Introducing Tamil letters to 1st standard students in an engaging manner is crucial for building a strong foundation. To achieve this, I used an ‘Inside-Outside Circle’ strategy, where students stood in two concentric circles to practice letters and words through interactive peer learning. This dynamic approach aimed to make letter recognition fun and promote active participation.

The classroom was arranged with two circles of students—one forming the inside circle facing outwards and the other forming the outside circle facing inwards. Each student in the inside circle was paired with a student in the outside circle, making them face-to-face partners.

1. Each student in the outside circle was given a flashcard with a Tamil letter (e.g., “அ,” “க,” “ம“). The student in the inside circle had to say a word starting with that letter, such as “அம்மா” (mother) for “அ” or “மரம்” (tree) for “ம.”
2. After the letter activity, the roles were reversed. This time, students in the inside circle said a word, and the students in the outside circle had to identify the starting letter. For example, if the word “நாய்” (dog) was said, the other student would respond with “ந” (Na).
3.  After each round, the outside circle moved one step to the right, giving each student a new partner. This allowed them to interact with multiple peers, reinforcing their learning with different letters and words.
4.  In the final round, students were encouraged to form short sentences using the words they practiced. For example, “அம்மா வீட்டில் உள்ளார்” (Mother is at home) or “நாய் ஓடுகிறது” (The dog is running).

The ‘Inside-Outside Circle’ strategy energized the classroom and created a vibrant learning environment. Students were enthusiastic and actively engaged, enjoying the peer-to-peer interaction. This method improved their confidence in recognizing letters and forming words, as they received instant feedback and encouragement from their peers. Using the Inside-Outside Circle strategy proved to be an effective way to teach Tamil letters and words. The interactive nature of the activity fostered a sense of collaboration and made learning enjoyable. I plan to use this strategy for other classes also, such as simple sentence formation, to continue building their language skills in a fun and interactive way.