This study investigates how a teacher study group collectively examined problems in their current English curriculum and redesigned the curriculum into theme-based lessons for various grades. Comprised of seven elementary school teachers and a teacher educator, the teacher study group met bi-weekly for three hours for a total of eight meetings.…

Describes an integrated-thematic curriculum for gifted students in the context of assumptions about learning and characteristics of gifted learners. Specific strategies and steps in curriculum development are explained and applied to a year-long focus on the theme of "evidence" in a multiaged primary classroom with curriculum units on dinosaurs,…

A teacher of upper elementary deaf students describes a multidisciplinary study unit focused on the Alaskan dogsled race, the Iditarod. Activities included studying Alaskan geography and history, following specific racers (mushers) through daily updates faxed from Alaska, writing letters to mushers, calculating math facts related to the race,…

Suggests that one way for English teachers to have students explore relationships between literature and science is to have them read and write about fiction with scientific themes. Outlines units that create chances for students to bring together the literary arts and the sciences into one classroom. (MG)

This integrated curricular unit on frogs, developed for the second grade, focuses primarily on integrating reading, writing, and science. The unit discusses introducing students to frogs, predicting results in science, learning about classification in science, reading factual science books, extending the topic into literature and the arts,…

Discusses the reasons why the use of integrated curriculum has returned. Examines three ways for integrating the curriculum: (1) connection; (2) correlation; and (3) integration. Addresses how to create a thematic unit where the teacher selects a theme, determines the big questions and discipline-specific questions, and chooses the methods of…

This article describes an integrated program in marine biology. The program was implemented in a nongraded inclusive setting with second- to fourth-grade students whose abilities ranged from gifted to learning disabled. The program integrated science, art, music, language arts, and research and computer skills. (DB)

Suggesting that a literature-rich classroom environment encourages, supports, and celebrates the role of children's literature throughout every aspect of the elementary curriculum, this book presents plans, procedures, and units that engage teachers, stimulate students, and energize classroom learning environments. The first part addresses the…

Teacher educators taught elementary-level student teachers how to compose thematic integrated units, first coconstructing a view of thematic teaching, planning events to engage students, and developing an assignment description supporting students' unit writing. The paper describes the unit development, noting how student and faculty reflection on…

This article makes a case for special classes for gifted students and answers objections to special classes raised by the middle school movement and the cooperative learning movement. A sample "Celebration of Me" unit taught to gifted seventh graders which involved poetry, literature, personal development, art, music, and physical fitness is…

This article demonstrates how teachers can use integrated curricular experiences incorporating art, literature, and drama to help middle school students with learning disabilities acquire content area concepts and reading skills. The instructional model is explained and illustrated with a study unit on the desert. (DB)

In this article, the authors recount their experience designing a program for one of their restructured middle schools that reflects a national movement in middle level reform. Inspired by Howard Garner's (1993) theory of multiple intelligences, the authors, together with a team of teachers, administrators and parents in their small mid-western…

Based on the belief that the teaching and learning of language are inextricably intertwined, this book addresses the challenge of providing an integrated language arts program in the elementary and middle school level that bridges traditional instruction and thematic, whole language, or literature-based instruction. The book also presents ways to…

Outlining an integrated language perspective on teaching and learning in the elementary school, this book provides both the theory on which the perspective is based and many examples of how it may be translated into practice. The book illustrates and explains eight thematic units (called "prototypes"), and includes webs, examples,…

Describes a collaboration between a university education professor and a team of four middle school teachers to create and implement an interdisciplinary thematic unit of study about the Caribbean region. Describes how the unit dealt with language arts, math, science, and social studies areas, and describes alternative forms of assessment used to…