Download pdf - Integrated Curriculum in a Standards-Based World

What is integrated curriculum?

Integrated curriculum has been around for a long time and has had many

different names. It is a sophisticated interdisciplinary unit that goes beyond

common parallel units (studying the Industrial Revolution in SS while reading

A Christmas Carol in language arts) because it fuses all subject areas, student-

centered learning, service learning, and problem-based learning while

giving students the opportunity to let their choices drive the curriculum. The following are links to others’ definitions of integrated curriculum:

� http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/103011/chapters/What-Is-

Integrated-Curriculum%C2%A2.aspx

� http://www.archeworks.org/projects/tcsp/ic_guide_p2.html

Furthermore, this instructional model is endorsed by the National Middle

School Association in its formal statement about integrated curriculum as

having benefits that both meet and exceed national, state, and local

standards.

� http://www.amle.org/AboutNMSA/PositionStatements/CurriculumInteg

ration/tabid/282/Default.aspx

How is integrated curriculum different from what I already do with

interdisciplinary units?

What makes integrated curriculum different is that it is completely student-

centered. Students decide what to study, how to study it, how to present what

they learn, and what to do with what they learn. Integrated curriculum

completely differentiates instruction for each child in your classroom, no

matter the level of his or her functioning. (We have used this model to

differentiate instruction for children ranging from students taking the NC

Extend 2 to those identified as gifted and everything in between, literally in

the same classroom.) Furthermore, integrated curriculum naturally mimics

the human problem-solving process that people use in real life instead of

artificially compartmentalizing problems into discreet academic areas as we

tend to do in school. Rarely in real life does a problem occur that can be

solved using a single academic discipline. Reality is more complicated. For

example, my furnace is inefficient and I have decided that I need a secondary

heat source for my house. I will get on the internet and research various types

of products. I will weigh the benefits of propane versus electric fireplaces

and look at the merits of pellet stoves. I will have to figure out how much

pollution is involved because I don’t want byproducts causing breathing

problems for my children. I will have to decide how expensive each unit is as

well as the operating costs for each. Furthermore, which option will best meet

my needs in the area in which I live? I will talk to sales representatives,

people who use various types of heating, and decide what price point makes

me feel comfortable. Then, I will shop for the best deal when I purchase the

item of my choice as well as when I have it installed. In doing so, I have

covered math, science, social studies, and language arts. The method that I

have used to solve this problem, because I have internalized the problem

solving process, provides for maximum understanding and a feeling of

satisfaction because I have made the best decision for myself and my family.

From a teacher’s perspective, integrated curriculum is powerful because it

empowers students to take control of their own learning while giving them the

tools to be successful in the classroom and in life. The process involves

problem solving, time management, goal setting, and metacognition as well

as a myriad of other skills. For individuals who look for data and proven

results, it is research-based and endorsed by the Association for Middle Level

Education (formerly the National Middle School Association). Best of all, when

integrated curriculum works it results in students who are self-motivated and

eager to learn without sacrificing test scores.

The Process

When students use their own interests to drive the curriculum, it means

maximum engagement in the classroom. What motivates each child is

different.

1. Start with student questions…anything they have ever wondered about.

Take down their questions without judgment. (Students may need

some help rewording their questions as we add them to a class and/or

team list of questions.) This part of the process may take a part of

several class periods, but is essential in piquing student interest and in

laying the foundation for the integrated curriculum process.

2. With student help, decide what questions merit academic study. Only

keep questions that cannot be answered with yes/no or through a

simple internet search. Teachers guide the process, but students vote

and defend choices, helping decide criteria that will determine what

stays and having a voice in the final outcome.

3. Each student decides from the revised list what he or she would like to

study. (At various times, students either work independently or in fluid

groups formed by similar interests.)

4. Decide on a theme of study. We find it easy to either look at an area of

the world or a particular important event and focus student questions

toward studying that theme. This is the part that students may or may

not have a say, and you might not want to reveal this aspect until you

reveal the following step to students.

5. Here’s the hard part…the Standard Course of Study (SCOS). We give

students color-coded copies of the math, science, social studies, and

language arts SCOS and help them to word things in kid-friendly

language. We teach them what the SCOS is, help them to understand

that these are the standards to which teachers and students are held

accountable, and we then help them to tie their topics to each SCOS in

some way. This also involves tweaking their initial questions to apply to

each SCOS, and perhaps even looking at the standards for other

academic disciplines as well such as art, music, health, or other

exploratory classes. For example, if a student wants to study baseball,

he or she may need to look at whether or not baseball is popular in

other areas of the world – why or why not?-as part of the social studies

curriculum. In science, they might look at forces as they study what can

affect pitch velocity and bat speed. In math, they might calculate the

percent of change in pitch velocity caused by humidity levels.

Language arts would be the research process in which they find

sources and work together to read and comprehend these sources as

well as the presentation of what they have learned. This might need to

be expanded as students research their questions because what they

learn often sparks more questions. They might also want to look at

what is so mystical about baseball that it sparks so many Hollywood

movies, and whether or not there are other sports that have a similar

impact in other areas of the world. Once students and teachers

understand how to make connections between the disciplines, the only

limits are individuals’ creativity and the ability to find information about

a topic.

6. Research. A. Common baseline of knowledge. In order to provide an

anchor for scaffolding and a context in which to frame learning, it

is important that all students share a common baseline of

knowledge on which to build their individual experiences. For

example, when studying WWII, students might have a guest

speaker who was a soldier during the war, a video segment that

provides information about differences on the European and

Pacific fronts, a simulation in which students must decide in a

given situation whether or not to use nuclear weapons, or even a

buffet of MREs in which students learn first hand about the

hardships of basic survival on the front lines.

• Teacher-generated resources. These can be handled

in individual classes or as an entire team. Each teacher

uses resources that relate to his or her area of expertise

and relates that expertise to the general theme of the

unit of study. This may look more like parallel

interdisciplinary units within each classroom at this

point, or it may be the use of multiple types of resources

within one classroom. It also may involve instructional

practices such as Socratic seminars, debates,

simulations, and problem-based learning modules.

• Student-generated resources. Depending on the topic,

students brainstorm possible resources within the

community. For example, if we have decided to focus

student interest through the context of looking at Africa,

we might have students brainstorm a list of resources

such as people they know who have visited Africa, and

then assign responsibilities to contact those individuals

to see who would be willing to share their experiences

with students. These resources may be used by the

entire class, or just by a group or individual who is

focusing on a particular area of study. Sometimes

students have access to other resource materials as well

and do not mind sharing personal books and materials

with other students, though we caution students about

the hazards of loaning out their personal property. B. Individual Research. The most important resource that we

have found is not one of the usual sources for curriculum,

because standard curriculum rarely encompasses what students

would like to study, but the internet. Therefore, learning to do

academic quality research is paramount to the integrated

curriculum process.

• iSeek – We do not allow students to use Google or other

unfiltered search engines. Instead, we direct them to use

iSeek, which is accessible at www.iSeek.com and which

filters out much of the blog, biased .com, and

inappropriate content. There is a tab on the iSeek search

bar termed “education” which further filters content.

iSeek searches can also yield content on government

databases and various other sources that unfiltered search

engines with thousands of hits rarely find with clarity.

• NC WiseOwl – Schools who have access to this software

will find it to be rich with resources that can be used in

academic research.

• EBSCOhost – We usually require that one source come

from the EBSCOhost database. EBSCOhost is the world’s

most used reference resource and provides experience

with research materials that they will use later in their

academic studies. Because many of the EBSCOhost

articles are held in peer-reviewed journals and are written

at higher reading levels, EBSCO is a rich source for

students with higher reading levels while providing a

unique problem-solving opportunity for students as they

learn to tackle difficult texts together. EBSCOhost can be

accessed through the Other Databases tab in NC

WiseOwl’s Middle School Research Zone. Students must

be schooled in using keyword searches as well as how to

filter results by full text and language, however.

• APA/MLA citations – As students find viable resources,

we require them to create citations for those sources using

APA style, as APA is much more widely used in various

academic disciplines after high school. However, some

districts teach only MLA style. We expose students to both

so that they will be able find the resources to help them

use either if called upon to do so later in their academic

career.

• Citation Maker/Citation Machine

(www.sonofcitationmachine.net) Citation Maker,

accessible from NC WiseOwl, will allow students to create

either APA or MLA citations for their resources. If you

cannot access NC WiseOwl, you can use Citation Machine

from any computer as an aid to create citations. There are

many other sources citation creation available on the

internet as well.

