MODULE II

ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES (EVS)
AT THE PRIMARY LEVEL
(Classes I & II)

Research Development and Consultancy Division

Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations
New Delhi
 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

Unfolding the Curriculum: Environmental Studies (EVS)

Curriculum in Practice

Section 7: Section 1:
Essential Tips Overview: Why,
for What and How
Practitioners of this Module

Section 6: Section 2:
Recording and EVS Curriculum in
Reporting EVS Context and
Practices Module Practice

Section 5:
Assessment of Section 3:
Learning and Features of the
Reflection on EVS Curriculum
Action

Section 4:
Exemplars in
EVS

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

Expectations of this Module

After reading/using this module the user/teacher will be able to:

 understand the need and significance of this module;
 understand the nature and status of EVS curriculum;
 explain salient features of the EVS curriculum and pedagogical principles in
their own words;
 discuss the need for exemplars in the curriculum and use them in practical
situations by using hands on activities;
 relate and frame learning based questions for assessment;
 understand some essential tips for using curriculum in the classroom
situation.

Structure of this Module

1. Overview: Why, What and How of this module

2. EVS curriculum in context and practice
3. EVS curriculum for classes I and II
3.1 Salient features of the EVS curriculum
3.2 Suggested pedagogical principles for teaching
learning of EVS in the classroom
3.3 How should an EVS classroom look like
4. Exemplars in EVS
4.1 Need for exemplars
4.2 Planning for the teaching learning process
4.3 Exemplar I
4.4 Exemplar II
4.5 Exemplar III
4.6 Exemplar IV
5. Assessment of learning and reflection on action
6. Recording and reporting in EVS learning
7. Essential tips for practitioners
8. Summing up: What have we learnt

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

1. Overview: Why, what and how of this module

Why this module?

This module aims at providing an understanding on various aspects of the EVS curriculum
such as its status in early grades (Class I & II), salient features, pedagogical principles for EVS
learning and what makes an EVS classroom a happy classroom. It would also provide a clarity
on various components of the EVS curriculum such as learning outcomes, identified concepts
in selected themes, transactional processes and learning resources. Apart from this, the
module would develop confidence among users to contextualize in their specific situations.
In order to understand all the components of the teaching learning process, some exemplars
have also been given.

What does this module include?

This module has seven sections. The first section provides an overview to explain why, what
and how to use the module. Section II gives the status and nature of the EVS curriculum in
context. Section III explains salient features and pedagogical principles. Section IV
focuses on exemplars which cover planning, implementation and assessment during the
teaching learning process. Section V deals with reflection and assessment of learning
(assessment after completion of theme/unit) and suggestive assessment practices.
Section VI details out recording and reporting in EVS learning and finally Section VII
provides some tips to the practitioners/users.

How to use this module?

This module is meant for all stakeholders i.e. practicing teachers, master trainers and school
administrators working at the primary level in particular and for primary teachers in general.
In each section of this module, some activities have been provided. These activities need to
be done after completing each section. Four exemplars have also been given for this subject,
which may be used in a classroom situation. After using the exemplars, peer reflection should
be taken which would help to further improve the module.

Activity-1 (Pair Work)

Discuss in groups the three benefits of this module for teachers
and master trainers. Make a list.
Let us do

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
2. EVS curriculum in context and practice
Nature and Status
EVS learning provides an opportunity for children to explore, investigate and develop an
understanding of the natural, human, social and cultural dimensions of the local and wider
environments. This area enables children to live as informed and caring members of the local,
national and global communities at large.

Keeping its significance in view, EVS has been kept as one of the curricular areas in
Classes I and II. The major focus area of this subject is - learning for the environment,
learning about the environment and learning through the environment. Thus, in this subject,
the concepts, issues and concerns related to the social, natural and cultural environment need
to be transacted in an integrated manner. Treating natural environment (science) and
social-cultural environment in isolation is to be discouraged (disciplinary approach). A
thematic approach is necessitated to be followed to provide a holistic perspective of the
environment. Due to the thematic nature of the subject, the content/concepts would be
derived from the child’s family and immediate surrounding. The nature of this subject is
process based and therefore emphasis should be placed on development of skills.

Information
Technology

Physical
Life Science Sciences

Earth Science
Environmental Numerical
Studies Skills

Social and
Cultural Arts Education

Language and
Communication

Figure 1: Interdisciplinary and Integrated perspective of EVS

EVS content and skills utilize the teaching-learning process effectively in a way that the social,
emotional and attitudinal values of the children are interwoven with the acquisition of
knowledge, skills rather than teaching them as an add on activity or in an isolated manner.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Why EVS Learning
The major objectives of EVS teaching- Broad Skills/ Processes that EVS Learning
learning is to enable children to: Promotes:

• learn about the environment- by 1. Observation and Reporting – Exploring,

developing an awareness of the natural, sharing, narrating and drawing, picture-
social and cultural environment. It deals reading, making pictures, collecting and
with issues/concepts in an integrated recording information.
manner through various themes and 2. Discussion - Listening, talking, expressing
opinion,
activities related to daily life
3. Expression – Expressing through gestures/
experiences, e.g. family, friends, plants
body movements, expressing verbally,
and animals, etc. expressing through drawing/writing/
• learn through the environment - sculpting, through creative
lays emphasis on using various objects,
places, plants and animals in the 4. Explanation – Reasoning, making simple
immediate environment as learning logical connections, describing
resources; events/situations, formulating one’s own
• learn for the environment - reasoning.
emphasizes inculcation of values, 5. Classification - Identifying objects-based on
attitudes and skills related to protection observable features, identifying similarities
of the environment; and differences in objects, sorting/grouping
• enhance/promote curiosity and
creativity in relation to the
surroundings;
6. Questioning – Expressing curiosity, asking
• develop an appreciation for
questions and framing simple questions.
diversity (language, family, habits,
7. Analysis – Defining situations/ events,
variations in plants, animals, culture, identifying/predicting possible causes of any
etc.) in the surroundings; event/situation.
• develop sensitivity towards senior 8. Experimentation (Hands - on activities) –
citizens, people with disability and Improvising, making simple things and
disadvantaged groups of society, performing simple .
focusing on their strengths as well as the 9. Concern for Justice and Equality –
areas of concern. Developing a sensitivity towards the
disadvantaged or people with special needs/
disability, showing concern for the

