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The Power of Curriculum Integration in Middle School for Below Average Students

 

The Power of Curriculum Integration in Middle School for the Below Average Student

 

By: Heather Corti,

Educator, creator of Simply Shakespeare

 

 

Integrating English Language Arts with Social Studies is a way to teach two subjects simultaneously using a whole language approach.  With whole language based strongly on authentic and relevant learning, the integrated language arts concept combined with thematic instruction has the power to become an important learning tool (Morrow, 2005).  Integrating subjects is the deliberate attempt to manipulate learning by taking students up through Bloom's intellectual hierarchy as influenced by both behaviorist and constructivist theories about instructional design using existing district curriculums. 

This critical examination of the research on discipline integration shows how an emphasis on repetitive aids helps below average middle school students learn writing and research processes using a combination of constructivist and behaviorist ideals to improve each student's critical  thinking skills (Jordan, Jensen & Greenleaf, 2003; Huitt & Hummel, 1998). More specifically, the focus of this paper will be on critical research concerning middle school lessons integrating English Language Arts and Social Studies.   Students who perform below the 50th percentile on state academic assessments are the target population for this integrated curriculum. 

The nature of the learning process, goals of the learning process, construction of knowledge, strategic thinking and thinking about thinking are all part of the learner's higher order thinking and all contribute to motivation to learn.  Schooling is in need of shifting away from a factory model.  Education must include more than rote memorization, obedience, and repetitive work, all hinging on punctuality (Gilman, 1984).  Gilman's contention is that this mentality usurped model from the industrial era of America's 19th century is continuing still today.  With today's new information environment, Gilman claims that vast new educational options are available, thus shifting the "goal of education away from amassing knowledge and toward building general skills required for the creative participant in a rapidly changing world".

Teaching models that are gathering attention are ones that incorporate curriculum and instruction as intermingled entities cutting across subject-matter lines, highlighting relationships between ideas (Gardner, Wissick, Schweder, Canter & Smith, 2003).  Integrated lessons help focus the below average student's mind because overwhelming support exists in the literature for using writing to learn in all content areas (Andrews, 1997).  Integration of subjects successfully allows the student to bring together two or more subjects into one cohesive concept of understanding.  This research will show that student's ability to balance the two subjects, English Language Arts and History, by integrating them into one, will improve the efficiency of the learning process.  Subject integration, guided learner-centered environments and teachers working collaboratively will help strike a balance in the mind of the below average student; literacy learning becomes meaningful when it is consciously embedded into the study of themes and content-area subjects (Morrow, 2005).

According to Beane (2001), multidisciplinary or multisubject curriculum "is intended to correlate two or more subjects in relation to an organized theme, concept, topic or issue".  Beane explains that teams of teachers need to be selected, topics within both subjects need to be identified and their contributions in meeting the state mandated objectives (TEKS) need to be specified. Beane further acknowledges that the subjects need to be connected in the context of the theme/topic, and finally, the unit must correlate content with skills. 

Those students who perform successfully in traditionally managed classrooms are not the concentration of this paper.  Those students who perform at below the average level are.   Both behavioral and constructivist educational theorists agree on one thing; i.e., education is absent if the student has not learned (DeMar, n.d.; Murphy, 1997).  According to constructive theory, the balance between individual construction of knowledge and social interaction is paramount (Murphy, 1997).  In conjunction with the constructivist theory is the behaviorist theory; which states that people respond to their environments, as well as operate on those environments, to produce certain end results (DeMar, n.d.).  

According to Pestalozzi (1801), children should not be given ready-made answers, but should arrive at the answers themselves through activities.  The intellectual growth process is qualitative (Jordan, Jensan, & Greenleaf, 2002)  The dimensions of the classroom support the teacher's efforts to facilitate the learning process (Jordan, et.al., 2002).  It is up to the teacher to recognize the different varieties of learners and the intellectual extensiveness of all the students in a classroom at any given time.  Also, the educator must have plenty of teaching strategies and ‘tricks' up her/his sleeve to constantly keep the students on task and focused.  If the learning process is appropriately presented to meet each student's learning needs, the student will learn and develop an appreciation for the learning process (Jordan et.al., 2002). 

There are many layers of activity or dimensions of learning in an effective teacher's classroom.  These dimensions include first creating and then maintaining the learning environment (Vaughn, Klinger, 1999; Beane, 2001).   The teacher must effectively facilitate the lesson, monitor each student and assess the student's learning process.    In doing so, the teacher is promoting learning among all students by requiring that they be on task, actively engaged and functioning as contributing members of the classroom.  These practices help teachers meet the intended instructional goals (Vaughn, Klinger, 1999; Beane, 2001).  

In creating a classroom with dimension, teachers need planning time.  Questions that will be examined through this review of research are:

• What impact does professional development have on training teachers to prepare integrated units?
• What kind of teaching planning time is involved in planning integrated units?
• Why should a move toward subject integration be considered?
• How will each subject meet the curriculum standards set forth in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills?

Review of Literature

What impact does professional development have on training teachers to prepare integrated units?

            The study done by Mertens and Flowers (2003), entitled "Middle School Practices Improve Student Achievement in High Poverty Schools", cannot over emphasize the importance of teachers teaming.  When teachers were teamed, they were also given a common planning time, a critical component for interdisciplinary teaming.  This time was important, since teachers shared the same students for a significant portion of their day. Mertens and Flowers reported that teams generally focused on creating coordinated lesson plans, as well as discussing student progress.  Without the proper professional development that helps teachers use planning time constructively, teachers tended to blame students and parents for low student achievement (Thomas, Warren, Carter, 2004).  With proper professional development and guidance through situations, teachers' attitudes positively affected instruction (Thomas, et.al ,2004; Balschweid & Thompson, Cole, 2004). 

