N. L.

Dalmia High School, Mira Road, Thane1

On September 6, 2010, Mr. Shailesh Dalmia, Managing Trustee of N. L. Dalmia High

School, and grandson of the Founder of the School, Mr. Niranjanlal L. Dalmia, was in a
meeting with Mr. Maheshwari, Management Representative, Mr. Rasikbhai, Educational
Advisor, Mr. Subramanian, Director, and Mrs. Seema Saini, Principal of the School, to
review the experience of the School with the project method of learning and develop a
road map for the future. The agenda for discussion included the achievements and
anxieties with the method, scope for introducing the method across the School, the speed
of introduction, if the School decided to roll out the method across the School, the roles
of various stakeholders in execution and the overall benefits from the method to the
School. The method had been introduced in standard II in June 2010 in consultation with
the parents. Mr. Rasikbhai had conducted workshops on the project method for the
teachers of standard II and provided support in execution. The Director, Principal and the
supervisor of Primary section had participated in meetings with the parents and interacted
with the teachers on the experience with the method.

Mr. Shailesh Dalmia, 43, was a Governing Body Member of N L Dalmia Educational
Society since 1997. He had joined the family business of Dalmias in 1990, after
completing his graduation in Commerce and Law, and intermediate level examination in
Costing and Company Secretaryship. He had aspirations to build a leading secondary
school. He was of the view that the teachers and the staff of the School should take
innovative and creative initiatives that would bring the best in the child and enable it to
shape a brighter future for itself. His idea was to combine best management practices of
various offices and industries in running the school. He had stated the following in his
message to the teachers and parents

As teachers and parents, we have to inculcate creativity, ignite their (students) minds and
encourage inquisitiveness. A child must become an active participant in the process of
learning through observation, field studies, experiments and discussions. Textbooks aside,
we need to encourage our children to think out of the box, an ability that is vital in the
constantly advancing competitive work we live in, where new innovations are uncovered
every day. Hands on experience where guidelines and results are not provided
beforehand, creative projects without restrictions and field trips related to the subject of
study are all necessary to foster a sense of intellectual curiosity and zeal for learning in a
child. Emphasis should be placed on exploration, innovativeness and creativity through
activities. In these changing times, a lot needs to be done at the primary level. We need to
change our approach to imparting knowledge and promoting the joy of learning. To
1
Prepared by Prof. Mukund R. Dixit as a basis for class discussion. The cases of Indian Institute of
Management are not meant to illustrate effective or ineffective handling of administrative decisions. The
author thanks Mr. Shailesh Dalmia, Mr. Subramanian, Mr. Rasikbhai, and Madam Seema Saini, teachers
and parents of the N. L. Dalmia High School for their support in developing this case.
 achieve this, it is the duty of all schools to move from being just educational centres to
becoming knowledge and skill centres, a place where children can come to enjoy and
enrich themselves, as well as mould their personality to become responsible citizens
while gaining knowledge. The best of creativity among children will emerge only by the
integrated influence of schools, teachers and parents (School Year Book 2009 -10, p 6).

The School

N. L. Dalmia High School was set up on July 4, 1991 on Mira Road, on the Mumbai –
Ahmedabad highway, by the Niranjanlal Dalmia Educational Society to impart high
quality and affordable education through excellent faculty. See the attached map in
exhibit 1 for the details of the location. The Society was established in April 1982 by Mr.
Niranjanlal Dalmia, an Industrialist and a Philanthropist, and the members of the Dalmia
Family. The Society had also set up N L Dalmia Institute of Management Studies and
Research that operated from the adjacent building. The school conducted classes up to
tenth standard in English Medium. In 19 years, its student strength had increased from
100 to 2142. The school complex had a play group section with 81 children, Pre-Primary
Section (Nursery, Junior and Senior Kindergarten) with 479 children, Primary section (I
to IV standards) with 656 children and Secondary Section (V to X) with 926. Both
primary and secondary sections had four cohorts in each standard. In all, the school had
89 teachers. Of these 27 were trained post graduate teachers, and 30 were trained
graduate teachers. Exhibit 2 provides the details about the distribution of teachers across
various sections. By 2010 the thirteenth batch of Maharashtra State Secondary Education
Board (SSC) students had passed out. The average percentage marks of the School in the
Board examination had improved consistently. In 1996-97 the average percentage marks
was 70 with fourteen students taking the examination. It had increased to 83 in 2007-08
with 112 students. In 2008-09 it had decreased to 81.77 with 135 students and in 2009-
10 it had increased to 84 with 133 students.

