№ 157
Gulia Khabibullina,
teacher of kindergarten No. 230 in Kazan
In the modern world, the complexities of the relationship between man and the environment are in the center of attention of all humanity. How not to lose the natural balance due to your own negligence in relation to the environment? When should you start learning about environmental rules and regulations?
A caring attitude towards nature and all living things must be taught from an early age. During the period of preschool childhood, in the process of targeted pedagogical influence in children, it is possible to form the beginnings of an ecological culture - a consciously correct attitude towards the phenomena, objects of living and inanimate nature that make up their immediate environment during this period of life.
Preschool age is the initial stage in the formation of a person’s personality and his value orientation in the world around him. One of the tasks of teachers in environmental education of children is to formulate the concept that everything in nature is interconnected, and a person should not violate this relationship so as not to harm the animal and plant world.
In preschool children, visual-effective and visual-figurative types of thinking predominate. They allow preschoolers to successfully master the information provided to them. An undoubted condition is the selection, processing and simplification of information about the world around us. And the process of introducing a child to nature should be carried out in an interesting playful way, causing emotional joy from receiving new information about natural phenomena.
Play is a colossal factor in the education and development of a child’s personality. Gradually, among preschoolers, the leading motive for play becomes an increasing cognitive interest in the surrounding reality, which should be supported by an expansion of ideas about the external environment. One of the ways to satisfy children's curiosity, expand knowledge about nature, and involve children in active knowledge of the world around them can be the introduction of role-playing games into their lives.
Role-playing game as a means of environmental education is a game organized by a teacher, aimed at understanding the surrounding world, updating existing environmental knowledge, clarifying ideas obtained during observations in nature, and reproducing events read in the literature.
The main feature of a role-playing game is the presence of an imaginary situation in it. The imaginary situation consists of a plot and roles. The plot reveals the content of the game. Thus, this creative game has the following structural components: plot, content, role. An ecological role-playing game is subject to the same requirements. The teacher chooses a simple, short plot of the game that is understandable for preschoolers, which should be built on the children’s existing natural history knowledge. The attributes used in the game must fully correspond to the intended educational purpose, as well as the organized situational space. The teacher participates in the game, showing in a playful way patterns of behavior in the situation, thereby leading the game unnoticed by the child. Gradually, children learn to play independently, develop the plot from their own point of view, learn to interact with each other, and solve environmental problems and problematic situations.
There are a sufficient number of role-playing games aimed at developing correct ideas about interaction with nature in preschool practice. Let's give examples of some of them.
All children love to play with toys, playing out various situations. Taking this truth as a basis, the teacher can develop a game with animal toys, for example, the role-playing game “Excursion to the Zoo.” The game begins with the selection of animal toys that will live in the zoo. Cages for animals are built from construction sets, cubes or other materials, and child caretakers for the animals are selected. The teacher can take on the role of a guide, telling children who come on an excursion to the zoo about the way of life of animals, about caring for them, you can mention the Red Book, if the animals listed in it are kept in the zoo. To complicate the game, you can expand the number of roles: janitor, cashier, driver who brought food for the animals. By analogy with the game described, the game “Excursion to the Circus” is organized.
Another game with animal toys can be the role-playing game “On the Farm”. With its help, you can consolidate children's knowledge about domestic animals, how to care for them, about the professions of people caring for animals (farmer, shepherd, livestock breeder). As the game develops, you can introduce new roles: a tractor driver who brings hay, grass for animals, a driver who brings feed and takes milk to a store or kindergarten, thereby expanding the relationship between the farm and the outside world.
Similar to a livestock farm, the teacher can organize a game “Vegetable Garden”. A play space (beds) is organized from available materials, and substitute items necessary for work are selected (shovels, rakes, buckets, watering cans, scissors, etc.). By playing out the plot, children expand and consolidate their knowledge about vegetables and fruits, how to care for them, protect them from pests, update their knowledge of professions in demand for working in the garden, and develop the skill of harvesting. To develop and complicate the plot, you can connect this game with the role-playing games “Weekend at the dacha”, “Vegetable fair”, “Fruit and vegetable store”, “Restaurant”, “Cafe”, “Dining room”, “Family preparing dinner”.
