InTASC+5




 * "Interdisciplinary: a knowledge view and curriculum approach that consciously applies methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, topic, issue, problem, or work." - Heidi Hayes Jacobs (5i) **

include page="zStyle_bground_green"// InTASC Standard 5: Application of Content //

While the material that is selected to be taught in a classroom is important for student interest, how the material is presented is perhaps more important for comprehension and engagement. By presenting content that is connected, instead of seemingly disjointed, and that incorporates multiple perspectives an educator can engage students in active learning (5j). The fifth InTASC Standard, “Application of Content,” states that a teacher should understand how to connect concepts across disciplines, with real world issues and using differing perspectives in order to facilitate student’s use of critical thinking skills, creativity, and collaborative problem solving skills (5d). In order to achieve such student engagement the instructor must be familiar with his/her discipline and how it relates to other disciplines. Additionally, in order to connect the information to student’s lives the instructor must be aware of local as well as global issues that students are either aware of or experiencing. By making these local and global connections for students, teachers show students how the material being taught is relevant to their lives, not just the classroom. Every piece of material that is chosen for instruction by an instructor should clearly relate to the students and the real world in some fashion; for example, the material could demonstrate political, social or economic issues, it could display emotional issues and changes the students are experiencing themselves, and/or it could link the reading material to current movies or images in order to compare how and why the information was presented differently. To see what this would look like in practice, imagine an assignment in an English classroom where students are instructed to read a letter from Fredrick Douglass to Harriet Tubman as well as a newspaper article published by a slave owner discussing the Underground Railroad. After reading, students are instructed to discuss the material in order to examine the biases presented in each. To connect the issue to their current lives, the teacher could then ask students if they could think of any current issues in which there are two opposing sides. In this example, the students would originally work in pairs and then share their ideas with the entire class in order to ensure everyone’s engagement; this introduction would be followed by students reading Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad by Ann Petry. Through exposing students to conflicting views, the instructor can teach students how biases are presented in all types of information, both old and current. Additionally, by asking for current conflicts the instructor connects the material to student’s lives (5q). In order to present material that is connected to current issues as well as other disciplines, teachers must follows the news and collaborate with other teachers in their school. Such collaboration with fellow instructors can be especially beneficial because teachers can then plan their units to present similar material. For example, while the Social Studies classroom was teaching students about the slavery and the civil war, the English classroom would present students with documents written by slaves, confederate soldiers, and union soldiers during the war. Such instruction reinforces the concepts for students and promotes creative thought and examination of the material. The fifth InTASC Principle informs educators that the importance of connecting material across disciplines and with real world issues and concepts is to demonstrate for students the material’s relevance in their lives. Lesson Segment #2



Artifact Description

What is this artifact? This artifact is a lesson on the presence of biased perspectives in literature with a focus on the text Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad that I taught to my 8th grade students. This lesson consists of the lesson plan, the warm-up for the lesson where students analyzed a historical document and Frederick Douglas' Letter to Harriet Tubman, the analysis of the text Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad, and the closure activity where students identified words or phrases in the text that presented Tubman as human or extraordinary.

 How does this artifact demonstrate evidence of my mastery of the InTASC Standard? This artifact demonstrates my proficiency in InTASC 5: Application of Content because throughout the lesson students were encouraged to connect the presence of a biased perspective across the texts they read and with examples of "texts" in today's society including advertisements, television shows, movies and video games. Additionally, throughout their exploration of the texts students needed to collaborate and draw on their critical thinking skills in order to complete the lesson's assignment.  In what way did this artifact contribute to/relate to positive impact on student learning during my final internship? In this artifact students were presented with a sample of an historical document to accompany their reading of a biographical text. Such an experience caused students to recognize the text as an actual event in the country's history instead of viewing the text as a disembodied piece of literature. Students were also able to relate the issues that were presented in the text, as well as the lesson's concept, with modern examples and issues. As such, the students were able to see the relevancy in the material that they were taught in class to their lives outside of school.  How does this artifact demonstrate the Planning-Teaching-Learning cycle? This lesson demonstrates the "judging prior knowledge," "planning" and "teaching" components of the Planning-Teaching-Learning cycle because I was able to use the student's prior knowledge from other curriculum courses to plan effective, engaging and active activities in my lesson. The inclusion of a historical document in the lesson allowed students to connect their learning with reality and to discover the relevancy of the lesson's concepts.