The faculty of the Pre-Primary departments of The Indian School and The Indian School Second Shift participated in an engaging online workshop by educator, Ms Naseema Varawalla on 2nd February,2022.
The topic of the session was Gaming and Creating Teaching Aids. In todays learning times, playing games in the classroom is an integral part of the learning process. As the kids learn through the playway method, it is a proven fact that the value of playing games in the classroom contributes greatly towards making learning more enjoyable.
The session started with the welcoming technique of smiles and gestures for the children. These gestures included thumbs up, fist, a 'high five' and a big smiling Good Morning to motivate the children.
To get every childs attention, Ms Varawalla suggested the starting of class by passing an imaginary ball around with a new question for every child so that each one is alert and, in a way, enhances each one's listening and communication skills. She gave the teacher-participants a hands'-on experience by making them do the same exercise. The teachers enjoyed doing the assigned task.
The speaker then introduced the attendees to several other games like:
A demo video shared steps on making a dice with pastel sheets of different colours. The dice will help teach the children the recognition of letters, numbers, colours, etcetera. This activity will engage the child and assist in learning a new concept in a fun way. The dice is a multi-purpose one, as the teachers can use it for the different subjects.
In the memory game, 'I went to the party/zoo/garden..' teachers worked in sequence to build a story by adding a word and connecting it to the previous word. Such games enhance the childs vocabulary, memory and thinking skills.
Scavenger hunts and riddles foster listening and comprehension skills among children in their early years. The teachers were given a starting point for the Hunt and asked to work through the first flashcard and tour their homes to find the answers.
Sequencing is an essential component of problem-solving across the curriculum. Ms Varawalla took two shapes, a circle and a triangle. She associated each with a different action, e.g. for Circle, she asked all to clap, and for the triangle, she asked all to tap on their tables. The game aims to keep the children alert while learning a new concept.
The next game learnt was The Mouse and the Cheese Game. The main objective of this game is to make the children learn and practice their spellings in a fun way. It can be inculcated as an everyday activity to teach spelling. For every correct letter, the mouse climbs up to get nearer the cheese, and every incorrect letter brings the mouse one step back. The children would be much enthused to play this game.
Teaching Aids are an integral component in any classroom. Teaching Aids are necessary nowadays for effective teaching. Ms Varawalla taught a few relevant teaching aids made of waste materials readily available at home.
Toilet rolls used in the mouse and cheese game Newspaper making sticks to support the flashcards Matchboxes for teaching the 'before and after' concept.
All the teachers gave a positive feedback on the workshop and said it was interactive and informative.. The teachers promised to positively incorporate these games into their virtual classes for quality learning.
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