Category Archives: Integrated Instruction

School Should be Fun…Time on Task

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Sandie

Fun things are engaging.  Engagement brings extended time-on-task.  Extended time-on-task leads to better test scores.  Although we may whine and complain about standardized tests, in many ways rightly so, don’t we all want our students to score very well?  Isn’t … Continue reading →

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Child’s Play

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Sandie

I think it was Maria Montessori who said, “Play is the work of the child.”  Another one of my defining teaching expressions is “Children learn what they play.”  I don’t know who said that, but I believe these things and … Continue reading →

Posted in Integrated Instruction, Play, Project Based Learning, Thematic Teaching | 1 Comment

Workshop Style Teaching–From Jenn’s Point of View

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Sandie

Jenn is a middle school language arts and social studies teacher.  By definition she is integrating instruction. She describes these twin focuses as content goals (social studies outcomes), and process goals (language arts skills).  Here is a little excerpt from … Continue reading →

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Workshop Style Teaching

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Sandie

Workshop style teaching is student driven, rooted in reality and the real world, and requires the teacher to LISTEN to her students in order to move them forward.  This does not mean standards, objectives, learning targets, or goals are ignored:  … Continue reading →

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That Workshop Book: New Systems and Structures for Classrooms That Read, Write, and Think

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Sandie

Samantha Bennett’s book, That Workshop Book:  New Systems and Structures for Classrooms that Read, Write, and Think, is one of the best teaching books I’ve read in quite a while.  The last chapter, Jenn’s Citizens, was my favorite.  Jenn teaches … Continue reading →

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Inclusion–Integrate your Instruction!

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Sandie

Integrating instruction across all subject areas provides a lot of structure and support for students who find school-learning difficult.  The day is focused on one particular subject which the children are exploring and evaluating through reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom Management, Integrated Instruction, Special Education, Thematic Teaching | Leave a comment

Planning a Thematic Unit

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Sandie

Planning an individual thematic unit is not much different from regular lesson planning, and because of the work you’ve already completed in selecting and organizing the themes, and listing the resources you have available, you can just start filling in … Continue reading →

Posted in Colonial America, How To..., Instructional Planning, Integrated Instruction, Social Studies Themes, Thematic Teaching | 1 Comment

Putting it All Together–Aligning Your Curricula

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Sandie

You know what language arts skills you’re going to teach. You know what genre studies you want to use to help teach these skills. You know what materials you already have to support teaching these skills. Now you may like … Continue reading →

Posted in How To..., Instructional Planning, Integrated Instruction, Language Arts, Math, Project Based Learning, Science Themes, Social Studies Themes, Thematic Teaching | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Putting it All Together–Genre Studies

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Sandie

Now that you have listed the Language Arts Standards for the year, you are ready to pull together all the materials you currently have that will support your language arts instruction.  This is a key part of planning for integration, … Continue reading →

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Integrating Instruction: Language Arts Standards

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Sandie

After you have listed out the science and social studies themes for the year and organized them in a way that allows the content to build upon itself, the next step is to tackle language arts. Using your district’s, state’s, … Continue reading →

Posted in How To..., Instructional Planning, Integrated Instruction, Language Arts, Thematic Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments