Running head: CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM 1

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Sonya Swartzentruber

Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 495 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2017

CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM 2

Introduction

It is absolutely essential for teachers to plan lessons that are rich in content. Wiggins and

McTighe (2005) believe that a standard remains worthy whether or not few people or any

people can meet it (p. 350). It can be difficult to teach to the standards; however, it is

something that must be done in the classroom because students need to learn that information,

whether it takes time for them to grasp it or it is instantaneous. Integrating the curriculum is a

benefit to students because it emphasizes concepts that are intertwined, helping students

understand the connections that can be found in multiple content areas.

Rationale for Selection of Artifacts

The first artifact I chose is a lesson plan I wrote, which incorporates math standards into a

language arts lesson on functional text. At the time that I taught this lesson, students had already

been working on functional text for several days, along with adding, subtracting, and counting

money. I looked first at the standards, to determine what students would need to know and be

able to accomplish. I decided that my students needed to see that there is a connection between

what they had been learning in language arts and what they had been learning in math because

they are concepts that can intertwine. It is vital that students are being taught and begin to see

that the content they learn in one subject area is related to content they learn in a different subject

area. With that being said, of course all the content students learn will not be interconnected with

standards in other subject areas, but it is imperative for teachers to help students make the

connection when something they are learning in one content area ties into something they are

learning or have learned in another subject area. I created this lesson to show students that with

the specific type of functional text they were learning about, menus, they can also incorporate
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM 3

what they were learning in math to dive deeper in the text and better understand what it is all

about.

The second artifacts I chose are two related activities that are intended to help students

read and find information in a functional text, work with money, find the sum and difference,

create questions, and answer questions. In language arts, students were working with functional

texts and learning how to read them and find information. In math, they were working with

money and finding sum and difference. The day before this lesson, I had students thoroughly go

over the menu to discover what information is included in this form of functional text and

practice finding information. For the first activity, students were answering questions that could

be answered by looking in the functional text and I also incorporated what the class was learning

in math, which was working with money, along with finding sums and differences. For the

second activity, I had students make their own functional text. They created their own menu,

with the accompanying prices and then they wrote three questions that could be answered by

looking at the menu, which they then passed to their partner to answer. These activities gave

students practice finding information in a functional text and incorporated what they were

learning in math, using knowledge of money and finding sums and differences.

Reflection on Theory and Practice

This lesson, along with the activities that accompany the lesson were overall successful.

Students seemed to especially enjoy creating their own menu, which was my hope. They took

responsibility of the activities and a majority of them spent their time looking in the functional

text to answer the questions and they created thoughtful questions to be answered. A majority of

students met the objectives; however, there is still more work to be done for me to feel that they
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM 4

fully met the objectives because they still have not had much practice with the other forms of

functional texts or working with money.

Integrating subject areas can only improve instruction by showing students that certain

ideas and topics relate to background knowledge or other information they have learned or are

learning in the classroom. If students can relate what they are learning with something they

already know, it will only benefit them and help them gain a better understanding of the topic.

According to Rutherford (2008), It is no longer good enough for the lesson to be a good

lesson, it must also be the right lesson (Introduction). Any teacher can come up with a

phenomenal lesson, but if it is not teaching to the standards, it is no longer the right lesson for

students. Not only should teachers be integrating subject areas, but they should be teaching

content rich lessons that contain appropriate standards.

According to Moss (2005), Integrating reading and content instruction throughout the

elementary grades can help children learn to read at the same time they read to learn (p. 50).

Moss (2005) also believes that combining literacy and content learning will help elementary

students develop informational literacy skills that will help them succeed at school and in the

workplace (p. 50). With the lesson I created, I incorporated math skills into a language arts

lesson and I feel that it better helped my students make the connection between the two content

areas. Students need to be able to make connections between multiple content areas so they can

gain a deeper understanding of what they are learning.

An integrated curriculum is vital in helping students make connections with what they

already know or have learned. Teachers need to be sure to create lessons that are rich in content

and focused on the standards. Creating an integrated curriculum will help students apply what

they have learned to multiple areas of their life, making them more successful overall.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM 5

References

Moss, B. (2005). Making a case and a place for effective content area literacy instruction in the

elementary grades. The Reading Teacher, 59(1), 46-55. Retrieved February 2, 2017.

Rutherford, P. (2008). Instruction for all students (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Just ASK

Publications.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River,

NJ: Pearson.