CLASS IX OTBA ENGLISH ENABLER

 Dear students of class IX,

OTBA is a great opportunity. You do not have to learn by rot what is there in the text. You take the key message from the text and mix it with your creativity in thinking and writing.  It is open text book, yes.  But when the OTBA text is open in front of you in the exam hall, your mind is also open!  Open text and open mind, wow!  The text is there to open your mind. When the mind is open, the text becomes a context!  That is what OTBA is all about.

What are the contexts?  They are real achievements and challenges in our society.  Achievements like our Mars mission; challenges like lack of cleanliness.  We need to take inspiration from the achievement.  We can also convert the challenges into wonderful opportunities.  OTBA is a friend for all that.  Take care of OTBA, it is your friend. It is not the usual text that leaves you alone in the exam hall.  OTB is your exam hall friend.  If you copy paste the OTB friend in your exam sheet,  s/he gets annoyed. S/he does not like cut and paste.  Give the friend a fresh touch, a creative touch.  Now how do you give your OTBA friend a touch in the exam sheet?  It can be most probably a formal letter to some authorities, a short essay etc.  (for example, the questions given in the OTBA texts)  However, the OTBA questions can also be a letter to the editor of a newspaper, reporting something in a newspaper and things like that. Or it can be about starting an SMS campaign or a facebook campaign or a twitter campaign, an e-poster campaign even.  

In your English class, you have by now learnt how to make a formal letter, how to write a short essay, how to draft a notice etc. Use the format that you have learnt. Additionally, get familiar with the format of a poster which is discussed in the OTBA class and the structure of letter to editor which is there in all newspapers.

There are 2 questions. One on Mars mission. The second, on cleanliness. There will be choice for both.  Each question carries 5 marks. That means 10 marks total. It is easy to score, if you grasp the topic and write in your own language, using key vocabulary and points. You can use the following additional material. The material can be ‘recycled’ into the format of letter, notice, poster, and essay. That is what OTBA sessions are all about.

It is obvious that a handful of OTBA sessions are not sufficient to cover the two topics. Therefore, if you need any additional help, you can approach me any time in person.  With your parents’ permission, you can  get in touch with me at gopinathnam@gmail.com. I will reply with the attachment on OTBA. You can even use my number 9446469730, if you have some doubt while you prepare.

Please spend some time with OTBA. S/he is your friend, after all!  Spending time with a friend is rewarding.  It is more than just 10 marks.  It is going to be a part of your ‘hallmark’ in future.  Finally, your mind is the real text book.  OTBA is the key that opens your mind.  Who knows the value of what is stored there in your mind!  Open the store of your mind.  It could be even more precious than the fabulous wealth in the vault of Padmanabha Swami Temple.  Open it, use it.  There is no point in just locking wealth in the vault of your mind.  Unlock it, celebrate it!!

Awaiting, a share of your wealth !!!

M. Gopinath

OTBA Facilitator

Devagiri CMI Public School

9446469730