World-Shaker

Tips for Planning Interdisciplinary Units in Middle School →

Here are the first two:

Spread enthusiasm among your colleagues. You can’t do this on your own, so think carefully about the “pitch” you’ll make to your colleagues. Show them some examples of how collaboration can make a difference: Perhaps you could visit another school, view a video of successful collaboration, or discuss articles like this one. You may want to do some advance thinking about topics that really lend themselves to interdisciplinary teaching.

Consider starting small. Organizing and executing an interdisciplinary unit can be a daunting task. There are many ways to experiment with this concept without committing to a large unit. Consider skills or experiences that correspond with your students’ needs. For a few weeks, could your grade focus on analyzing informational texts or strategies for identifying unknown words in context? Is there a broad theme, such as “change” or “relationships,” that could be highlighted over the next month?