Staff development lies at the heart of nearly every educational effort to improve student achievement.  Yet, a study by Suppovitz and Turner (2000) concluded that despite this knowledge, teachers still ranked staff development as being inadequate in achieving ambitious goals.  In order to meet the changing demands within the educational community, teachers must be willing to continuously learn and relearn their trade (Lewis, Parsad, Carey, Bartfai, Farris & Smerdon, n.d.).  Lewis et al.'s study concluded that "increased time spent in professional development and collaborative activities was associated with [the teachers'] perceptions of significant improvements in teaching".

An article written by Thomas Corcoran (1995) depicts the necessity for educators to master new skills and deepen their content knowledge, while also learning new ways to teach, in order to keep up with rising academic expectations. Corcoran also states that there is a need for teachers to spend more time working with colleagues to critically examine new proposed standards and to revise curriculum – which can be considered forms of professional development.  In order to effectively develop professional development programs and policies, Corcoran suggests that educators consider the following eight points when planning effective professional development.  According to Corcoran, professional development should:

• Stimulate and support site-based initiatives.  While school districts have general initiatives, so do individual schools.  Administration and faculty from individual schools should author initiatives to work directly with their school body, school culture and school specific needs.  It is up to the individual school to see these initiatives to fruition.  The professional development must meet individuals' needs to carry out the initiatives. 
• Support teacher initiatives, as well as school and district initiatives. Since the teachers are the link between initiatives and students, these teachers need time to plan and execute these initiatives provided within the professional development's time frame.  When the initiatives involve subject integration, teachers need time to collaborate to identify the objectives that each subject will address, as well as the opportunity to synthesize this information to create intelligent units of study.
• Be grounded in knowledge about teaching, including the expectations educators hold for students; child-development theory; curriculum content and design; instruction and assessment strategies for instilling higher order thinking competencies; school culture, and shared decision making.
• Model constructivist teaching so teachers can explore, question and debate in order to integrate new ideas.   Subject integration requires professional development willing to allow each participating subject time to work together; to construct synchronized objectives, materials and lectures.
• Offer intellectual, social, and emotional engagement with ideas, material, and colleagues.  Passing on knowledge is more than just knowing one's subject matter.  Knowledge transmission also requires that both students and educators be stimulated.  Professional development that is stimulating, respectful of the teachers' time and engaging helps reduce the complex and fragile balance between learning and knowing.
• Provide for sufficient time and follow-up for teachers to master new content, strategies, and the ability to implement them.  Professional development needs to allow teachers time to actually get into the nitty-gritty of what is involved when educators begin to pass through the chasm between what it "means to know and understand something yourself and what it takes to help someone else come to know and understand it." (Shulman, 2000).
• Be accessible and inclusive.

What kind of teacher planning time is involved in planning integrated units?

Common planning time is a critical component of interdisciplinary teaming (Lewis et.al, n.d.;  Flowers, Mertens & Mulhall, 1999).  Teaming is when two or more educators group, plan and create lesson plans that involve the integration of their subjects. Flowers et al. found that teaming positively impacts the school climate, since there is a more committed and refined sense of what is expected from the educators and students involved.  The researchers also discovered an increase in parent contact, because teaming allows schools to capitalize on their coordinated team efforts by dividing up parent contacts among all teachers involved.  For example, 120 students assigned to 5 teachers equals 24 sets of parents per teacher (Flowers et al., 1999).  Flowers et al. discovered a noticeable increase in job satisfaction among teachers due to new roles in governance, management, and the delivery of instruction.    

Lewis et al.(n. d.) state that professional development and collaboration with other teachers are strategies for building teachers' capacity for effective teaching.  The researchers also claim that the traditional approaches to professional development, such as workshops and conferences, are relatively ineffective because they typically lack the connection to the in-class challenges that teachers face.  Although the authors do not explain what these particular in class challenges are, they do, however, assert that increased time spent in professional development and collaborative activities was associated with teachers' perceptions of significant improvements in their teaching.  Lewis et al. include information gathered in a study done by Fullan, 1991, which reinforces the need for continuity between what teachers learn through their professional development and what goes on in their classrooms and schools. 

The study by Flowers et al.(1999) does not specifically indicate the achievement levels of each of the participating students.  But it does clearly show that those students, who participated as a group of 24 schools, only had a 31% passing rate in reading, which increased to 39% in just one year with integration and common planning time for the teachers.  And, in math, a 42% passing rate increased to 48% in the same year for the same reasons.  The researchers boldly state "schools that are teaming have higher achievement scores than non-teaming schools" (Flowers et.al., 1999).

I did uncover a study done by Wicklein and Schell (1995) called Case Studies in Multidisciplinary Approaches to Integrating Mathematics, Science and Technology Education.  The motivating question for their study answered whether or not integration is a step in the right curricular direction.  One of the four case studies, Nebraska County School District, explored ways to increase the interest levels of "at-risk" students in the three instructional fields mentioned.  The program was successful as evidenced by improved motivation on the part of the students, increased school attendance and a significant reduction in discipline problems. 

I do not claim to speak for those people who did the research, but I can speak from experience as an educator.  It is not necessary to alter a curriculum program when the program is working successfully for those students involved.  It is when the standard methods are not working, when traditional approaches are not yielding success for all students, that educators reach for alternative methods.  Integrated education is one of the alternative methods.  

Why move toward subject integration?

Dembo (1988) states in Applied Educational Psychology in the Classroom that  "there are differences in styles of learning, personality, aptitude and motivation" among students of the same age and development.  In support of this notion is Gagné's theory on learning.  Gagné's theory stipulates that "there are several different types or levels of learning" (Gagné, 1996).  Simply put, Gagné claims that different types of learning require different types of instruction, because not all learning is the same.  Morrow (2005) supports this notion by highlighting the need for the instructor to teach differently to effect different kinds of learning.  Interdisciplinary units explore the possibility of varied instruction because the nature of thematic units explores and identifies fundamental objectives that correspond with diverse academic level(s) of the students being taught. In combination, both Gagné and interdisciplinary study provide a basis for sequenced instruction for intellectual advancement. 

