Day 2- SUNDAY- Sensory Mapping, Rangoli patterns and Folk dance

In the morning some of the group went to the church in the village where we couldn't understand the words, but could follow the pattern of a catholic mass. The church was packed full and the singing was spine tingling.

We spent the morning doing a series of activities which helped us to become aware of the place we were in- sound mapping, blindfold walks and a visual clue hunt. We recorded the sounds and gathered objects which we could use to do similar geography activities in our schools- so that the way we teach about India could be be more sensory.

After lunch Anjali came and joined us. She taught us how to make traditional patterns which we had seen the day before in the village called Rangoli patterns. These patterns are done twice every week on the front doorsteps of houses. Anjali demonstrated one, and taught us how to start simply and become more complex, and we talked about how they could be used to teach sequencing, and square numbers in maths. We then spent lots of time practicing the patterns. It wasn't easy as you had to pour the granite powder using your fingers. Some people found it more easy than others!

In the late afternoon Anjali taught us an Indian folk dance which was called Dhandia. It was a dance to celebrate the harvest festival Makara Shankranti. The style was a bit like morris dancing as it used sticks, but was much more graceful. (At least Anjali made it look graceful!! Peter was an instant expert and has already taught his year fives the dance a week on returning as part of his Hindusim topic.)

That evening we spent some time talking about how we could gather a case study of an Indian village during our visit. We talked about the use of images, artefacts, and our experiences of living here for a week.


Day 1- SATURDAY- Arrival, orientation and artefacts.

Day 2- SUNDAY- Sensory mapping, rangoli patterns and folk dance.

Day 3- MONDAY- Rural locality study.

Day 4- TUESDAY- Urban Locality study.

Day 5- WEDNESDAY- Sita school, State primary school and scrap science class.

Day 6- THURSDAY- Convent school and private school.

Day 7- FRIDAY- Artefact gathering at a rural market.

Day 8- SATURDAY- Mysore trip.

Day 9- SUNDAY- Shopping.

Day 10- MONDAY- Reflection, cookery, and organising.