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Developing Integrated Curriculum: Tools and Steps

Developing Integrated Curriculum: Tools and Steps. Connections Conference Pheasant Run Resort St. Charles, Illinois March 16, 2011 Lois Barnes SREB/ HSTW Lois.barnes@sreb.org. Welcome!. High Schools That Work ( HSTW ). The largest and oldest of SREB’s school improvement initiatives

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Developing Integrated Curriculum: Tools and Steps

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  1. Developing Integrated Curriculum: Tools and Steps Connections Conference Pheasant Run Resort St. Charles, Illinois March 16, 2011 Lois BarnesSREB/HSTWLois.barnes@sreb.org Welcome!

  2. High Schools That Work (HSTW) • The largest and oldest of SREB’s school improvement initiatives • 1987 – 27 sites • 2010 – 1,000+ sites in 30+ states • Additional initiatives • Making Middle Grades Work for middle grades schools • 1998 – 25 sites; • 2010 – 450+ sites in 22 states • Technology Centers That Work for shared-time technology centers • 2010 – 150+ sites in 15 states

  3. High Schools That Work

  4. HSTW Key Practices • High expectations • Program of study • Academic studies • Career/technical studies • Work-based learning • Teachers working together • Students actively engaged • Guidance and advisement • Extra help • Culture of continuous improvement

  5. Session Objectives • To explain the importance of making connections among subjects for students • To describe how the tools and first steps of developing an integrated curriculum or unit of study might be undertaken

  6. Essential Questions • What is integrated curriculum and why do we need to integrate? • How will we determine an interdisciplinary concept and use it to develop the components of an integrated curriculum or unit of study?

  7. DO NOW!Focus on Students and Their Needs • Think of a student you knew that never reached his or her potential. Reflect on the student’s problems, as you perceived them. • What did the school do - or fail to do- that may have contributed to that student’s problems? • In what kind of school environment might this student have come closer to reaching his or her potential? • Be ready to share – in about one minute or less.

  8. The brain searches for patterns and interconnections to construct meaning.

  9. Sally first let loose a team of gophers, but the plan backfired when the dog chased them away. She then threw a party, but the guests failed to bring their motorcycles. Furthermore, her stereo system was not loud enough. Sally spent the next day looking for a peeping tom but was unable to find one in the yellow pages. Obscene phone calls gave her some hope until the number was changed. It was the installation of blinking neon lights across the street that finally did the trick. Sally framed the ad from the classified section and now has it hanging on her wall.

  10. In 1367 Marain and the settlements ended a seven-year war with the Langurians and Pitoks. As a result of this war Languria was driven out of East Bacol. Marain would now rule Laman and other lands that had belonged to Languria. This brought peace to the Bacolian settlements.

  11. Integrate According to Webster’s: “to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole; to unite.”

  12. Traditional Integrated Curriculum Curriculum

  13. The master argument for curriculum integration is simply that life is not divided into subjects… Language educators now believe it’s better to integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing; science educators, biology, physics, chemistry, and earth sciences; arts educators, drama, music, dance and art; math educators, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and calculus. Perhaps it’s time to intermix these major subjects themselves. -James Moffett

  14. Integrated Curriculum and InstructionReported Benefits to Students • Greater enthusiasm for learning, • Increased participation in and completion of learning activities and assignments, • Better grasp of concepts and skills, • Making connections across disciplines, • Fewer discipline problems, and • Improved attendance

  15. Integrated Curriculum and InstructionReported Benefits to Teachers • Gain a sense of belonging and support when they work with a group of peers on a daily basis; • Contribute their expertise to a team effort and are not overwhelmed by the need to be an expert on all areas of the curriculum; • Increased feelings of efficacy, empowerment, and enthusiasm for teaching; • Learning from colleagues; • Increased creativity; and • Professional renewal.

  16. Turn and Talk:Benefits of Curriculum Integration • Think about the list of students’ and teachers’ benefits on the previous slide. • Which of these student outcomes would you most value in your classroom? • Which of these teacher outcomes would you most desire? • Hypothesize why curriculum integration might result in these benefits. • Pair with someone seated near you. • Share your reflections.

  17. THE WHOLE is greater than the sum of its parts.

  18. Integrated CurriculumDesign Options • Within a single discipline • Across the disciplines • Sequenced • Shared – team teaching • Webbed – thematic teaching approach • Threaded – focused on skills throughout the disciplines • Integrated – interdisciplinary topics arranged around overlapping concepts • Within and Across Learners

  19. ANOTHER APPROACH: FIVE DESIGN OPTIONS Parallel Disciplines Multi-disciplinary Focus is on Content of Disciplines. Interdisciplinary Integrated Trans-disciplinary Focus is on essential concepts and skills.

  20. Developing Standards-BasedIntegrated Units of Study • Map the curriculum. • Determine state standards. • Select a relevant organizer (theme). • Brainstorm associations using a concept web.