In January 2002 the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act was passed by the United States government. NCLB is designed to "ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education, and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on state academic assessments" (ED.gov, 2002).  It is the responsibility of the educational community to meet the needs of all children, including low-achieving students. NCLB also expects the school systems to ensure that all students have access to effective, scientifically based instructional strategies and challenging academic content (ED.gov, 2002).

Literacy learning becomes meaningful when it is consciously embedded into the study of themes and content-area subjects (Morrow, 2005; Collins, 1982; Beane, 2001; Cadiero-Kaplan, 2002).  Classroom instruction must be organized to enable full and active student participation and focused to accelerate students' learning rate (CELA, 2000; Jordan, Jensen & Greenleaf, 2001).  Discipline integration using English Language Arts as one of the subjects has proven to be a successful academic support (Rosenbaum, 2001; Friend, 2001; Vaughn & Klinger, 1999). 

There are two learning camps in schools today, the constructivist and behaviorist models.  Both agree that learning is both an active and progressive process (Murphy, 1997; DeMar, n.d.; Huguley, 2003).  Huguley (2003) asserts that this active and progressive learning is also deeply entrenched in experience, which is a combination of both learning models. She also claims that experience can be gained by exploring one's environment, whether the environment shapes the learner or the learner shapes the environment.   

Behaviorists believe learning reflects a permanent change in behavior brought about as a result of experience or practice (Huitt & Hummel, 1998).  Constructivists are concerned with the conception of learning on a non-stimulus-response level (Murphy, n.d.).  Regardless, both theories reflect the notion that learning is not an inactive process.  Instead, students need to rehearse new information, learn to reason logically and explore other's opinions (Huguley, 2003).  An inquiry-based, learner-centered approach, which is an example of active learning, includes high expectations for students to acquire not only factual knowledge, but also a higher level of interpretation (Zigo, 2001; Stevenson, 2001).  Interdisciplinary units allow for various levels of discovery.

Sami Nurmi and Timo Lainena (2002) conducted a study using a Dynamic Business Game (DBG) simulation that they created.  The purpose of their simulation was to help fill the need for training models to facilitate the development of knowledge and skills needed in the work environment.   Their subjects were MBA students.  Their premise rested on a study done by Barab, Hay and Duffy (2000), which was based on the notion that within impoverished environments, where learning becomes the memorization of seemingly abstract, self-contained entities, there exists a lack of integration between different functional areas (of business, in the case of this study), thereby making it difficult for students to develop coherent mental models and strategies that transfer into other areas of life.  Nurmi and Lainena (2002) argue that this decontextualization of information is caused by stripping content out of context and conditions in which it is used; that is, separating different domain areas from each other's realistic intertwined existence (Nurmi & Lainena, 2002).

Time and again, throughout the study, Nurmi and Lainema (2002) stress the importance of acquiring authentic knowledge.  Authentic knowledge is synonymous with factual knowledge; however, the terminology differs because the arenas differ.  The arena for the Dynamic Business Game (DBG) is the real world, and the arena for factual knowledge is found in academic settings, where students are expected to be gathering accurate truthful knowledge.  In the Nurmi and Lainena study, students run a virtual company.  Decision-making and the results from these decisions are made in an interactive real-time mode as they are found in real-world environments.  The simulation contains mock business experiences such as competition, thereby placing each student in a role of responsibility, as well as complex situations.  These experiences require discovery, predicting and developing; that is, the ability to interpret information at higher intellectual levels (2002).

The study by Nurmi & Lainena (2002) hinged on the pedagoglical perspective that students need to learn how to learn, to develop metacognitive capabilities and construct meaningful knowledge through interaction with others and with tools afforded by activity environments.  Nurmi and Lainena's goal, just as in interdisciplinary units, is to pull away from traditional forms of static instruction and into producing interactive knowledge that can be applied in complex situations across the disciplines.  Their study asserts that one of the main reasons for the inabilities of traditional teaching methods to facilitate the development of flexible and useful knowledge and skills is the lack of anchoring the fragmented content.  Too often, students get lost in learning fragmented subjects, forgetting these subjects are integral parts of a comprehensive understanding.

The current recommendations are for using cooperative learning to create active learning environments that infuse literature into other content areas (Andrews, 1997; Garfield, 1993).  The main reason for Nurmi and Lainema's (2002) simulation was to create an authentic and collaborative learning environment.  Authentic and complex environments for learning require inferring and discovering mixed with active and functional responding.  The simulation requires extensive collaboration between the participants throughout the entire process. Each group needs to be continually making decisions amongst themselves as well as be in continuous interaction with the program's market server (Nurmi & Lainena, 2002).  Preliminary results show (so far using quantitative data only) that those students who participated in the study obtained significantly higher scores on their post-test involving content knowledge than comparable students who did not have this experience. The simulation engaged the participants and helped to make them feel more experienced.  Upon assessing the importance of the collaboration, the participants felt it to be both fruitful and useful (Nurmi & Lainena, 2002).   

Just as learning is varied, so teaching should be diversified to accommodate differences in students' learning styles and abilities. Through the use of integrated education, teachers can scaffold learning experiences for students to help them understand real relationships across school subjects (Ogle & McMahon, 2003).  In their study entitled "Curriculum integration to promote literate thinking: Dilemmas and possibilities", Ogle and McMahon (2003) discovered that curriculum integration broke down existing content boundaries and helped students develop higher order thinking skills. Further, integration was found to provide educators with a cohesive way to plan and implement instruction. 

