Lesson 1

First Person Narrative – Theme

Explore the theme for the year “Unseen Threads: The Many Faces of Gender Inequity”

  • Objective:
  • Understand the theme for this year’s CaL Story Project
  • Resources:
    • Theme Document- copies
    • Markers or chalk/board
    • Highlighters
  • Time: 75 min
  • Instructions for the Teacher:
  • Introduction (05 mins):
  • Begin the lesson by discussing the definition of a theme and its importance in storytelling. Themes are crucial in storytelling because they provide depth and meaning to a narrative, acting as the central idea that connects all elements of the story, allowing readers to engage with universal concepts, emotions, and ideas, making the story more relatable and impactful by exploring complex human experiences through the characters and plot. 
  • Take popular stories students may know and identify their themes as a whole class.

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  • Exploring the CaL Theme (50 minutes):
  • Make a mind-map on the board with respect to the theme “Gender Inequity”
  • Introduce the theme for this year “Unseen Threads: The Many Faces of Gender Inequity” and discuss what it means. Covered under this theme are four ideas students can explore when choosing to tell their stories  around inequity- stories of those who have experienced it, those who have confronted it (for themselves or others), those who have unknowingly upheld it, or those who have observed it from the sidelines.
  • Show them the  list of examples provided by CaL for each of the four ideas in the Theme Document. In pairs, give them 5-10 minutes to go through the list and highlight 1 that really spoke to them and one they didn’t understand. 
  • Discuss these with the whole class.  Discuss how these examples showcase each of the four ideas- stories of those who have experienced it, those who have confronted it (for themselves or others), those who have unknowingly upheld it, or those who have observed it from the sidelines.
  • Brainstorm what other kinds of stories students could tell. List their examples on the board
  • Closure of Lesson (15 minutes):
  • Read the story challenge for the AY 25-26 from the Theme Document. Explain to students that they have two choices for their story format: First Person Narratives and Picture Book. very quickly go over the two formats
  • For homework, ask them to find out from friends, family, neighbours, etc. if they know anyone whose stories they can tell.
  • Note:

Before the next lesson, please have students decide which format they want to work on.

To see exemplar stories of First Person Narratives – visit https://cityaslabindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/030225-CaLHofC-Web.pdf