Running head: CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM 1

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Esther Boner

Regent University
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Introduction

Interdisciplinary lessons and instruction can be a great way to have themed units and

help students truly grasp content knowledge in more than one way. If for instance the teacher

was teaching about the natives in Virginia. This would be something that would naturally come

from a textbook or online source and traditionally students would take guided notes. To make

this more interesting and engaging it would make more sense to bring in a component of

Language Arts and if possible, integrate this into Science. The teacher would be able to create a

theme and spark the interest of all learners through more subjects and in turn also be able to use

the time allotted for teaching these subjects more wisely. In this competency I have provided

two lesson plans as artifacts that I have created to incorporate more than one subject in the grade

level curriculum.

Rationale

The first artifact I chose is a lesson plan I used in a first-grade classroom. The lesson

was facilitated around the President’s Day holiday and proved to work very well with the

students in the class I was in. The lesson not only incorporated Civics and history but also

provided an ease of incorporating reading SOL’s. The students made predictions before reading

the story using background knowledge and were able to connect to the story in some very

intellectual ways. To understand honesty the students played Simon says and were instructed to

sit down and be honest and accountable if they moved when Simon didn’t say to. The main take

away of the lesson was to talk about Abraham Lincoln because he is one of the president’s

birthday’s whom we celebrate on the holiday as well as help the students see how being honest

and accountable is what a great leader does. The students understood the content, enjoyed the

book and took away the important components of the lesson. The interdisciplinary approach to
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this made it possible to have enough to time to work through the lesson and it helped students to

comprehend and keep the knowledge with them. From that lesson on I heard many times about

being honest like Abraham Lincoln and working hard to be accountable and responsible, so they

could be great leaders someday.

The second artifact I have chosen to highlight is a lesson created for a fifth-grade

classroom. This lesson was part of Unit Plan I designed using backwards design. This lesson

was not required to have the added SOL components for an interdisciplinary curriculum however

while creating it the additional SOL’s naturally fit into the lesson. In the lesson students learn

about the Powhattan Indians. This directly related to the physical geography as well as the

climate and environment in the area where they lived in Virginia. In the lesson students would

work in groups to read a book about the Indians and using the book and their textbook they

would have the chance to collaborate ideas about where they lived, what it looked like, what was

the environment and other geographic data. Once they completed this the students would share.

Sharing or presenting data is a large part of the language arts curriculum for fifth grade. This

was a great way to get students involved in their learning and contributing to something that

would be presented to the class. Additionally, at the end of the lesson students would write to

explain and describe the Powhattan Indians and their environment. This lesson would be very

beneficial in a team-teaching situation where one teacher teaches language arts and history. This

fit into both areas of the curriculum and created class period where they would be done together

instead of only having a note taking lesson and a separate shared reading.

Reflection

Interdisciplinary instruction not only benefits the teacher but also is a great way to engage

students. Students learn in many different ways and likewise they often have a subject they like
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more than another. Knowing this really sheds a light on how teaching across the curriculum

could engage more students and help raise their grades and test scores in all subjects. The

benefits to the teacher are that instead of needing to create two very different lessons and have

enough content to fill the time on the schedule this creates a time where it can all go together,

and the teacher no longer has to worry about stopping one lesson to begin the next. Instead the

lesson can flow together and help students fully understand and participate in their learning.

In a study done with eleventh grade students the students that were part of the

interdisciplinary lessons were given a survey and the “responses were overwhelmingly positive;

nineteen of the twenty-two students expressed they like our teaching and the class.” (Dicamillo

& Bailey, 2016) The survey alone revealed enough to want to continue that style of teaching. If

the students are pleased and found positivity in it then they are bound to put more effort into their

work. The students in this study were also interviewed and a common answer to what they liked

about the teaching that was delivered to them was that one of the subjects was more interesting

to the students, so it helped them to enjoy the one they didn’t like. In this case they were taught

English and History.

Furthermore, the process of creating interdisciplinary lessons can create a larger

relationship with coworkers as well as an ease of instruction. When teachers are able to come

together and work as a team it almost always makes for an easier and much less stressful

planning process. Collaboration is the key to a positive work environment. It is never fun to go

it all alone. With interdisciplinary lessons teachers are given the opportunity to get together and

plan and create themes that go together for the greater good of the students. Getting teachers

together often means learning new things and gaining a better understanding of all curriculum

components as well as understanding the students. In an article from the Education

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Administration Quarterly, it is mentioned that having a healthy interpersonal relationship created

a sense of efficiency and effectiveness. (Crow & Pounder, 2000)

As lesson plans are created and collaboration meetings are held, I find myself reaching to

scripture for guidance in my planning. With many verses speaking about planning one that

stands out to me is Luke 14:28 “Suppose on of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit

down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (The Holy Bible,

English Standard Version, 2001) This spoke to me for multiple reasons. Not only does it very

clearly shed a light on the need for collaborating and working together but it also makes it clear

that we should be thinking about the students and how they are going to all succeed and make it

to the end goal. I think it very well ties together the need for interdisciplinary lessons for both

the student to benefit and be able to “build a tower” as well as for the teachers to work together

and bring a weight off their shoulders.

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Bibliography

Crow, G. M., & Pounder, D. G. (2000). Interdisciplinary Teacher Teams: Context, Design, and

Process. Educaitonal Administration Quarterly, 216-254.

Dicamillo, L., & Bailey, N. M. (2016). Two Teacher Educators Go to the Source: Teaching an

Interdisciplinary Class in an Urban Charter High School. Teacher Education, 218-226.

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. (2001). David C. Cook.