10. Cooperation –Taking initiatives, sharing and

working together with

Activity - 2
• Why does EVS learning need to be integrated in nature rather
than a disciplinary one? Give two reasons.
Let us do • Write any two features of a theme-based curriculum.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

3. EVS curriculum for classes I and II

Salient features of EVS curriculum

Salient
What does it mean? Examples
Features
The present curriculum encourages a ‘theme- The two subjects of Science and
based’ rather than a ‘topical’ approach in this Social Studies have been
Theme-based curricular area. Thus, it does not proceed with a list integrated into one core area of
and integrated of topics where focus is on coverage of content. EVS. The content has been
approach to Instead of moving from one topic/ subject presented through themes rather
learning
area to another, in a disconnected, than topics. For e.g.
compartmentalised manner, the present In the theme ‘Water’ the content
curriculum encourages an integrated approach to of the theme is related to the
teaching-learning, so as to enable children to child’s life experiences rather
comprehend learning experiences as a unified than facts connected with it.
whole. The curriculum aims to help children make
sense of life’s experiences by helping them connect
and correlate knowledge and experiences across
various topics within as well as across subject
areas.

The curriculum gives primacy to children’s In order to follow a child centred

Child-centred experiences and their active participation. The approach in EVS, the learning
approach identified concepts, skills, issues/concerns process followed under each
included in the EVS curriculum are theme moves from simple to
developmentally age-appropriate with the complex, concrete to abstract,
understanding of the child progressing gradually informal to formal in a logical
from self to the immediate surrounding and and phased manner.
further to the wider environment. (e.g. food in the family → sources
of food → conservation of food)

Recognising different learning styles and Using various strategies varying

Range of individual differences among children, the EVS from classroom discussions, case
learning curriculum suggests a wide range of learning studies, field visits, role play,
experiences experiences and transactional strategies. Thus, the project work, surveys, hands-on
curriculum aims at ensuring that learning is a experiences, and
joyful experience for all children and that they are experimentation, to model
able to understand not only what they learn, but making, poster making, slogan
also how this learning is relevant in their lives, both writing, etc. have been suggested
for the present and the future. in the EVS curriculum.

As children progress, they will revisit certain Planning lessons taking into
Spiral approach concepts/themes which are repeated consciously account prior knowledge and
to learning as an entry level behaviour to build new learning. experiences of the children. Thus,
However, the depth and complexity of the the new learning would be built
theme/concept will increase with each revisit. The on the previous experiences of the
new knowledge would be put in the context of the child.
pre-existing knowledge which would serve as a
base or the foundation for the next level of
learning.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Salient
What does it mean? Examples
Features
Different domains of learning, i.e., cognitive, In the Exemplar on the theme
Holistic approach affective and psychomotor (head, heart, hand) ‘Water’ you will find learning
to learning have been dealt with in an integrated manner outcomes of all the three
rather than addressing them in isolation domains. i.e. cognitive, affective
within/across the themes. & psychomotor.

The curriculum provides flexibility to schools to • Designing activities and citing

Scope for adapt and contextualize as per their own examples that are relevant for
Contextualization requirements and the needs of the children. While children in terms of life
the key concepts under each theme have been spelt experiences and their local
out for this area in the curriculum, it is expected contexts.
that the teachers would adapt and use appropriate • Helping children in
transactional processes, based on the resources connecting and applying their
available, the interests and aptitude levels of learning to home and
children, as well as their geographical locations community.
and the socio-economic and cultural contexts. • Using learning resources that
are locally available.

This approach lays emphasis on learning by doing • Providing opportunities for

Social (I do, I understand much better). Also, children collaborative and group
Constructivist learn better while interacting/discussing with learning through interaction
approach
elders/peers. Thus, this approach provides with peers and elders (group
opportunities for children to construct their learning).
knowledge rather than placing them as recipients • Providing opportunities as
of information in the transactional process. The well as the necessary
knowledge gained by them is thus an outcome of resources to enable children
the children’s involvement in the learning process. to experiment, explore and
Engaging/involving children in exploring, discover for themselves
observing, discovering the world around them, (learning by doing).
helps in the process of construction of knowledge. • Creating an environment in
the class where the children
feel safe to ask questions (non-
threatening environment).
• Prompting inquiry by asking
thought provoking, open-
ended questions (opportunity
for development of soft skills).

The values and life skills are not to be developed in While dealing with all the themes
Values and Life isolation and are not ‘add on’ activities, rather, in EVS, one of the considerations
Skills these are to be developed in an integrated and is to inculcate values and develop
infused manner from this curricular area. (Age life skills as per the nature of the
appropriate skills and life skills have been theme e.g. in the theme ‘Water’
mentioned in the curriculum as a reference point conservation of water and its
for teachers). judicious use must be emphasised
as a value and life skill.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

Major Components of EVS curriculum

 EVS learning needs to be theme-based rather than topic based as suggested in the syllabus/
curriculum. Therefore, in each identified theme, the concerns and issues related to physical,
social and cultural context of the environment should be discussed holistically and critically
so that the child can make informed choices.
 These themes are continued from Class I to Class II. Other themes may be included as per
the need and context.
The following themes have been identified for the EVS Curriculum:

Suggested Themes for Environmental Studies

About Me
Time, Others in
Space and My World
Direction
Food
The World EVS Water
Around My Needs Shelter
Me:Sun,
Classes I & II
Clothing
Moon, Sky Issues/concerns/concepts Air
and Stars
related to:
Science Learning
Keeping
Social Studies Learning Oneself
Communicatio Clean, Safe
n Learning related to and Healthy
Environment
in an integrated and infused
manner
Places in the
Transport Neighbourhood

Animals Plants

 Each theme in the EVS curriculum (refer to Page 120), begins with the need and significance
of the theme (why this theme?). You need to not only understand the purpose of giving the
theme but also how to deal with it.
 This is followed by the learning outcomes related to the theme. If you study these outcomes,
you will find that these learning outcomes cover different aspects of the child’s behaviour, i.e.
knowledge, comprehension, skills, values/ attitudes. These learning outcomes are
developmentally age-appropriate in nature. These are the essential learning outcomes
identified for this stage; however, you can add relevant learning outcomes keeping in view the
need, context and interest of the children. For better understanding on learning outcomes
refer to Module-1, i.e., Understanding the Curriculum.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

Transactional
Processes

Learning
Outcomes

Key Learning
Concepts/Areas Resources

The curricular components of EVS have been dealt with in three columns.