When thinking through the role-playing game “Building a City,” you need to remember about the environmental components in the city; in addition to the buildings of houses and streets, there are green spaces along the streets, alleys, and forest parks. You can equip a pond with waterfowl in the park, thereby developing knowledge about how to behave in the green zone of the city, about caring for plants and animals. To expand the plot, you can build a pet store in the city, playing with the children about buying a new pet, linking it with another game of “Family,” or building a veterinary clinic, to develop responsiveness and a responsible attitude towards their pets in preschoolers. The teacher can lead the children to the fact that in the built city there live many animals that are in trouble, based on this, the game “Animal Rescue Service” is organized.
Do not forget about the use of travel games to educate preschool children’s environmental culture. To develop a sustainable interest in the game, you can introduce a literary character, through him a problematic situation is posed, during the resolution of which a friendly relationship between children and nature develops. The plot-role-playing game “Sea Voyage” - the hero invites children on a sea voyage, with his help the children’s knowledge of the inhabitants of the sea is improved, what threat can hang over the animals. How will the children find a way out of the situation? They will take on the role of adults (ship captain, sailor, veterinarian, signalman, tour guide, scuba divers, scientist), thereby proving the relationship between human actions and the state of nature.
Another travel game could be the idea of rescuing animals in the forest, for example, “Fire in the Forest.” To help animals, children take on the roles of firefighters, doctors, rescuers, and drivers. During the game, the human influence on natural integrity and safety is established, and ideas about caring for the animal world are expanded. By analogy with such a game, the plot-role-playing game “Hike into the Forest” is built. Children choose a driver who takes them on a bus to the forest; as the plot develops, various natural problem situations arise, solved by the children who take on the roles of rescuers, doctors, ecologists, etc., thereby preschoolers update their knowledge about the rules of behavior in forest, caring attitude towards living and inanimate nature. Problem situations can be different: “Save chicks from a burning tree”, “Free a duck from a fishing net”, “Help a hare who has broken a leg”, “How to properly make a fire in the forest”, “Clear a spring of drinking water”, etc.
During role-playing games, children update existing information about nature, acquire new knowledge about different forms of life, accumulate emotional impressions about nature, and broaden their horizons. During such games, the teacher sees the child’s attitude to the surrounding reality, and at the same time has the opportunity to react in a timely manner and direct the actions and behavior of the preschooler in the right direction. A role-playing game will be successful only in the case of constant systematic organization of gaming activities.
The Federal State Educational Standard presupposes the development of the prerequisites for the value-semantic perception of the natural world, the formation of an aesthetic attitude towards the surrounding world, the implementation of independent creative activity of children, one of such methods can be considered a game, as a form of active creative reflection by children of the environment, the relationships in it between living and inanimate objects, and a person.
In the preschool period, a child may develop an initial understanding of certain aspects of human interaction with nature: a person as a living being in need of well-defined vital conditions, a person as a user of nature, consuming the Earth’s resources, protecting nature and, as far as possible, restoring its wealth.
What will our children be like? - depends only on us. If we, teachers, create the most favorable conditions for the development of a consciously correct attitude towards the surrounding reality, arouse interest in natural phenomena, and support and preserve it in children, then we will see an emotional response in preschoolers to the beauty of the living and inanimate natural environment, which, perhaps , will, in turn, lead to children learning to love nature and take care of our planet.
Games with rules and their role in environmental education of children
In developing children's emotional and interested attitude towards nature, the teacher uses not only role-playing games, but also all other types of games.