• Understanding the research – When students come to us

they have rarely had experience reading longer academic

nonfiction pieces nor have they had to do academic

quality research. We use literature circles and/or paired

reading using the process of summarizing each

paragraph, making connections to self/other texts/real

world, and using various tactics to handle difficult

vocabulary. C. Presentations

• Once students have found out what they wanted to learn

and have tied it to the various SCOS, we have students

brainstorm how best to teach what they have learned to

others. As a team, we decide on the criteria for a

successful presentation and create a rubric using

democratic processes that best embodies how to evaluate

the criteria.

• In pairs or small groups, students practice their

presentations for one another, critiquing their peers using

the criteria they voted upon. This allows each student to

recognize strengths and weaknesses as well as giving

students who are ill-prepared or who have not done

sufficient research to see weaknesses while there is still

time to fix problems.

• Before presenting, students complete a self-evaluation

and/or group evaluation, part of which is deciding what

grade they believe that they deserve based upon their

work and why.

D. Accountability

• Students create quizzes, assignments, questions about the

important parts of their own presentations so that other

students focus during each presentation and so they can

evaluate themselves using more objective criteria once

their presentation is over. This is a part of the process that

we have piloted that, while not part of any of the models

that we have researched, has become a pivotal learning

tool within our classrooms.

• Item analysis of created assignment. Students score the

quizzes they have given and then conduct an item analysis

of the material. For many students, this is an eye-opening

experience because they are generally incredulous at

other students’ scores. Looking at reasons for the

differences between their expectations and reality can

provide a unique opportunity for examining learning

within the classroom from a different perspective. It

frequently results in better behaviors, both socially and

academically, for many students.

• Students use the data they have generated as well as their

final grades and item analyses as they revisit their original

self-evaluation, analyzing reasons for discrepancies, and

to set goals for next assignment. E. What am I going to do with what I have learned?

• Learning doesn’t take place within a vacuum, but so often

students never connect what they learn in a classroom to

the real world. Integrated curriculum provides many

opportunities for service-based learning (community

service, real-world applications of individual ideas, team

community outreach activities, fundraising for charitable

causes, etc.) because doing something with what they

have learned is a natural outcome of the integrated

curriculum process.

• Doing something real with their learning helps students to

internalize the reasons for what they have learned as well

as internalizing the learning itself. Students have learned

by researching, by teaching, and now learn by doing.

• The learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. Students

become excited about learning when they have the

opportunity to apply what they know and they want to

teach other people about it. Conversations with friends in

the hallway often involve updates on new things they have

learned or new ways they have thought about to help

others.

Problem-Solving

• “Not my problem” – when encountering a problem,

teachers must step back and give kids the opportunity to

solve their own problems, which is antithetical to the

process that most of us use. One example of how we let

students solve their own problems is through having the

class brainstorm possible solutions to a problem we were

having, i.e., it was getting too loud when we were working

in groups. We took everyone’s suggestions, helped them

to analyze the problems inherent in the solutions they

encountered, especially when these solutions placed

responsibility on the teachers rather than the students,

and then had students create criteria to illustrate whether

or not their idea was working. They created a system of

checks and balances, electing a group leader who was

responsible for certain jobs. The group evaluated the

leader each day and the leader evaluated group

members. Students brainstormed the criteria for success

as well as the rubrics. This system worked for the group

of students who created the system but did not work later

with other groups of students. We believe it is because

students buy into solutions of their own creation. The

rubrics created by students are labeled as Appendix Item

A.

• Concerns about watering down content. Some teachers

are concerned that integrating curriculum waters down

academic content. In our experience, it is just the

opposite. Rigor is the cornerstone of integrated

curriculum and the integrated curriculum process

encourages depth rather than breadth within the

curriculum. Therefore, as students learn how to fold in

various academic disciplines within a unit of study, the

curriculum becomes much more rigorous. Student

interest drives the process, so students tend to research

on their own. We sometimes have to stay late after school

because students have so many questions and because

they want extra time at school to work.

• My classroom time is sacred. Integrated curriculum

doesn’t allow for sacred cows and will take some adjusting

for everyone. However, scheduling is up to the teacher

and to the team. You can spend as much or as little time as

you would like. Unlike many of the other demands placed

upon the instructional time of middle grades teachers,

integrated curriculum is not a black hole of instructional

time with little return. Instead, as you become more adept

at integrating you will become a better teacher because

you can make more pertinent connections within and

between disciplines. Furthermore, making connections is

a literacy skill that many of the academic disciplines focus

upon under the newly adopted Common Core/Essential

Standards model.

• Integrated curriculum is an organic process. You can’t

have rigid pre-conceived notions about what the process

and/or product should be because you must allow for

student and colleague input.

• As the teacher, you can’t be in control of everything. Your

colleagues and your students must also have ownership.

You must empower everyone in the process to have

ownership and cannot superimpose your own ideas over

that of others or it invalidates the democratic processes

that are an inherent part of integrated curriculum and

which are core values that we are trying to instill in

students as stakeholders within a democracy. Teachers

gradually, with guidance, allow themselves to facilitate

learning rather than to direct it.

• What worked before may not work this time. The

curriculum and process continually change based upon

the children and their needs. What the kids come up with

will vary from group to group and within groups.

Encouraging student ownership develops a more intrinsic

motivation for learning and a desire to be successful,

sometimes in students who have not experienced much

academic success. For students who are usually

successful in the classroom, it provides a challenge

because integrated curriculum is an entirely different

process than that to which they are accustomed. There

may be growing pains for each group and for teachers,

but the results are worth it.

• Kids must have a voice or you invalidate the reason why

integrated curriculum works. If curricula and instructional

methods are teacher directed and not student directed,

you take away student motivation to learn. If student voice

is not an integral part of the process then you do not truly

have integrated curriculum.

Logistics

Scheduling possibilities with 2, 3, and 4 person teams:

1. For a 2 person team, if there is a classroom large enough to have a team

meeting then the possibilities are endless. Almost every day, we

spend some amount of time together in a classroom team teaching the

skills necessary for research or providing a common baseline of

knowledge on the present topic. We sometimes spend parts of our

regular class time clarifying points for Team Time. We have Socratic

Seminars for small groups or even for our entire team in the theater,

host team activities such as a Victorian Banquet in the home-economics

room, use the theater for guest speakers, and we have even

incorporated having students teach others teams in our grade level on

how to conduct student-led Socratic seminars. The possibilities are

endless as long as there are individuals willing to be flexible.

2. 3 person and 4 person teams require more flexibility. If you have a 3

person team and you have an area large enough to accommodate all

students, you can team teach the skills and baseline knowledge. If not,

you may have to compartmentalize your class sessions to accommodate

for common knowledge and skills. It helps if you can have periodic

team meetings where students share their ideas or have a different

audience than their regular classmates. For your team time, two

teachers could be team teaching as an enrichment activity while a third

teacher remediates in a different room. For a 4 person team, dividing

into 2 groups with two sets of team teachers makes sense. You could

have team time on A-day/B-day schedules in which students visit one

group of teachers one day and the other group of teachers the next.

3. If you get stuck on scheduling, let the kids have a voice in how to make

it happen. They can usually work out logistics if given the opportunity. Regardless of your situation, if you have a desire to make it happen

then it will happen. If not, it won’t.

Incorporating the Math

With parallel units, making math relevant to the topic studied can be a

struggle. However, within integrated curriculum students actually apply the

math that they learn in class. As the process continues and students begin to

buy in, they begin to find links to the math for themselves and become

excited when they learn that math is part of everything. Within the math class,

it is easy to incorporate student research and to manipulate data that students

have found so that your individual class becomes student directed as well.

Furthermore, what you do in Team Time tends to show up again in the regular

math class because students love it when they can show the math teacher how

they have made connections. Incorporating the math actually is not as difficult

as tying in the science or the social studies if a student’s topic leans more toward

one than the other.

Vision for the Future

• Technology – As we have more access to technology, we envision

incorporating podcasts, etc. that allow students to show parents and

community members what they are learning at school and to

incorporate learning into a community-based concept.

• Developing a math-based integrated curriculum website using student

research data (statistics they have found, etc.) to share with like-

minded teachers.

• Incorporating community issues and creating units of study that benefit

the local community and beyond, building a network of 21st century

learners who are capable of enacting change within their local

environments.