Literacy is the foundation of communication and meaning construction within each discipline (Ogle & McMahon, 2003).  O'Flahaven & Tierney (1996) (cited in Ogle & McMahon, 2003) assert that students should be introduced to the disciplinary ways of constructing knowledge and focus on discipline-based inquiry.  Simply put, students should be encouraged to engage in the construction of meaning in a variety of forms within an environment that is planned and guided.

How will each subject meet the curriculum standards set forth  in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills?

To prepare and plan for effective instruction, educational objectives need to be written for each class lesson or for the individual student.  Objectives have a specific purpose, i.e.,  to help the teacher articulate the purpose for instruction, the way in which instruction will take place, and the criteria which will be used to judge the learning (Meese, 2002).  The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) are the state of Texas' curriculum standard.  This standard is available to all educators and clearly written.  Using the TEKS, both middle school English Language Arts and Social Studies standards can be addressed through integration.  As subjects are connected in the context of the theme or topic, they may seem less fragmented to students (Beane, 2001).  The teaming of teachers, meeting the standards of the TEKS as reflected in the TAKS, and applying curriculum theory are means in facilitating the integration of subjects. 

The TEKS determine the teaching objectives and Bloom's Taxonomy provides a six-level guide for processing this knowledge (Dembo, 1988).  The purpose of the TEKS is to provide a standardized curriculum for Texas teachers to use as a guide when creating lessons.  They are half of the total accountability system employed by the state.  The other half is the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills).  Under the accountability provisions of the NCLB Act, all public school campuses and school districts are evaluated for Adequate Yearly Progress based on the students' scores on the test (Texas Education Agency, n.d.)  The TEKS are broken down into separate disciplinary objectives.  The objectives are presented in such a way that they are open to creative educational instruction.  Each discipline is written just vaguely enough to allow for interdisciplinary interaction.  For example, it is possible for an ELA/Social Studies unit to mix objectives:

110.22B7 and 8a,b,c,d: 6th grade ELA objective 7 for Reading/Fluency. The student reads with fluency and understanding in texts at appropriate difficulty levels.  And, ELA objective 8 for Reading/Fluency.  The reader reads widely for different purposes in varied sources.  The student is expected to read classic and contemporary works.  Select varied sources such as plays, anthologies, novels, textbooks, poetry, and electronic texts when reading for information.  Read for varied purposes such as to be informed, to appreciate the writer's craft and to discover models for his/her own writing. And, to read to take action such as to complete forms, make recommendations and write a response (TEA, retrieved 8/05, TAC, Title 19, Part II, Ch. 110).

113.22B2 a,b: 6th grade Social Studies objective for History reads, "the student understands the contributions of individuals and groups from various cultures to selected historical and contemporary societies.  The student is expected to (a) explain the significance of individuals or groups from selected societies, past and present and (b) describe the influence of individual and group achievements on select historical or contemporary societies (TEA, retrieved 8/05, TAC, Title 19, Part II, Ch. 113).

 

            Below is a complete unit of interdisciplinary study created by me.  The unit is an interdisciplinary thematic unit between ELA and Social Studies targeted for 6th graders.  The unit takes the students up through all six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.  Bloom's Taxonomy levels can be found imbedded within the Intended Learning Objectives (ILO's) as well as meeting the TEKS.  An example is ILO #7:  Students should learn to make comparisons to learn about Egyptian contributions as they relate to modern society. 

• Knowledge:  The students will have to remember previously learned materials about Egyptian culture.  They will have to recall a wide range of information and specific facts.
• Comprehension: The student will then have to grasp the information in order to make some type of comparison.  This type of thinking is reflective of translating information from one form to another; interpret the material through summarization, and estimating future trends.
• Application: When asked to make comparisons, the students will need to be able to use the material in concrete situations, such as deciphering rules, laws, methods of irrigation, etc. requiring a higher level of understanding than those under comprehension.
• Analysis:  The student will have to break down material into its component parts to understand its organizational structures. This type of thinking can require the student to identify the various parts of the unit and analyze the relationship between those parts.  The student must understand the content and its structure.
• Synthesis: This task calls for the student to take the broken down material from the previous level and put it together into a new form.  This activity may involve producing a unique speech or a research proposal, or coming up with their own set of abstract relationships between the Egyptian culture and another culture studied.
• Evaluation: The student is given an opportunity to judge the value of the material such as a poem, statement, speech, set of facts, from the unit for a given purpose, i.e., presentation, art piece, etc. by possibly judging its value to the cultures. 

 

Major Cultures of the World

Unit One: Egyptian Culture, Ancient and Modern

Developed by Heather Corti

 

Language Arts/Art Multi-Disciplinary Unit utilizing historically correct information

 

Sub-Unit Three:  Major Contributions to Modern Society

 

Rationale

 

            This unit of study will balance content and skill-building by challenging abilities, enriching students' knowledge of the world and showing them the opportunities available in life's endeavors.  Students will receive a balance in reading, writing and language essential to their success in life.  When concepts in previous grade levels have not been mastered by some students, the remedy is intervention for the student who needs assistance, not change in the content of the curriculum for all students.  This unit will focus on teaching skills and then reviewing them in new areas of learning.  For example, students should be constructing multi-level paragraphs by the end of fourth grade.  If they are still not using paragraphs in sixth grade, the need for paragraphing will be reviewed in the context of writing outlines first from historically correct information about the Egyptian Contributions to Modern Society. 

            Advanced language skills are essential to successful communication in a global world.  The language arts experience for students should reflect the demands of the workplace, society and an every-changing technology.  As language is both a means of creative expression and a tool for communication, I will be using language arts, (reading, writing, listening, viewing and speaking) as a vehicle to foster higher levels of thinking across the curriculum.  Students will learn to read appreciatively and analytically; to write expressively and concisely; to speak fluently and logically; and to listen and view actively and critically.