Games with rules - moving, plot-moving, didactic (tabletop-printed, verbal, etc.) - are of great developmental importance
Research by N. Ya. Mikhailenko, N.A. Korotkova, O. Petrova showed that the central link of such games - the rules - is the main factor in the developmental impact on children. The child learns to subordinate his behavior to rules, i.e. develops voluntariness. It is the rules that encourage the child to be active: to focus his attention on the game task, to quickly respond (with movement, in words) to the game situation. The rules force children to obey circumstances - to give up the place of the leader in time, to the loser to leave the game, to monitor the results of other participants.
Organizing games with rules requires the participation of an adult - his role is especially important in the first stages, when a new game is introduced and children must understand its content and rules, and then master them in order to easily apply them in practice. In the game, an adult plays two roles: a participant with equal rights with the children and an organizer. An adult is the bearer of gaming skills, therefore unquestioning and constant (but friendly) compliance with the rules is the main condition for organizing and conducting such games. At first, the teacher reminds the children of the rules of the game before it starts and clarifies them as the game progresses.
The second condition that allows children to easily join the game and obey its rules is its frequent, repeated repetition. This is what provides the players with a positive emotional tone and a high degree of arbitrariness in behavior. Frequent repetition of the game develops children's independence - they begin to play it without an adult.
The teacher must remember that learning the rules and subordinating their behavior to them is not easy for children: they quickly begin to notice their partners breaking the rules and do not notice how they themselves break them. Therefore, repeating the rules, patiently explaining them, and clarifying them for quite a long time are an organizational point.
In playing with rules, children learn ways to interact with each other and regulate joint activities (for example, objectively - using a counting rhyme - to determine the beginner or the driver). Mastering games with rules for older preschoolers is a way to enter the children's community: children who know the games, know how to organize them, are fair in following the rules to themselves and others, easily find friends, and enjoy authority among children. The inability to play is a personal trauma for a child, as he is rejected by his peers, his self-esteem decreases, and negativism arises, which is difficult to correct psychologically and pedagogically.
Among games with rules, didactic games have been studied more than others (A.I. Sorokina, V.N. Avanesova, V.A. Dryazgunova, A.K. Bondarenko, Z.M. Boguslavskaya, E.O. Smirnova, etc.). All researchers recognize the important educational and developmental function of didactic games. A.K. Bondarenko emphasizes: such a game can be considered as a teaching method, as a form of organizing training. It is an independent play activity and has a comprehensive impact on the development of the child’s personality. The researcher identifies the structure of the game: didactic task, game rules, game actions.
Considering the importance of a game with rules, the first place in its structure, apparently, should be given to the rules that determine its course and effectiveness. Then - game actions that create interest and evoke an emotional response from the participants in the game. And only in third place can a didactic task be placed. Conventionally, we can say that game rules and game actions are components of the structure of the game for children, and the didactic task is a component of its structure for adults, since it is he who determines what, with the help of the content of the game, can be developed in children (what knowledge, skills to consolidate). , skills). In independent play activities, children want to enjoy the game, so they are guided by play actions and clear rules and, of course, are not guided by the didactic task.
In environmental education, games with rules can occupy an important place in the overall system. They provide an opportunity to present various natural phenomena obtained during observations and reading literature. Such games can play a big role in the development of various mental skills of preschoolers: the ability to analyze, compare, classify, and categorize.
With the kids, the teacher conducts very simple outdoor games, one way or another based on ideas about nature. These games reinforce the first grains of knowledge that children gain through observation.
With older preschoolers, the teacher can play various printed board games (“Zoological Lotto”, etc.), giving them the opportunity to play independently only when they have learned to strictly follow the rules.
Verbal and didactic games can be varied - they can brighten up leisure time, a walk in the rain, forced waiting, and do not require any conditions or equipment. They are best carried out with older preschoolers who already have a fairly wide range of ideas about nature and in whom an image of an object appears behind a word. These games intensively develop thinking: flexibility and dynamism of ideas, the ability to attract and use existing knowledge, the ability to compare and combine objects according to a variety of criteria. They develop attention and reaction speed.
