Reflection on Integrated Instruction

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Apr 3, 2024

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1 Reflection on Integrated Instruction Jenna Hassett American College of Education LIT5183: Investigating Secondary Literacy and ELA Fundamentals Dr. Vanessa Minick September 23, 2022

2 Introduction While taking the course “Investigating Secondary Literacy and ELA Fundamentals” at American College for Education, I have learned about integrated literacy skills into other content areas and different techniques to help students succeed. Prior to taking this course, I thought about ELA as a stand alone subject. However, I have been able to design lessons for ELA and social studies that implement reading and writing skills. Using literacy skills to learn content related to social studies and history gives students the opportunity to improve these essential skills while gaining knowledge about various topics (MacPhee and Whitecotton, 2011). In this assignment, I will reflect on my experiences, assignments, and changes I have made to my own classroom. I will start by comparing my own lesson plans to those of my classmates and then I will describe my thoughts towards implementing integrated studies. Comparing Lesson Plans While exploring the lesson plans of my classmates, I noticed multiple similarities between their lessons and my own. When looking at lessons for ELA, I noticed that myself and other educators focus on having students analyze a text. The word “analyze” is seen throughout standards, objectives, and activities. Another similarity I observed was that most social studies lessons incorporate elements of research into lessons, which supports students being independent and having some degree of freedom with choosing what to learn about. One difference I noticed is that the level of detail in each lesson differs greatly. Some plans included exact time stamps of videos, while some had little-to-no detail. I found myself somewhere in the middle with some parts detailed, but I could have added more. Another difference seen is in the objectives and

3 essential questions. Some of my peers had 5-10 questions with objectives that were very detailed, while others didn’t have a question and used the standards as objectives. The feedback I received on my lesson was helpful in pushing me to reflect on my writing and see where I could improve. In my lesson, I included students completing a KWL chart after watching a video about rock climbing. In my feedback, someone asked how I would make sure that students are asking meaningful questions in the “want to know” section. After reading the feedback, I determined that I would briefly go over what makes a “good” question and give examples of good and bad questions to ask. For example, a good question would be “How do the climbers prepare for a climb?” and a bad question would be”Is it scary?” and discuss the difference in the questions. I would have students ask 1-2 questions before the video and I would then have them ask 1-2 questions after the video for what they still want to know after viewing. Another question I received was how am I assessing students’ writing for the news report assignment. In my lesson, I included that students must write about what the climbers accomplished and why it is significant using details from the text to support their writing. I would be assessing students on those three requirements. Integration and Differentiation In every classroom, there is a vast range of abilities and literacy levels, which requires educators to use strategies to reach all learners. One of the most effective approaches is differentiation. This approach involves teachers taking the content of a class and adapting it to meet the needs of students (Fitzgerald, 2016). After exploring integrated studies during this course, I have thought about how differentiation looks in classes that make connections across disciplines. In my experience, reading levels in a middle school classroom ranges from 3rd grade

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4 to 11th grade and this is accounted for when planning ELA classes. In ELA, students might read a chunked version of the text or a summary. However, in a social studies class, this looks different depending on the lesson. I mentioned above that research is a large component of social studies, but how does that look when differentiated? In my classroom, I recently had students research one earth region and create a presentation. Instead of having all students freely search for information, I created a document for 4 different regions that contained information with bolded words, definitions, and pictures. Lower level students still had a choice, but were able to use the document to complete the assignment instead of being overwhelmed with online resources. Challenges Ahead One of the most challenging obstacles I have encountered while integrating studies is feeling like I am equipped to teach subjects other than what I am most familiar with. During my undergraduate experience, I focused on literature and learning how to teach literacy skills, which is the area I feel most confident in. I also teach social studies and most days, I do not feel confident in my ability to effectively teach the subject because I have not researched (in-depth) the standards, strategies, and approaches that help students learn the content. Because of this, I feel like students’ literacy skills are improving in social studies class, but they are not focused on the content. Similar to this challenge, when I am planning for ELA and social studies class, my allotted planning time is not enough for me to plan the lessons I would like and instead I am putting half of my effort and time into planning each. Most of the challenges I face revolve around time and expertise. Ideally, I would be able to take courses about teaching social studies and have time to explore the curriculum and determine where I can implement literacy skills.

5 Conclusion In conclusion, the Investigating Secondary Literacy and ELA Fundamentals course has allowed me to learn about the effects of integrated studies and how it can benefit students and support them in becoming lifelong learners, as well as the importance of improving literacy skills across all subjects (Jones, 2009) . I have been able to apply what I have learned to my own classroom and reflect on the lessons I have taught. Although I am still learning how to integrate studies in my own classroom, I believe that this course will help me continue to improve as an educator. In the future, I would like to conduct more research on strategies that will help my students be successful in all disciplines, as I believe that when students make connections between subjects, they are becoming productive members of society who are critical thinkers and problem solvers.

6 References MacPhee, D. A., & Whitecotton, E. J. (2011). Bringing the “social” back to social studies: Literacy strategies as tools for understanding history. The Social Studies , 102 (6), 263- 267. Fitzgerald, P. (2016). Differentiation for all literacy levels in mainstream classrooms. Literacy Learning: The Middle Years , 24 (2), 17–25. Jones, C. (2010). Interdisciplinary approach-advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. Essai , 7 (1), 26.

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