Intended Learner Outcomes

[Understanding = (U) and a Skill = (S)]

1. (U) The student will have the confidence to believe in his/her ability to research the topics.
2. (S) Students will read critically, express their ideas clearly orally and in writing, write creatively, learn research skills and interpret and appreciate literature. 
3. (S) Students will work cooperatively in groups.
4. (S) Students will work cooperatively in problem solving.
5. (S) Students should learn to identify structural features of various source books
6. (S) Students will connect and clarify main ideas in the source books and identify their relationship to other sources and their related topics
7. (U) Students will make comparisons involving Egyptian contributions as they relate to modern society
8. (S) Students will use Standard English and traditional rhetorical strategies when expressing what they've learned in writing.
9. (S) Students will engage in extensive independent reading as the primary means for increasing vocabulary knowledge.
10. (U) Students will develop an interpretation exhibiting careful reading, understanding and insight.
11. (U) Students will organize the interpretation around several clear ideas, premises, or images.
12. (U) Students will develop and justify the interpretation through sustained use of examples and textual evidence.
13. (S) Students will apply the process of researching by using the following steps; evaluate, discard, select and use the information from multiple sources.
14. (S) Students will write clear, coherent, focused essays and thus  exhibit an awareness of their audience and purpose.

 

The preceding Intended Learning Outcomes seem important for a variety of reasons. The student should have the confidence to believe in his/her ability to research the topics.  Before a student can learn, he/she has to believe that they can learn.  It is so important to make the child believe that they have all the necessary innate abilities to learn scholarly materials. 

Students should learn to make comparisons of Egyptian contributions as they relate to modern society.  Students need to realize that each great culture contributed to our culture is some way.  So much of what we know comes from the sweat of previous cultures.  To appreciate these contributions, the students must think about them, research them and then write down what they have learned.

Students will use Standard English and traditional rhetorical strategies when expressing what they've learned in writing. When students are learning to write, they can use Standard English to convey their thoughts. Acceptable rhetorical strategies will help  the transmit learned knowledge either verbally or in written form. 

Students will engage in extensive independent reading as the primary means for increasing vocabulary knowledge.  In order for students to focus, they must be given time to struggle.  Independent reading allows for the struggle.  Reading with the knowledge that you will need to look up unfamiliar words enlightens the learner.  After all, we are all learners of all ages learning new words and unfamiliar information.  Learning is a process.  In order to begin, the learner needs to struggle through new information before he can possess it as his own.  He must possess the information as his own before he can pass it on.

Students will write clear, coherent, focused essays exhibiting the student's awareness of the audience and purpose.  In order for the learner to pass on information and knowledge the student must know how to articulate and write down the information.  Learning to write coherent, focused essays are paramount in the learner's success in the global community we call home.

Teaching Strategies

            This subunit begins with the teacher presenting some back ground history about the Egyptian Culture as a way to introduce the direction in which the class will be headed in their research.  The teacher will inform the class that they will be researching the contributions that the Egyptian Culture has made to today's society, e.g., the calendar, astronomy, geometry, and irrigation.

This sub-unit will emphasize the writing process.  Pre-writing will include note taking, brain storming, webbing and automatic writing (also known as blind writing), outlining and research. The composition will explore the different writing styles, generally referred to as Rhetorical Modes.  The focus will be on narrative, informative, argumentative, comparison/contrast, descriptive writing, and the process essay.  Revision and editing will follow culminating in complete finished essays of top quality.  Students will make a presentation in front of peers with a three-dimensional visual aid to show a working knowledge of their newly acquired knowledge.

Through literature, students will investigate Egyptian contributions to society.  The students will be given copied information from the internet that has the necessary information they will need to write their essays.  From the information given to them by the teacher, students will learn how to identify important information and how to outline.   The students will be informed that they will actually figure out the Pythagorean theory.  They will also create a three-dimensional model showing a working knowledge of how irrigation and Nile River flooding aided in agriculture.

So, together as a class, students will investigate the development of one of the world's first great cultures and civilizations with a beginning focus on its contributions to our modern society.  This activity gives the students an opportunity to learn about another culture, early intellectual thought processes and a chance to compare what they have learned to what they know about today. Students will also have the prospect of understanding how the calendar, geometry, irrigation and astronomy play a role in their lives. 

As the lesson progresses, the students will slowly transform the class room into a representation of Egypt.  Constellations will be placed on the ceiling, pyramids will be built in small scale and a reproduction of the Nile River and agriculture will all be represented in this 3-d mural.  Throughout the mural building process, students will use books gathered by both teachers and students for more information and pictures. 

During the mural construction students will begin writing.  The first writing assignment is an informative essay about the importance of Egyptian Contributions in today's society.  The essay will have four major parts including the calendar, astronomy, geometry and irrigation.  Students will write an argumentative essay explaining why the Egyptian astronomers needed to study the sky.  Students will write a process essay on the Pythagorean Theorem explaining why the theorem makes sense.  Students will write a descriptive essay on irrigation thanks to the Nile River.  Students will write a compare/contrast narrative after discussing in groups the difference between farming in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

            Individually, each child will experience writing in a variety of rhetorical modes while becoming more familiar with the information they are passing along through writing.  Reporting on their newly acquired information in the form of presentations will give students a dramatic outlet as well as an artistic one.  Three-dimension visual aids will be required to accompany the presentation as a way for students to shine holistically.  The children will publish their essays by posting them on the mural as information books on Egyptian contributions to modern society.  All essays will have illustrations, either hand drawn or pictures collected during the lesson.