Links to Research

http://www.amle.org/Publications/MiddleSchoolJournal/Articles/November2

001/Article1/tabid/160/Default.aspx

http://www.amle.org/AboutNMSA/PositionStatements/CurriculumIntegration

/tabid/282/Default.aspx

Recommended Reading:

Alexander, W., Carr, D., & McAvory, K. (2006). Student Oriented Curriculum. National

Middle School Association.

Websites that Incorporate Music:

finearts.grinnell.edu/instruments - This website has world instruments and ensembles that

students can read about and listen to.

NIU World Music Instrument Collection - This site has a world map that you can click on to see and hear world instruments

United streaming also has short videos on the history and making of African Drums

Gaggle Tube is also a great resource for finding world instrument performances.

Appendix A – Student generated rubrics

Rubric generated so that the elected group leader could evaluate each group member.

Group Work Behavior Rubric Student Name __________________ Date _______________ Graded by _________________________ Directions: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evDirections: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evDirections: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evDirections: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evaluator shouldaluator shouldaluator shouldaluator should explainexplainexplainexplain....

Group Interactions

Does own work - no “piggybacking” on others’ efforts

*All of the time * Most of the time * Sometimes *Rarely

Communicates effectively with others


Helps others


Positive Attitude – encourages others and their participation, shares spotlight, doesn’t reject


Individual Behaviors

Time On Task – do your own work; uses time wisely; not playing around


Volume – use appropriate inside voice; only people in your group can understand what is said


Research (when applicable) – says on appropriate websites; uses time and resources wisely

Rubric generated in the system of checks and balances to evaluate the group leader. Each day the person

who evaluated the leader would change so that everyone had the opportunity to evaluate and to minimize

opportunities for retributive evaluations.

Group Leader Behavior Rubric Student Name __________________ Date _______________ Graded by _________________________ Directions: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evDirections: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evDirections: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evDirections: Circle only one for each behavior. For behaviors marked as sometimes or rarely, evaluator shouldaluator shouldaluator shouldaluator should explainexplainexplainexplain....

Group Interactions

Does own work - no “piggybacking” on others’ efforts


Communicates effectively with others


Helps others


Positive Attitude – encourages others and their participation, shares spotlight, doesn’t reject


Individual Behaviors

Does Not Abuse Power or Position – is fair and does not retaliate against group members.

*All of the time *Most of the time *Sometimes *Rarely

Time On Task – keeps members on task; does not play around


Volume – use appropriate inside voice; only people in your group can understand what is said


Respectful – is mindful of others and their feelings, even when correcting misbehaviors


Appendix B – Exploring the Relationship between Integrated Curriculum and

the NC Teacher Evaluation Instrument

Adopting integrated curriculum is an excellent means of attaining

accomplished and distinguished marks on your evaluations. Circled and

highlighted are sample behaviors that the implementation of integrated

curriculum have produced within our classrooms as well as in our professional

lives.

Appendix C – Exploring Integrated Curriculum’s Relationship to the Common

Core and Essential Standards

How does integrated curriculum relate to the Common Core and

Essential Standards? Looking at the objectives for the four core academic

subject areas, one realizes that there are many possibilities for curriculum

overlap. Furthermore, literacy standards adopted through ELA Common

Core standards that have yet to be applied to the Essential Standards dictate

that subject area teachers will be responsible for teaching how to read and

analyze informational texts common to their academic discipline as well as

other literacy standards that apply to writing, visual literacy, and to oral presentations. There is a section in the middle school ELA common core

document entitled “Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies,

Science, and Technical Subjects” which specifically outlines

reading/literacy and writing standards to be taught and mastered within

these subject areas. Yet these literacy standards to be applied outside of the

ELA classroom are to supplement, not supplant, stated subject area

objectives. Curriculum integration offers a solution because it allows teachers

to teach to their strengths without taking away from their proscribed

curriculum.

If one examines the various standards collectively, furthermore, it is

apparent that the standards of the disparate disciplines are designed to

correlate. An even more overt example is that the unit design template

endorsed by NCDPI for social studies contains the 5 strands but adds a 6th for

teachers to plan for connections to other disciplines.

The following are copies of each academic discipline’s Common Core

or Essential Standards, highlighted so that key words or phrases that relate to

other disciplines are apparent. On some copies, we have further delineated

specific interdisciplinary connections.