To the Chennai-Philadelphia videoconference project's front webpage.

To the project's thoughts webpage.

To the project's texts and recordings webpage.
 



The link to the recording of the Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005, live webcast is here.

Please send comments and questions to emiller@sas.upenn.edu .




Videoconference (with live webcast) Program.

Date:  Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005.
Time:  11am-12:30pm (Philadelphia time).  8:30pm-10pm (Chennai time).



Part I -- Children's songs-chants-dances-games.  (For links to the written words of these activities -- in Tamil, with English translation -- please click here.)  45 min. maximum.


1)  Oru kallu  (One stone).
Movement with song: ring dance (ring rotates; action sometimes goes towards the center).

2)  Onnam paatthi  (One garden).
Movement with chant.

3)  Oru kudam thanni  (One bucket of water)
Movement with chant; a line-of-children passes between two participants who hold their hands up together.  then, question-and-answer chant.

4)  Chanthanum  (Sandalwood paste)
Question-and-answer chain-chant, with illustrative gestures.

5)  Enna panni?  (What pig?)
Question-and-answer chain-chant, with illustrative gestures.

6)  Enthirukku?  (What use?)
Question-and-answer chain-chant, with illustrative gestures.

Pause for discussion with e-mailers.

7)  Iiraali  (Comb).
Conversational dramatic interaction between two participants at a time, works its way around the ring (all are sitting).  then, the ring rotates, with movement with chant.

8)  Manthi chaadi  (Monkey jumping).
Finger-walk routine.

9)  Urundoo  (Running).
Counting-out game, played on the back of one bent-over participant in center of the ring.

10)  Mullikka  (Fruit plant with thorns).
Counting-out game, on the ground (participants sitting in a ring).

11)  Kolaiya  (A bunch).
One player, circling the other players who are sitting in a ring, leads a question-and-answer chant.

12)  Aattu puli  (Goat and tiger).
One participant circles the ring in which others are standing; one participant is inside the ring.

13)  Mutthi, Mutthi  (Frog, frog).
Movement with chant.

14)  Unni, Unni  (Tick, tick).
Movement with chant.

Pause for discussion with e-mailers.



Part II -- Tamil language-practice exercises and games.  In these open-ended activities, the words are not fully memorized.  (The below will be posted in Tamil script soon.)  45 min. maximum. 


1)  Introductions: Name and hometown questions.
2)  What is this?
3)  Where are you going?
4)  Other questions.
5)  Speaking and acting out a word.
6)  Mirroring (Relay games).
7)  Making a list.


1)  Introductions: Name and hometown questions.

What is your name?
My name is _____.

What is your hometown?
My hometown is _____.


2)  What is this? 
(With follow-up questions.) 

Q: What is this?

(The questioner can point to her eyes, nose, etc., and all of the other things in the immediate physical environment.  The questioner could also point to an object that she has brought to the event.)

Other questions can then be asked about the answers ---

Q: What is this?
A (for example): Eye.

Q: What is the use of an eye?
A (for example): I can see.

Q: What can you see?
A (for example): You!


3)  Where are you going?  (today, yesterday, tomorrow)
(With follow-up questions.) 

Q: Where are you going?
A: (for example): I am going to the house.

It seems that children can turn any question-and-answer exchange into a game by asking a new question about whatever answer is given.  Questions that could be asked about this answer include --

When are you going to the house?
Where is the house?
What is inside the house?
What kind of house?


4)  Other questions  (today, yesterday, tomorrow).
(with follow-up questions.)

For examples:

What are you doing?
What are you eating?
What are you seeing?
What do you want?


5)  Speaking and acting-out a word.
 
One person says a verb.  At the same time, or a moment later, that speaker, or a listener, physically acts out the action of that verb.

Something like this occurs in the English-language game, Simon says --

The leader says (for example), "Simon says, touch your head."
The leader does this action as she speaks, and the listeners do it a moment later.

However, if the leader just says, "Touch your head"
(without the phrase, "Simon says") and does the action -- the listeners who also do the action are "out," because the leader did not say "Simon says."

Another song-game that involves doing the action while saying it is, If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

We might try to play such games in Tamil language, and also play similar games found in Tamil culture.


6)  Mirroring (Relay games).

A player from side A says or does something.

Either simultaneously, or immediately thereafter, a player from side B repeats it exactly -- and then adds something to what was said or done, or changes it in some small way.

Then a player from side A does the same.

And so on, back-and-forth.

This is a kind of relay game.  In relay games, each successive statement repeats a part of, or in some other way responds to, an aspect of the previous statement.


7)  Making a list.

This activity is good for vocabulary-expansion and memory-building.

A category is given (for example: cities in the USA, or cities in India).  A player from each side has to add an answer.

To make this game more difficult: each player, before giving her answer, has to recount all the answers that came before.

Sometimes children play this game as a way of introducing themselves -- each successive player has to name all the names that have already been mentioned before adding her own name.


Pause for discussion with e-mailers.




<end of program>