Games of riddle-descriptions are interesting - in them children practice their ability to identify the characteristic features of an object, name them in words, and develop attention.
There are a number of collections from which the teacher can choose games with natural content, with the didactic task needed at the time.
Questions for self-control
1. What is the connection between play and children’s familiarization with nature?
2. What is the importance of play in preschool childhood? Why should it be used in environmental education of children? Can play be a method of environmental education? What educational results can be obtained using this method?
3. How do role-playing games differ from games with rules? How are these and other games used in environmental education of children?
Lecture 7. Game-based learning situation (GTS)
Plan
1. The use of role-playing games in environmental education.
2. Types of IOS
1. The use of role-playing games in environmental education.
A plot game is a reproduction of events occurring in life or in a literary work. These events involve people or characters in works. Research by teachers and psychologists has revealed the structure of a role-playing game, which includes such elements as an imaginary situation, plot, roles, role-playing words and actions, play actions with attributes and toys.
In the developed form of independent play activity of older preschoolers, all these elements are functionally interconnected in a single game process. The main condition of the game is that children have knowledge about one side or another of reality, about the activities of people in it, and their specific situational behavior. This knowledge (or knowledge of a literary work) serves as a source for constructing the plot of the game, the implementation of roles, and role relationships. Two forms of role-playing games can be distinguished: independent games and games organized by the teacher, taking place under his leadership. Widespread use of the latter in the pedagogical process ensures the development of the former.
A game as a method of environmental education is a game specially organized by the teacher and introduced into the process of learning about nature and interacting with it. This form of educational play between a teacher and children, which has a specific didactic goal, can be called a play-based learning situation (GTS).
IOS is a full-fledged, but specially organized plot-role-playing game. It is characterized by the following points:
— it has a short and simple plot, built on the basis of life events or a fairy tale or literary work that is well known to preschoolers;
— equipped with the necessary toys and paraphernalia; space and subject environment are specially organized for it;
- the content of the game contains a didactic goal, an educational task, to which all its components are subordinated - plot, role-playing interaction of characters, etc.;
- the teacher conducts the game: announces the name and plot, distributes roles, takes on one role and plays it, supports an imaginary situation in accordance with the plot;
- the teacher leads the entire game: monitors the development of the plot, the children’s performance of roles, role relationships; saturates the game with role-playing dialogues and game actions, through which the didactic goal is achieved.
2.Types of game-based learning situations (GTS)
A study by I. A. Komarova showed that the optimal form of including role-playing games in the process of introducing preschoolers to nature are game-based learning situations (GTS), which are created by the teacher to solve specific didactic problems of natural history classes and observations.
Three types of IOS have been identified , the use of which has different didactic capabilities. These are IOS built using analogue toys; dolls depicting literary characters; various variants of the “Journey” plot.
The main characteristic of the first type of is the use of analogue toys that depict various natural objects. It should be noted that there is a huge variety of animal toys and a very limited number of plant toys. The main point of using this kind of toys is to compare a living object with a non-living analogue.
In this case, the toy helps to distinguish between ideas of a fairy-tale-toy and realistic nature, helps to understand the specifics of the living, and develop the ability to act correctly (in different ways) with a living object and object. The latter characteristic makes it possible in some cases to use toys as handouts (children can pick up a toy fish, but cannot pick up a live fish that swims in an aquarium), which is especially important for younger preschoolers.
Creating game situations with analogue toys comes down to comparing a living object with a toy image according to a variety of parameters: appearance, living conditions, method of functioning (behavior), method of interaction with it.
Attention should be paid to the parallel use of a toy and a living object. A toy does not replace anyone; just like an animal (or plant), it concentrates attention and is equally a meaningful element of learning, which creates favorable conditions for finding differences.
