Interdisciplinary Units in Middle School The purpose of this paper is to re

Research on the best practices at the middle school level suggests that early adolescent students need an educational environment that is unlike elementary or high school. Young people between the ages of 10 and 14 are experiencing rapid changes in their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. In order to meet these needs, middle school curriculum must provide opportunities for students to broaden their knowledge base, explore areas of interest, and acquire a sense of self as they seek to understand their place within the larger society. (p. 1885)

According to Lounsbury (1992) since the 1960s, one way of providing middle school children with the kind of curricula and instruction that they need is through interdisciplinary eduction. In this regard, Lounsbury defines an "interdisciplinary unit" as a class of students who share the same teachers for different course subjects using an integrated curriculum. For example, Brown, Goldston and North (2000) have developed an interdisciplinary unit for eighth grade students in which they simultaneously l

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or they may plan jointly to ensure mutual reinforcement and enrichment. The third recommended implementation strategy is to focus on thinking skills development. In this strategy, teachers from two or more disciplines will focus on teaching students pre-agreed upon learning strategies or thinking skills as part of the content in each of the integrated disciplines. It is also noted by Met (1996) that if schools wish to have a successful interdisciplinary unit, instruction must be student-sensitive which is to say that it should not violate those developmental areas that students feel embarrassed or emotionally tentative about. For example, Met reports that instructional tasks should never consist of activities that require students to generate physical descriptions or comparisons; this is because middle school students often feel awkward about their appearance. Further, Met (1996) states that teachers must understand that students can be reluctant to stand before the class for individual presentations. It is recommended that they also be allowed more sheltered opportunities such as small group or student-teacher interaction. The use of hands-on materials and manipulatives is said by Met to satisfy the maturational need f
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