In order to stimulate reading and to build a strong reading culture in school, one of the most exciting ways is to make reading come alive.

This year the Junior Section held Book Week 2024, ‘Across the Story Bridge’,from 29th January – 2nd February, with special events and activities to encourage reading and celebrate the joy of books.

Storytelling – During the week, the children of Years VI and V participated in dramatic read aloud sessions in both English and Urdu stories to the Year IIIs, IVs and even the Year IIs in designated areas, outdoors. It was a time when children got to use their imagination and creativity  as the stories unfolded before them. On those days the older children dressed as a character from the book that they were reading aloud from, made and used simple props, and motivated the young audience members to read regularly by presenting them with tokens.

Classroom activities: Children were engaged in a variety of fun and interesting activities, unique to their year group.

Year III– had an activity ‘A Poem in Our Pocket’ as they participated in a series of performance poetry sessions, engaging their listeners by presenting a mixture of classic and contemporary poems, leaving the audience wanting more! This was a great way for students to perform these poems, many of which they had written themselves, in front of their own class as well as other sections.

Year IV- performed on beautifully selected and well-rehearsed poems; ranging from humorous rhyming poems to free verse. The children did an outstanding job, using the stage as the page and transforming poetry readings into a theatrical event with the use of music, sound effects and costumes. 

Year V- enacted short stories, ranging from traditional stories, myths, legends and folktales. The dialogues, the narration and the acting were on point and the props and the costumes, mostly created by the children, were a visual treat. Music and dance enhanced the performance! This activity gave our young readers the opportunity to explore genres and characterizations.

Year VI- effectively used ‘Biographies through Role Play’ to step into the shoes of a  diverse set of personalities, such as, Roger Federer, Lionel Messi, Maria Sharapova and even  our national hero Rashid Minhas. These celebrities were all brought to life through the creativity and ingenuity of our talented performers.

Guest Speakers: The Junior Section hosted a diverse set of Guest Speakers during the Book Week.

Azal Zahir –an environmental educationist and author, read her book ‘The Great Fire’ to the children. Ms. Zahir’s message was for us as citizens of the world to be responsible for our natural world. 

Hina Bayat Khwaja – actress, anchor, columnist, and social activist, read aloud and brought to life an Urdu story. She elaborated on the origins and the richness of Urdu and how we should take pride and ownership in reading and learning our national language.

 Sameel Ali – author and a KGS student of A- Levels, read aloud from his book ‘ Scent of Love’, a story based on a subject very close to the children’s hearts,animals and how his passion for animals, especially dogs, led him to pen this story.

Tanya Landman- Carnegie Medal winning author, based in the UK enchanted  Year VI via Google Meet. She spoke about her life, what made her become an author, her  strength in writing diversely and for an audience from Year  III through Middle school. She read a passage from one of her stories and ended with a question and answer session.

Book Week Assembly – selected performances from each Year Groups Book Week activities were showcased on the last day of Book Week. All of the Junior Section, seated in the inner courtyard, watched the poetry performance,  The Adventures of  Isabel, fairytales and ancient oriental legends;  The Selfish Giant, The Emperor’s Seed, The Legend of the Chinese New Year which mirrored simple virtues of honesty, truth and selfishness. The audience Rumbled  through the Jungle, encountering a variety of animals and then learnt some interesting facts about sports personalities and national heroes.

Silent Reading – Twenty four minutes of quiet reading time by the entire Junior Section brought to a close another entertaining, informative and well organised Book Week.