of them hugging their
favourite soft toy and sleeping in the
quietness of the night.
Fun Friday saw the little chefs of T1
making a seasonal strawberry
milkshake as a part of their circle
time activity wherein they got to
learn about different winter fruits.
Primary
Mumbai Meri Jaan
“Love Nature, Stay Close to Nature”
saw our little nursery children learnt
about few trees and flowers such as
coconut tree, rose, marigold and
sunflower.
Learning about Mumbai, its rich
history and culture, famous
personalities, popular cuisine and
places of interest gave an insight on
our beautiful city.
Rise and shine for it was time to get
some sun and have loads of fun…
After a warm up round of exercise,
children rode their bicycles and went
home with wonderful memories.
It was a fun-filled week for the
children of T1, as this week continued
with the topic games. They enjoyed
games such as Quack Quack goes
mother duck, Kho-Kho, Dog and the
Bone and so on.
An outdoor activity was held where
our children experienced and enjoyed
bark rubbing. Words such as hardrough, wide-narrow, long-short
enhanced their vocabulary.
The week ended with a bang where
our little ones drank refreshing and
delicious coconut water.
Grade 1 children had a finger licking
time trying out the famous ‘chaat’Bhel. It’s delicious mixture of puffed
rice, sev, tomato, potato, onion and
sweet-sour-spicy chutney made it a
memorable experience.
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
Comparing lengths
Opinion writing as a part of their
write steps topic saw children
grouping themselves and asking
‘should children be allowed to watch
television?’ to their classmates and
teachers wanting to know their
opinion and reasoning on the same.
It was interesting to get different
opinions –some of them agreeing
while others disagreeing but learning
to respect the differences at the
same time.
From learning to measure objects
using hand spans; proceeding to
measure different lengths using
paperclips, buttons and even erasers,
to lastly learning to compare lengths
with the help of a ruler; was
definitely a fun filled hands-on
experience.
Get to know your plants
better!
Young Researchers in
Making!
Students of grade 2 got an
opportunity to conduct research
based on various topics related to
their subjects. We collaborated with
ICT so as to enable them to use the
resource of the internet at their
disposal. We also encouraged them
to take down notes in pointers and
phrases in order to imbibe the skill of
note-making in them. They jotted
down points from their research on
the author ‘Michael Morpurgo’ who
has written the story ‘The Mountain
Bear Adventures’ in their Oxford
book. They were very curious to find
more facts about his life, awards,
other books etc. and displayed their
research on a splash board in class.
Second graders are now learning
about the parts of the plants and
their functions. To gain better
understanding we created a visual aid
foldable which would explain the
working of the various parts of the
plant like roots, stem, leaves, flower
etc.
The objective was to help the kids
grasp the concept without trying
hard. It was achieved successfully
through engagement of their fine and
gross motor skills in the process as
they drew, labeled and colored their
petty potted plant foldable!
They also researched about the
districts of Maharashtra and about
their unique features for their SST
unit. The objective was to develop
their confidence and to give them a
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
taste of what it is to pursue a topic
ahead on their own and create their
own findings.We are so proud of our
tiny, young researchers who know
that the world is waiting for them at
the click of the button
Some songs were recited with the
background music of birds chirping
on trees.
Being Persuasive!!!
As a revision for persuasive writing in
English, Grade 3 students were given
a task of convincing their classmates
for a product they had designed and
priced.
This gave an opportunity for the kids
to enhance their vocabulary,
imagination and creative thinking
skills and also they got a platform to
interact with the class as a whole in a
better way. Children enjoyed a lot
and were able to convince their
classmates to their best. They came
out with best of tag lines and design
for their product.
Then from each letter of their name
they had to write an adjective that
suits them. The students were
extremely expressive and came out
with excellent adjectives that suited
them and their personality. This gave
a brain storming session for them to
look out for adjectives from the
letters of their names.
The students of grade 4 experienced
studying in nature. The class was
conducted under a tree with bright
sunlight. Children could feel the wind
blowing through trees and smell the
earth.
A Proud Moment
Esha Pillai budding artist won
Consolation prize in Kalavedh 2017
which was organised by JJ School of
Art:Mumbai. There were 3500
students who participated for this
event. This venture proved to be a
great exposure for our kids who
enthusiastically participated.
Hearty congratulations to Esha Pillai
from Grade 3
Types of Pollution
Describing yourself through
your Name!!!
Students of Grade 3 in their English
class were revising the concept of
Adjectives through an activity. They
had to draw a jelly fish and write their
name on it.
They enrich their vocabulary with
words like shade, bark, leaves,
branch, roots, bud, flower etc. They
could breathe in fresh oxygen and
rejuvenate their body to stay fit.
Grade 5 had an interactive session on
pollution. Discussing the different
types of pollution (Pradushan)
namely noise (Dhwani), water (Jal)
and air (Vaayu) was discussed
through a presentation by each
group. Having an informal short skit
enabled the students to understand
the problems and solutions and gave
an insight on the adverse effects.