Theme
Learning Outcomes
Suggested Transactional Suggested Learning
Key Concepts
Processes Resources
  
 In the first column, key concepts have been mentioned. In column 2, suggested transactional
processes have been given. These transactional processes have been identified keeping in view
the following:
 Class/Grade
 Nature of the theme
 Key Concepts
 Learning Outcomes
For example, the Theme 2, ‘Others in my World’, covers key concepts related to the child’s
family, celebrations in the family and neighbourhood, keeping in view the social and cultural
aspects. The identified pedagogy would be - sharing personal experiences and discussions,
narrating experiences of family festivals, assigning simple projects, drawing pictures of family
members/ friends. The learning resources would also be selected to meet out the need of the
pedagogical processes. For example, puppet show can be a good learning resource to describe
family members’ roles, habits as well as relationships between family members. Similarly,
flash cards on festivals can help teachers discuss various festivals celebrated in different
families (various variations in celebrations could be covered.)
 In column 2, Suggested Transactional Processes have been given. The EVS learning in early
classes is process based, therefore the transactional practices need to be guided by skills and
processes such as describing, observing, identifying, etc. These processes would make EVS
classrooms more child-centred and activity-based.
 In the third column, suggested learning resources have been mentioned. The learning
resource(s) mean any action or material which enhances the learning process. For example,
while dealing with Theme 2, “Others in My World’, children’s own experiences (verbal action),

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
classroom discussions (verbal actions), flash cards (concrete material), children’s drawings
(nonverbal actions) are some examples of Learning Resources that may be used.
 In each theme, at the end of the Curriculum presentation, integration of EVS with other
subjects has also been highlighted. The implication of this reference is that wherever there
are linkages, they should be addressed simultaneously, rather than dealing with them in
isolation. For example, creative expression through drawing, paper work, origami, clay
modelling, etc. relate to the Art Education curricular area as well. While dealing with such
skills/ activities, the subject boundaries must be diffused and learning outcomes of both
subjects may be addressed.
 Life Skills/ Values, healthy habits have also been addressed in the curriculum of EVS. The
infused approach has been followed while dealing with life skills. While transacting the
curriculum, life skills should be dealt with in context and in an integrated manner with the
EVS concepts by taking suitable examples.

Suggested pedagogical principles in teaching- learning of EVS

 Active participation of children is important in constructing knowledge. Opportunities

should be given for observations using a variety of learning resources such as visits to parks,
museums, water bodies and various places in the community. If learning occurs beyond the
walls of classrooms, the quality of learning is better.
 Efforts should be made by teachers to relate the child’s local knowledge to the school
knowledge - this would discourage rote memorization and encourage developmentally age
appropriate learning in EVS.
 Children in early grades learn through a variety of ways, therefore opportunities should be
given to explore, observe, draw, categorise, discuss/ speak, ask questions and enlist, etc. to
develop various skills /processes.
 Textbook is one of the learning resources both for children and teachers. Other learning
resources such as family members and community, newspapers, books and worksheets, etc.
should be used for better learning. While interacting with parents/elders, children not only
collect past information but also get the opportunity to develop discussion/ questioning skills.
 Pictures /illustrations play a very important role in EVS learning as these support the written
material. Picture readings/visual based activities should be encouraged which would not only
provide joy but also pose a challenge to children.
 Activities and questions play an important role as these provide opportunities for children
to express themselves. Thus, activities/questions should not be used only for assessing
children but also to develop skills such as creative expression, observation, classification,
explanation, etc. in children.
 Each child learns at his /her own pace. The challenge before the teacher is to handle multilevel
groups so as to address the needs of children including the differently challenged group of
children. Teachers should design activities for these children in such a manner so that they
can be engaged meaningfully while doing activities with their peer group.
 Assessment for learning (formative assessment), should be used as an inbuilt part of the
teaching learning process so as to identify and address learning gaps in a timely manner.
Thus, formative assessment should not be used for reporting progress but for diagnostic
purpose to improve children's learning and to develop their potential.
 The real purpose of assessment of learning (summative assessment) is not to compare the
progress of children but to track the progress of each child regularly. This assessment should
be done periodically by using a variety of modes (not restricted to the written mode only).
 The teacher should maintain a portfolio of each child and this document should be used as an
‘assessment tool’ to know the progress of each child over a period of time. The portfolio should
include the work done by the child in a variety of situations, covering various aspects of the

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
child’s behaviour. An e-portfolio can be maintained by teachers to reduce the task of recording
work.
 Teachers must understand that learning is a mutual process. Children learn from each other
and a teacher also learns from children, particularly to understand their needs.
 EVS learning is also concerned with the inculcation of important values/ attitudes and
appreciation. It fosters an appreciation of the interrelationship between all living organisms
and their environments and encourages children to become active agents in the conservation
of the environment.
 EVS learning cultivates a respect for cultural diversity and sensitizes children regarding the
minorities and people with special needs. Prejudices and discrimination are challenged, while
respect and mutual understanding are promoted.

What should an EVS classroom look like?

An EVS classroom should be a child centered and happy classroom
where children get opportunities to:
 observe, explore, ask question, do activities, share experiences
during the learning process;
 conduct a variety of activities ranging from cognitive (head),
affective (heart/emotions) and conative (hands/ manipulative);
 construct their own knowledge by using their own experiences
and a variety of learning resources inside and outside the classroom;
 work individually, in small and large groups, as per the needs of the children as children
learn more through interaction;
 reflect on their own work and also on the work of the peer group/ others’ work;
 learn to appreciate others’ work and learn to respect others’ point of view.

Flexible seating, games, puzzles, displays, artefacts, films,

posters, charts, costumes, puppets, etc. should form a part of
an EVS classroom.

Activity-3
Write any two salient features of EVS learning which are different
from language learning.
Let us do

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
4. Exemplars in EVS
4.1 Why do we need exemplars?
The underlying idea for exemplars is to:
 enable practitioners to translate the curriculum into practice in the classroom;
 help teachers understand the different components of the teaching-learning processes
in a sequential manner;
 understand how to translate learning outcomes of the selected concepts in the
classroom context.

