After two years of painstaking research, on April 17, Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School in Huangpu District handed over a new book "Wonderful Tree - Interdisciplinary Theme Learning Cases for Lower Primary Schools", which was written by a group of young subject teachers and lovely second-grade students of the school.
When you open this new book bound in green, you can easily be infected by the children's whimsical ideas: why is the trunk of a tree cylindrical? How do maple seeds fly? Why do trees grow different skins? Why are evergreen trees evergreen all year round? Why do cedar trees grow so tall? What are the particulars of street trees in Shanghai? Under the guidance of the curriculum standards, the school's interdisciplinary team integrates Chinese, mathematics, nature, art and other subjects, and on the basis of the interdisciplinary theme learning of "Plant Mothers Have a Way" in the first grade, the school uses "Wonderful Trees" As the theme, the second grade students were led to understand the tree, research the tree, the application tree, and the imagination tree, and carried out a series of interdisciplinary theme learning activities.
What is interdisciplinary learning? In the process of exploration, practice and precipitation, teachers gradually have their own answers: interdisciplinarity is not a platter of multidisciplinary combinations, nor is it a shallow transfer of knowledge, but from the perspective of students' learning and development, based on disciplines, beyond disciplines, based on disciplines, and actively cross-border. Mr. He Chunqiu, the head of interdisciplinary learning at the school, introduced that the school started from the first grade and gradually advanced in the past two years, organizing a series of theme activities based on disciplines and systematically advanced, "enhancing students' sense of participation, awakening teachers' awareness of overall education, and promoting the overall construction of the school curriculum".
The classroom is the main front of interdisciplinary learning, and the teachers of nature, Chinese and art work together to guide: the relevant knowledge of natural subjects provides rich writing content, the Chinese classroom learns how to express in words, and the art discipline expands and enriches the way of expression, adds interest and enhances aesthetics. In the Nature class, students study trees, in the Art class, draw ideas about trees, in the Math class, learn how to measure and calculate data related to trees, and in the Chinese class, they learn to write a research report on trees.
So, how exactly is this interdisciplinary "wonderful tree" "cultivated"? First of all, it is the tree of understanding. The Chinese, nature, and art teachers worked together to guide the children to complete the "Nature Notes", and the detailed observation and full understanding made the students' "Tree Friends" more vivid and real. In the process of getting to know the tree, the students developed a strong interest in the tree and asked various questions, and the teacher encouraged the children to write micro-research reports, to drive the research process with tasks, and to learn to think like scientists. All second-year students are asked questions, which are worth researching, and then they are asked to investigate, observe, and experiment in teams to test their conjectures, draw conclusions, and develop life associations. In addition, it is a new attempt to learn and explore from real trees to applying tree diagrams: "tree" speaks of the Three Kingdoms, "tree" speaks of the zodiac, and "tree" speaks of traditional festivals...... All kinds of eye-catching tree drawings came into being from the children's pen.
With the joint efforts of teachers, students, and parent volunteers, every second-grade student participated in "planting trees": the research footprint extended from the classroom to the streets, and in the past two years, a total of 207 nature notes, 231 tree diagrams, 264 creative tree drawings and essays, and 17 group research projects were completed together.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the guidance and cultivation of interest in science should start from the child, and cultivate young people with the potential of scientists and willing to dedicate themselves to scientific research. In the view of Wu Rongjin, Secretary of the Party Branch and Principal of Luwan No. 1 Central Primary School in Huangpu District, practice has proved that from the first grade, students can be fully exercised in fun-filled activities. "Enlightening scientific thoughts, cultivating core literacy, transcending disciplinary boundaries, and exploring real problems are exactly the goals of our interdisciplinary thematic learning. ”
"This is a vivid demonstration of Huangpu Education's continuous innovation and reform. Guo Jinhua, director of the Huangpu District Education Bureau, believes that interdisciplinary learning is not only about knowledge, but also about the practice of life skills. Last year, Huangpu District was approved by the Ministry of Education as an experimental area for compulsory education teaching reform, "interdisciplinary learning is also a reform experiment that we need to focus on." He hopes that more schools and teachers in the district will explore the various possibilities of interdisciplinary teaching and learning, so as to open up a broader world of learning and development for students.
"You have opened a new window for children to explore the world. Yang Zhenfeng, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, expressed his deep appreciation for the exploration and practice of the school's teaching team in interdisciplinary projects, and also placed more far-reaching expectations: continue to play an exemplary and leading role in the field of interdisciplinary teaching, further strengthen the construction of the teaching team, and continuously improve the interdisciplinary teaching ability of teachers, and make good use of the interdisciplinary teaching model to promote the comprehensive, balanced and high-quality development of students, so that children can have an international vision and innovative spirit.