After just completing our literature class this weekend, I have come away with some questions about how possible total integration, as Lindquist describes really is. I mean I think its great and wonderful that there are so many fantastic historical fiction book out there that I'm sure you could connect to your social studies curriculum. However, there are more books and novels out there that are just about being human, about friendship, family, self-discovery about life and about death, and if you can't find a way to connect these stories to so other part of your curriculum, does that mean you shouldn't cover as many of these books, I definitely hope not because I think books like Bridge to Terabithia are so important for kids to read, whether or not they connect to any other part of the curriculum , I mean I'm sure if you really thought about it creatively they do connect to some aspect of another subjects curriculum, I just think that the intrinsic value of books like these is greater than the connections you would have to envision in order for the philosophical books to fit into an integrated curriculum model.
Other than that, as Alice mentioned in her post, I think its wonderful and obviously integrated (as most real world situations happen to be) to have students do something real together, such as run a school store, organize a field trip or run a fundraiser, as both Fried and Lindquist suggest several times. You learn so much through these experiences, and since its working toward something, and other are depending on you, Most kids thrive in these situations, and since everyone is so engaged, boredom and behavior issues are rarely a problem. Through real world situations like these, students learn about the value of collaboration, time management and organization skills, how to talk with adults, and address business people, what it feels like to make a difference for someone else it's really an invaluable experience, that i wish more classrooms would use on a regular basis.
1 comment:
Hey Mosha, I was thinking the same thing this weekend... if we integrate with social studies as the core subject, where does that leave novels that are not historical fiction or non-fiction? I'm sure there would have to be some part of the curriculum that is not integrated. There are certainly math lessons and science lessons that would not necessarily factor into another subject with ease. But in as much as possible, it makes perfect sense to have the lessons in a day related to one another, reaching towards the same understanding.
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