Teaching in Content Area - Essay Example

Middle School Curriculum for History Learning Opportunity When children graduated from primary school, it is often thoughtthe student has a general grasp on most of the subjects being taught in school. Educators agree that by middle school, the student has the opportunity to become fully literate of which the teachers, staffs, the school and the community in general has to help develop the student (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006).Developing curriculum that focuses on history can be a challenge.

Considering that a student is fresh from primary school, the attention span may be short and still not used to an academic rigor. It is thought however that with the use of applicable techniques and appropriate tools suited for a middle school student, teaching history to a student could be interesting. ObjectivesAt the end of the subject, the student is expected to;1. Have a good grasp of the history of the United States2. Have a good grasp of the history of the world and how United States relate to them3.

Able to understand why history is important4. Learn the lesson of historyInstructional MethodsA student who is in middle school has considerably short attention span and is not used to rigorous academic lectures. Coming from primary school, their minds are still with the basics and are not yet that familiar with abstract learning such as history.In addition to this consideration, it has to be factored in also that students today are more attuned to multi-media instructional materials where they can interact with the medium compared to the traditional lectures where they sit and lesson and read history.

Such, traditional approach may be boring to a middle school student of this generation.Considering this, instructional videos will be used instead of lengthy lectures to keep the students interest. Computers can also an excellent method of learning where the students can interact with the medium in the process of learning. Role playing can also be an excellent method of making history interesting to students. Also, discussion is encouraged more than lectures. Approach: Integrated social studies learning integrated social studies learning is an interdisciplinary approach where two or more disciplines are taught in conscious relation to one another" (Jacobs, 1989 pg. 7) under an interdisciplinary curriculum that espouses "a knowledge view and curriculum approach that consciously applies methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience" (p. 8). Integrated approach to learning intends to facilitate more learning by combining the various disciplines to real life situations.

This type of learning transcends to a more interconnected view of the universe [where] knowledge is seen as an abstract whole to be accessed through inquiry of themes, issues, experiences, and problems (Mathison and Freeman, 1997). This approach to learning history encourages discussion, critical thinking and creativity which are applicable in a real world setting. Such, instead of merely knowing facts and events about history, students will able to identify and relate their significance to them as individual and citizen of America which is really the essence in teaching history in middle school.

ReferencesAlliance for Excellent Education (2006). Reading and Writing in the Academic Content Areas. http://www.all4ed.org/files/ReadingWritingAcadContent.pdfJacobs, H. H. (1989). Interdisciplinary curriculum: Design and implementation. Alexandria,VA:Association for Supervision and Curriculum DevelopmentMathison, Sandra; Freeman, Melissa (1997). THE LOGIC OF INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES. Online. Retrieved at http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf