Running head: INTERDISCIPLINARY

Interdisciplinary Curriculum
Caitlin Flack
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2015

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Introduction

Interdisciplinary curriculum is extremely efficient. Covering more than one

subject at the same time is a great way to reinforce topics in different subjects at the same
time. One of the biggest difficulties of being a teacher is fitting in all of the needed
instruction in such a short amount of time. By including two or more topics in one
lesson, students are able to learn about multiple topics at once.
Rationale for Selection of Artifacts
To demonstrate interdisciplinary curriculum, I selected a lesson that included both
Language Arts and Science. My first artifact is an article my students read that covers the
topic of beach vitex. The students studied invasive species in science, so this article was
used to tie the two subjects together. While reading this article, the students were asked
to track their thoughts, which is something we had been working on. Students were to
focus on their inner conversation while they were reading and track anything that stuck
out to them in their minds. Things they could write down include opinions, questions,
confusing vocabulary, main idea, or any statements that popped into their heads. This
technique was used to not only help them interact with the text, but to also help them
keep track of what it is they were reading.
My second artifact is a chart the students had to fill out after they were finished
reading the article. The chart is sectioned off into three sections: Vocabulary Words,
Main Idea, and Authors Purpose. Students were put in groups, so they could work
together on this task. Under Vocabulary Words, each student had to place a sticky note
with a vocabulary word they didnt understand from the article. When this step was
completed, we went around the class and had volunteers share out some of their words.

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We then used context clues to try to find the meaning of the words. After this, we moved
on to the Main Idea portion. Students had to work as a group to develop one sentence
describing the main idea. When the groups were finished, they were all given time to
share what they wrote. The discussion then changed to a review of how to determine the
main idea. Our next section was Authors Purpose. Each group had to work together to
figure out the authors purpose for writing the article. Again, each group was given the
opportunity to share out their answers.
This lesson allowed for many different Language Arts concepts to be covered.
The students were able to revisit inner conversation and tracking. This is something that
is very helpful for them when they are trying to summarize or remember what they read.
They were also able to learn some new vocabulary terms. The beach vitex article had
quite a few different words that the students didnt know. By practicing using context
clues to figure out the definition, the students were able to make sense of the words. Two
other topics that were covered were authors purpose and main idea. These are very
important concepts to cover, so the extra practice was very beneficial for the students.
Some of the children found developing a sentence for main idea to be a difficult task
when we first started working on it. As we practiced more and more, they got the hang of
it.
By including the topic of beach vitex in our Language Arts lesson, the students
were able to familiarize themselves with a new type of plant. Because they were
covering invasive species in Science, the exposure to a new species was great for them.
They were making all kinds of connections to what they had been learning, and they were
able to pick up on all of the characteristics of the plant.

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Reflection on Theory and Practice

Interdisciplinary curriculum is crucial, especially when it comes to incorporating

reading and writing. Regardless of the subject or grade level, all teachers need to be
teachers of reading and writing (Powell, 2012, p. 114). These two areas are extremely
important, yet studies show that many students are falling far behind (Powell, 2012, p.
115). If reading and writing were incorporated more in different subjects, student
understanding would be sure to drastically improve. Practice makes perfect, so teachers
should be giving their students many opportunities to practice their reading and writing
skills.
During my time at Regent, I heard over and over again the importance of time
management. It is sometimes a struggle to try to fit in all of the instruction that needs to
be covered in a day. On top of that, there needs to be time to review previously studied
concepts. Interdisciplinary curriculum is fantastic for saving time and reinforcing
concepts. Students are able to take in information from multiple subject areas at one
time. This makes things more interesting for them and also allows them to make
connections. Therefore, not only is it saving time, but it is also making things more
interesting for the students. I have found that my students were far more engaged when I
combined two subjects into one lesson. They were actively engaged in discussion and
wanted to share information they previously learned that pertained to the lesson. They
felt confident enough to share out with the class and be a part of the lesson because they
felt as though they had valuable information to contribute. Interdisciplinary curriculum
builds discussion, saves valuable learning time, and reinforces learned topics.

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References

Powell, S. (2012). Your introduction to education: Explorations in teaching (2nd ed.).

Boston: Pearson.