Running Head: CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY CURRICULUM

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Sierra Allen
Regent University

In partial fulfillment of UED 496 Field Experience ePortfolio, Spring 2016

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Introduction
An important part of my education at Regent University is learning how to integrate and
manipulate the curriculum in order to help learners succeed. Students make deeper connections
to the material being taught when they can see how it can be used in other areas of their life.
Why is this important? How will I use it? Finding opportunities to combine the subjects in order
to strengthen learning requires a knowledge of the content and the students. With this in mind,
creative thinking can combine standards and begin a fun and engaging lesson for every type of
learner.
Rationale
The first artifact chosen for this activity is the lesson plan. This plan shows how I walked
the students through a combined language arts and content lesson. The students were given an
introduction to persuasive writing while learning about representative democracy. This plan was
absolutely necessary to make sure that I integrated both areas before teaching. I spent time
looking at the standards and the provided curriculum for these areas and decided that they could
be combined.
The second artifact chosen are some photos of the students sharing their persuasive essay
with their table and voting on who should be their table representative. This lesson was
introduced as an opportunity for the students to run for government. Each student was tasked
with writing a short persuasive paragraph about why they should be chosen for their table
representative. They could write about how smart and hard-working they were, or just about
what a fun person they are. The student was given free rein on how to present themselves.

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

Once the students had shared their thoughts, I asked them to vote and collected their
ballots (making sure that they did not vote for themselves). Then, I announced the winners of
table representatives. These students were allowed to vote on topics, such as how we should line
up for lunch or what to do when weve finished our Achieve3000 chart.
The students loved this lesson and had many opinions about whether or not it was fair.
We talked about the difference from direct democracy. Then we looked at how representative
democracy was at work in the United States today.
Reflection
Interdisciplinary studies majors have to spend a great amount of time becoming proficient
in all areas. At times throughout my education, I became impatient and eager to put all of this
knowledge to use. However, I am really seeing the fruit of all those study sessions. A strong
knowledge of the curriculum, as well as the standards, is the only way to create lessons that
utilize the time you have with students time that is sometimes limited by the many different
activities and areas of study that have to be covered. A teacher who can use creative planning to
make deeper connections to the content is one that is sure to be successful.
The goal of this lesson was to help my students make deeper connections to what they
were learning. In the book Making Thinking Visible, Ron Ritchhart says that, When we
encounter anything new, we make connections between the new and known, drawing on our past
experience. These connections help us to link ideas and find where the new ideas fit within the
subject area and out. (Ritchhart, 2011) Students need to find ways to fit new pieces of
information into existing frameworks. This is also known as scaffolding - building new
knowledge on top of what is known. This aids in memory and understanding, creating a more

Content Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Curriculum

engaging experience for all learners. My goal as a teacher is to provide more opportunities for
the students to build on what they know. Students should never get in the mindset that language
arts happens at 9:00 and ends at 10:00. They should know that language arts is a foundation for
all other learning and is necessary in many ways. In the same way, each subject lends itself to
another, transforming learning into a holistic experience.
References
Ritchhart, Ron, Mark Church, and Karin Morrison. Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote
Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass, 2011. Print.