Teaching & Learning Through Activity

Talk about playing games in the class or get ready to narrate a story and then watch the students spring into action. There are innumerable similar joyful learning ideas for kids that are being adopted by the modern education system in India and abroad.  Explaining a concept or teaching a chapter becomes more engaging when the teacher chooses some joyful learning & teaching ideas for kids. Compare the same to teaching a chapter from books by monotonous lectures and typical notebook assignments.

The former technique of adopting more playful teaching methods would be preferred by one and all. The ever-growing education system of India is incorporating these more impactful and modern techniques of classroom teaching. The primary focus of teaching through books has shifted to imparting education through joyful learning techniques. Learning through games, activities and student-teacher interaction is the most preferred pedagogical approach in the education system today. 

Fun Ways of learning through Tyres & Tubes!

Children in remote areas of the country can often be spotted playing with tyres and tubes. But, have we ever seen any child using those tires to learn and understand their lessons in the class? Don’t be surprised. Such a view is common in the classes of Government Primary School, U S Nagar district of Uttarakhand. Harpal Singh, a teacher in this primary school has incorporated similar innovations to explain varied concepts to his students. He says “Teachers have to take the lead, only then the students develop an interest in something. It is the responsibility of the teacher to engage the young minds towards something constructive.”

Mr. Singh uses worn-out tyre tubes to teach geometrical shapes to his students. He believes that different waste materials can be brought in usage for joyful and experimental learning inside the class. Eggshells, bamboo sticks, batteries, and empty bottles are used to make different items that help in innovative teaching. 

Learning through tyre tubes and eggshells was one such innovative idea for joyful learning that is being used by a Uttarakhand school. There are many more innovative and engaging ideas that are being used by the teachers in other schools. Some more examples of these experiential teaching methods are:

Learning through Games

Most kids love games and fun activities. Therefore resorting to activity-based learning according to the interests of the students serves as a boon for the teacher in the class. It is believed that almost all students have a natural inclination towards sports. Different subjects like Mathematics, Science and even Social Science attract less interest of the students. 

Grid Game 

Apathy towards a particular subject can consequently affect the attendance of students in the classes. Realizing this, the teachers in Uttar Pradesh focused on explaining their curriculum chapters through varied class-based games. One of the examples of such classroom games is ‘grid game’. The teacher constructs a grid on the floor with the help of chalk and fills the boxes with different answers to a particular chapter. Then the teacher asks objective questions and the students are asked to stand on the correct answer written in the grid on the floor. This small grid game helps students imbibe any subject in an easier and long-lasting manner.

Snakes & Ladder Game

Another example of these innovative learning techniques through games is ‘Snakes & Ladder Game’. The minimal investment required to play this game is some stationery items like chart paper, dice, color pens, and tokens. In this game, two students take turns to throw dice and two other students take the places of tokens and move places according to the dice.

This classroom game is simple to play and interests all the students. This Ludo game is used by the teachers to teach basic Maths to the primary students. Other subjects like Hindi, English, etc. are also taught using this fun learning & teaching idea in the classes.

Grammar Game

Though it is a simple lesson yet grammar teaching could be a tedious task for the teachers. Most of the students take time in learning the ‘Matras’ and their usage. Therefore the innovative teachers of Uttar Pradesh have designed a learning module for explaining Hindi and English Grammar in classes.

‘Grammar game’ gives clarity about the correct usage of ‘sangya, sarvanam, kriya, visheshan, etc. This fun-based learning technique promotes classroom interaction. Students take interest in grammar games and unknowingly grasp tricks that could have consumed many more days.

Know Rectangle & Square through Play

Easy to understand classroom games explaining the formation of rectangle and square has been widely appreciated as zero investment innovation in government schools across the country. This innovation began and got implemented first in Uttar Pradesh schools where the Mathematics teachers used cardboard, wooden cubes, and color pens to teach calculation of area and perimeter of these shapes & figures.

This ZIIEI innovation helps foster the holistic development of the child, increases classroom participation, encourages teamwork. Besides learning the concepts of square and rectangle, this fun- learning idea helps the students develop an interest in Mathematics. 

Teaching concepts through Comic Strips

There are similarly many more zero investment innovations that surely need a mention when referring to the fun and joyful learning ideas. Teaching through comic strip is an innovation that has been widely inculcated in the teaching pattern of Uttar Pradesh government schools.

A concept explained through comical strips can be visually more impactful on the minds of the students than grasping the same concept from books. When this ‘Navachar’ or innovation was implemented in the Uttar Pradesh schools, it led to effective and captivating results. 

Teaching through comics has not been a popular practice adopted by teachers of India. But with the focus shifting from monotonous classroom teaching to experiential learning, the pro-active and experienced teachers are trying their hands-on teaching through comics. 

Moving towards Experiential Learning

In order to make classrooms more interactive, one must keep aside the age-old book teaching methodology. Any lesson taught through activity, student-to-student interactive sessions, and out-of-the-classroom activities tend to leave a better impact on the growing minds of the students. Some most popular teacher-tested ways that have been explored and implemented by the teachers to keep their classes interesting and engaging are: 

• Building a student-teacher friendly relationship
• Avoid repeating the classroom material
• Adopting the latest technology for simplified teaching
• Develop classroom games according to the lesson plan
• Giving onus to students for explaining a subject matter
• Create curiosity about the chapters
• Involve students to present their views about the particular subject
• Never emphasize on only bookish learning