Given the limitations of space at the location, the various class rooms of the school were
housed in a six storied building. It had a seminar hall that could accommodate 300
students. The class rooms for VIII, IX and X standards, the laboratories for Physics,
Chemistry and Biology Practicals were equipped with LCD TVs and computers for
facilitating learning. In all, the School had 156 computers and laptops installed in various
places to strengthen teaching and learning processes. The computer lab was equipped
with 80 HP Intel Core2Duo machines connected via LAN. The school also had an audio
visual lab with LCD projector. The school had set up its own website www.nldalmia.co.in
to connect with students and parents. The school library housed 10,500 books and over
450 CDs on various subjects. For sports activities the School made use of its tiled ground
floor and the adjacent ground attached to a temple. In 2010, the School hired the ground
of Sports Authority of India, located close by. Mr. Dalmia was of the view that the school
infrastructure should be of the highest standards and be visually appealing and clean. He
had overseen that the class rooms were well designed with beautifully painted walls. He
had got ideas for improving the school facilities from his visits to different schools in the
country and abroad, observing other international schools, watching movies that depicted
school situations and observing excellence in the infrastructure of hotels, corporate
offices and public places.
Funding the School Activities

The funds from Niranjanlal Dalmia Educational Society supported the functioning of the
school. Mr. Shailesh Dalmia mentioned that his grandfather Mr. Niranjanlal Dalmia had
completed his school and college education through hardships. He had realized that
whatever he had achieved in life was due to his educational background and he had
desired to repay his debt to the society by setting up a school that offered high quality and
affordable education. Its fee structure, therefore, was lower than that of other English
Medium Schools in the surrounding areas. The corpus of the society was built by the
contribution of the Dalmia group of companies with interests in textiles, paper,
engineering and construction. The school did not receive any grant in aid from the
Government of Maharashtra. This provided flexibility to the school in choosing its
affiliating Board.

School and its Affiliation

On March 1, 2010, the School had received Provisional Affiliation to the Council for
Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), New Delhi. This meant a shift from the
affiliation with the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board
(SSC). The process of seeking affiliation with CISCE had begun in February 2008. Mr.
Shailesh Dalmia had opined that the new affiliation had provided the school an
opportunity to innovate and have the flexibility in transacting the curriculum.

The schools in Maharashtra State needed to affiliate themselves with an examining and
certifying Board. The Board specified its affiliation requirements, affiliation process, the
syllabus, assessment methods and standards, learning resources, instructional methods,
and infrastructure requirements, qualifications of the Principal and the teachers and the
fees for affiliation. These specifications decided the roles and flexibility of the school in
academic and administrative processes. Conformity to these specifications was checked
through periodic inspections by the Board. Initially the Board provided provisional
affiliation for a limited period. It provided permanent affiliation only after it was satisfied
that the school would be able to sustain the conformity. The freedom of the school in
choosing the Board depended on whether it received grants from the Government or not.
Those schools that received grants partially or fully from the State Government had to get
affiliated to the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board.

