Updated: Monday, August 23, 2010 9:35 PM

Jamelia Harris – Trinidad and Tobago

On August 5th 2010 we, the volunteers at the Horizon Lanka Foundation, in conjunction with the English teachers of the Thakshila school, Mahavilachchiya hosted an English camp for the students of the school. At 9.00am, a delegation of 46 students from grades seven and eight eagerly entered the gates of Horizon Lanka in anticipation of the day ahead.

The theme that selected for the day was World Culture. A topic that is interesting, educational and relevant to all ages. The students were welcomed with a song and dance, thereby lightening the atmosphere. We then conducted two sessions focusing on the seven continents and the culture specific to each area. This was primarily visual presentations using images and Basic English words to paint a picture of world culture. In order to maintain the ‘English’ element of the teachings, an interactive grammatical session on tenses was done. Here the student were invited to construct sentences using the present, simple past, present progressive and future tense.

The afternoon session comprised four challenges. These challenges were based on what was previously taught and were designed to test the students’ ability to speak, listen, read and write the English language. Points were allocated for each task. All teams performed well in this area with the lowest score being 76/120. This is clear evidence of their level of understanding. At the end of the day, a winning team was selected and a prize given to reward their efforts.

Based on the feedback received from both staff and students, it can be concluded that the day was a success. With regards to our objects of the days as measured delivery of the sessions, student interaction and performance during the challenges, these were all accomplished. It must be noted however, had there not been time constraints, the results could have been even better.