An in depth study of a topic all year long which is assessed extensively.
Students choose a tree, observe it on a daily basis, maintain a log book and research everything about the tree like botanical name, soil needed, season – fruiting, flowering, animals and changes in the surroundings on a daily basis.
Choose a particular place which is not from their own country and research on its history, government, currency, weather, economic activities, import-export, tradition, folktale etc. They also develop at least one personal contact rom that place.
Students choose a person other than their relatives and find out extensively about their profession, inspiration, and vision by regular interactions on weekends. Spend a day with them and get inspired by their passion, vision, values and personality.
Students choose a machine which is not an electronic gadget, research on it, find out its history (how it was invented)its parts, and how it works. Hey also learn basic machine drawing to present various drawings of the machine.
Mentor driven, interaction and theatre oriented sessions.
Education doesn’t take place by biting small pieces of disconnected information; it does develop encompassing minds.when a single topic is attacked in various forms through out the year. Hence one grand topic a year from V to VIII. These grand topics involve theatre and self development. The ability to piece history and sentiments together is achieved by studying the freedom struggle of India. Science has many branches, but for a human being study of evolution and Darwin is fundamental to any understanding of life and changes. Instead of getting buried in the rigor of IT and BT it’s better to lift the head up and look far into the near future. Future belongs to the children. They need to prepare themselves to create it. Study of current IT & BT trends and development is as meaningful as studying the alphabet when one is young.
Individual website by each child.
Each child specializes in a small area of knowledge. By sharing it with others and collaborating with children of similar interests, makes it a different world of learning. In knowledge projects children create their own website, post their creative pieces, share their deep knowledge and above all create a community of their own. Children of Std 5 and above work on this. When children have opportunities to share it with others what better medium than the web!!
Std 1 to 4 develop a collaborative site for each class.
International School Award Program of British Council. The curriculum is looked at from the international point of view. A slight adjustment to our follow up activities and documentation as expected by the British Council is underway towards fulfillment of the ISA AWARD. GIIS is one of the two schools selected from Karnataka.
Each topic is attacked in more than one way – Multiple Intelligences way, like an English class will have Math concepts woven in it or they might be learning Geography in a language class.
Classroom teaching is done using various levels and each student is given individualized work based on his/her capability. Self work (home assignments) is also individualized.
Weekend worksheets are tackled using MI and interdisciplinary approach i.e. a Math worksheet would include assignments from the field of Science, Social Sciences as well as Languages.
The curriculum consists of not just academic work but ‘themes’ as well. This is in keeping with the Multiple Intelligences’ aspect, which is well incorporated into the classroom activities. Themes and projects are extensively used for students to actively participate, research and contribute to different topics.
These themes are not just educational but enriching and fascinating. The whole new way of approaching scientific concepts were assessed by getting the feedback from the children in the form of questionnaire for the movie and television programs and websites on the theme chosen.
Experiments help us to discover and understand how things work and why things happen. When we try ideas out, concepts that seem hard to grasp become easier to understand. The technique of asking questions and trying to answer them through observation and experiment is important to science. Our “Hands on Science” is a continuous process of discovery and experimentation that help children to come up with different answers. This is why we say that science is changing. Innovations and inventions change the way we look at the world. Through the “Hands on Science” children develop the skills of observation, collecting information, classification, experimentation, making estimation, prediction, drawing inferences and reporting.
Encourage students to think divergently and out-of-the box on various concepts used in daily life situations. Helping children not just absorb knowledge but create knowledge. These cards consist of information on varied topics in a crisp manner along with MI/Divergent thinking questions. Circulated among children everyday to develop a reading habit and also help them discuss these topics with their parents and come out with their own ideas.
Doing cards are also given to the students so that they can perform experiments at home using the instructions and questions on the card.
All the classes from Std. I to X have this subject as part of their curriculum. Children learn through various activities and projects which form the back bone of these classes.
A language is learnt the best when it is used like it is being used in real life. A language class which is totally devoted to creative use of language in different situations and contexts bring all the intricacies of the language home. Children notice the creative use of individuals around. They build a lucid style of their own.
And lots more