Assessments

          The following section provides an example of the assessment procedures that could be used to determine the degree to which each of the intended learning outcomes (ILOs) was achieved.  Each intended learning outcome (ILO) is followed by an explanation of the assessment procedures contemplated.

1. The student should have the confidence to believe in his/her ability to research the topics.

This is an observational assessment.  As the student begins the lesson, he/she may at first feel intimidated and require much assistance.  But as time progresses, less and less assistance will be required as the student's confidence in his/her ability increases.

 

 

1. Students will make comparisons of Egyptian contributions as they relate to modern society

Students must know how to find and use reference materials as a prerequisite to meaningful research.  The students will be asked to find predetermined factual information about Egypt's contribution to the calendar, astronomy, geometry and irrigation.  These answers must be written.

 

1. Students will use Standard English and traditional rhetorical strategies when expressing what they have learned in writing.

Students will use sensory details and concrete language in relating newly acquired knowledge in writing.  Organization appropriate to grade level must be found in their essays and they must offer persuasive evidence for the validity of their descriptions.  The essays must support the main idea with facts, details, examples and explanations from multiple sources.

 

1. Students will engage in extensive independent reading as the primary means for increasing vocabulary knowledge.

The ILO's assessment is more for the teacher's monitoring than that of a student's measure of success.  The teacher will assess incrementally the students' progress toward the research report standard.  The teacher will adjust instruction according to the results of assessment.  The teacher will give further assistance and guidance in using source materials, if the students have not located and catalogued an adequate number of sourced information.

1. Students will write clear, coherent, focused essays exhibiting their awareness of the audience and purpose, as well as make a presentation to the class using visual aids.

The research paper and the presentation are the best and most direct forms of assessment.  The value of gathered information, the big ideas and concepts, facts that are needed to make sense of the information, examples of the information and whether or not they connect, are all expressed both in written and oral form.  The students' writing and oral skills will show their ability to communicate acquired knowledge and how that knowledge affects their lives directly.  Finally, retention of this knowledge must be due to logical, memorable and applicable pieces of information that connect prior knowledge with big ideas using critical thinking skills. 

      The following section provides an outline of the content to be addressed throughout this subunit. Major topics are explained as needed with supportive information.

1. Calendar
   1. Based on the sun alone
   2. A way for Egyptians to force the tropical year and the lunar month to fit into a scheme
   3. Life evolved around the natural flooding of the Nile
   4. Astronomy
      1. Land was a mirror of heaven
      2. Motives behind studying the night sky
      3. 24 hour divisions of the day
      4. A fixed and constant year
      5. Limited by their knowledge of geometry
      6. First to recognize planets
      7. First to name stars
      8. First to recognize constellations
      9. First to group stars
      10. Practical uses
      11. Orientation of pyramids and major buildings astrologically
   5. Geometry
      1. Archimedes' theory of Pi (Egyptians already knew this theory)
      2. Rhind papyrus
      3. Pythagorean Theorem

            His history

            What the theory states

            Discovery of irrationals

            Full lesson on having the student figure out the Pythagorean Theorem

1. review of the basic concepts
   1. angles and triangles
   2. triangles and rectangles
   3. Pythagorean Triples
   4. Examples and problems

 

1. Geometry through Art

            Lesson on teaching measurement

1. Egyptian knotted string
2. Irrigation
   1. The Nile River
   2. Farming in the desert

            Flooding

1. Agriculture

            Planting process

1. Mesopotamia

            Euphrates River

1. Compare and Contrast Mesopotamian and Egyptian Farming

Thematic Unit

Developed by Chris Ferguson

 

Another excellent example of a thematic unit meeting both the discipline objectives and the state mandated educational standards is one mentioned earlier in this paper, an integrated, team-taught thematic unit developed by Ferguson (2002).  He integrated English II with Western Civilization for high school sophomores. Ferguson's English students were issued the novel, A Tale of Two Cities (cited in Ferguson, 2002).  Blocks of class time were devoted to reading both the novel and the chapter in the history text on the French Revolution.

During days 1-8, the students rose through the first three levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, i.e., knowledge, comprehension and application. They read installments of the novel and the chapter in the history text.  After reading each chapter, students, working in groups of three, were responsible for summarizing the plot and identifying new characters or setting.  Discussions followed reading assignments and focused on the causes and phases of the French Revolution (cited in Ferguson, 2002).   In order to write a summary, the students had to demonstrate Knowledge and Comprehension.  They were also required to apply their knowledge and comprehension toward producing logical discussion.

During days 9-14, the students analyzed and synthesized information.  In small groups, students were assigned an historical or fictional character to prosecute or defend in a trial, while others served as the jury (Ferguson, 2002).  In order to successfully handle this part of the assignment, students needed to analyze the characters/situations to then synthesize the information into a completely new product, the trial.

Day 15 required all students to evaluate information by writing a response using a writing prompt provided to them by Ferguson (2002).  The prompt required the students to make a value judgment, develop an opinion and appraise a situation. 

Throughout the thematic unit, Ferguson aligned all of his teaching objectives with South Carolina's English II standards and History standards utilizing the sequence of steps students must learn and use to engage successfully in the procedural knowledge of writing, research and speaking while integrating large amounts of factual and conceptual knowledge (Ferguson, 2002). 

Considerable research conducted with children within the last decade supports the way that integration of subjects provides a cognitively challenging academic environment resulting in positive outcomes that are far beyond what would be expected based on the students' reading levels (Vaughn & Klinger, 1999).

Mertens and Flowers (2003) conducted an empirical study of the influences of middle school practices on student achievement.  They used standardized achievement tests as their assessment because these tests were preferred by district, state and federal educational policy makers.  The study consisted of 121 schools serving middle grade students in the Mid South region that is 83% ethnically diverse.  The region included schools in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi during the school terms for 1998-99 and 2000-2001. 

