https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn How do I plan an integrated unit that will be both beneficial and engaging for my students? Casey Smith. en-us 2018-08-01 13:56:08 UTC 2024-10-25 16:01:07 UTC hello@padlet.com jacenandhan https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271967205 When integrating the primary level curriculum, children are able to engage in learning in a holistic way. By recognizing the need for children to develop a wide range of skills, such as numeracy, literacy, science, maths, art, physical education and information and communications technology, an integrated curriculum allows educators to build relationships between these areas allowing children to link ideas together, that they might not have been able to connect otherwise. This can be achieved by building relationships with the children and their families, to understand how each child learns and to ascertain if there are any personal, community and cultural contexts that can be drawn upon to develop a unit of work that has meaning for each student (Nebraska Department of Education, 2017).

]]> 2018-08-05 02:19:52 UTC https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271967205 jacenandhan https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271982837 Robin Fogarty (1991) provided 10 models for educators and schools to help them organise and design curriculum's that will help their students make important and valuable connections during the coarse of their learning.
The diagram below gives you a quick visual representation of what each of the 10 models would look like.

]]> 2018-08-05 11:58:34 UTC https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271982837 jacenandhan https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271982983 There have been many writers (Barton and Smith, 2000; Hamston and Murdoch, 1996; Loepp, 1999; Waret, 1996, as cited in Gordon, 2014) who have proposed that an integrated curriculum:
* helps children make connections as they don't take in fragmented or compartmentalized knowledge 
* can reduce any pressure brought on by ridgid timetables
* can make gathering, organising and processing information more efficient for both students and teachers
* provide real world contexts for rich, genuine learning helping students to focus on the big ideas.]]> 2018-08-05 12:04:46 UTC https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271982983 jacenandhan https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271983311 Academics from Melbourne, Hamston and Murdoch, 1996, as cited in Gordon, 2014) provided educators at the primary level much needed advice for effective integration. This meant a move away from thematic units of work to integrate using an inquiry based approach. The below table shows the faults with a thematic approach as opposed to an inquiry based approach.
 ]]> 2018-08-05 12:17:05 UTC https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271983311 jacenandhan https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271983789 The use of an inquiry based process for learning can fuel students curiosity and sharpen their planning skills.Inquiry is often student led and facilitated by the educator. This means the educator always has the final product of the learning process in mind, knowing that through the process a final product, demonstration or performance will be required for summative assessment (Maritoba Education and Youth, 2003).
James Beane (1997, as cited in Gordon, 2014) a strong advocate of curriculum integration, developed a model of curriculum integration that derives it's curriculum theme through negotiations between educators, students and their families to make real world connections with things that matter to them. For example, if a student had personal concerns over peer conflicts and community and global conflicts also caused a source of concern, an appropriate curriculum unit to investigate might be conflict resolution.
The figure below shows Beane's approach to curriculum integration.]]> 2018-08-05 12:37:00 UTC https://padlet.com/jacenandhan/f4xih69bcmqn/wish/271983789