4.2 How do we plan the Teaching-Learning Process in EVS?

 Select a theme/lesson;
 Brainstorm for ideas to develop a concept map (one example is given below);

Concept Map for Exemplars 1 and 2 (Theme: Water)

-In the family

-Plants
-Animals

Uses of
water

-Sources at home
-Vessels for -Sources in the
storage Storage of Sources of
surroundings
-Need for water water
storage

Water*

Simple
-Colour Saving
properties
-Shape water -Judicious use
-Taste of water -Reuse
-Smell
Questioning**

*Theme
**Processes/skills (How to learn)

 Select learning outcomes from the curriculum and write key learning points of
identified concepts;
 Select activities and identify an appropriate pedagogical process to develop
concepts/skills;
 Select relevant and appropriate (locally available) learning resource material.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

4.3 Some essentials for EVS classroom transaction:

The EVS curriculum is thematic in nature; therefore, the content of EVS needs to be drawn from
the child’s life experiences. To make the EVS learning more experiential, the teaching-learning
strategies need to:

 be contextual and related to real-life experience.

 be age and developmentally appropriate and diverse.
 be designed so that all the senses (touch, feel, taste, smell, sight, auditory) are involved.
 encourage participation of all children (participatory).
 provide opportunities for hands-on-activities for all children.
 provide opportunities for sharing of experiences/ideas (rather than the correct answer)
and reflection.
 use environmental objects and ‘environment’ as learning resource.
 provide freedom to children to express themselves.
 be designed so that assessment for learning and assessment as learning are an inbuilt
part of the classroom transaction.
In addition, the teacher needs to be a patient listener and giver.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
4.3 Exemplar 1 Class I
Theme: Water

Key Concept: Uses of water

Learning Outcomes:

Children will be able to:

share personal experiences related to use of water;

identify and give examples of activities done with and without water;
draw a picture of an activity done with or without water;
write in a sequence the activities done using water in a day from morning to night;
classify activities according to less and more use of water;
group the activities based on the use of water at home and in the surroundings.

Classroom Transaction:

Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points: Strategies Classroom Interaction
Brainstorming and While taking up any new theme, brainstorming
• Activities done discussion and discussion may be initiated on that theme, to
with water and know the initial learning level of children. This
without water process would help the teacher to develop a
theme/concept map.
• Uses of water at
home and in the Introduce the concept of this theme by having a
surroundings discussion and asking the children a question like:
 What did you do yesterday from morning to
night e.g. eating breakfast, sleeping, …?
Note their responses on the blackboard.
 Now ask children to identify activities that
were common to all children out of the above
mentioned activities.
 The children will respond by naming the
common activities they did from morning to
evening.
 You may then ask, the difference between
sleeping and bathing; playing and brushing
activities.

The children’s response would be:

• For sleeping we do not use water whereas for
bathing we use water.
• For brushing we use water but not for
playing.
 You can now display a variety of items such
as: a glass of water, a glass of juice, kneaded
flour, wet clay, a water painting, a water spray.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points: Strategies Classroom Interaction

 You can also display on the display board a

variety of pictures depicting activities done
with and without water.
Observe and identify  Give an opportunity to the children to observe
and discuss about the displayed items and
pictures. Children will identify activities done
with the use of water and otherwise.
Drawing skill Ask the children to draw a picture of an activity
that they did using water and without water. Now
ask the children to share their work with their
peers.

Estimation  Ask the children which activity will require

(Cross Curricular more water?
linkage) a. Brushing teeth or taking a bath
b. Painting a picture or painting a room
c. Filling a bucket or filling a tank
d. Watering a plant or washing a car
− Arrange these activities on the basis of
consumption of water (high to low).

Assessment for Learning

• This can be done by giving children worksheets, drawing and
colouring activities with and without the use of water.
• Ask children to think of activities they did the day before and
list 3 activities that they did with water and three without
water.
• Ask children to draw a picture of any one activity that they like
to do, which involves use of water and one without water.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points: Strategies Classroom Interaction
Group activity Ask children to narrate their personal experiences
about how they and their family members use
water e.g. for cooking, cleaning, doing laundry,
bathing, etc. They can also describe their
experiences about the use of water observed by
them during their journey from home to school
e.g., plants being watered, animals in water, etc.

For the Teacher: Now children can be asked to classify the

You can make your own activities of use of water at home and in the
worksheet based on the surroundings. You can note their observations on
learning outcomes related the blackboard as mentioned below:
to the concepts.

Home Self Family

_______ ________ _________
_______ ________ _________

Surroundings Plants Animals

_______________ _______ ________
_______________ _______ ________

After this activity, a discussion can be initiated.

Individual activity Ask all the children to note down the activities
(seat work) they do using water from morning to night. Let
them write these in a sequence.
Let the children share their observations in small
groups. Ask them to find out the similarities and
differences in the sequence. You can ask the
children to depict their findings through
illustrations.

Assessment for Learning

Develop worksheets for children with about 8 black and white
pictures (outlines only) depicting activities with and without use of
water e.g., a person cooking, a person sleeping, a person taking a
shower, a person sweeping with a broom or dusting, a person
drinking tea, a person kneading flour / cooking or a person washing
utensils.

Assessment AS Learning
This can be done by involving children in:
• Reflecting on one’s own work/self - assessment.
• Assessing peers such as reflection of children on each other’s work.
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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
4.4 Exemplar 2 Class I
Theme: Water

Key Concepts: Need for judicious use of water

Reuse of water in the family

Learning Outcomes:

Children will be able to:

develop awareness regarding the need to save water;
identify activities where wastage of water can be reduced, both at home and in school;
suggest and appreciate some ways of reusing water in the family/school;
appreciate the reuse of water at home and at school.

Classroom Transaction:

Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Observation While introducing the concept, use children’s prior
• Awareness to learning (uses of water) and ask them to observe the
reuse water pictures on the display board related to activities done
• Need and ways to using water and those done without water, and share
save water at with the class.
home and at  What is going on in the pictures?
school Group Initiate a discussion in small groups on the pictures
Discussion where the use of water is more and whether it can be
reduced / minimised.
The children will respond in varied ways, e.g.,
• We can brush our teeth with half bottle of water
rather than full bottle of water.
• We can save water by taking a bath with a bucket
rather than using the shower.
Encourage children to reflect and respond freely.
Now encourage children to cite related examples
where wastage of water can be reduced in the class.
Expected responses may be:
We can reduce usage of water when we do our
paintings or take only as much water as we need to
drink.

