A supplementary text for undergraduate and graduate General Elementary Methods, General Middle School Methods, and Interdisciplinary Instruction courses. In keeping with the renewed interest in interdisciplinary teaching, this practical text provides teacher candidates with a strong foundational knowledge of the field, coupled with a wealth of practical suggestions on how to plan and implement interdisciplinary teaching across the curriculum with all learners. Readers are guided through the thinking and planning processes involved in designing thematic unit and lesson plans, and are given abundant opportunities to practice creating their own. By the end of the text, students will have experienced the entire process involved in planning, designing, creating, and implementing interdisciplinary instruction in K-8 schools.

Traditionally, instruction in U.S. schools has isolated the academic disciplines--or subject areas--from one another. In contrast,interdisciplinary-orintegrated-instructionalways begins with a central theme; the theme is then investigated by using any disciplines that can assist in the inquiry. The themes that students study can vary greatly; some are typical of topics usually included in a social studies or science curriculum. However, themes from other disciplines, such as literature, mathematics, and the visual and performing arts, can also become the basis of an interdisciplinary study. Interest in the interdisciplinary method has renewed among educators. This interest has been stimulated by legislative steps taken by many state departments of education. Since the first edition of this book, nearly all states have prepared lists of content learning standards; these lists strongly surest the need for integrated studies. Some curriculum mandates also stress interdisciplinary instruction. For example, the New York State Education Department currently requires teachers of grades 3 through 6 to develop at least one interdisciplinary project with students in their classes each year. As a result, teachers and administrators are showing more interest in interdisciplinary program designs and practical ways to plan for their implementation. Many teachers are eager to learn exactly what interdisciplinary projects should involve and how they differ from other instructional activities. Early childhood teachers use the interdisciplinary approach as a standard method of instruction. Preschool and kindergarten teachers routinely plan their instructional programs around central themes, themes that are then used as much as feasible in teaching daily lessons and activities. Most primary grade teachers believe that they understand the method and that they have been readied for it by their college preparatory programs. Although interest in using interdisciplinary instruction in the upper elementary wades and middle school is increasing, teachers at these levels may believe they have less preparation and experience with the interdisciplinary approach than their early childhood colleagues do. This book provides preservice and in-service elementary and middle school teachers and administrators with a handbook that introduces the interdisciplinary method and offers practical suggestions on how to plan for and implement the method in classrooms. I based this book partly on the materials that I prepared for my courses in teacher education. In the book, I have purposefully kept the theoretical chapters succinct--yet complete--so that the emphasis can be on thethinking processesinvolved in planning lessons and designing unit plans for interdisciplinary and research-oriented interdisciplinary units-two types of interdisciplinary units that are suitable for students at differing ability levels. This book is intended for use in methods courses at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels; it is also appropriate for inservice courses in schools and teacher centers. The practical explanations and examples provided should prove especially helpful for teachers who have not previously studied interdisciplinary instruction and who want to learn how to get started. College instructors who emphasize a constructivist approach to teaching and who advocate interdisciplinary methods in social studies, science, and generic methods courses can use this book to help their students understand both the theoretical and the practical aspects of interdisciplinary instruction. Instructors of other methods courses, such as literacy and mathematics, will find this book valuable for helping students see the relationships between these disciplines and comprehensive interdisciplinary studies. To emphasize the planning processes and illustrate the essentials of these