The session began with an Ice-Breaking activity. Essential Agreements (through ‘Spider web’) were discussed and formed. Students commenced with the central idea, ‘The Earth’s natural cycles’ under the Transdisciplinary theme- ‘How the world works’ where they explored books on the weather and concrete material related to weather.
Student’s prior knowledge was assessed through a game, ‘Number hunt’ where they made illustrations of their observations. They associated numbers with quantity. Students also understood the concept of estimation where they were shown a jar filled with beads and then were asked to guess the number of beads. They then orally counted to establish the correct answer. Students practiced number formations by engaging in sand tracing and slate writing activities.
Students were read a book called “Helping Everybody”, post which a discussion about the same was undertaken. Students reflected on how they spent their summer vacation by making illustrations. Recapitulation of sounds was done through a mystery bag and the ‘spin wheel’ activity. Students did sand paper tracing to understand the formation of letters. Later they practiced formation of letters using slate and chalk.
Hindi swars were reinforced through a rhyme ‘अ से अनार, आ से आम’ and an audio visual presentation. Later they drew the objects related to the swars. They also did pattern writing in their journals. “शेर का सवाल” a story, was narrated for vocabulary development.
Students inquired about the seven colours of a rainbow. They also coloured the given composition using crayons to hone their colouring and motor skills.
Students practiced some vocal exercises through simple songs and learned to clap along to a pattern. They sang a patriotic song, “Desh hamaara”. They also performed simple dance steps on children’s songs for better eye hand coordination.
As a part of Early Years skill building programme, students also learned:
Drawing a straight line using a ruler.
· Recapitulating numbers 1-10 using manipulative material(number rods and spindle box).
Bead pick up for gross motor development.
To play a game “Fruit basket turnover” aimed at social development.
Students revised phonics by playing educational games on iPads.
Combination of exercise like crawling, jumping and hoping were practiced to improve loco motor skills during their dance routine.
Athletics and exercises like walking on a line, movements like head to toes or toes to head were introduced.
Week 2nd
Augmenting their understanding of the central idea “How the world works”, students inquired into the instruments/modes. They checked the outside weather through inputs received from mobile phone, iPad app, newspaper and news channels.
Students were read a story – “How the weather works”, which was followed by a discussion.
As a part of media literacy, students were shown an advertisement ‘A boy in the rain’ whence students brainstormed on what comes to their mind when they see rain.
The inquiry went further ahead when students did an experiment with a glass jar containing ice cubes, where the students observed the drops of water accumulating on the side of the jar. They deduced the similarity between the jar and moisture in the clouds as it cools and falls to the earth as rain.
Students were introduced to upper case letters through sand paper cards. Students practiced uppercase letters formations in their notebooks. They also played online game for upper case and lower case letter association.
Numbers were reinforced through a game where numbers were written on the student’s hand and they needed to arrange themselves in correct ascending order i.e. from smallest to largest. Students also ordered the number cards given to them. Later students were assessed on the understanding of sequencing numbers from 1-10 with a hopscotch game. The concept of before/after was also recapitulated through flashcards.
Students practiced writing swar ‘अ’ and ‘आ’ in their notebooks. They also recited a new rhyme “Indradhanush”
The students practiced some patriotic songs. They sang in groups and some sang solo on the mike, demonstrating the profiles of being courageous thereby motivating their peer group. They also practiced the solfege and the scales for vocal warm ups and sang some of the variations of the scales to learn and understand more about voice modulation. The students practiced some vocal exercises through simple songs and learned to clap along in a pattern. They practiced singing ‘Desh hamara’ along with actions. They also did simple dance steps on songs for better eye and hand coordination.
The class stressed on basic isolations and body stretching motions. The main focus was a choreography involving different directions and cross lateral movements.
The students of Kindergarten expressed their views about summer season. They also observed some visuals of artwork on this topic.
Students practiced stretching exercises and recreation games through apparatus.
Students were introduced to physical components of a laptop like screen, keyboard and mouse pad. They were also shown different types of mouse. They also revised Phonics through apps.
Week 3rd
Going deeper into the central idea, students learned about water borne diseases through an audio visual which was followed by a group discussion. The inquiry went further ahead when students inquired into the effects of excess rain which may cause floods, loss of crops, landslides or disrupt transport & communication.
Students made an attempt to comprehend ‘at’ and ‘an’ family words using ‘Large Movable Alphabet’ (LMA) box and followed it up with an interactive game session. They also practised writing words in their process journals.
Students explored the concept of ‘greater than and lesser than’ with manipulatives , a song and an online game too. Students were given number slips in which they drew any number of objects and then put the greater than / lesser than sign appropriately. Students were also assessed on number quantity association from 1-10.
Students practiced writing swar ‘इ’ and ‘ई’ in their notebooks.
In ICT students revised phonics through educational games on the iPad. They also enjoyed listening to a story “The country mouse and the town mouse”.
The students practiced the solfeggio and the sargam as vocal warm ups. An activity for enhancing listening skills was conducted where the students were made to listen to various musical instruments which they identified with their names. They also inquired about the category to which these musical instruments belonged. They sang an action song in a group - "If all the raindrops".
The students of Kindergarten inquired into ‘water colours’, one of the many art mediums and coloured the Indian flag using the technique of finger painting.
The students are developing their coordination levels and management skills by using different manipulatives.
The class focussed on movements in different directions to improve movement vocabulary. Choreography was further extended by adding new steps to the routine.
Week 4th
Going further into the understanding of the central idea, students inquired about underground insects that come out during rains.
Students also inquired into vegetables and fruits that are found during monsoons and discussed their health benefits.
A “Take and talk” activity was conducted on the topic “my favourite season” where all the students participated enthusiastically.
The students went outside on to the ground and observed what they could spot in the sky. They then illustrated their observations on a sheet of paper. They also represented different types of weather and its elements namely rain, cloudy day, thunder, stormy, snowy, foggy and windy on the same sheet.
Light table activity was also performed by the students where students picked up a picture card from the mixed pool and then traced the name of the picture on the lighted table. Students played a game with ‘at’ and ‘an’ family words.
Students were introduced to the concept of ‘ascending and descending’ order; where they compared the numbers and arranged them in a particular order (lesser to greater and vice versa).
The concept of ‘zero’ was also introduced with the help of spindle box.
Students were assessed on Hindi swars ‘अ, आ, इ, ई’, wherein they identified the swars and matched them with their respective pictures. The names of the flowers in Hindi were introduced with audio visuals. Students also inquired into vegetables; growing during monsoons and learned the Hindi names of the same.
As a part of Early Years skill building programme, students: · Learned to fold the art T-shirts. · Learned to wear skating accessories. · A short discussion on “how to take care of our belongings at home and at school” was undertaken.
In PE class students practiced co-ordination exercises and basic stance of running and jumping.
The dance class focussed on core and rhythm workouts. We also worked on the choreography and added steps to it.
In music class students were initiated into their current topic of UOI. Various sounds of the animals, birds and insects were played for them to identify the time of the day the sounds depicted; for example- The roosters crow immediately tells us it is early morning whereas the firefly's buzz tells us it is night. The students identified and participated enthusiastically in the task. They also sang - "If all the raindrops" along with actions.
In art class students demonstrated their feelings and expressions about summer season and used wax colours to create their artwork on the same.
ICT was integrated with math wherein students explored “Number Math” application on iPad to boost their numeracy skills and to reinforce their basic mathematical concepts. They reinforced the concept of ascending/descending numbers on it.