PART I PREVIEW

A. Objectives

This module aims to help teachers have a concrete idea about the benefits in using integrative
teaching in Social Studies in the primary level of education.
To enable teachers to make Social Studies relevant and meaningful to their students.
To aid teachers grasps basic overview on how to implement an integrative approach in their
classroom and in teaching Social Studies.

B. Content

Overview of Integrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies.

Key Strategies in Teaching Social Studies
Advantages and Disadvantages of Integrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies.
How to implement Integrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies in classroom settings.
Reflections and Experiences in using Integrative Approach in Social Studies.

PART II: DISCUSSION

Overview
Social studies education is one of the most vital subject that we will teach our students for it will

help them understand their place in the world. Social Studies teaches children their roles and

responsibilities particularly in relation to social and civic affairs. It is crucial in developing critical

thinking abilities among our learners, prepares them to participate competently and productively as

concerned citizens and teaches them to address societal and global concerns using literature,

technology and other identifiable community resources. Social Studies include history, geography,

political science, sociology, economics and civics and it is an integral part in ensuring well-rounded

education in the K-12 curriculum.

As a teacher teaching Social Studies among the grade three students I want to ensure the

effectiveness of instructions, to meet the standards set by the Department of Education and to realize

the goals of teaching Social Studies. One of the current trends in education is the integrative

approach in teaching, it is an approach that helps pupils get a unified view of reality, and enhances

their capability to acquire real-life skills by linking learning content between and among subject areas.

There is integration when pupils are able to connect what they are learning in one subject area to a

related content in another subject area.

What is Integrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies?
An integrative teaching strategy is one in which an educator presents interdisciplinary lessons

that highlight connections between disciplines rather than isolated facts and lectures. While

generally thought of as a higher education concept, integrative teaching has also had positive

outcomes in the K-12 environment.

The Three Modes of Strategies

Assuring the desired learning outcome in the teaching-learning process greatly depends on the

strategy employed by the teacher. Such strategy should be something that would give the

students a fun learning experience and would enable them to attain comprehension in the

easiest possible way.

A.Thematic Learning
One popular strategy is the Thematic Teaching Losabia (2010) defines Thematic Teaching

as a strategy that connects all subject areas using a common "theme". This theme serves as

the focus or the binding idea in which the objectives and activities of different learning areas

will be based. This provides a purpose, a link that makes learning integrated thus meaningful.

For this strategy to be effective, teachers must collaborate in order to decide a central theme

that can be used to teach a lesson or a unit. Then they can decide what activities that can be

included vis-à-vis with the theme.

 Thematic instruction is characterized by a range of distinct strategies. Teachers who

incorporate thematic instruction employ research-based strategies such as:

1. Choose authentic themes that matter.

2. Employ cooperative grouping.
3. Design inquiry-based learning experiences.
4.Provide for student choice.
5Create a resource-rich classroom.
6. Team with other teachers.
7. Provide timely feedback.
8.Link assessment to real-world performances.
9. Use technology effectively. Employ appropriate
technology tools for students to explore ideas,
engage in simulations, and make new
connections.

B. Inquiry Based Learning

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively

engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. Project Based Learning is a

teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended

period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question,

problem, or challenge.
The 4 Steps of Inquiry-Based Learning
1. Students develop questions that they are hungry to answer. Have them develop a
problem statement that requires them to pitch their question using a constructed
response, further inquiry, and citation.

2. Research the topic using time in class. It’s crucial to have some of this be
classwork so students have access to the head researcher in the room—you. You
aren’t going to do the work for them, but you are going to guide them and model
methods of researching reliably.

3. Have students present what they’ve learned. Students should create and present
a culminating artifact. When I have my students present what they’ve learned, I use
a rubric with “Able to Teach” as the acme of what to reach for. After all, many people
can understand content, but can they communicate it? Students can develop a
website using Weebly, or perhaps a slideshow using Google Slides.

4. Ask students to reflect on what worked about the process and what didn’t.
Reflection is key. And it isn’t just about asking them to think back on their opinion of
the topic. It’s about reflecting on the process itself. That’s where you can work in
metacognition—thinking about thinking. Have students focus on how they learned in
addition to what they learned.

In terms of your content area, imagine a classroom where different kids are
presenting their findings on a single, simple aspect of the content. You’d have a
classroom that, overall, learns deeper and wider than ever before.

C. Content Based Instruction

Crucial Questions about CBI

What is content-based instruction?

What does a content-based instruction
lesson look like?
What are the advantages of content-
based instruction?
What are the potential problems?
Conclusions
1. What is content-based instruction?

The focus of a CBI lesson is on the topic or subject matter. During the lesson students are

focused on learning about something. This could be anything that interests them from a

serious science subject to their favorite pop star or even a topical news story or film. They

learn about this subject using the language they are trying to learn, rather than their native

language, as a tool for developing knowledge and so they develop their linguistic ability in the

target language. This is thought to be a more natural way of developing language ability and

one that corresponds more to the way we originally learn our first language.

2. What does a content-based instruction lesson look like?

There are many ways to approach creating a CBI lesson. This is one possible way.

1.Preparation
o 2. Choose a subject of interest to
students.
o 3. Find three or four suitable
sources that deal with different
aspects of the subject. These could
be websites, reference books,
audio or video of lectures or even
real people.
o 4.During the lesson Divide the class
into small groups and assign each
group a small research task and a
source of information to use to help
them fulfil the task.
5. Then once they have done
their research they form new
groups with students that used
other information sources and
share and compare their
information.
6. There should then be some
product as the end result of this
sharing of information which
could take the form of a group
report or presentation of some
kind.
3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of content-based instruction?

