Interdisciplinary+Studies


 * Interdisciplinary Studies **

For those of your wondering what interdisciplinary studies are, it is linking different curriculum/subject areas together in a meaningful way to help students learn, much like the way we learn in the real world.

In the midst of teaching what our state and districts require, sometimes using this interdisciplinary study way is challenging, but it can be done. These connections don’t have to be huge projects, but could be presented in a variety of different ways.

In your area of teaching, how do you incorporate different subject areas within your curriculum? Is this easy or difficult for you to do with your students? Why or why not?

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I try to incorporate different subject areas within my curriculum but I find it somewhat difficult because for almost 10 years I have taught specific subject areas in isolation. For the past couple of years however in order to try to “fit in” everything that we are asked to teach I have tried to incorporate science and social studies topics into my literature block rather than teaching them in isolation. I have also been incorporating more reading and writing into my math lessons. I think with more time and like everything else with more practice this will get easier. I noticed that this year I find myself thinking more about science and social studies units as I plan my reading and writing activities. I still struggle to fit everything in because I still have a lot of changes to make in my teaching in order to completely incorporate all subject areas. Just about the time I feel comfortable administration will decide we have to make other changes to the way we teach and to the curriculum we have to teach. =====

Jennifer In the area of art it is really easy. I often read stories and have the characters come to life. For example we made paper dust bunnies from the series “Dust Bunnies”. I have also had students create a page of a book in the style of Eric Carle, the author and artist. They make the paper first by painting colors on paper then do the cutting a gluing to create an image or images. After they create a picture I have them write a story to go with it. Most recently our fourth graders learned a bit of geometry when we used a compass to create different size circles. We learned about the circumference, diameter, and radius of a circle. We cut out the circles and cut the radius as well. I showed the students that by folding the circle into itself you can create a cone. The students then created their own cone sculptures on a tag board base. The students really love it when we work on something they are learning in their classrooms, because they get to tell me what they know and are learning. In my opinion an experienced teacher can easily integrate any subject if they want to.

Irene

I often do this in ESL, as students need to learn the language of every subject area. If I can find materials that support the units being studied in math, social studies or science, I’m glad to be able to use them. I have these great books by National Geographic that are short, but engaging. They are on math, science and social studies topics, in three levels of reading, and I often go to these for easy, successful reading experiences that are on topic with the classroom. Kids often need more background knowledge with photographic details, so these are great. I have to keep track of what students are studying in their classrooms, which has been a challenge, but with technology, I can look it up on the google calendar or an e-mailed syllabus. After four years, I’ve gotten familiar with what units certain grade levels teach, and I can have support materials ready.

Cheri- In all the Family and Consumer Education courses, we teach all subject areas. In Foods, Personal Finance, Parenting, and Health Occupations we teach math, reading, science and social science. I have had many discussions with the social studies teachers about the role food played in world history. In Intro to Health Occupations I start every day with a math problem that someone in the medical field might encounter. In Parenting the students are required to be able to communicate both orally and written their opinions regarding many parenting issues and dilemmas and on our last test the students were required to calculate the due date of a baby. Personal Finance is composed of both math and economics.

Since the F/CE department is not highly regarded in the academic world, we are not recognized as a way to bring relevancy to all subject areas. A new Food Science course was just developed and approved by the state and could replace a science requirement. When I brought this fact to the attention of my principal he replied, “I don’t think the science department will go for that.”

Carrie: I have to say I agree a lot with what Stephanie said. There are so many demands on teaching so much in the course of the day that many times I find myself doing writing during Readers Workshop, Math Workshop AND Writers Workshop along with trying to incorporate reading into other content areas too. It would be great if we could departmentalize like we did when I was student teaching in 5th grade in the Elmbrook district. This enabled the 5th grade teachers to become experts at the content area they were teaching and they taught all of the 5th graders which allowed them to tweak any of their instruction as they deemed necessary after they taught each class. I find myself having to fit everything in and not doing it to the best of my ability. I wish there was more time or less curricular demands. I find that Social Studies and Science often times go to the wayside. I am sure that middle and high school science or social studies teachers would hate to hear that.

Christa: I completely agree with a lot of Stephanie and Carrie’s previous statements. In my grade level, Kindergarten, we used to have to gather as a team to write unit plans, for the differing themes that we taught, to include goals, activities, and assessments for the academic areas, aligning to the state standards. This was nice as we could teach the different areas of study (Language Arts, Science Social Studies, and Math), while also including fine motor (art) and sensory activities, all focusing on one theme, topic, or area of interest. I believe that this was more interesting/ exciting for the students, included more exploration and learning styles, and was more intrinsic/ successful for student learning. As expectations, demands, and time restraints on our teaching have changed, we no longer have time or the freedom to do our themed units. A lot of the “fun” activities (i.e. art, cooking, sensory, etc. projects) have been eliminated, leaving with some rather dull curriculum. Also, as the emphasis at my school is now placed on LA and Math, we are being told that our very small science and social studies block of time can be used to support those “more emphasized “ curricular areas and for student pull-out or intervention. We are finding that we have to include more of our science and social studies, non-fiction readings, within our literacy blocks, just to “fit them in.” I do like the idea of interdisciplinary studies, or relating material amongst the different academic areas, but I’m not sure that that is happening appropriately or successfully. One way in which I do try to use this teaching strategy is with our //Weekly Reader// magazine. I usually include this magazine some time during our Language Arts block. I like this magazine because it practices literacy skills using science or social studies topics. The content is also themed to the current time of year, making it more relevant for the students. The magazine also includes cross-curricular activity ideas for the teacher, aligned with national education standards, making it easier for the teacher to choose from and incorporate into their personal curriculums.

Amy: I find it easy to incorporate social studies into language arts. I can also fit science into language arts fairly easily as well. They both provide a great opportunity to read non-fiction and the skills that relate to it. What I often have difficulty connecting to other subjects is math. First, because it is a very scripted program and in order to keep up with my colleagues there are a certain number of lessons to complete each week. Second, because it takes time to come up with math lessons that meet the curriculum, tie into another subject, and are realistic. I feel that whenever I try it, the assignment becomes very complicated and far-fetched. I think interdisciplinary studies is the key to making our teaching lives manageable. We have to plan "smarter", not "harder". They keep adding more and more to the curriculum and more and more things are being shouldered by the classroom teacher as they cut guidance, ESL, etc. To survive we must find ways of meeting multiple benchmarks at a time. This takes considerable time, teamwork, and planning. All of which would be worthwhile if they did not keep changing the expectations/curriculum.