Running head: INTERDISCIPLINARY INSTRUCTION 1

Content Knowledge in Interdisplinary Curriculum

Katherine McKerley

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2019

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Content Knowledge in Interdisplinary Curriculum

Integration of multiple subject areas in one lesson is a vital practice when trying to cover

all subjects in elementary school. It provides a solution to the common problem many teachers

face, not having enough time to teach a specific subject. In “The Common Ground: A Rationale

for Integrating Science and Reading”, researchers Royce and Wiley (2005) state that “by

building on the common ground between the subjects, you can address learning goals in both

subjects without compromising either subject [and] maximize efficiency”. For this competency,

I have chosen two artifacts to demonstrate my understanding of integrating multiple subjects: a

math RAFT activity that includes creative writing and a reading lesson that incorporates science

articles.

Rational for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact I choose was a math RAFT that incorporates creative writing SOL 4.7e:

the students will recognize different modes of writing have different patterns of organization.

RAFT stands for role, audience, format, and topic. In this activity the student picks a row from

the chart and takes on the given role. An example of this would be a student taking on the role of

a percentage and having to write an advertisement (format) towards humans (audience) on the

topic of how percentages are used in the real world. Other options have students writing letters,

creating posters and even a love song! This format was used as an enrichment opportunity, going

beyond the standards, for students who either finished early after an assessment or were ahead of

the class. If the students did not know enough on the topic they were able to partner and research

the relationship between percentages, fractions, and decimals. This activity help strengthened

students’ knowledge of the relationship between percentages, fractions, and decimals through

writing the concepts in their own words. In the future, I would love to create more RAFTs and
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use them to incorporate how math is used outside of the classroom or make a version for social

study lessons.

For my second artifact I picked a science article that corresponded with an ELA.4.6.6

determine important information to support main idea, opinions, and conclusions. An organizer

was used to accompany the students reading the article. Their task was to find the who, what,

when, where, why, how, and write a 20-word GIST summary. The article Amazing Animal

Helpers corresponded to our unit about ocean organisms. By combining these two subjects I was

able to integrate additional information to the students outside of our writing block. The students

had been writing about ocean organisms and science when they were doing a PLC on humpback

whale strandings. Without combining science and reading non-fiction standards, there would

have not been enough time to get both subjects taught during the day.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

At Regent, I was first introduced to the idea of integrating subjects in great detail through

my education course, Teaching Reading Language Arts Across the Curriculum. Through this

class and others, I would take in the future, I began to understand the benefits of integrating and

how to put it into practice. I often find myself going back to the personalized best practices

handbook that I created. This is very useful for when I need to find an organizer that could bring

together the two subjects. Currently, I am looking at using one of the resources, a non-fiction

notes, when beginning our new novel study this week. Combining subjects by using organizers,

according to Bicer, R. Capraro, and M. Caprano (2013), “helps students analyze, compare and

contrast, and synthesize relevant information” (p.369). Combing writing with other subjects such

as math, science, and social studies “enables students to organize their thoughts by fostering the
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development of reasoning skills” (2013, p.369). Students gain a deeper understanding and higher

skill level when subjects are joined together.

For mathematics, writing is also a critical skill that can be incorporated, but it does not

always seem to be a straight forward option. Wilcox and Monroe address this issue in Integrating

Writing and Mathematics (2011) and offer six useful strategies to incorporate writing into math

lessons. One that caught my eye was “think-write-share”, this is variation of the think-pair-share

activity. Instead of sharing your ideas with a person around you, the student will write down a

solution or definition on paper and then share with the class. The authors go on to say that this

strategy “heightens student engagement in writing” and keeps students “accountable for their

own mathematical understanding” (2011, p.522). Integration of multiple subjects and standards

into a single lesson can be very practical and useful for conveying information in a new way. It

gives a lesson more depth and prepares students for the future by allowing them to apply these

different standards in new and unique ways.

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References

Bicer, A., Capraro, R. M., & Capraro, M. (2013). Integrating Writing into Mathematics

Classroom to Increase Students’ Problem-Solving Skills. International Online Journal of

Educational Sciences, 5(2), 361-369. Retrieved February 24, 2019, from

http://www.acarindex.com/dosyalar/makale/acarindex-1423904235.pd

Royce, C., & Wiley, D. (2005, January 31). The Common Ground: A Rationale for Integrating

Science and Reading. https://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=50210

Wilcox, B., & Monroe, E. E. (2011). Integrating Writing and Mathematics. The Reading

Teacher, 64(7), 521-529. Retrieved from

http://www.bobheist.com/Integrating_Writing_And_Math.pdf