Category: Classroom Update

A task-based approach to second language acquisition

Radhika Chaturvedi
Human beings need language to communicate and understand the world around them and both these purposes are fulfilled by the mother tongue or the first language. This is why second language acquisition usually remains superficial. In order to achieve the same level of competency in second language as in the first, our approach to teaching and learning second language has to change.

Fun as a complement to learning

Malay Dhamelia, Girish Dalvi
Educators need to be always on their toes to find ways to make their classes interesting and get students to focus. What better way to do this than to introduce fun activities into the learning sessions so that students not only have some fun but are also learning difficult concepts. Fun activities make learning interactive, exploratory and engaging. So, here are some suggestions on how activities can be designed to have fun and complement learning.

Money-minded

Saumyaa Gupta
It is never too early to learn about money. Being able to effectively manage one’s finances is an important life skill. Financial literacy, however, is not consciously taught to children either at home or in school. Not training children in money management could lead to them being irresponsible with money in the future. While the words may sound daunting, financial literacy is not very difficult to impart. Here are a few ideas for you to try.

Developing relevant design tasks

Muhammad Jasir, Priti Dhandrut and Adithi Muralidhar
Design and technology education is new and evolving but it can resonate with students in an effective way. Design thinking and problem solving activities encourage students to plan, imagine and explore and find solutions to real world problems. This article explains a few design problems that were handed out to middle level students and how they tackled them.

Johnstone’s approach to understanding gas laws

S. Athavan Alias Anand
Chemistry is a subject that needs to be understood at three levels — macroscopic, microscopic and symbolic — if any learning has to take place. Our current pedagogical practices take care of the macroscopic and symbolic aspects of learning chemistry. With little or no microscopic understanding of chemistry, our students are not able to engage with the subject at a deeper level. Here’s how to use Johnstone’s (who first proposed the three level understanding) Triangle to teach chemistry.

Give me a date

Anil Kumar Patnaik
Numbers are fun, magical and entertaining. When children are shown this side of math, they will learn the subject more willingly. Why not then dedicate one math class to this fun game of finding out which day of the week you were born just from your birth date?

Learning science by doing science

Meena Kharatmal with CUBE Lab members
CUBE is a project- based science program that helps children learn science by doing science. Students of different age groups work with their peers on hands-on science experiments in school, college and even home. It is a workspace that can be set up in any school, college or even a kitchen backyard without the need for any sophisticated equipment. Read on to know more.

Can plants teach us geometry?

Nandini D
The subjects that we learn in school are seamless and therefore will make more sense if they are taught with these connections between them made apparent. Instead of compartmentalizing subjects into individual periods, it is time that we evolved pedagogies that bring subjects together. Interested in seeing how biology and math can be taught at the same time?

The joy of teaching poetry

Vandana Srivastava
Poetry is the most expressive form of writing there is. It is also the medium that can most touch readers and bring out in them a range of emotions. Because of its complex nature, poetry is also considered the most difficult to teach and learn. But it needn’t be. Here are a few tips.