  21. Developing Standards-BasedIntegrated Units of Study (continued) • Develop Instructional Plans. SREB recommends this format: • Determine the prerequisite knowledge, skills, and habits of success students must know. • Establish Essential Questions. • Link to high school readiness indicators or state/local standards. • Design assessments. • Write learning activities.

  22. Tools for Making Connections • Problems/Projects (apply knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems) • Processes (e.g., scientific investigations, research, reading, writing, metacognition, using technology) • Skills (e.g., graphing, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, decision-making • Alignment of Knowledge and Skills in One Discipline to Work in Another (formulas and equations, latitude and longitude, writing to learn) • Job Roles and Skills (e.g., museum staff, meteorologist, statisticians, architects) • Thematic Units (select overlapping ideas, e.g., patterns, the environment, historical periods/events • What Else??

  23. Curriculum MappingStart with a Gallery Walk.

  24. Concept Webbing – Select an Organizer • From the curriculum mapping, look for “lucky links” and decide one or two organizing centers, or themes. • Brainstorm associations on concept maps (webs). • Write the organizer and subject area connections on chart paper and post for everyone to see.

  25. The Goal:“Rich, Rigorous, and Relevant”Curriculum!!

  26. What are Essential Questions? • Organizers • The conceptual priorities of the unit • The focus for the set of activities in a unit • Guide for the scope and sequence of the unit • Provocative, thought-provoking, with more than one approach to answering • “Kid-friendly”

  27. An Essential Question... • Poses a student learning objective as an inquiry • Invites the student to search for an answer through critical thinking

  28. Are these essential questions? • How does a lack of natural resources affect a nation? • How do we use symbols in mathematics? • What are examples of scarcity in the Americas, Europe, and Oceania? • What are the symbols for equality and inequality? • Why do you need to recognize an odd, even, prime and composite number? • What are even, prime, and composite numbers?

  29. Are these essential questions? (cont.) • Does the molecular motion change in each phase of matter? • How does the molecular motion change in each phase of matter? • What is a numerator and a denominator? • What is the relationship between a numerator and a denominator? • What was the climate and physical environment of the Eastern Woodlands Indian tribes?

  30. Essential Questions Lead To... • UNDERSTANDING • FOCUS • PURPOSE • INCENTIVE • ENGAGEMENT

  31. Grades 9 –12 BiologyTopic 19: Animal Life Processes • Standard: Analyzes the role of the senses in helping humans and other animals to maintain stable internal conditions under changing conditions in their environment. • 19.1 Identifies the types of stimuli that can be perceived by each of our senses. • 19.2 Compares the capacities of human senses with those of other animals. • 19.3 Draws a diagram to show the basic path of information through the human body as sensations are converted into the action of muscles. • 19.4 Explains how different types of stimuli - light, sound, pressure, etc. - are converted to impulses that can be carried by neurons. • 19.5 Carries out a routine activity with one or more of your senses artificially impaired. • 19.6 Analyzes how sense contributes to the body's ability to protect itself and maintain proper conditions for life.

  32. EQ for Biology • How do your senses keep you safe?

  33. Essential Questions Lead To... • UNDERSTANDING • FOCUS • PURPOSE • INCENTIVE • ENGAGEMENT

  34. Essential..... • “So important as to be indispensable; implies belonging to the very nature of a thing and therefore being incapable of removal without destroying the thing itself or its character” --Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary Tenth Edition

  35. Essential Questions Lead To... • UNDERSTANDING • FOCUS • PURPOSE • INCENTIVE • ENGAGEMENT

  36. Standard: General Science (Kindergarten) • Recognizes individual uniqueness What makes you special?

  37. Standard: Social Studies (Second) • 9. Explains how money is used to facilitate trade and that people spend or save some or all of their available resources What is money used for? Why do people spend and save money? How does your spending money help your community?

  38. Standard: Biology 9-12 3. Explain the cellular basis of life 3.1 describe traits which distinguish living from nonliving things 3.2 identify the cell as the basic unit of structure and function 3.3 recognize that cells originate from other cells of like kind 3.4 define biological terms used in identifying general cell functions 3.5 compare/contrast structure & function 3.6 identify common cell organelles and describe the function of each What makes a cell a cell? Where do cells come from? What do cells do? Are all cells the same? Why are cells important?

  39. Essential Questions for Integrated Units For each content area , select a standard that will be addressed and/or assessed that is related to the concept your team has identified for the integrated unit. Write at least one Essential Standard per course/discipline.

  40. A Look at Facilitative Conditions:How Ready is Your School? • Think about your school in relation to the elements just described. • What at your school supports moving toward integrated curriculum? • What impedes?

  41. Thank you for participating! Enjoy the conference! Lois Barnes SREB/HSTW 615-423-1588 Lois.barnes@sreb.org

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