Integrating Science and Engineering - Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is all about strategies on how to cross subject content. Crosscutting concepts I think is a very smart and effective use of time. It is a great way to reinforce ideas and skills from other subjects throughout the day instead of just focusing on one particular idea or skill for 30-45 minute spans. One subject that can be crosscut throughout any other subject is Language Arts. I think there should be an opportunity in every subject to read material and write about which both reviews material on the subject as well as helps reinforce Language Arts skills. The text mentions that trade books are an excellent opportunity to bring literature into the classroom at the same time as crosscutting. However, like textbooks, we need to be critical about the types of books we are providing our students with. The text gives a good list of criteria when looking for trade books but they also mentioned an article on "Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12" (p. 113). I found a similar resource on the National Science Teachers Association website with a list of trade books from each year since 1996. This is the link to the 2017 list of Outstanding Science Trade Books. I have requested the following titles from the library and look forward to reading/reviewing them to see if they would be good texts to have in my own classroom some day.

I was also excited to read about the three integrating techniques. This is what I am looking forward to as a teacher by creating experiences that engage learners just by stepping foot in the classroom. The first is literacy-based integration, like mentioned above can crosscut Language Arts into different subjects throughout the day or during circle reading time a trade book could be chosen that correlates with what is being taught in science. The second is themed-based integration for example if we were talking about scales and measurements in math I could address the scale of the solar system. The third is project-based integration which could be carried out through a whole unit. For example when talking about plant parts, plant cycles, living and non living we could keep a class garden. It would be a long term project that would help tie back to the lesson but could also be utilized in math by taking measurements or in ELA by recording observations in a journal.