Synopses & Reviews
INTEGRATING ACADEMIC UNITS trains teachers to develop effective integrated and interdisciplinary units in order to afford their students with a meaningful learning experience. The text further provides teachers with the tools to develop long term plans, to utilize teaching team approaches, to involve parents, and to evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated and interdisciplinary unit. Using real classroom examples, the authors give clear steps that can be adapted to diverse settings in order to teach critical thinking skills to their students.
Synopsis
Heavily relying on a constructivist approach, the authors illustrate the process or strategies for integrated teaching, the structure of knowledge to be learned, and the theory and research explaining meaningful learning. A variety of specific strategies are explored and issues of integrating specific subject matters (math, literature, art, social studies, science, and physical education) are treated in individual chapters.
Table of Contents
Preface. 1. Integrated Teaching: An Introduction. 2. Choosing a Focus for an Integrated Unit. 3. The Planning Process. 4. Implementing and Reflecting on the Unit. 5. Assisting and Evaluating Integrated Thematic Units. 6. Integrating Social Studies Components. 7. Integrating Science. 8. Integrating Mathematics Components. 9. Integrating the Language Arts. 10. Integrating Art and Creativity into a Thematic Unit. 11. Integrating Physical Education and Dance Components.