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
In craftwork they learned to make
flowers with simple folds using our
flag tri-colored marble paper which
then became their Republic day
activity.
This activity saw a lot of team work,
confidence and excitement.
GICL Technology Whiz Kids
Grade 1 explored the web in an
entirely new way by beginning
Google search with an image. They
also learnt about the text tool which
is used for typing text on Paint.
Grade 2 was very excited to research
online about district and features of
Maharashtra.
Grade 3 got acquainted with the
different formatting tools to align
text and picture on MS Word.
Grade 4 learnt Powtoon software
which helps to create animated
presentations. Students were very
enthusiastic to sign up for this
amazing free software to create
awesome presentations.
Grade 5 used Picasa an image
organizer software to edit photos.
Students created very good collages
on Picasa by applying different
effects.
Concept of naming websites was
introduced and students came up
with very knowledgeable and
interesting websites which will steer
the curiosity of the audience. Each
website was webbed and placed in
the spider’s web in the ICT Lab.
Kites and dreams soaring
high!
Grade 3 students learned shading
as a technique and used it on paper
which they made into kites. Kite
being a symbol of Sankranti, it helped
them to associate with the feeling of
festivity and joy. Also we asked them
to write what they would like to be in
the future and we could peep into
their dreams and ambitions for
themselves through this art activity.
Students of grades 4 and 5 also
made their unique kites. In this
artwork they were to use different
techniques like doodling and fine
designing. Knowledge of color
scheme also was the assessing
criteria. Like using of gray scales,
warm and cool color scheme. Finally
they had to write good qualities of
their personality in creative
handwriting fonts. They enjoyed this
topic, which helped develop many
perspectives and art skills like
techniques of drawing and coloring,
development of creative handwriting
and took us on a little journey of
what our kids’ perceptions are about
themselves.
Our 1st and 2nd graders have done
print making using ear buds in their
drawing. Children were so
enthusiastic to use paints and ear
buds as a printing tool in any topic of
their choice. The aim was to enable
them to showcase their creativity
using this interesting tool.
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
Perseverance
Sprouts, soya, dals, eggs, paneer are
excellent options.
Ever thought of giving up on a
challenging situation in life?
6. During the Game – Plenty of water
with Glucose powder, or Health
drinks like Enerzal.
Let's ask the same to our little GICL
students and I am sure they would
tell you a - - NO.
Aerated drinks and cola beverages to
be completely avoided.
However, she never gave up her
passion and fought with her fears.
She pursued her career with an
artificial leg and continues to remain
an inspiration for many.
7. After Game – quickly pop in
bananas to restore the energy lost.
Have a wonderful Healthy Sports Day.
PRIYA KARKERA
PEDIATRIC NUTRITIONIST
Well, this was the topic in the
personal skills class. The value of
Persistence was taken up this week.
The class began with a hands on
activity, including a bowl of water.
This bowl was a symbolising the
challenges faced in life. Then there
were some clay balls, which due to its
density sank in the bowl of water and
there were some paper boats, which
floated in the water.
Secondary
Improving Civic Services
The concept of local self-government
is indigenous to the Indian soil.
Our students were not only
motivated but were amazed with her
perseverance.
We Salute you Ms. Chandran!
Way to a healthy living
With Sports Day round the corner, it’s
essential to pump in nutrition to the
little sports stars.
Here are a few tidbits,
The clay symbolised, the defeatist
attitude of giving up or letting go
during testing times. Whereas the
paper boats symbolised the positivity,
resilience with which people rise and
shine during tough times, just
because they are perseverant and do
not give up. This activity was then
followed by sharing the biography of
Ms. Sudha Chandran, who is a wellestablished Bharathanatyam dancer
of India. At the age of 16, she had to
amputate her leg due to an accident.
1. Keep well hydrated until the final
day – helps to relieve muscle cramps.
2. Build up carbohydrates in your
daily meal – plenty of fruits, whole
cereals, potatoes (not fried).
3. Snack on healthy nuts and dry
fruits – for power packed
performance.
The mission is to create a strong and
effective democratic local selfgovernment throughout the rural and
urban communities by promoting
unity and and co-operation among
the people.
The students of Grade 6, in their
Social Studies class made a chart on
the functions of the Municipal
Corporation, Municipality, Zilla
Parishad and the Panchayat Samiti.
According to their understanding
they wrote different functions on the
sheet. Some stuck pictures of the
various functions of the government
while others opted for drawing the
same and thus had an opportunity to
demonstrate their creative and
artistic skills.
4. Avoid snacking outside to keep
away from stomach infections.
5. Pre Sport Meal – The day before
Sports Day - ensure meals are protein
and nutrient dense
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
The activity helped them to get a
better clarity of the various functions
of the local self-government.
Creating cell slide!!!
Students of Grade 6, in their
laboratory revised the concept parts
of microscope, making cell slide using
onion peel and studying various slides
under microscope.
This multicultural festival is meant
not only to promote the study of
Hindi, Spanish and French languages
and cultures, but also to give
students a unique opportunity to
meet students from other schools
and enrich their language learning as
well as cultural experience.