Narrative Tell the children this story on the reuse of water and
let them think about it.

Narrating Story
Rupa is little girl like you. She lives in one of the
villages in the desert area. They get water supply only
two days in a week. Look at ways in which Rupa can
reuse the water to overcome its scarcity.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Pictures
Rupa sitting on Rupa uses Uses the water
the charpoy and the tub of to mop the
taking a bath with water to floor and wash
a tub below to wash the drain
hold water clothes

Children will reflect on the story. You can expect a

variety of reflections on the story, e.g.
1. A child may say that, “We have plenty of water
in our city so we don’t need to reuse”.
2. Another child may say that, “Since we don’t live
in a desert so we don’t need to save or reuse
water.
3. A third child may add, “Why should we use
dirty water?”
4. Some children may appreciate the need to reuse
and save water.
Small Project • Ask the children to collect poems, stories and
songs, related to saving of water with the help of
an adult. Let them bring these to class. Read them
aloud for children to enjoy and learn.
They can also create their own stories and poems on
water, which can be kept in their portfolios.

Assessment for Learning

This can be done through various ways e.g. worksheets, classwork,
oral discussions.

• Ask the children to identify an activity where water can be

reused at home and depict it through pictures.
• Ask the children to suggest any two ways where water can be
reused in school.
• Children can talk to their grandparents/elders to find out if
there was a need to reuse water when they were small and why
the need to do so now. They can share their findings in class.

Assessment AS Learning
This can be done by involving children in:

• Reflecting on one’s own work/self – assessment done on the activities

related to water such as identifying ways to save water, reuse of water.
• Assessing peers on the activities done on worksheets, colouring, drawing
activities and give feedback to peer in the presence of teacher.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

Activity Bag

Write down any 2

activities in which
water is being used.
Which activity requires
more than a bucket and
which will require less
than a bucket?

Ask the
children to
Let’s make a rain gauge to measure make paper
rainfall boats and float
You will need: Straight sided glass jar, a them in water
funnel, a large tin can, a small spade, tape
and waterproof pen.
Make a scale on the side of the jar and tape
them together. The tip of the funnel should
not be much bigger than the bottom of the
jar. Set the jar in the can. Bury the can nearly
up to its rim to keep the gauge from
overturning in stormy weather. Make sure
the rain can reach the gauge from all sides.
When it rains, collect water in the jar. Decide
how long you will wait before checking your
rain gauge. When the time is up look at the
level of the water in the jar to see how much
rain fell in that period.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
4.5 Exemplar 3 Class II
Theme: Others in my World

Concept Map for Exemplar 3 and 4 (Theme: Others in my World)

-Hobbies
-Habits
-Family size
(2-3 generation)

Me and my
family

-Joint family
-Nuclear family
-Games Indoor/ Variation -Single parent
-Recreational outdoor in family
activities activities structure
Others of family
in my
World

Friends
-Fun Celebrations and my
-Recreation and festivals neighbours
-Festivals
Identification

Key Concepts:

• Togetherness through sharing, having fun, recreational events, festivals with family
and relatives
• Celebration of important events /days/festivals

Learning Outcomes:

Children will be able to:

observe and share personal experiences related to fun and celebrations;
distinguish between events/ days /festivals celebrated at home, at school and in the
neighbourhood;
draw a picture of any important day/festival/celebration/fun activity;
describe verbally and in writing how festivals are celebrated at home and in school;
discuss ways to avoid crackers, loud music and chemical colours during festivals.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Classroom Transaction:

Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Brainstorming Prior to the concepts being introduced, ask the
• Recreational events, children to bring to class, photographs of them
festivals in the having fun e.g. going to a picnic, fair or zoo with
family friends and family or celebrating any day/event
• Importance of at home or in school, be it a naming ceremony,
festivals and their birthday, wedding, religious/ national festival.
celebrations
On the day you introduce this theme with its
Observation related concepts, ask the children to share their
photographs with each other. After they have had
Class discussion a look at each other’s photographs, initiate a
discussion on what the photographs are about.

Discussion points could be:

• What are the kinds of activities shown in the

pictures?
• Which activities do you enjoy the most?
• Why do you enjoy most of the activities?
• Which are the events being celebrated in the
picture?

Write the responses of the children on the

blackboard. These would be mostly related to
celebrations of important days, festivals and fun
filled events.

Thereafter, ask the children:

 Which of these events do you celebrate
with:
(i) your family (ii) to your friends (iii) your
relatives or (iv) everyone?
 Which of these events do you celebrate at
(i) home and (ii) school?
 Which of these events do you celebrate in
your neighbourhood?

Note down their responses on the

blackboard/smartboard. Then ask children to
identify which of these are (i) important days
and (ii) festivals.

• Let them name and talk about some of

them.
• Show them films, pictures, drawings and
charts of different festivals- local, regional

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points Strategies Classroom Interaction
(harvest), national like Republic and
Independence Day and talk about them.

Assessment for Learning (Activity)

Ask children to collect pictures of local, regional and national festivals
and paste these in their notebook. If they can’t find pictures, they can
draw pictures of their own.
After discussion on children’s work, feedback may be given.

Drawing • Ask them to draw similarities and differences

between important days and festivals e.g.
between Diwali and their Birthday or
between Republic Day and Christmas.
• Show them our national flag. Give them a
black and white outline of
Colouring the national flag and ask
them to colour it.
Creative Writing • They can also draw a
picture of their favourite
festival and write a few lines on it.
Quiz
Assessment for Learning (Activity)

Hold a class quiz on festivals. You can ask

simple questions like:

1. Which festival is celebrated in August?

2. Which festival is celebrated with lots of
lights?
3. On which festival do we decorate a tree?
4. On which festival do we eat sewain?
5. On which festival do we eat plum cakes?
6. Which festival is played with colours ?
7. On which festivals do we sing the national
anthem?
8. Which festival comes in the month of
January?
9. Which festival is a spring festival?
10. Which festival is celebrated on 2nd
October?

Assessment AS Learning

• Give the children some opportunities to share their work done

on festivals and also ask them to reflect on each other’s work.
• Ask the children to frame questions/puzzles and conduct a quiz
in the class (group activity).