4. Conclusions

While CBI can be both challenging and demanding for the teacher and the students, it can

also be very stimulating and rewarding. The degree to which you adopt this approach may

well depend on the willingness of your students, the institution in which you work and the

availability of resources within your environment. It could be something that your school

wants to consider introducing across the curriculum or something that you experiment with

just for one or two lessons. Whichever you choose to do I would advise that you try to involve

other teachers within your school, particularly teachers from other subjects. This could help

you both in terms of finding sources of information and in having the support of others in

helping you to evaluate your work. Lastly, try to involve your students. Get them to help you

decide what topics and subjects the lessons are based around and find out how they feel this

kind of lessons compares to your usual lessons. In the end they will be the measure of your

success.
 Advantages of Using Integrative Approach in Teaching

•Increased understanding, retention, and application of general

concepts.
•Better overall comprehension of global interdependencies,
along with the development of multiple perspectives and points
of view, as well as values.
•Increased ability to make decisions, think critically and
creatively, and synthesize knowledge beyond the disciplines.
•Enhanced ability to identify, assess, and transfer significant
information needed for solving novel problems.
•Promotion of cooperative learning and a better attitude
toward oneself as a learner and as a meaningful member of a
community.
•Increased motivation.

Disadvantages and Limitations of Integrative Approach in

Teaching

 It necessitates adjustment to the school’s timetable as subject that are to be integrated will

need to be timetable together, thus utilizing greater blocks of timetable.

 Often integration leads to neglect of educational reasons for process, which is there may be

dominance form of knowledge.

 Those subjects for which drill as a method of teaching is suitable would get less attention.

 Flexibility (necessary) could encourage lack of organization.

 Insecure students especially in the primary level could lose direction in the presence of activity

and movement may not request needed help.

 Content is watered down in the process of integration.

 Demanding on the teacher

 Difficult to plan and implement- student interest alone cannot be a basis of curriculum

 Demands much supervision from teachers.

 Why Should We Embraced an Integrative Approach in
Teaching Social Studies?
In today's dynamic global economy, centered on the development and exchange of knowledge

and information, individuals who prosper are fluent in several disciplines and comfortable moving

among them. Creativity, adaptability, critical reasoning, and collaboration are highly valued skills.

When it comes to fostering those skills in the classroom, integrated study is an extremely effective

approach, helping students develop multifaceted expertise and grasp the important role

interrelationships can play in the real world. Integrated studies, sometimes called

interdisciplinary studies, brings together diverse discip lines in a comprehensive manner,

enabling students to develop

a meaningful understanding of the complex associations and influences within a topic.

A happy by-product of this approach, which is often coupled with project -based learning,

is that it makes school more interesting and productive for students and teachers.

How to Implement Integrative Approach in Social Studies

in Classroom Setting
Using the integrative approach to teaching combines many subjects into single lessons.

The idea behind the theory is that students receive maximum learning by acquiring

knowledge and skills in more than one area in the same time -frame. Integrating lessons

can be done with any subjects, such as mixing language arts with art by researching

famous artists and then writing a report or math and physical education where students

play basketball while assigning different shots to equal point values. The possibilities

for integrated lessons are endless.

Step 1

Collaborate with other teachers in the grade you teach. Discuss grade-level standards for their
subject and brainstorm ideas on working together to combine curriculum. These collaboration
sessions with colleagues are a great way to integrate different subjects into your classroom and
get the other teachers to do the same, creating whole grade units of study that flow with each
other.
Step 2

Create your lesson plans with the collaborative details in mind. Note the grade-level standards
and get creative. Not all subjects are easy to combine, but it can be done. Plan your core material
first and then expand upon the activities that you have students do. A lot of the integration comes
after the main content has been delivered. For example, if you are teaching about Native
Americans in social studies class, deliver you content on the subject and then create an activity
that integrates another subject. Ideas for this would be to have students use math to calculate the
average size of tribes, or the amount of land that a tribe uses for farming, or using art to create a
map of a Native American village.

Step 3

Deliver the lesson to students and have them participate in the planned activities. Check their
knowledge retention by integrating language arts. For this part of the lesson, have them research
and write a report on an aspect of the material. This can be done for almost any topic, from
famous scientists to the Declaration of Independence. By using these steps, you will have
successfully integrated at least three subjects into one lesson, benefiting students much more
substantially than by just delivering material on the subject.

Step 4

Meet with the other teachers in your grade team to check how the lessons are going. Find out
what they have been doing to effectively use integration in their classroom. Adjust your lesson
plans accordingly to what has been.

III. Process
Guide Questions

1. What do you think are the skills a teacher must have in order to adapt in an Integrative
Approach in Teaching Social Studies? List your answer below.?
2. Use the Venn Diagram in comparing Traditional and Integrative Approach.

Traditional Approach Integrative Approach

3. If you are going to teach your children about Environment Conservation, what other subjects and activities
can you integrate to ensure authentic and meaningful learning experience? Make a sample lesson plan
4. Collaborate with your co- teachers and try to make one project that would be able to integrate several
subjects. Then try to evaluate the outcomes by writing the advantages and dis-advantages of the said
project and try to make a reflection about the good things you will keep doing and the ones that you will
change.

5. Make a commitment letter about giving Integrative Approach in Teaching Social Studies a try in your
classroom. Try to track your progress by keeping a journal.

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