Originally published as a special issue of the Middle School Journal, this book presents integrative curriculum as a foundational element of the middle school. By addressing the current gap in literature on curriculum integration in the middle grades, this text explores how learning can be organized around authentic concepts or questions which cut across disciplines and speak to young adolescents. Providing a current, nuanced, and comprehensive review of what it means to embrace and implement an interdisciplinary and integrative curriculum, the volume considers how educators can create and deliver a high-quality integrative curriculum which is enjoyable, challenging, and inclusive. Examples of implementation in teacher preparation programs and middle grade classrooms showcase integrative approaches and illustrate how curricula have been key in tackling social inequities, increasing engagement with STEM, and supporting collaboration. This text will be of great interest to graduate and postgraduate students, researchers, academics and libraries in the field of Middle School Education, Curriculum Studies, Teacher Education, Theories of Learning, and STEM Education.

An examination of the issues surrounding the concept of change is fundamental to curriculum improvement for elementary and middle schools. New beliefs surround an integrative rather than a separate subject isolation approach to curriculum. This report examines past, current, and future curriculum practice and considerations, focusing on a new vision of the middle level curriculum as an integrated curriculum. Chapters are: (1) "The Process of Curriculum Development"; (2) "A Rationale for Curriculum Integration"; (3) "The Curriculum Continuum: Moving Where You Need To Be"; (4) "Integrated Studies for Multi-Age Classrooms: Solon Elementary School, Maine"; (5) "Hand-Crafting an Integrated Curriculum: Timothy Edwards Middle School: South Windsor, Connecticut"; (6) "One District's Perspective: Staff Development Stimulates Curriculum Integration: Blue Valley, Kansas"; (7) "First Steps toward Curriculum Integration: Using Student Questions: Ashland Middle School, Maine"; (8) "Twenty Years Later: Multidisciplinary to Integrated Units: McKelvie Middle School, Bedford, New Hampshire"; (9) "Interdisciplinary Study in a Technology Education Class: Garland Street Middle School, Bangor, Maine"; (10) "Pushing the Envelope: What Curriculum Integration Can Be: Brown Barge Middle School, Pensacola, Florida"; (11) "The Curriculum Planning Process: More than Interdisciplinary Units"; and (12) "Reflections--What We Have Learned from These Schools." Contains 133 references. (BGC)

Following the pioneering work of James Beane and Heidi Jacobs, there is growing interest in the area of integrative teaching. Contributors to this edited volume include K-12 principals and teachers, as well as university professors recently involved in the implementation of integrative teaching.

Explore the two important criteria to which every interdisciplinary program must adhere and read about six design options for an interdisciplinary curriculum.

If you've ever thought that standards-based teaching and required content prevent you from integrating subject areas, then here's a book that will change the way you think and alert you to exciting new possibilities in your approach to teaching. Learn how to identify the connections in your standards that provide the basis for interdisciplinary units. Explore all types of integrated curriculum and how they bridge content standards to authentic, relevant learning experiences. And understand how to create interdisciplinary units that provide data-based evidence of student learning. A planning template and detailed examples of successful integrated curriculums are included to help you implement integrated curriculum in practice. Discover how you can make learning more exciting for students--and rewarding for you.

"This book should make educators stop and consider exactly what they mean when they discuss curriculum integration." —Julie Prescott, Assessment Coordinator Vallivue High School, Caldwell, ID "The biggest strength of Fogarty′s work is its clear, concise organization centered on the guiding questions of each chapter." —John C. Baker, Eighth-Grade Social Studies Teacher Salem Middle School, Apex, NC Strategies for moving students towards more holistic and authentic types of learning! For both students and teachers, the mission is essential: to connect ideas, discern themes, and thread skills of various content areas into a cohesive whole. Yet, the question remains: "What does integrating the curricula really mean?" The answers are provided in this updated resource that helps teachers create brain-compatible, learner-centered classrooms and better prepare students for lifelong learning. Based on a four-pronged rationale for using an integrated curriculum—including findings from brain-based research, parental concerns, practitioner challenges, and student perspectives—Robin Fogarty offers ten models that allow teams of teachers to work together to group elements from various content areas into a coherent curriculum that effectively meets standards. The discussion of each model includes: A description of the model How the model can be applied in the classroom Benefits and challenges of the model for teaching and learning Guidelines for when and how to implement the model in the classroom A wealth of reproducibles to aid implementation How to Integrate the Curricula offers the support educators need to integrate concepts, skills, and attitudes and immerse students in content through self-selected, personally relevant learning experiences.

The quintessential resource on the important topic of curriculum integration! Going well beyond other books on this subject, James Beane details the history of curriculum integration and analyzes current critiques to provide a complete theory of curriculum integration. He defines curriculum integration as a comprehensive approach rather than simply “rearranging subjects.” Using many classroom examples, he explains the relationship between curriculum integration and the disciplines of knowledge. The approach set forth in this groundbreaking volume translates into a democratic vision of general education that transcends the current standards movement. “Offers clear and understandable examples of what curriculum integration means, how it can work, and how it fits a model of democratic education.” —Choice “In this time of conservative attacks on progressive education, it is crucial that we defend and extend democratic policies and practices. James Beane has been one of the most important figures in articulating democratic possibilities in schools. Curriculum Integration shows why he so deserves our respect. It provides a clear and insightful picture of the arguments and realities of democratic curriculum development and teaching.” —Michael W. Apple, University of Wisconsin–Madison “Jim Beane urges us to completely rethink how we pursue intellectual inquiry, as well as who makes the decisions in the classroom and what our ultimate goals are. Taken seriously, as it ought to be, [his] approach could revolutionize American education.” —Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards and Beyond Discipline “Beane writes directly with a passion that reflects long-in-the-making and deeply rooted convictions about education, youth, and democracy.... This book is a critically important resource . . . and it will remain so for years to come.” —John H. Lounsbury, National Middle School Association