Interdisciplinary curriculum combines skills and content from two or more subject areas. Activities can connect and relate learning outcomes in social, academic, affective, or physical development.
1. It meets the developmental needs of students.
2. It develops teamwork, responsibility, sharing, and tolerance.
3. It enables use of skills in problem-solving, organization,
thinking, and writing.
4. It adds a vitality absent from using the textbook alone.
5. Repeating text is not the same as constructing a report.
Interdisciplinary units generally require a wider range of
source materials.
6. Teachers need to interact, too. Instruction tends to improve
when teachers see first hand what their students are doing and
learning in other classes, as well as the methods and styles
their colleagues apply.
7. Interdisciplinary units reflect the uniqueness of the school and
its teachers. By capitalizing on its own history, geography,
social mix, and creative potential schools help celebrate the
individual character of every community.
Math 316
Interdisciplinary Curriculum - for 7th grade
Wed Class-
Step 1: Select
an Organizing Center (from
one of the four below)
·
Addiction
·
Japan
·
Olympics
·
Independence
Step 2: Brainstorm Associations-write up
Teachers and
students use the six-spoked wheel
to explore the
theme from various disciplines.
Students must
first be aware of the characteristics of each discipline.
Rules of
Brainstorming:
1. Criticism is
ruled out during the session.
2.
Free-wheeling is encouraged.
3. A quantity
of ideas are elicited. Evaluation of ideas will follow.
4. Combination
of ideas and improvement is sought. Participants
should attempt to join
two or more ideas into another idea and to improve ideas.
5. Individual
brainstorming should precede group brainstorming (2 minutes).
6. Teachers and
students brainstorm associations that related to the center of the
hub (questions, topics, people, ideas, materials ).
Remember: The
aim is not to have an equal number of associations per discipline but to promote
deliberate examination of the topic through multiple perspectives.
Step 3:
Establish Guiding Questions to Serve as Scope and Sequence
This step
includes taking the brainstormed associations from the math portion of
the wheel and organizing them. A
structure for the unit of study will occur as a scope and sequence are
developed. Provides limits and a
rationale for the sequence of study. Focus
on student performance and the objectives that will be met.
Step 4: Writing Activities for Implementation
Teachers use thinking processes (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) and the guiding questions to develop activities.