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Small Group Project Divide the class into small groups and let each
group work on a local/regional/national festival.
They can make a presentation or a poster or a
play on the festival. Information related to
clothes worn, food eaten, customs followed,
decorations done can be included. Display their
work on the board for one week in the class.
Interpretation and Write all the names of the months on a drawing
analysis of data sheet.
(whole class
activity) Get the children to tick the month in which they
were born. From the numbers obtained get the
(Cross – Curricular) children to pose questions to each other.

January February March

 

April May June July

  
August …………… ………………

 

• Which month has the most birthdays?

• How many more birthdays in that month than
in August?
• How many birthdays in summer?
• How many birthdays in winter?

Children can be asked to represent the

information in a simple bar chart.

January February March April May June July

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning Points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Whole Class Make children sit in a circle and initiate a
Discussion discussion on the need to ban crackers, loud
music and chemical colours during festivals.

Talk about the health hazards that they can

cause. Thereafter pose questions like:

• What can we use in place of chemical water

colours to play Holi?
• Why should crackers be banned?
• How can we celebrate Diwali without the use
of crackers?
• Why should we not use loud speakers during
festivals?

Tell the children about children working in

factories producing fireworks.

Ask the children to collect and bring to class

newspaper clippings/pictures related to pollution
caused by crackers and colours. They must take
the help of an adult to get these items. Read these
out to them and then put them up on the display
board.

Assessment for Learning

• Give the children a list of festival /celebration words

like decorations, flowers, lights, diyas, gifts, cakes,
sewain, langar, sweets, candles, clothes, bands, flags,
kites etc. Ask the children to add more words to the
list. Thereafter, ask them to write a small description
about the festival they like best using these words.
• Ask the children to draw pictures of their favourite
festival or draw designs for rangolis and colour
these. Display these on the class display board.
• Let the children collect with the help of an adult
legends, stories, poems and songs related to the
festivals talked about. They can search the Internet
(with the support of elders) for this purpose. Let
them narrate these in class.
• Display a variety of pictures showing children
bursting crackers and burning fireworks (a) without
the supervision of an adult (b) in a closed area
(c) with dogs around, etc. Initiate a discussion and let
children reflect on the issues.
• Let the children role play/illustrate to show
situations where fireworks can cause health hazards.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
4.6 Exemplar 4 Class II
Theme: Others in my World

Key Concepts:
• Family structure-Immediate and extended family
• Family tree showing distant relations- upto 3 generations

Learning Outcomes:

Children will be able to:

identify different family structures;
differentiate different family structures;
compare and contrast between close and distant relations;
cite examples of both kinds of relatives;
draw a family tree of one’s own family / extended family;
interpret a given family tree;
respect and appreciate family diversity in the society.

Classroom Transaction:

Pedagogical Processes
Learning points Strategies Classroom Interaction
• Family structure Discussion Ask the children to bring to class photographs
• Family tree showing of their families.
relations upto You can also ask the children to draw a picture
two/three generations of their family.
Discussion may be initiated on the family
picture.
Small group activity The children can form small groups and do the
following work:
• observe the pictures/photographs of their
own and their peers’ families
• share information about each other’s family
e.g. name, age, description of person, etc.
• discuss how they call different family
members in their own mother tongue (e.g.
baba, bapu, papa)

Ask the children to compare their families to

Observation see the similarities and differences in their
family structure.
After completing their exercise, you will write
on the blackboard findings of the groups.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Discussion Initiate a discussion on different family
structures:
• Nuclear family
• Single parent family
For the Teacher: • Joint family
While deliberating on family • Extended family
structures be sensitive to the • Adoptive family
fact that the sentiments of
children from single parent Initiate a discussion on the similarities and
or adoptive families are not differences of different kinds of families. While
hurt. discussing the diversity in family structure
children will develop respect and appreciation
for each other’s family.

Field Visit Activity:

Ask the children to visit any three families in
their neighbourhood with an adult and find
out:
• What kind of family structure it is?
• How the children in the family address
their elders for example in a Bengali
family the child will call her/his elder
brother “Dada” and grandfather “Dadu”
Thereafter children share their findings/
experiences with their classmates.

Role Play Ask the children to role play the following:

mother, father, brother, sister, grandparents,
aunts, uncles through mime and verbally in
two groups. One group will mime while the
other group will guess and when the other
group performs they will appreciate their
expressions and gestures.

Picture reading After the role play you can display pictures of
different kinds of families. Ask the children to
observe these pictures carefully and find out
the similarities and differences and share these
with their classmates.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Pedagogical Processes
Learning points Strategies Classroom Interaction
Drawing Ask the children to draw a family tree showing
relationships their family members.
- Let the children use their imagination and
draw whatever they visualise.
- Let the children share their work in pairs.
They can reflect on their own work and
that of their peer.
Thereafter, draw two family trees on the
blackboard. One depicting a nuclear family and
the other a joint family. Let the children
replicate and draw their own.

Assessment for Learning

Study the family tree carefully and create your own family tree
with imagination showing:
Family tree up to 2 generations / 3 generations

Provide names to the family members.

Assessment AS Learning
Ask the children to draw a picture of their immediate family and
one of their extended family and label these.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

Activity Bag

Tell the children, “It is

your Mother’s birthday.
You are expecting some
friends and relations.
How will you
organize it? Write down
every detail starting
from the guest list to the
menu, games and
beyond.”

Let the
children sing
the song, “My
grandfather’s
clock” with
actions.
Ask the children to make a family circle:

Ask the children to make a face in the

centre of a sheet. This face represents the
child. Around it let the child make a
circle with as many in number of faces
showing the brothers, sisters and cousins.
After that comes another circle showing
parents, uncles and aunts. Then they draw
a last circle showing grandparents,
granduncles and grandaunts and so on. It
will be like the solar system with the
child as the sun.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
5 Assessment of Learning and Reflection
Assessment of learning needs to be done keeping in view the criteria of assessment such as
learning outcomes, related key concepts of a theme. This should be done after completion of a
theme. This can be undertaken in multiple ways and should include oral, written, group work,
individual work, picture reading, project work, model making, games, puzzle etc. These ways
could be:
1. Picture Reading
2. Making a list
3. Fill in the blanks
4. Data analysis/Reasoning
5. Picture puzzle
Such assessment
6. Circle the odd one out
must be kept in the
7. True and false
portfolio as this will be a
8. Choose the correct option
9. Sequencing criteria of
10. Word Grid quarterly/periodic
11. Creative description assessment of a child’s
12. Match the Columns progress and help in
13. Art work/Creative expression reporting.
14. Analogy
15. Inference making questions
16. Short answer questions
Some of the examples related to the above assessment are given below:

1. Picture Reading

CLOUD

RAIN

ROOF

WATER STORAGE

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Ask the children to look at the picture and answer the following questions:

(1) What do you see in the picture? ______________________________________

(2) Why does the house have a sloping roof?_________________________________
(3) Where is the rain water going from the roof? ______________________________
(4) Why is the rain water being collected? __________________________________

This assessment can be done individually or in group

2. Making a list

Your birthday is next week. Make a list of all the things you need to do for the event starting
with (a) guest list (b) sending out invitations etc.