A variety of IOS included in classes have shown that an analogue toy can be used for didactic purposes in the formation of realistic ideas about animals in children of different preschool ages. What is important is the way it is included in the lesson, when the toy is contrasted with either a living animal or an animal realistically depicted in a painting. The moment of contrast ensures the separation of fairy-tale-toy and realistic tendencies in knowledge about this type of animal. At the same time, it is important that the use of a toy in a lesson fully corresponds to its functional purposes: the toy helps to create play situations, reproduce play actions, and role-playing relationships.
Note that the use of analogue toys may be more successful in some cases and less successful in others. Their presence is appropriate whenever the conversation in class is based on specific knowledge acquired during the observation process. Analog toys are especially effective when direct communication with an animal is impossible. Children are happy to hold a toy fish, bird, or bunny in their hands, since the opportunity to pick up live such animals is excluded. And, conversely, they pay little attention to a toy puppy if there is a live dog in the lesson that they can pet and hold by the paw.
So, the materials show that a figurative toy can perform a certain didactic function in the environmental educational process of a kindergarten. It becomes an important attribute of classes in which children acquire knowledge about animals and plants. In this case, the requirements for it are as follows. The toy must be identifiable
- regardless of the material and type of execution, it should show the characteristic species-typical features of the structure of an animal or plant, mainly the shape of individual parts of the object, by which a specific species is recognized.
The toy must be aesthetically pleasing
- meet modern design requirements and evoke positive emotions in the child. When working on the creation of IOS and their inclusion in the practice of environmental education, teachers can use suitable toys as demonstration and handout material.
For example, children in the older group look at a picture in which a mother bear bathes a bear cub in the river, grabbing him by the collar with her teeth. The teacher is faced with a program task: to form in preschoolers realistic ideas about the life of a brown bear in the forest. The teacher brings a soft toy—a cute bear—to class and says that he doesn’t want to live in kindergarten anymore, doesn’t want to sit on a shelf and eat porridge from a doll’s bowl. He wants to go into the forest and live there like real bears - the dolls told him about this. An adult invites the children to tell the toy bear everything they know about brown bears, about their life in the forest at different times of the year, show him a picture, explain what a forest is, what a mother bear and a bear cub do and why.
What happens after the inclusion of an analogue toy in the learning process of preschoolers? How does the situation affect the children? What happens is this:
Children develop a positive emotional state when they see a cute toy and its intentions.
Preschoolers get involved in the game (they are always ready for it) and are surprised at the “naivety” of the bear - after all, at the age of 5-6 they have some experience in visiting the forest and know something about bears.
The cognitive and speech activity of children increases: they willingly tell the toy everything they know, what they see in the picture, listen carefully to the additions and explanations of the teacher, who tells not them, but the little bear, how difficult it is to live in the forest, how brown bears get food, how they lie down on winter in a den, how a mother bear gives birth to cubs at this time and how she takes care of them.
By including this IOS in the lesson, the teacher achieves the following pedagogical effect.
· Full implementation of the didactic task: the vast majority of children gain an understanding of the life and adaptability of the brown bear (its structure, behavior, lifestyle, size) to various environmental factors, the main of which are the forest ecosystem and seasonally changing weather and climatic conditions.
· Clarification and deepening of ideas about the difference between a living animal and a toy, dividing fairy-tale-toy and realistic ideas.
· Easy and highly effective training for preschoolers thanks to play motivation and the inclusion of an indirect learning mechanism: all information about brown bears was transferred to the bear, the teacher did not teach the children, he taught the toy together with them.
· Rapid activation of the intellectual capabilities and abilities of all preschool children.
· Development of children's play activity: the teacher acted with the toy, spoke for it, and conducted a dialogue with it.
Using the game method, the teacher, however, achieved the effect thanks to the correct combination of techniques in this IOS and special training:
· thought out the plot of the game, which included the program content of the lesson;
· chose a cute toy, thought through its actions and words;
· during the lesson he played two roles at the same time - a bear and a teacher, easily switched from one to another;
· performed playful actions with the toy: turned the bear cub towards the talking children (he listens to them), brought it to the picture (he examines it), showed objects in the picture with his paw, was capricious (“I want to go to the forest, I want to go to the forest”, “I want to go to the den” …" etc.).