The non grant in aids schools in the state had the option of affiliating themselves with one
of the four boards, namely, the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary
Education Board (SSC), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, of
Government of India, Council of Indian School Certificate for Secondary Education
(CISCE), New Delhi, a private body, and Board of International Baccalaureate (IB), an
international body. The school had to take no objection certificate from the Government
of Maharashtra if it desired to affiliate itself with other Boards than SSC.
In October 2007 the management of the N L Dalmia High School felt that it needed
greater freedom in designing the curriculum and building innovations in teaching
learning processes. SSC was restrictive in the sense that it decided the syllabus, text
books and the mode of assessment of Student’s performance. The Parent Teacher
Association of the School passed a resolution to switch to the CISCE Board in December
2007. It was perceived by the parents that the competencies developed by CISCE were
higher than that of other Boards. CISCE offered flexibility to the School to decide the
syllabus in each standard, choose the text books and adopt an appropriate pedagogy. It
provided scope for innovation and greater flexibility. Mr. Shailesh Dalmia proposed
switching over to the CISCE Board in the General Body Meeting of the society held on
9th Dec 2007. The proposal was passed unanimously. In December 2008 the School
applied for affiliation with CISCE after obtaining no objection certificate from the State
Government. The new affiliation meant that the school would adopt the CISCE
curriculum for standards from I to VII and gradually up to Standard X. Mr. Shailesh
Dalmia pointed out that Mr. Shivkumar Dalmia, present Chairman, had desired to set up a
CISCE school since its inception. It could not happen in the initial stages as the location
of the school was remote and underdeveloped. The possibility of getting support of the
parents was low. With the growth of the location and settlement of medium and high
income families and with the demographics changing to young, educated professionals in
and around Mira Road the demand for national level curriculum based school increased.
The parent teachers association supported the move and recommended it to the
Government of Maharashtra. The appraisal for affiliation was concluded by CISCE in
December 2009 and the school obtained provisional affiliation with CISCE in March
2010.

CISCE2 was set up in 1958 to replace the Overseas Cambridge School Certificate
Examination by an All India Examination. The Cambridge School Certificate
Examination (CSCE) was taken by the students of Anglo – Indian Schools. After the
Independence of India in 1947 a need was felt to replace the CSCE by an all India
Examination. Initial efforts towards this were made in 1952. In October 1956, it was
agreed by the Inter – State Board for the Anglo – Indian Schools that an Indian Council
would be set up to conduct the examination. In December 1967, the council was
registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act 1860. The Council listed itself
as a body for conducting public examination under the Delhi School Education Act of
1973.

The Council set the curriculum for the IX, X, XI and XII standards. The X and XII
standard examinations were conducted by the Council on an all India basis. It prescribed
the books for languages. It did not specify the syllabus for the standards from I to VIII
and the texts for the various subjects. The affiliating schools were free to decide their
syllabus, text books and pedagogies till standard IX. However, it specified the
qualification of the Principal as a Masters Degree, and the teachers as Bachelors in
Education. It specified the size of the class as 45. The medium of instruction prescribed

2
Information on CISCE is based on the website http://www.cisce.org accessed on January 10,2011 and
discussion with the Principal and teachers of Dalmia School
was English. The Council provided guidelines for the assessment pattern and the
weightage for the evaluation.

The Project Method in the School

Till June 2010, education in the primary section was imparted using text books and
evaluation of learning was done through a written examination. Typically, the teacher
followed the lessons prescribed in the text book. The home work of the students was
based on the lessons taught. There were limited opportunities for discussion between the
teacher and the students. Students did not venture out of the class room to learn from the
surroundings. Change in the affiliation paved way for trying an alternative learning
method in the school. Based on the interaction with Mr. Rasikbhai, the project method
was identified as an alternative method to work with. A pilot program of introducing the
Project Method was adopted with a hybrid setting of using both text book and the
projects. This was done to create a context for smooth transition to the project method.
The method was conceptualized by Mr. Rasikbhai as a significant alternative to the text
book centered learning method. It emphasized self-directed learning activities. It was
developed on the premise that the children learnt best, when they involved themselves
actively in activities that enabled them to explore, discover knowledge and develop skills,
attitudes and habits. The method unfolded as follows:

 Both the teacher and the students involved themselves in activities in the class and
outside as individuals and members of the team. The concepts and skills to be
learnt were woven around the activities. During and after the completion of
activities, the students and the teachers reflected on the learning from their
involvement. The students made presentations on their learning.
 The students were encouraged to share the incidents that occurred in their day to
day life and link the learning from them to the ones learnt from activities in the
project.
 The learning of the students was tested periodically through work sheets.