(a) ---------------------------------------------- (b)---------------------------------------

(c) --------------------------------------------- (d)---------------------------------------

(e) --------------------------------------------- (f)---------------------------------------

(g) ---------------------------------------------- (h)---------------------------------------

(i) ---------------------------------------------- (j)---------------------------------------

3. Fill in the blanks

Pick out the words from the pot that relate to ‘use of water’ and fill in the blanks.

I. ……………………………….
Drinking II. ……………………………….
Cleaning Sleeping
Washing Dancing III. ……………………………….
Bathing IV. ……………………………….
Cooking Playing
Polishing V. ……………………………….
Brushing VI. ……………………………….

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

4. Reasoning

(A) Name the type of family they belong to:

(a) Amyra lives with her mother and brother ______________________
(b) Sam lives with his father, mother and sister ___________________
(c) Ali lives with his parents, grandparents, aunt and uncle___________
(d) Simi lives with her adoptive parents _______________________

(B) Write the names of your family members and your relationship with them:
Names Relationship
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------

5. Picture Puzzle

(A) Take the first letter from each picture name to find the name of a festival.

D ______ ____________ ______________ _____________ ______________ ____________

Create your own picture puzzle.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
(B) Crossword puzzle

Help save water

ACROSS
1. Don’t take long __________________.
4. Remember to __________________ water.
6. Ask someone to fix _______________ taps.

DOWN
[Link]’t keep water ____________ when not using it.
[Link] and animals need ___________ to swim.
5.___________ taps tightly to prevent water waste.

3
1 s 2r w

4c
5c
6l

6. Circle the odd one out

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

7. True and False

Write T for True or F for False in the box against the statements given below:

a) My Mother’s brother is my uncle.

b) My father’s mother is my aunt.

c) My mother’s mother is my grandmother.

d) My brother’s aunt is my aunt.

e) My aunt’s son is my cousin

8. Choose the correct option

Choose the correct word given in brackets and tick it:

a) Diwali is the festival of (colours / lights).

b) We can save water by (throwing / reusing) it.

c) We use (more/less) water to brush our teeth than to take a bath.

d) A nuclear family is (smaller/bigger) than a joint family.

e) (Crackers / Diyas) can cause health related problems.

9. Sequencing

Look at a calendar. List the sequence in which these festivals appear from January to
December.

Christmas, Republic Day, Dussera, Eid, Easter, Gandhi Jayanti, Diwali, Holi, Guru Nanak
Jayanti, Buddha Jayanti

________ ________ ________ _________ ________ ________

________ ________ ________ _________

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

10. Word Grid

In the word grid find 5 water related words and circle them. One has been done for you.

b w a s h i n g s m
r x l m o q b p n o
u q r d g n v s a p
s c o o k i n g v p
h a m c e f t u i i
i b a t h i n g n n
n t i n h r s p g g
g s w i m m i n g d
u v w z w x y m l z

11. Creative description

(A) Create / Write a short poem or story on the topic ‘My Family’ and share the same in class.

(B) Write your own poem about water and read it to your class .

Example:
Drip, Drip, Drip
Is not a good sound,
If you let it go on,
Soon no water will be found.

Don’t take long showers,

Don’t wash your car,
The water we have,
Won’t go very far.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

12. Match the Columns

EID

HOLI

CHRISTMAS

DIWALI

13. Art Work/Creative expression

Draw pictures of any two activities which you would like to do with water.
Activity 1 Activity 2

Draw a picture showing any festival celebrated at home or draw a rangoli

pattern.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

14. Analogy

(i) Grandfather: Father : : Grandmother: __________

(ii) Holi: Colour: : Diwali : __________
(iii) Independence Day: Red Fort: : Republic Day : __________
(iv) Combing: Comb: : Swimming : __________

15. Inference making questions

(a) Look at Kavya and Milan’s family tree and answer the following questions.

Grandmother Grandfather
Hema Ravi

Father Mother Aunt Uncle

Rakesh Smita Anita Rahul

Kavya Milan Cousin

Rita
1. Who are Rita’s parents?
2. Who is Kavya’s cousin?
3. Do Rita and Milan have the same grandparents?
4. Who is Rakesh’s sister?
5. How many grandchildren do Hema and Ravi have?
6. Who is Milan’s aunt?
7. How many people are there in Kavya’s family?
8. What is Kavya’s mother’s name?

(b) Study the family tree and create your own going back at least three generations.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice

16. Short answer questions

(a) There are just two buckets of water in your house. How will you use this water for
different activities in a full day.

(b) There is a scarcity of water. Which dishes can you cook with minimum use of
water?