For a greater learning effect, the teacher should leave the toy and picture in the group for 1 - 2 days and allow them to be used in the game. In this case, the children will definitely play and reinforce the content that they learned in the lesson (they will train the bear, they will find a mother bear for him, they will feed him honey and raspberries, they will show him bushes and trees on the site, they will teach him to climb them, they will build a den from snow, etc.).
The teacher will achieve significant results in children’s understanding and assimilation of material if they use the technique of comparing the structural features of a toy and a real animal. For example, the teacher says to the bear, looking at the children: “You cannot live in the forest - you are small, you will not be able to find food or protect yourself. Bears are huge and strong animals (points with his hand above himself).
Look at your paws. Where are your claws? And the brown bear has strong paws with huge claws. With a blow of his paw he can kill a deer. With the help of their claws, the cubs climb the tree. Open your mouth, show your teeth. What? You don't open it! He probably has no teeth at all, but he’s heading off to the forest! Etc."
The second type of IOS is associated with the use of dolls depicting characters from literary works that are well known to children. An analysis of the practice of conducting classes in preschool institutions to familiarize children with nature in different age groups, specially undertaken by I.A. Komarova, showed that educators often use story toys: dolls, characters from familiar fairy tales (Pinocchio, Dunno, Parsley, etc.), to arouse interest and attract children's attention to the didactic purpose of the lesson. At the same time, it was discovered that the role of game characters in learning is extremely small: they mainly perform an entertainment function, and in some cases even interfere with solving the program tasks of the lesson. Meanwhile, the heroes of their favorite fairy tales, short stories, and filmstrips are perceived by children emotionally, excite the imagination, and become objects of imitation. This is indicated by many researchers who have studied the influence of literary works on the play of preschoolers and their behavior (T.A. Markova, D.V. Mendzheritskaya, L.P. Bochkareva, O.K. Zinchenko, A.M. Vinogradova, etc.) .
I.A. Komarova made the assumption that dolls - characters of some fairy tales, based on their literary biography, can be successfully used in natural history classes. For this purpose, Cippolino, Dunno, and Carlson were chosen. The choice of these characters is not accidental.
Cippolino, the hero of the fairy tale of the same name by G. Rodari, is very attractive to children. They like him for his courage, resourcefulness, and friendliness. In addition, its resemblance to an onion helps to better understand the difference between a natural vegetable and its toy image. Cippolino knows a lot about vegetables, and children are always happy to meet him: they are sure that Cippolino will tell something interesting.
Carlson is, in a sense, the antipode of Cippolino. He is familiar to children from the book by Astrid Lindgren and from the cartoon as a braggart, a spoiler and a merry fellow.
Dunno, the hero of N. Nosov’s book, bears his name for a reason. He boasts a lot about his abilities, but in fact, he is often unable to solve the simplest problems.
It was assumed that these fairy-tale characters would be used in classes not for the purpose of entertainment, but as factors that ensure the solution of didactic problems, i.e., the dolls should fit into the course of classes based on the program content. The research of L.P. Strelkova, who studied the influence of literary works on the emotional development of preschool children, demonstrates not only the relevance, but also the expediency of holding games-conversations between children and dolls after reading fairy tales. At the same time, the researcher considers it quite appropriate when talking with children to go beyond the plot of fairy tales, to transfer conversations to real events in the lives of children, their manifestations in a group of peers. The author strongly emphasizes: an adult should speak on behalf of a negative character; children imitate only positive characters and thereby practice good deeds at the level of pronunciation and emotional assessments.