At the teacher’s end the method involved the following

 The teacher identified the concepts and skills to be developed in the student and
designed a set of activities to engage the students in. To facilitate monitoring and
review of learning, the teacher developed the learning web that indicated the
linkages of the activities with the concepts and skills to be learnt
 The teacher monitored the involvement of the students in the activities and their
learning.
 The teacher co-ordinated with colleagues in other sections to ensure consistency
in implementation, developed learning resources collectively and improvised
continuously to reflect the experiences gained
 The teacher evaluated both the process and content learnt by each student
individually and prepared a qualitative report card.
 The qualitative report card was sent to the parents for information and review.
Mr. Rasikbhai at Dalmia School

While the project method was new to the school, it was not new to Mr. Rasikbhai, 80, a
Full Bright scholar and a science graduate with B. Ed with experiences in teaching and
administration in the CISCE environment. Appointed as educational advisor to the
Dalmia School in December 2007, Mr. Rasikbhai brought with him his experience of
studying learning processes in Primary Education in England as Nuffield Foundation 3
Scholar, conceptualizing the project method of learning and introducing it in Jamanabai
School4, Mumbai, when he was its principal between 1974 and 1989, introducing and
improvising the method in Smt. Singhania Higher Secondary School 5, Thane,
Maharashtra State, in 1996. He had developed concepts like ‘discipline web’ and
‘concept web’ to link activities in the class with the learning expected from them, and
adapted the concept of SPICE (Similarities and Differences, Patterns, Continuities and
Discontinuities, and Evolution) to facilitate learning through the method. Discipline web
was conceived by him as the representation of the linkage between the project activities
and the academic subjects being covered in a curriculum like mathematics, Science,
Environmental Studies and History. The learning web was conceived by him as a
representation of the linkages between the project activities and learning outcomes as
related to the subjects and beyond. He had designed and conducted workshops for
teachers of three schools to build capabilities in the use of the project method. He had
helped set up Atul Vidyalaya, another CISCE school, promoted by Atul Trust, in Valsad,
Gujarat State. The method of learning had sustained itself in the Singhania School for
fourteen years. The teachers, Principals and the section co-coordinators had integrated
their processes of supervision, class preparation and teaching to the method a success in
contributing to child development. Every year, the teachers, coordinators and the
Principal reviewed the experience with the method and improvised it. Jamnabai School
had given up the pure form of the method and had opted for a hybrid pattern. They
combined text book teaching with the project method. They felt that the students missed
the formal text book learning if they focused only on the learning from open ended and
loosely structured projects.

On joining the N L Dalmia High School in April 2008, Rasikbhai presented his
experience with the project method to the management of the School. Mr. Shailesh
Dalmia felt that the School could benefit from the method and decided to introduce the
method in the school. There were apprehensions that the method would not take roots in
the school as it had the culture of working with the traditional method since its inception.
3
The Nuffield Foundation, a charitable trust established in 1943 by William Morris, Lord Nuffield, the
founder of Morris Motors in United Kingdom, funds research and innovation in education and social
policy. It conducts capacity building programmes in science and social sciences.

4
Jamanabai School, considered to be one of the top schools in Mumbai, is an CISCE school set up in
1971.
5
Smt. Singhania Higher Secondary School is also a CISCE school. It was set up in 1969 as a SSC affiliated
school. It changed its affiliation to CISCE in 1999.
He decided that the school would do a pilot introduction in the second standard and move
forward depending on the experience and feedback from teachers, students and parents.
Rasikbhai was keen that the project based method be implemented in the III standard as
language was better developed at that level. But as the school had adopted a pattern of
curriculum where different subject teachers were involved in providing subject
knowledge from third standard itself, The Principal and the Supervisor decided to
introduce the method in the second standard which had only one teacher for the main
subjects.

Rasikbhai made a presentation on the project method in September 2009 to the four
teachers in the second standard. In the same month, the Principal, Supervisor of Primary
Section and the second standard teachers of the school visited the Singhania School to
understand the processes involved in using the method in the primary section. Mr.
Rasikbhai conducted workshops for the teachers in October 2009 on the modalities of the
method. He was very keen on building capacity in the teachers to generate options for the
projects, develop various webs, design worksheet and conduct the classes. He introduced
them to the concept of learning as ‘addition to KASH (Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and
Habits)6. He explained the process of mind mapping, wherein an attempt was made to
capture explicitly the thinking process of the student. He brought to the workshops his
experience of conducting similar workshops in Singhania School. The four Teachers who
had undergone training in the project method made a presentation to the parents and
oriented them to the project method and clarified the expectations from them. The
method was introduced in the second standard in June 2010.

