While the primary focus of the Common Core Learning Standards is in improving literacy and math, elements of Social Studies topics and skills are emphasized. Primary source analysis and understanding multiple perspectives are just two examples. This article is grounded in a qualitative analysis of integrated instruction in two elementary…

Arts in elementary schools have often been separated from the core curriculum and offered as enrichment activities that are considered beneficial but not essential. This paper highlights how teaching science through the arts can help students more deeply understand core scientific concepts. Specific examples in the paper depict lessons of…

An interdisciplinary approach to teaching physical education can contribute in many ways to the mission of the school. It can draw interest in physical education from administrators, parents, and community members, and can help legitimize the position of the physical educator on the faculty by showing colleagues in the classroom that physical…

This booklet presents a description of Making Connections, a multicultural core curriculum program, and a list of recommended literature for interdisciplinary units. The first section discusses materials, using the Making Connections program, integrating relevant content areas, the stages of the research process, assessment, and making connections…

A three-part teacher's guide outlines methods of incorporating active art education and art appreciation into the elementary curriculum. The section on Arts and Learning contains readings on art and culture, art in education, and art as active learning as well as an introduction to the guide. The Arts and Teaching section contains four groups of…

Describes a third and fifth grade social studies curriculum in a New York City school where social studies is integrated into every subject area of the curriculum. The unit on the North American Indians included making musical instruments, wearing and sewing authentic clothes, and planting and cooking food in traditional ways. (GG)

An overview is presented of an elementary-level social studies core curriculum at Fieldston Lower School (in New York City) in which the moral and ethical development of students is seen as a priority. Fieldston Lower School is one of three branches of the Ethical Culture Schools. Article 1 focuses on the modification of the traditional elementary…

During the 2002-03 school year, one Philadelphia fifth grade class developed a core curriculum designed to teach every child the 21st century basic skills: the ability to think, learn, and create. This effort was a pilot for a rigorous Harvard University based program to develop proficiency for each child in a mixed ability classroom of 29…

This curriculum unit on oceans for grades K-8 contains lesson plans, vocabulary lists, core activities, resource lists, and a student evaluation worksheet developed by rural Gallatin County, Montana, teachers as part of an inservice Rural Schools Integrated Curriculum Project administered by the Montana State University College of Education. The…

The thematic, integrated subject curriculum presented in this comprehensive teacher's guide is based on a study of Gallatin County's local history and is intended to enrich students' perceptions of their rural Montana culture, heritage, and environment, and provide them with a knowledge base for decision making about the future. Introductory…

This multi-age integrated teaching unit on weather was developed by 19 rural teachers (grades K-8) from 12 Gallatin County (Montana) districts to associate all school subjects with a common theme, promote teaching efficiency by focusing on more than one subject at the same time, and increase student excitement. Topics explored by each grade level…

This multi-age integrated teaching unit on outer space was developed by 19 rural teachers (grades K-8) from 12 Gallatin County (Montana) districts to associate all school subjects with a common theme, promote teaching efficiency by focusing on more than one subject at the same time, and increase student excitement. Topics explored by each grade…

Noting that academic failure begins early and that the focus of school reform should be at the elementary level, this book describes the Basic School, an idea based on best practice in elementary education. A Basic School pushes school reform back to the first years of formal education; gives priority to language and suggests a coherent core of…