Mertens and Flowers (2003) discovered that an important goal of teaming was that it contributed to improved teaching and learning outcomes, since teachers worked together to coordinate and integrate the instruction that was delivered in the classroom.  Further, Mertens and Flowers found that there was a positive association between practices occurring at the teaming level and those occurring in the classroom.

The study measured progress in the various dimensions of school reform, including a thorough examination of teacher reports on the levels of engagement in interdisciplinary team practices and classroom instructional practices (Mertens & Flowers, 2003).  Student achievement data were obtained from the state departments of education for the three states participating.  All three states administered tests in reading and mathematics in grade seven.  Since the state achievement tests were different, the normal curve equivalency score for each state was used (Mertens & Flowers, 2003). 

Table 1 depicts the school-level correlation matrix of classroom practices and team-practices dimensions from the study by Mertens and Flowers (2003). The vertical axis represents classroom practices, and the horizontal axis depicts team-practices dimensions.

 

 

 

Table 1

 

School-Level Correlation Matrix of Classroom-Practices and Team Practice Dimensions

 

 

Curriculum Coordination & Integration

Curriculum of Student Assignment

Parent Contact & Involvement

Small Group Active Instruction

.67*

.58

.52

Integration & Interdisciplinary Practices

.86*

.82

.71

Authentic Instruction & Assessment

.74**

.64

.54

Critical Thinking Practices

.75*

.67

.60

Reading Skills Practices

.75*

.70

.57        

Writing Skills Practices

.65*

.60

.49

Mathematical Skills Practices

.49*

.44

.34

.

Note. p<.01, two-tailed; * refers top < .05; ** refers to p < .1

Table 1 shows a significant statistical increase in classroom practices when curriculum coordination and integration were used as opposed to the increases in classroom practices where parent contact and involvement were the only changes made in the usual curriculum.  This quantitative study indicates a positive association between the practices occurring at the team level and those occurring in the classroom as being clearly evident (Mertens & Flowers, 2003).  The variables presented in Table 1 represent the %association between team practices and classroom practices.  The strongest statistical associations found in this study existed where curriculum coordination and integration were linked to classroom practices such as small group instruction (r =.67), authentic instruction and assessment (r =.74), critical thinking practices (r =.75), and reading skills practices (r =.75). The relationships between these classroom practices and parent contact and involvement were consistently less than those involving curriculum coordination and integration.  

Interestingly enough, the most significant correlation was between Curriculum Coordination & Integration and Authentic Instruction and Assessment.  Authentic instruction is the model for high-quality instruction developed by Fred Newmann in 1993 (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2004).  High quality instruction is composed of five major teaching components including 1) Higher order thinking, 2) Depth of knowledge, 3) connectedness to the world beyond the classroom, 4) Substantive conversation and 5) Social support for student achievement (2004).  There positive increase in student achievement when classroom practices combine authentic instruction with subject integration. 

These statistics are remarkable.  They show that despite increases in student achievement where parent contact and involvement are employed, the largest achievement gains are found when curriculum coordination and integration are used. 

Summary of the Literature

Educators must be willing to continue to learn.  Staff development, collaborative activities and integrated lesson planning are part of the continuing educative process through which teachers develop.  When teachers develop, so do their students.  In order for subject integration to be successful and realistic, teachers must work in partnership and pool resources through team teaching. 

Ultimately, the goal is to provide intellectually stimulating educative environments to all students, especially below average learners, which can be accomplished by effectively applying both behaviorist and constructivist theories of learning.  Not all learning is the same.  Those students who are performing below average must be exposed to differentiated learning environments.  Such environments must be organized using scientifically based instructional strategies. 

By using existing curriculums or creating unique curriculums,  research supports the integration of subjects.  It's the responsibility of the educational community to challenge academically all students while at the same time meeting teaching objectives.

Discussion

The primary objective of educators must be to help all students become better thinkers and writers.  Finding the symbiotic relationship between subjects can be as easy as fusing together two or more subjects through common objectives.  Striking a cognitive balance between two or more subjects allows for the below average student to discover information otherwise concealed to a confused mind.

The Center on English Learning and Achievement (CELA) (2000) published an article called, Participating in Classroom Dialogue Helps Struggling Readers.  In this article there is a broad discussion over how the students at the lower end of classroom performance are distinguished by a common and consistent set of academic characteristics.  These students read and write less than their higher performing peers, and they choose not to read and write. Further, they are less likely to connect learning to their own experiences and less likely to take control over their own learning.  However, they are more likely to both construct and cling to simplistic interpretations of what they are learning.  To combat this relatively passive perspective toward learning, the classroom environment must incorporate diverse ways to enhance learning. There must be an increased cohesiveness between curriculum and instruction, and the level of student engagement must be raised as well.  In addition, it is important that the curriculum be aligned with assessments that reflect successful academic scaffolding(CELA, 2000).  Students need a solid foundation of factual and conceptual knowledge before beginning to work on projects.  However, through integration, many of these scaffolding or procedural knowledge strategies can be covered.  Also, successful teaching interventions and strategies must be employed in a manner that effectively addresses the individual needs of the students (CELA, 2000).  

Integrated curriculum has a much better chance to attract the attention of the below average student by focusing on ways to increase the time spent reading (Vaughn & Klinger, 1999).  By focusing on "meaningful learning and skills", educators can integrate content/curriculum to help students formulate the associations needed for lifelong learning (Gardner et.al, 2003). 

