Interdisciplinary teaching deals with teaching a unit across multiple curricular disciplines. For example, one book could be read to the children and there could be a variety of subject areas that relate to that book. I recently had the opportunity to learn more about what interdisciplinary teaching is and what it looks like in the classroom. This was a particularly neat experience because I did not have to find an activity for all of the curriculum areas. Instead, I learned of great activities from my classmates!
The first step in this project was to go to Youtube to watch a video. This video was a reading of the book "Mama, Do You Love Me?" by Barbara Joosee. This book is one that I was not familiar with prior to watching the video. I must say that I loved this book! It is a very well written story with great illustrations. I also really liked the theme in the story. The next step was to find an activity that could be adapted to be a response to the book. I was assigned the curriculum area language arts. When I finished watching the video, I began to search for an activity in the curriculum area of language arts to go along with the book. After I found an activity, I typed up the information and cited where I found the activity. I was ready to go!
When I arrived in class the next day, I began to see how the various curriculum areas fit together. My classmates had been assigned different curriculum areas, including mathematics, science, craft, music, and technology. These are just a few of the many curriculum areas that our class covered in this project. It was so neat to see all of the activities that everyone found to adapt to go along with the book. As we began to discuss the activities as a class, I quickly saw how they were all related. For example, a craft activity someone found was clearly linked to language arts. The activities all looked like a spider web in the sense that they were all interconnected in some way.
As we discussed in class, research shows that children learn best when they learn through these connections. They need to be able to connect different concepts in their minds that include a variety of curriculum areas. This will help the children create meaning. I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn about interdisciplinary teaching. It is something that I will definitely use in the classroom!
Click here to view my activity sheet.
The first step in this project was to go to Youtube to watch a video. This video was a reading of the book "Mama, Do You Love Me?" by Barbara Joosee. This book is one that I was not familiar with prior to watching the video. I must say that I loved this book! It is a very well written story with great illustrations. I also really liked the theme in the story. The next step was to find an activity that could be adapted to be a response to the book. I was assigned the curriculum area language arts. When I finished watching the video, I began to search for an activity in the curriculum area of language arts to go along with the book. After I found an activity, I typed up the information and cited where I found the activity. I was ready to go!
When I arrived in class the next day, I began to see how the various curriculum areas fit together. My classmates had been assigned different curriculum areas, including mathematics, science, craft, music, and technology. These are just a few of the many curriculum areas that our class covered in this project. It was so neat to see all of the activities that everyone found to adapt to go along with the book. As we began to discuss the activities as a class, I quickly saw how they were all related. For example, a craft activity someone found was clearly linked to language arts. The activities all looked like a spider web in the sense that they were all interconnected in some way.
As we discussed in class, research shows that children learn best when they learn through these connections. They need to be able to connect different concepts in their minds that include a variety of curriculum areas. This will help the children create meaning. I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn about interdisciplinary teaching. It is something that I will definitely use in the classroom!
Click here to view my activity sheet.
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