Involvement of Director, Principal and Primary Section in Charge

Mr. B.V. Subramanian, a graduate with Bachelors in Education (B. Ed), was the Director
of the School since 2009. He was the Principal of the school before taking charge as the
Director. He had been with the school for fourteen years. As the Director, he provided
overall guidance to the management of the school and was responsible for new initiatives.
He supported the project method as a new initiative in the school. Mrs. Seema Saini, a
Post Graduate in Economics and Education, had taken over as the Principal of the school
in 2009 from Mr. B. V. Subramanian. She had sixteen years of teaching experience in
CBSE schools. She had joined the school in 2007 as Director of Human Resources. She
was responsible for setting up the Training and Development Centre at the school as a
preparation for getting accredited to the CISCE. The Principal found parallels of this
method with those prevalent in the United States of America. She perceived resistance
and barriers to outright implementation of the method that replaced the structured
curriculum with textbooks. She supported the hybrid path of the text book and the
project. Mrs. Laxmi Subramanian was in charge of the Primary section as its Supervisor.
She had twenty four years of experience in teaching in the primary section. She provided
over all support to planning and execution of activities in this section. In her 2009-10
year book message, Laxmi mentioned the following:

6
The concept of KASH was being used at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad , to design its
short and long duration educational programmes. Mr. Rasik Shah had learnt about it in his interaction with
the case writer.
 …..We focus our efforts on the fundamentals of education. These are: Study
Skills, Cooperation, Self Esteem, Dedication to the Task and Self improvement.
The aim is not only to excel in academics but also enhance the overall social-
emotional development of the children. Our teaching methodology is designed to
create independent thinking. The project based learning method emphasizes hands
on training and nurtures a child’s innate creative potential (School Year Book 2009
-10, P.27).

Involvement of Teachers

Before the commencement of the academic year 2010, two of the four teachers, trained
by Mr. Rasikbhai, left the school and new teachers were appointed to teach in the second
standard. The two already trained teachers explained the method to them and got them
involved in the preparation for the sessions. Ms. Shetty, Ms. Thaker, Ms. Joshi and
Shelly, the second standard teachers, got involved in the method. They had teaching
experiences from three months to eight years in the primary section. For three of them
this was their first job. For the fourth this was the fourth job. Two of them were post
graduates with B.Ed and two others were graduates with B.Ed. They had heard about the
project method but had not practiced it. From their interaction with Mr. Rasikbhai they
realized that the teachers were required to be very active and interested like students in
the method.

Their preparation for introducing the method began in March 2010 when the teachers
brainstormed on the project themes and developed guidelines for conducting the sessions.
They planned the flow of activities week wise. The themes chosen were; Myself, My
School and My School Bag. Exhibits 3A, 3B, 3C and 3D provide an idea of the webs
developed. While the project method did not recommend the use of text books, the
teachers preferred to adopt a blend of the text book and the project. The project activities
were carried out on two days. Text book based learning was provided on other days. As
the teachers practiced the method, they found that the students were more interested in
learning through the project method. The teachers opined that they had started thinking
independently after adopting the method. They had developed confidence in making
presentations before their senior colleagues. Earlier they were scared. They also learnt to
be open minded to learn from the students. Initially they felt that they were wasting class
time in organizing and reorganizing the seating arrangements. They also felt that the
process was a bit disorganized and the students were not learning to be disciplined. With
experience they learnt that the students learnt from each arrangement and rearrangement.

The evaluation of student’s learning was through the worksheets and surprise tests. The
worksheets contained applied questions that the tested the student’s understanding of the
concepts and techniques. Invariably the worksheets did not focus on a particular subject,
say, mathematics. They mixed the subject. Preference was given to questions that enabled
the student to imagine creatively and apply. The teachers noted that they had work hard
and think creatively to develop the worksheets. Compared to the traditional system of
evaluation, where the teachers used to dictate answers to the questions, the students in the
project method were required to answer questions on their own. The teachers noted that
while working on the projects and the worksheets the students learnt to frame questions,
generate options, create graphs, build webs and work on their own.

