An enhancement activity for the Access students was conducted at Satyam Center, Poothurai village. All 4 batches of Access students took part in this activity and all the Access Teachers helped students to be involved in a lot of activities. The main focus of this class was to help the students understand how Christmas is celebrated all over the world and especially in America and India.

This enhancement activity is the first in-person class conducted for the Access students. Until now, all the sessions were conducted online and after getting permission from the U.S. Consulate, an in-person class was conducted by following all COVID-19 protocols. Students were asked to wear face masks and maintain social distancing.

Christmas stories and the reason for its celebration were explained to the students in detail. The birth of Jesus Christ and the celebrations after that were narrated to the students.

Groups were divided and each group was given a separate topic like Santa Claus, Christmas tree, Christmas Carols, New Year Celebrations, and History of Christmas and they were asked to discuss all these in groups and were asked to talk five to six sentences on their own.

Each group wrote sentences and discussed them with the other group members which helped them to get a better understanding of the celebrations. A Christmas carol “Jingle Bells” was taught to the students and the lyrics were written on the chart sheet by one group and it was decorated with pictures and flowers.

One group wrote about the history of Christmas and the different ways of celebrating Christmas with family and friends.

Another group prepared greeting cards for New Year celebrations.

The whole session was very interactive and activity-based. It helped the students to understand how Christmas and New Year is being celebrated in America and India. It also helped them to write sentences using adjectives.

On the whole, this activity was a ‘learn while you play’ for the students and they all had lots of fun.