In this activity, the students of grade
6 had the opportunity to learn how
the slides are being made and
preserved.
According to their understanding
they discussed the functions of
various parts of microscope and
studied the various cells like plant
cell, animal cell, fungi and protozoa.
The continued emphasis through the
activity encouraged students to
participate, communicate, and reflect
the acquired knowledge in a creative
way!!
language extravaganza in the coming
years.
Inter-school German
Spelling Bee Contest 2017!
The students accompanied by Ms.
Shivani Gupta and Ms. Vidya Rao
stayed in the hostel rooms of the
boarding school and as the students
put it “Not only was it a wonderfully
comfortable experience, but a good
learning curve as well.” Our students
took part in multiple competitions
organized by ISA in both Hindi and
French. Contests included picture
description, video description, poetry
recitation, story writing, quiz, tableau
and many more.
GICL was once again the proud host
of the inter-school German Spelling
Bee 2017 in the Mumbai region. This
year too the response was
overwhelming. Bombay International
School, JBCN International School,
Chandrakant Patkar Vidyalaya and
Digambar Patkar Vidyalaya were the
active participants along with the
host school GICL.
The contest began on an enthusiastic
note. As the contest progressed
further with a variety of rounds such
as matching the picture with the right
word, guess the jumbled word, we
could see the students actually
enjoying the competition. Thus, the
flow was smooth and it just got
better and better.
The Aamby Extravaganza
On 21st & 22nd January 2017, the
students of GICL, from Grades 6, 7
and 9, participated in the Inter-school
Language Fest ~ Extravaganza –
“ROMANCE” organized at
International School Aamby (ISA).
They won a plethora of prizes across
all the competitions in both the
languages. In the overall tally of
points GICL finished second only to
The Shriram School, Delhi and
secured a place ahead of the hosts
who came third. All in all, this was a
truly indelible experience and we
look forward to participating in this
The spelling round was definitely a
challenge for the students, which
they managed with grit and
determination. A round on the
cultural aspects about Germany
added a new face too the
competition. The contest was
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
organised at two levels: German A1
(basic) and A2 (advanced) levels. GICL
students of Grades 8 and 9
participated in level 2 and bagged the
1st prize followed by JBCN
International School. Bombay
International School emerged
winners in level 1 followed by
Chandrakant Patkar Vidyalaya. The
German Spelling Bee is now a popular
contest in the Mumbai region and
students are already looking forward
to the next Spelling Bee. See you
soon!!!
IBDP
Mathematics and the real
world
TOK students seek to find out how
knowledge is constructed using
various Ways of Knowing (WOK) and
by considering what constitutes
knowledge in various Areas of
Knowledge (AOK).Our IBDP 1
students explored the AOK of
Mathematics using the Knowledge
framework in an extended session
where they actively engaged in
research and critical thinking.
The various concepts taken up for
inquiry in this Math AOK session
included; how we use math to make
sense of the world, how far we can
trust its certainty, how it defines
patterns in real world. The session
involved exciting activities for
learning like the ‘Treasure Hunt’ to
discover the mathematical patterns in
real world, the ‘Think Pair Share’
strategy to argue on the question, ‘Is
Maths invented or discovered?‘. The
students also did extensive research
and created a ‘Timeline’ showing how
Mathematics developed over the
ages.
At the end of the session, the
students were given the opportunity
to engage in active reflection by
making their learning visible on an
exit slip with questions.
Understanding TOK through
collaborative learning.
Collaborative activities can act as a
catalyst to higher order thinking. The
exchange of ideas in groups
motivates learning and promotes
critical thinking. On Sat 7 Jan 2017,
students from our school met with
students of Goldcrest International,
Nahar International & Dr. Pillai Global
Academy in an event hosted by
Goldcrest for such a collaborative
learning exercise in TOK.
The entire day was an exciting
journey of activities where the
students from all the 4 schools got
the opportunity to engage in a
process of inquiry, communicate their
ideas and reflect on others ideas in an
open minded manner. The students
were put into mixed groups called
Factions. The factions were named as
Interpreters, Explorers, Predictors,
Quantifiers, Visionaries, Inquirers,
Crusaders; each faction
corresponding to an Area of
Knowledge (AOK) in TOK.
The members of each Faction worked
collaboratively in designing a creative
logo, motto and a Code of conduct
for themselves based on the
methodology and concepts followed
in their respective AOKs.
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org
Garodia International Centre for Learning
The afternoon session of the day was
followed by giving them two Real Life
Situations from which the students
extracted Knowledge Questions.
They were given the platform to
communicate their understanding
and perspectives in both oral and
written form during the presentation
hours that followed. They had to be
open –minded learners who will not
simply accept claims at face value, at
the same time; learn to balance
skepticism with belief.
Garodia International Centre for Learning  153 Garodia Nagar, Ghatkopar (East), Mumbai 400077
+91 (0)22 2506 1133  www.garodiainternational.org