The Second standard teachers interacted with those of First standard and shared their
experiences. They did not interact with the third or the fourth standard teachers. Nor did
the other standard teachers get involved in second standard teachers’ preparation for or
review of class sessions. They tended to stay with their text book based learning methods.
They, however, were curious about what the second standard teachers were doing. They
visited the exhibition of projects done by the second standard students. They observed
them to be involved in internet search and active planning for the classes.

Parents’ Responses

The parents found the method to be involving. They were happy with the initiative of the
school. They were not anxious about the method as the school had organized an
orientation programme for the parents. They felt that the children learnt faster through the
projects. They did not feel the need to repeat or reemphasise what the students had learnt
in the class. They found that the observation power of their children had increased. They
were doing things on their own. Shy children opened up and learnt to work in groups.
They looked at different aspects of a given problem. They were observed to be more
analytical and creative. They were found trying to learn from day to day activities and not
just from project activities. They even created opportunities for parents to learn. One of
the parents was amused by the idea creating a zoo by making various animals with clay
and putting them together. The parents identified the advantages of the project method of
learning as building team spirit, nurturing creativity, supporting newer methods of
learning and inculcating the spirit of raising questions. They were able to explain things
that were not there in the text book. For example, one of the parents mentioned that her
child was able to explain how the clouds were formed and how the nature cycle worked.
They noticed that the vocabulary of the children had increased. They were even finding
rhyming words to write poems. One of the surprises was the voluntarism of one of the
children who took the initiative to develop a desert hut. The advantages occurred
gradually. They started noticing those advantages after seven weeks. They also opined
that most of the learning was in the school itself and the school did not give homework.
However, the children made last minute demands from for materials needed for the
project. This was identified as a source of inconvenience in following the project method.

The parents opined that the teachers were putting their best to help the children learn.
They were found to be effective. They did not compromise on the activities to be carried
out. They found the worksheets to be interesting. They noted that the method enabled the
teachers to develop one to one relationship with their students. The parents also noticed
that their neighbours passed appreciative comments on their children. They were seen to
be smarter that other kids. They did not worry about examinations and by hearting
questions answers. They could construct sentences on their own and develop their
answers. They were, however, skeptical whether they would be able to get admission in
another school if they were to change the school for some unforeseen changes.
Children Involvement and Responses

Children found the project method to be engaging. They were happy with the group
activities where they helped their class mates to write, draw and study. They found that in
the project method they were required to think and develop new ideas. They liked the
idea of setting up shops, selling items and maintaining accounts. They enjoyed the
lessons in environmental education.

Future Directions

The project method had been initiated in the school with the support of the member of the
Governing Board, Director, Principal, and Supervisor, teachers, parents and academic
advisor. The second standard teachers had created a pilot experience for the school to
learn, review and plan for the future. The school needed to develop a road map for the
method. The question before Mr. Shailesh Dalmia and his team was, “What should this
be?”
Exhibit 1 Map of the Mira Road and the School
 Exhibit 2
Distribution of Teachers over different sections in 2010

Teacher -
No. of Total No of
Classes Student
Teachers students
ratio
Play
10 81 1:8
Group
Pre
46 479 1:10
Primary
Primary 25 656 1:26
Secondary 36 926 1:26

Source: School Records

 Exhibit 3A
The Web of Activities around the theme ‘My Self’

1st Week

Knowing
Myself

6th Week
2nd Week
Knowing about
Friends Knowing about
my body

MY SELF

5th Week
3rd Week
Knowing about
water, house and Knowing my body
cloth (continued)

4th Week

Knowing about
my needs
(Food, Air)

Source: Provided by the teachers

 Exhibit 3B

Web of Linkages between ‘My Self’ and Learning in various Subjects

ENGLISH – I Short
Notes
HOME SWEET HOME
The ant and the
grasshopper

ENGLISH-II
SCIENCE
Nouns
Festivals
Adjectives, verbs
Our Needs
Letter Writing
Environment
Framing Questions
Picture reading
MY SELF Human Body

MATHS
Addition
Subtraction
Shape
Fraction
Graph

Source: Teachers Notes

 Exhibit 3C
Activity Set

1st week (Knowing myself)

 Identifying myself
 Passage about myself
 Grouping the students and selecting their group name.
 Introduction of Map ( Visit to Social Studies lab)
 Knowing their blood group, meaning of their name, native place.
 Introduction of Vowels.

