Abstract
One of the most important and at the same time the most difficult phases of project teaching is its initiation. It is important for pupils to assume their responsibility for their own education at this stage.
The aim of this paper is to present a case study of teaching carried out in a group of pupils of the 3rd - 5th grade at elementary school Hůrka in Kutná Hora. Gradual development of topics was used in the lessons.
This was based on questions and interest of the pupils, who were given room for their own research and experiment. This not only increased the autonomy of pupils' activities and assumed responsibility for their learning and management, but also the natural acquisition of knowledge in the context.
The original content of the lesson, which was working with natural dyes, gradually resulted in several new, related topics of natural science character. The starting point for the development of the topics were the principles of intuitive pedagogy, specifically the pedagogical observation of the pupils' current interests, which set the direction and methods of teaching.
Individual teaching steps were analyzed with respect to the theoretical background of project teaching with regard to the activity of the involved participants. In the process of solving, the activity of pupils and their initiative in solving increased.
The gradual development of topics seems to be an effective strategy to increase pupils' interest in specific educational content and thus to initiate the project as a pupil's activity.