To effectively integrate subjects, teachers must understand the connections between a minimum of two courses or disciplines.  Educators need to keep in mind the necessity to bring students up through all six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.  In order to do so, teachers must also understand Bloom's cognitive hierarchy.  The ultimate educational goal is to teach students to think critically.   Two integrated curriculums were presented in this paper; both show how subject integration can encourage critical thinking and help students develop more sophisticated critical thinking skills.  In concurrence are Gardner, Wisseck, Schweber, canter and Smith who wrote Enhancing Interdisciplinary Instruction in General and Special Education (2003).  Gardner et al. claim that thematic units provide a more in-depth study than traditional curriculum units. 

By its very nature, integrated curriculum requires students to begin transferring knowledge learned in one discipline to another discipline.  It is in the ability to transfer knowledge that critical thinking occurs.  While knowledge is drawn from the traditional disciplines, students move from activity to activity, or project to project, rather than from subject to subject during the school day.  This interrogative approach to learning provides teachers an opportunity to guide the study of critical components in the curriculum (Gardner et al., 2003).  Thus, students integrate learning experiences into their developing schemas of meaning (Beane, 1993).  The students must stretch beyond knowledge, comprehension and application to analysis, synthesis and evaluation.  It is only in the upper three levels where the students begin to breakdown the information from each discipline into its separate components (analysis), put the parts together in a whole new way (synthesis) and judge the value of the subjects through their mixture (evaluation). Once procedural knowledge of writing and speaking is mastered, "students have the basis for analyzing, evaluating and creating knowledge from both subject areas simultaneously" (Ferguson, 2002).  In concurrence with Fergusun is Kathy Lake, who writes in the School Improvement Research Series (n.d.) that in an interrogative curriculum, such as interdisciplinary thematic units, the planned learning experience not only provides the learners with a more unified view of two usually separate disciplines, but it also motivates and helps to develop the learners' power to perceive new relationships in learning (Lake, n.d.).

Research suggests that teachers can impart a variety of teaching strategies to help motivate students to effectively use the procedural knowledge involved with writing, reading and speaking as part of their curriculum integration learning experience.  Primarily, the research credits teachers for having expectations for their students.  Those teachers without expectations were unable to successfully motivate (Thompson, et.al, 2004).  Motivating students can be summed up into a little nutshell of expectation.  What teachers believe about their students has a pronounced effect of students' academic success (2004). 

Inquiry-based methodology relies on teachers' high expectation for all students to acquire factual knowledge to merge it with other knowledge, and retrieve this knowledge to satisfy assessment criteria (Stevenson, 2001).  Found within the inquiry-based classroom is a teacher who engages students by asking them to reflect on the nature of inquiry, i.e., the necessity for diverse ideas, abilities and experiences (Stevenson, 2001). 

Ogle and McMahon (2003) agree with Stevenson (2001).  The researchers assert that to motivate students, teachers must help students make real connections across school subjects. These relationships must be perceived by students as being practical, realistic, sensible, feasible, and functional. 

Recommendations for Further Research

In addition to the research discussed in this paper, there is great need for longitudinal, correlation quantitative and qualitative studies to examine the impact of teaming teachers to teach middle school students in cohorts while teaching integrated materials.  The research can involve historical data documenting instances where teacher teaming and integration of subjects had led to higher student achievement.  These data could be collected by using student achievement test scores, student perceptions of learning, pre-tests on procedural knowledge compared to post-tests on procedural knowledge, to name a few. 

Also, in doing my research I learned there are an unusually low number of papers written by actual educators implementing integrated thematic units.  Perhaps in the future a more comprehensive study could be performed by someone willing to interview those educators who are successfully integrating disciplines in different grade levels.  Information could be gathered about the subjects that are being integrated, the professional development structure in place for those teaching, and the academic achievements brought about through an integrated curriculum among average, above average and below average students.  An most importantly, a study could be performed to examine the long-term effectiveness of the curriculum integration initiative by using the assessment procedures produced when teachers have time for teaming, curriculum integration and administrative support. 

Another recommendation for further research is to study the impact of cooperative group learning on below average middle school students.  Also of interest could be the amount of actual preparation teachers required and received to address the individual needs of students, especially the struggling reader.  The research would have to include a wide variety of activities that could be implemented for differentiated learning. These activities would have to offer ways for students to become involved in their own learning and to develop improved skills in working with each other.  By carefully examining and discussing recent reports urging education reform (Mertens & Flowers, 2003; Vaughn & Klinger, 1999; Friend, 2001; Jordan et.al, 2001), educators will be better prepared to introduce cooperative integrated group activities into their classrooms. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

due to article submission restrictions, References available upon request

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VITA

 

Heather Corti

14112 Ayesbury Cr.

Wichita, Kansas  67228

316-213-8267

 

EDUCATION

 

Present                        Pursuing a Master of Science Degree

                        Major Subject:  Curriculum & Instruction

                        Texas A&M International University

                        Projected Graduation:  December 2005

 

12/1999           Bachelor's Degree: BA

                        Major:  English

                        St. Thomas University in Houston, Texas

                       

 

Teaching Certificates:

 

Date                Secondary Generalist  6-12 (4/27/2003)

                        Generalist EC-4  (5/21/2005)

 

Work Experience:

 

8/05-present    Southeast High School, Wichita Kansas

                        English teacher (Freshman and Junior)

 

8/02-1/04         St. Augustine High School, Laredo Texas

                        English teacher (all levels)

 

12/99-8/01       Seton Catholic Junior High, Houston Texas

                        7th grade English Language Arts teacher

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

About the Author

 

I am an educator with middle school and public school experience, both public and private, in three states.  I am also the creator of SIMPLY Shakespeare.  My education:  a BA in Literature and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Literature.   I, like most educators, high school in particular, struggle with the balance of creating rigorous lessons for apathetic students with high absenteeism rates.  So much goes into creating a lesson, layers upon layers to take into consideration.  I write my thought process to lesson creation as a medium to help those, not in education, understand what a teacher does. 

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