6 Recording and reporting in EVS learning

i) Anecdotal Records
Anecdotal Records refers to written descriptions of a child’s progress that a teacher keeps on a
day-to-day basis. It provides observational narrative records of significant incidents in a child’s
life. Anecdotes are used to record specific observations of student’s behaviour, skills, attitudes as
they are related to the outcomes in the studies. Such records provide cumulative information on
children’s learning and direction for further instruction for improvement. These should be brief,
focussed and objectively written.

ii) Why Anecdotes

• Provide information on children’s development over a period of time
• Capture observations that might be over sighted
• Provide ongoing documentation of learning, which may be shared with the children,
teachers and parents

iii) Exemplar of Anecdotes Records Assessment Form

Child’s Name Evaluator’s Name
1. Dates 2. Dates
3. Dates 4. Dates
5. Dates 6. Dates
Assessment Statement (Coding)
Summary of Records: ………………………………………………………………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Recommendation of next step: ……………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
Portfolio
A Portfolio is a collection of a child’s work over a period of time. It could be kept on a regular
basis and maintained separately for each child. For easy maintenance, you can develop an
e-portfolio of each child so that the parents/ elders/ others can also see them regularly to know
the progress of their child.

e-portfolio

Pocket

Concrete Portfolio

This is one of the most important tools of assessment of the child’s progress. The Portfolio
should not contain only the best work but all kinds of work done by the child over a period
of time to show the growth and progress over the entire school year. This portfolio should
be referred to while reporting the child’s progress on a quarterly/ half yearly basis. This
portfolio also helps parents/ elders/ other teachers to know more about the child which
could not be explored/ identified by them.
In the Portfolio, the following material may be kept:
Written work – worksheets, creative writing, test papers, reports made by children,
diary, paragraphs written by children
Art/ Craft Work: paper folding, cutting, origami, children’s drawings
Collection Work: leaves/ flowers on paper sheets
Poem/Song: Poems written/ collection
Songs written/ collection

Activity- 4
• How do you record children’s progress in EVS?
• What makes EVS recording useful for children? Write five
Let us do suggestions.

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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
7 Essential tips for practitioners
Some essentials for curriculum implementation in classrooms and beyond
• For EVS transactions the teacher must be equipped with an understanding of the principles
of pedagogical processes such as:
- Easy to difficult
- Simple to complex
- Known to unknown
- Whole to part
- Child constructs her/his own knowledge
- Play /activities as the basis/strategy for learning
- Children’s discussion/sharing experiences are also learning resource other than
concrete material
- Approach of EVS must be immediate to distant in selection of context/skills
• The themes which have been given in the curriculum are not exhaustive. You can add/select
other themes as per the need and context of the children. The point here is to understand that
the curriculum should not create any kind of burden on children. ‘Age appropriateness’ is the
key to this process.
• Theme based approach has been suggested in the EVS learning. It means these must be dealt
in totality rather than in a piece meal manner. For example, if the theme ‘Water’ is initiated
in the month of July, the other chapters related to the theme ‘Water’ in other subjects need to
be done parallelly When a theme is started in the class, the classroom must be equipped
keeping in view the theme. For example, all the relevant material (concrete or visual) should
be displayed.
• Before starting the theme, a broad ‘planning’ for transaction is necessary. For example, you
must plan keeping in view the following parameters:
 What are the key concepts?
 What strategies need to be used?
 What kind of the theme map should be developed to put concepts in integration?
 What would be the learning outcomes related to the concepts?
 What kind of learning resources would be required?
 What kind of time frame is needed to achieve the learning outcomes?
While transacting the theme, the selection of pedagogy is crucial. Always follow age
appropriate strategies so that all children can be
involved.
Points to remember:
 Children’s learning experience should be used to create Always Remember
environment for brainstorming / discussion. All children are not in the habit of
asking questions. Some children
 Allow children to talk/discuss while doing activities.
might not be good in framing
 Be flexible in your approach. If any strategy does not questions or their questions
work, switch to the next one.
might be irrelevant.
 Be practical in your planning. Don’t let other children laugh or
 Ask questions from children during interaction and comment on such situations as
provide opportunities for children to raise questions. Try this would discourage them from
to encourage them to ask, explore, discuss in the class. asking questions and damage
 Questioning not only develops confidence in children but their confidence level.
also develops analytical and critical thinking.

The successful implementation of classroom transaction is that

which involves all children in the classroom activities. However, it does not mean that all children
should be kept engaged in similar work. ‘Heterogeneity’ is inevitable (you cannot have
homogeneous level of learning), and in order to give attention to all children, multilevel grouping
is required. Multilevel grouping is that setting which engages children of different learning levels.
This grouping may include 5-6 children in small group settings.
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 Unfolding the Curriculum: EVS Curriculum in Practice
This would help you in many ways:
 Provide space for children to learn at their own pace.
 Pair learning and group learning would be encouraged.
 You (teacher) would get time to monitor groups rather than pay attention to every child.
 This would facilitate self-learning and self-assessment.
 Would also help in scaffolding/feedback from elders.
• Always remember that in early grades (up to class II/III) emphasis should be laid on the
processes of learning i.e. development. These contents/concepts are the means not the end
and these may be as an exemplar and context specific.
• Transactional process in early grades is based on children’s learning experiences therefore
the transactional process in these grades is not structured and mainly follows group activities
and manipulative hands on exercises. The pedagogy in these grades must involve more than
two senses (eyes, ear, and stimuli through hands).
• Assessment during a teaching learning process (assessment for learning) is an essential and
inbuilt component of the transactional process. This means that this assessment needs to be
used both as a developmental and diagnostic strategy for learning. While developing any
concept, you need to follow some strategies such as organizing discussions, role play,
experimentation, picture reading, etc. After employing these strategies, you would like to
know whether they have understood or not, so during this process you may ask questions,
give worksheets or give some assignments. All these would be check points to know the level
of learning. Such assessment helps you in many ways:
 To identify gaps in learning
 To provide inputs/intervention timely
 To modify your teaching learning plan/strategies
 To identify strength areas of children
 To help in the assessment of learning
 To record procedures in EVS
 To make checklist
 To use anecdotal records
 To know how to maintain a portfolio
 To know what should be reported in a report card
 To reflect on your teaching.

Activity- 5
• What are the essentials of teaching learning EVS given in this
module applicable to your school context?
Let us do • Which of these are not implementable and why?

Summing Up

• The EVS curriculum follows a thematic approach rather than a disciplinary

approach. It focuses on the natural, social and cultural environment in an
integrated manner. It is a context based, age appropriate and child friendly
curriculum.
• The main objectives of EVS teaching learning are to enable children to learn
about the environment, through the environment and for the environment.
• Children learn in a variety of ways and at their own pace. They learn best when
learning is hands on and linked to real life situations.
• An EVS classroom should reflect the EVS teaching learning pedagogy.
• In order to understand curriculum transaction in EVS, exemplars are given
which show the linkage between key concepts, learning outcomes, learning
resources and classroom interactions.
• Recording and reporting of progress in EVS can be done through anecdotal
records, portfolios and teacher’s diaries.

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