The selected literary characters are interesting because with their help you can activate the cognitive activity of children. The literary biography of each of them allows us to use either his strong (Cippolino's awareness) or weak (ignorance of Dunno) sides of their behavior in the fairy tale. Thus, a literary character brought to the lesson is just a cute toy that entertains the children, but also a character with a certain character. He is interesting to children because in a completely new situation he shows his previous typical characteristics, in other words, he acts in his role. This is why Carlson and Dunno find themselves in situations where the knowledge and help of children is needed. These moments are especially good because preschoolers change their position: from being taught, they turn into teaching. Changing positions acts as a positive learning factor - children’s mental activity is activated. In a traditional lesson, the teacher is always above the children: he asks questions, teaches, explains, tells - he is an adult and smarter. But when Dunno and Carlson ask “stupid” questions, make ridiculous assumptions, and show complete ignorance of events, the children are already above them. This ratio gives preschoolers confidence, they gain authority in their own eyes. Children do not take into account what kind of Dunno the teacher is talking about - they are at the mercy of the game situation, and therefore confidently and extensively speak out, complement, explain, and thereby practice applying their knowledge, clarifying and consolidating it. In other words, using a character doll based on his literary biography is an indirect form of teaching children
entirely based on the fairly strong play motivation of preschoolers.
The third type of IOS is various versions of the travel game: “Trip to an exhibition”, “Expedition to Africa (to the North Pole)”, “Excursion to the zoo”, “Journey to the sea”, etc. In all cases, this is a plot-based didactic game (or its fragments), included in classes, observations, work. Essentially, all kinds of travel is the only type of game, the plot and roles of which allow children to learn directly,
transfer of new knowledge. In each specific case, the plot of the game assumes the following: children visit new places, get acquainted with new phenomena and objects as excursionists, tourists, visitors, etc. As part of role-playing behavior, children examine, listen to explanations, and “take photographs.” The teacher, taking on the role of a tour guide, leader of a tourist group, experienced traveler, etc., tells and shows the preschoolers everything new for which they set off on their journey. In IOS of this type, paraphernalia in the form of homemade cameras, telescopes and binoculars is of great help: children fit into the role better and perform more game actions. “Optical devices”, due to the fact that they limit the viewing space with a lens, create good visual conditions for observation. In addition, photographing involves making “photographs”—children creating art products based on their impressions.
All designated types of play-based learning situations require the teacher to prepare: thinking about the plot of play actions with toys, dolls, paraphernalia, techniques for creating and maintaining an imaginary situation, and emotional entry into the role. Even if learning using ITS in some cases goes beyond the allotted time, children do not get tired, since good performance of the game, creating a positive emotional mood, provides maximum developmental effect.
So, a game as a method of environmental education is a game specially organized by the teacher and included in the process of learning about nature and interacting with it. This form of educational game between a teacher and children, which has a specific didactic goal, i.e. game learning situation is characterized by the following:
1. has a short and simple plot, built on the basis of life events or a fairy-tale literary work that is well known to preschoolers;
2. the game uses the necessary toys and paraphernalia; space and subject environment are specially organized for it;
3. the content of the game contains a didactic goal and an educational task, to which all its components are subordinated - plot, role-playing interaction of characters, etc.;
4. The teacher conducts the game: announces the title and plot, distributes roles, takes on one role and plays it throughout the entire IOS, supports an imaginary situation in accordance with the plot;
5. -the teacher directs the entire game: monitors the development of the plot, the children’s performance of roles, role relationships, saturates the game with role-playing dialogues and game actions, through which the didactic goal is achieved.
Questions for self-control
1. What is a game-based learning situation? What are its main characteristics?
2. What types of IOS can be distinguished?
3. How should a teacher prepare to conduct different IOS?
4. What is the connection between play activities and environmental education of children?
5. How is ITS carried out with analogue toys? What is their significance for environmental education of children?
6. What is the specificity of IOS with literary characters? What is a literary biography of a hero? What characters can be used in IOS?
7. What role do “knowing” and “ignorant” game characters play in the didactic process of teaching children?
8. How should a teacher prepare to perform IOS with a literary character? What does a good teacher's play give to children?
