Building an Interdisciplinary Classroom by Hilda Sanchez

Building an Interdisciplinary Classroom
Is time our enemy? As days go by we battle with TIME, our opponent, as we try to stay on pace with the curriculum of the year. We’re sweating day in and day out trying to get it all done, and as we cover Language Arts and Math topics for the week, we may realize Science and Social Studies have been neglected along the way. There is something wonderful in Wonders and it’s the fact that science and math can easily be embedded within the Language Arts Units. It takes some work to put it all together, at first, but will save you teaching time in the long run.
Teaching literacy with science/social studies content allows for more productive and complex learning.
	Integrating science/social studies in literacy motivates and  keeps students engaged in the learning process. In doing research, this passage from Minnesota STEM Teacher Center exemplified this statement; "In an age fueled by information and driven by technology, understanding the concepts and process of science is as indispensable as knowing how to read, write, speak, and listen...Adults in the twenty-first century...will need to be scientifically literate-to possess a set of skills that marries knowledge of science concepts, facts, and processes with the ability to use language to articulate and communicate about ideas" (Thier & Daviss, 2002.The New Science Literacy: Using Language Skills to Help Students Learn Science. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.) I believe the same can be said for social studies because, not only, are students learning concepts and facts, they are also being exposed to different text features that allow for deeper understanding and meaningful connection to the reading.
The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts. ~C.S. Lewis
At the beginning of the year, I look and analyze the Wonders Language Arts Unit 1 along with the Social Studies and Science Teachers Editions to find the connections. Now, I wish I was a very organized teacher who plans for the whole year and lessons are ready to go from week 1, but with all the other daily duties that come along with teaching and a family that keeps me busy, I plan for one to two units at a time. For instance, the 4th grade curriculum, Wonders Unit 1 begins with the Big Idea “How can a challenge bring out our best?” and week 3 posed the Essential Question, “How do people respond to natural disasters?” This is a perfect tie-in to the Science Unit C “The Solid Earth”. Students are exposed to informational/ expository text to give them the vocabulary and understanding of slow and rapid changes on Earth. I am now teaching science standards along with text students can relate to real life. For Social Studies, I teach Units 2 and 3 (Early California History and Becoming a State) connecting them to Wonders Unit 6: Past, Present, and Future. Students begin to realize reading is the foundation for all learning and will learn to make meaningful connections to the text. It’s not going to be the complete puzzle in fitting all the curriculum pieces together, but it’s a start in making “time” more of a friend than a foe. We, teachers, have to work smarter, not harder!
	Live, Love, Teach! ~Hilda Sanchez