Exercise Corner | The Magic Powder – A Folktale from Myanmar

Contents

GK Challenge

Fill in the inventions corresponding to each inventor with the help of the Invention Box:


Grammar Good

Solve the crossword by filling the past tense of the irregular verbs mentioned below:


Curiopedia

Shade thumbs up (πŸ‘) if it’s a good luck superstition and thumbs down (πŸ‘Ž) if it’s a bad luck superstition. Fill in the blanks given at the end with some other superstitions which are prevalent in your area:

Ask the students to fill in the blanks with some other superstitions they’ve heard of and also mention if it denotes good luck or bad luck.

Do you think superstitions have any scientific base? Why do you think people believe in them? Who taught you about them?
Write a response and have a debate in your class.

Different people have differing opinions when it comes to superstitions. For some people, it gives something to hold on to in times of hopelessness, but for some people, it’s just baseless. While the fact is that a lot of superstitions do not have any scientific base, differing opinions need to be acknowledged and respected. That is what we aim to teach kids through this exercise. Ask students to reflect on the given prompts and about superstitions in general. Ask them to add any scientific reasons that certain superstitions might have in their written responses. These responses will serve as notes for the class debate.

Then, divide the class into two groups. One group which belives in superstitions, and the other which doesn’t believe in superstitions. Moderate the debate in such a way that it is a healthy discussion and make sure that every student speaks up at least during the course of the debate. There doesn’t essentially have to be a winning or losing team in the debate, but if one team performs exceptionally well, appreciate them and applaud the other team’s effort as well. Finally, conclude the debate by saying that while superstitions sometimes can’t be proved scientifically, it is a personal choice to believe or not believe in them, but believing in them beyond rationale is not healthy either.


Think & Write

The art of narrative story writing

Writing stories by giving people the actual experience of hearing it in person is a beautiful skill. Go through the essential elements required for story writing that is given in the book. Give them examples of each element to help them understand it better.

Now, based on these elements and the prompts given, ask them to fill in the basic details. Then, ask them to develop a full story using these details. Ask them to make the story as creative and engaging as possible. Tell them that the story needs to be at least 1 page long. You can increase the minimum limit based on the writing level of your students. In their responses, check if they have incorporated all the elements discussed in the book and see if the language is good (spellings, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, etc.). Also, verify if they have written the story in such a way that the different elements are not just mentioned but weaved into the story properly.


Activity Corner

Is it IN or OUT of your control?

Sometimes we tend to worry about things that we have no control over. This could be unhealthy in many ways. Through this activity, we teach children to differentiate between things they can control and things they can’t control. Ask them to take some time to think about this and write in the space provided. Once they are done, check if they have correctly differentiated between the two and written accordingly. Then, talk to students and help them understand that they cannot control certain things and ask them to try to make peace with it. Overthinking and worrying about it will only cause further anxiety.

I am thankful

In this activity, we aim to help children realise how blessed they are. This will help them appreciate what they have and cherish it by paying it forward. Ask students to think about things they are thankful for and write in the space provided. If their responses are about a specific person or if it is something facilitated by a person, ask them to show their appreciation and thank the person for everything they’ve done!


Reading Comprehension

1. Why did Theingi decide to focus on banana trees?

Theingi decided to focus on the banana trees since the profit from the yield helped Thuza manage expenses over the years.

2. What did Theingi do apart from taking care of the trees?

Apart from taking care of the trees, Theingi helped Thuza with distribution and sales of the yield as well.

3. Which parts of the banana tree are useful?

The banana leaves, flowers, ripe fruits, unripe fruits, and the stem are useful.

4. What is the banana leaf used for?

The banana leaves are used as plates in South India.

5. How did Theingi and Thuza spread awareness about the banana plants?

Theingi and Thuza explained the importance and uses of the banana plants to everyone in their community to spread awareness.