2nd week (knowing your body)

 Visit to Biology lab (Observing internal organs with help of model).
 Awareness about different sense organ (Clay Modeling).
 Environment week. (Meditation).
 Visit around the School (Best out of waste)

3rd Week (Knowing Your Body)

 Visit to Math lab.
 Counting of teeth.
 Measuring the height and weight
 Addition (weight) and graph (height).

4th Week (Knowing your needs)

 Food
 Interview with medical teacher
 Introduction to different types of food.
 Fruit Salad.
 Food Web.
 Air:-
 Experiment on candle.
 Breathing exercise.

5th Week (Knowing your needs)

 Water:-
 Experiment on water vapour.
 Writing experiment.
 Water Cycle.
 Clothes and houses:-
 Model on clothes and houses.
 Few sentences on both the topics
6th Week (Knowing your friends)
 Interview of friends
 Letter to your friend
 Web on friends (importance of friends)
 Activity in group (friends group)

7th Week Review and Integration

Source: Teachers Notes

 Exhibit 3D
Learning Outcomes from Various Activities

First week (Knowing Myself)

 Each child learnt more about himself/herself and his/her friends.
 The class environment became very friendly.
 They learnt about different states.
 Each child developed the skill of observation.
 Concept of vowels was clear to the children.

Second week (Knowing their body)

 Acquired knowledge of their features,
understood their external body parts,
analyzed the different parts of the body.
 Learnt the importance of environment (Environment week).
 Each child developed the skill of observation.
 Development of creativity (Clay modeling),
Skill of making a model,
 Inquire how these organs function.

Third week (Knowing their body)

 Knowledge about their height and learnt to make graph.
 Compare their height with their friends in the same group.
 Knowledge about their weight,
 Analysis of weight of their age group, (Underweight or over weight)
 Knowledge of different internal organs.

Fourth week (Knowing your needs)

Food:
 Knowledge about different fruits, vegetables and different vitamins we get from
them.
 They developed a skill of doing something new (Fruit salad).
 Concept of interview was clear to them.
 Understanding the concept of web.

Air:
 Understood the importance of air.
 Breathing exercises.
 Importance of fresh and clean air (field visit).
Fifth week (Knowing your needs)
Water:
 Students were aware about the importance of water and learnt many concepts
(Water Cycle).
 Concept of Evaporation was clear to them in the chemistry lab.

Clothes and Housing:

 Making models and understanding different types of clothes and houses and
different materials required to make them.
 Understanding various types of clothes to be worn in different seasons.

Sixth Week (Knowing your friends):

 Understood the importance of having friends,
 Skill of doing activity together.
 They understood the value of friendship.
 Learnt to work together.

Seventh Week (Recapitulation of the theme “Myself”

 Exhibited the work done by the children throughout the theme based teaching,
learning process for the parents, teachers and peer groups.

Source: Teachers Notes

RECOMMENDATIONS-

1. The shift from traditional learning methods to the new learning methods are not necessarily beneficial to all the students. The new form of learning
is discussion and presentation oriented. A student who might be introverted or less sociable might face problems as they might be clear on the
concept, but might lack the skill of expressing it through activities like public speaking and might be more comfortable to express the concept while
writing. An alternative integrated method can be used in which both the methods are mixed together. This would not demotivate certain specific
students and will take in to the consideration the diversity of unique personalities of all the students.

2. The learning of the students which is tested weekly must be application based instead of the text book examples. Real life application of certain
concepts in mathematics, science etc. is still yet not known to many students who have completed their education years back. The application makes
the concept relative and is easier to be retrieved from the long term memory as it is associated with a relatively strong memory.

3. The project method should only be done in the class. The projects given to the students are majorly done by the parents when they are allowed to
be done from the home. This will assess the creativity of the parents instead of the students.

4. The marking scheme should be not completely traditional nor should be completely based on the new qualitative report card. According to me it
should give equal weight to both (50-50). This will give an overall perspective of the students developmental progress. The progress card should also
include students attitude and participation in the class. This will also promote moral development among the students.