Designed to introduce students to the world through nonfiction, this book presents easy-to-follow suggestions for class projects, activities, strategies, and learning centers. The book uses an integrated approach to promoting inquiry in the classroom through the use of quality nonfiction. Aimed at middle grade students and using vignettes which…

Relates stories of three middle and high school teachers to describe how teachers can effectively integrate young adult literature into the curriculum. Notes a variety of strategies, including the particularly effective use of multiple genre thematic units, where a variety of texts are linked by some common theme, allowing students to use…

Detailing a collaboration between an elementary school teacher and a middle school teacher, this book is about making connections--connections that make learning meaningful for students and teachers. The book describes how the teachers worked to bridge the gap between content area subjects and the gap in their understanding of each other's…

Describes a number of thematic units that integrate work in various disciplines, including language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics. Among the topics of the suggested units are time, survival of the fittest, nature, Mexico, the history of the West, animals, and bridges. (DF)

This interdisciplinary module for grades 4-8 takes advantage of student interest and participation in baseball. This module presents a conceptual framework for an alternative summer program. Included are suggested activities, materials, and handouts. The module is provided as a guide for teachers and administrators wishing to develop thematic…

This book presents nearly 50 interdisciplinary strategies to link social studies and English classes around common themes. The book is designed for the changing classrooms of middle school and high school learners. The strategies are designed to offer a continuum of student-centered activities for a one day lesson to a semester's length. Each…

This paper presents a rationale for using an integrated thematic unit with elementary and middle level social studies classes and provides examples of working units. Steps in the developing the thematic unit are itemized with product outcomes to show for the process. Efficacy assignments allow the students to feel they have addressed a social…

Focusing on the middle grades (4-8), this book promotes an integrative and thematic approach to curriculum development. The book provides mini-lessons organized around three interactive constructs: the purpose for communicating, the audience, and the organization of the content to be communicated. Separate chapters in the book on each of five…

Describes the organization, design, and implementation of a two-week thematic unit for sixth-grade students, which was designed to stimulate critical and creative thinking about environmental issues through integrated reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the context of their reading-language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics…

Of all the reform recommendations being made by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, making mathematical connections is among the more difficult, yet most important to achieve, especially at the middle school level, where students are first beginning to appreciate the real power of mathematics. Mathematical connections can relate…

Presents seven examples of integrating language arts into the curriculum through the use of community connections: (1) exploring curriculum with themed instruction; (2) promoting discussion; (3) using oral language; (4) introducing "found poetry"; (5) writing across the curriculum; (6) sharing an interpretive reading activity in a readers'…

This book proposes a new view of middle school curriculum and the specifics of how to create such a curriculum. It introduces the notion that the approach to developing a curriculum appropriate for adolescents should be based on similarities of human learning at different ages, as well as the uniqueness of the adolescent. Chapter 1 highlights six…

A theme of sharks is used to illustrate the process of developing interdisciplinary units for middle school instruction, including a model for teams of teachers to follow. As activities evolve, a concept map is created to illustrate relationships and integration of ideas and activities for various disciplines. (Contains 10 references.) (MKR)

Casting students in grades 5 through 12 in the roles of reporters, lawyers, and detectives at the scene of a crime, this interdisciplinary activity involves participants in the intrigue and drama of crime investigation. Using a hands-on, step-by-step approach, students work in teams to investigate a crime and solve a mystery. Through role-playing…