Lecture 8. Verbal methods of teaching environmental education to preschoolers
Plan:
1. The importance of using the verbal method in environmental education. 2. Types of verbal methods:
2.1. Teacher's story.
2.2. Conversation
2.3. Use of fiction.
2.4 Speech logical tasks.
3. The use of folklore in environmental education
1. Nature offers extremely great opportunities for educating preschool children .
Excursions, hikes, walks, studying works of art dedicated to nature are traditional activities in this direction. However, just being among nature is not enough. You must be able to see the beauty of nature and experience it emotionally. This ability gradually develops. During walks, hikes, and work in the garden, the teacher needs to draw the pupils’ attention to the richness of nature, the perfection and harmony of its forms, to cultivate the need not only to admire nature, but also to treat it with care.
Verbal methods include stories from the teacher and children, reading works of art about nature, and conversations. Verbal methods are used to expand children's knowledge about nature, systematize and generalize it. Verbal methods help to form in children an emotionally positive attitude towards nature.
When introducing children to nature, they use the teacher’s story, reading an artistic natural history book, and conversation. A number of problems are solved using verbal methods. Knowledge about natural phenomena known to children and facts from the life of animals and plants, obtained in the process of observations and work in nature, is concretized, replenished, and clarified. Children gain knowledge about new phenomena and objects of nature (for example, about floods, about the way of life of animals in the forest, etc.). Verbal methods must be combined with visual ones, using pictures, films and films. The word helps to deepen and understand the connections and dependencies that exist in nature. Verbal methods make it possible to form knowledge that goes beyond the experience of children. Using verbal methods, children’s knowledge about nature is systematized and generalized, and natural history concepts are formed.
When using verbal methods, the teacher takes into account the children’s ability to understand speech, long-term voluntary attention and concentration on the content conveyed by the word, as well as the presence of vivid specific ideas about a particular phenomenon or fact that will be the subject of discussion, clarification, and systematization.
At early preschool age, children in joint activities are more observers than performers, and yet it is at this age that the pattern of interaction with nature is decisive: children hear and absorb the gentle conversation of an adult with animals and plants, calm and clear explanations about what and how to do, they see the actions of the teacher and willingly take part in them. For example, having invited two or three children to participate in watering indoor plants, the teacher says something like this: “Come with me to the window, look at our plant, talk to them and water them. (comes to the window). Hello, flowers! How are you feeling? Are they not frozen or dry? No, everything is fine - you are green and beautiful. Look how good our plants are, how nice it is to look at them? (touches the soil in the pot). Dry soil. But they need water - they are alive, without water they will dry out! Let's water them." The teacher gives each child a watering can with a little water in it, waters everything himself, saying: “We will pour water into the pot, drink the flower as much as you want and continue to grow - we will admire you!” Children's participation in this joint activity means that they listen to the teacher's speech, observe his actions, hold watering cans, together fill them with water and put them in place. The teacher takes care of the plant in front of the children and together with them - this is an example of interaction with nature.
From the very beginning of the year, the teacher in both the first and second junior groups repeatedly tells and acts out fairy tales with bi-ba-bo dolls, starting with the turnip. The grandfather, who grew a good turnip in his garden, “comes” to a lesson with a “fruit and vegetable” theme (not only turnips grow in his garden, but apples and various berries grow in his garden), introduces children to a variety of fruits, and participates in examines them, gives them a try and generally treats children kindly. The theme of domestic animals is easy to imagine with the help of the woman and grandfather from “The Ryaba Hen,” who, in addition to chickens, have a cow, a goat, a horse and other animals. Either a grandfather or a woman comes to class, they talk about a cow with a calf, or a goat with kids, show how they feed them with grass, hay, and water. The teacher gives the children the opportunity to participate in these operations as assistants - they feed toy cows and goats hay, graze them, build barns for them, and imitate their actions and sounds. This game allows children to explore rural reality, develops their gaming skills, imagination, and consolidates their knowledge of fairy tales.
