INTEGRATING SERVICE LEARNING INTO THE CURRICULUM

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

• Review the definition of Integrated Curriculum/Integrated Unit Planning

• Review the information about the benefits of integrating Service Learning into the Curriculum

• Go over the steps to planning a Service Learning integrated unit

• Provide opportunities for participants to organize and plan an integrated unit through building a Community Resource Handboook.

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WHAT IS INTEGRATED CURRICULUM?

• A philosophy of teaching in which you organize your instruction around a particular theme or topic, instead of around specific subject areas.

• It is focused on a central theme where students can make connections between their different subject areas.

• In this teaching philosophy, content from one subject area is extracted and is used to enrich the teaching of another.

• Additionally, this type of teaching brings together various segments of curriculum into meaningful association.

• It prepares students for lifelong learning.

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BENEFITS OF INTEGRATED CURRICULUM

• It offers students authentic and meaningful activities and experiences in the classroom.

• It enables teachers to identify and teach to a variety of learning styles.

• Teachers can use assessment techniques and instruments such as rubrics and checklists.

• It places higher level thinking skills at the core of the learning process.

• It makes a connection to the community and the world around us.

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WHAT DOES INTEGRATED CURRICULUM INCLUDE?

• A combination of subjects• An emphasis on projects• Sources that go beyond textbooks• Relationships among concepts• Thematic units as organizing principles• Flexible schedules• Flexible student groupings

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WHAT IS THE CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS?

• It is consistent with the school’s mission.• Each theme or unit must have a driving question

that drives the unit and rationale that explains why the theme is important to teach to students.

• It must include a scope and sequence, a cognitive taxonomy of behavioral objectives to encourage thinking skills, and evaluation assessments.

• It is supported by the administration and staff.• Student scheduling is consistent with goals for

integrated curriculum.• It is aligned with the district’s K-12 Content

Standards and Performance Indicators in each of the subjects involved.

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WHAT IS THE CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS?

• It addresses the ESLRs that schools have. (if applicable)• It is also aligned with SAT-10 Standards for your grade level.• There is sufficient time for teachers to meet, plan, evaluate, and modify their units or themes.• Resources must be made available to teachers to support the curriculum.• Students should also be involved and engaged in the curriculum.• Parents should also be involved and informed in the understanding of the curriculum.• A variety of assessments, formal and informal, must be included.

Free powerpoint template: www.brainybetty.com 7

DESIGNING AN INTEGRATED UNIT

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HOW DO I DESIGN AN INTEGRATED UNIT?

• Have a rationale to explain why your are teaching the unit.• Design a driving question to explain what the student will

be learning in this unit.• Write a unit overview that is a brief summary of what this

unit is all about.• Include an sub-units, if any.• List general objectives you plan to achieve in this unit.• List/bullet the key concepts and vocabulary words.

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HOW DO I DESIGN AN INTEGRATED UNIT?

• List the Content Standards and Performance Indicators that will be taught in this unit.• List the Common Core State Standards.• List the ESLRs that will be addressed in this unit. (if applicable)• Include what SAT-10 Standards will be addressed in this unit.• Indicate what culminating activity you will have to end this unit with.• Include the evaluation assessment.• List any fieldtrips, if any.• List all literature connections and textbooks/resources that you used to teach this unit.

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HOW DO I GET STARTED?

• Map out your school year.• Look at all your resources and begin collecting

them.• Survey students to get an idea what

topics/themes to teach.• Stick to simple topics/themes.• Work with your grade level or peer colleagues.• Share resources with others.• Use the internet or online resources. These are

up-to-date and provide a wealth of information.

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• Learn to create rubrics and checklists for evaluation purposes.

• Design part of your assessment to mirror standardized testing guidelines.

• Look over the Content Standards/Performance Indicators for your grade level and subject that you will be addressing. From this guide, you can design your integrated unit of study.

• Review the Compendium of SAT-10 Standards for your grade level.

• Use curriculum alignments or guides, if available.• Do not hesitate to ask for help.• Get support from your administrator.

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CURRICULAR CONNECTIONS PLANNING WHEEL

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Unit Title

THE WEATHER UNIT HTTP://FALDO.ATMOS.UIUC.EDU/WEATHER/WEATHER.HTML

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BUILDING AN INTEGRATED CURRICULUM PLANNING MATRIX

SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY

SCIENCE

SOCIAL STUDIES

HEALTH

MATH

PE

MUSIC

FINE ARTS

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Directions: With your team, sit down and list all the major concepts, units, skills, or topics each of you will be covering during the school year. Try to record by subject area and by month. Look for overlaps or changes which could be easily worked into integrated units.

UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE(NOTE: THIS UNIT PLAN TEMPLATE FOLLOWS BD 378)

Unit Title Name:School:Grade Level: Content Area:Timeline/Length:

Rationale

Driving Question Come up with a question that drives the unit. What will the students learn in this unit?

Unit OverviewWrite a brief summary of what this unit is all about. Summarize what the students will learn from this unit, and the lessons in this unit.

(Not a list of objectives!)

Unit ObjectivesList all the objectives you plan to achieve in this unit.

At the end of this unit, students will be able to:

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Key ConceptsList/bullet the key concepts in

this unit.

GPSS Content Standards & Performance IndicatorsList the Content Standards and Performance Indicators (All the subjects) that you will be teaching in this unit.

ESLRs: (if applicable)List all the school’s ESLRs that you will be addressing in this unit.

SAT-10 Standards: List all the SAT-10 Standards you will be addressing in this unit.

Assessment/Evaluation

Formal and informal evaluations

Culminating Activity What exciting activity will you end this unit with? How will you end it? This activity will summarize everything that you have taught in the unit.

Field TripsList any field trips, if any.

Resource PersonsList the resource persons that contributed in the creation of this unit.

Literature Connection/Additional Resources List all your literature resources, books, teacher resources,

videos, CDs, cassettes, etc. that you used to teach this unit.

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LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE(NOTE: THIS LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE FOLLOWS BD 378)

Lesson Title(Indicate the title of this lesson.)

Name: School:Grade Level: Content Area:Timeline/Length:

GPSS Content Standards/Performance Indicators:List GPSS Content Standards/Performance Indicators

SAT-10 Standards:List SAT-10 Standards

ESLRs: (Expected School Learning Results) *: (* if applicable)

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Key ConceptsList all the related subject area/content area concepts that this lesson addresses.

VocabularyList all the vocabulary words that the students will be learning in this lesson.

Lesson OverviewWrite a brief summary of what this lesson is all about and what it intends to do. Summarize what the students will learn from this lesson.(Not a list of objectives!)

Lesson ObjectivesList all the learning objectives you plan to achieve in this lesson.

In this lesson, students will be able to:

Textbooks/Materials/Resources:List all instructional materials and resources to be used in the lesson. (e.g. texts, manipulatives, visuals, technological resources, etc.)

ProceduresDescribe:Anticipatory Set or effective grabberThe teacher’s instructional actionsThe connections between the subject/strategy being taught and the students’ prior knowledgeAccommodations for students’ various developmental levels (grouping, modeling, modifications

for students in need, etc.)Classroom structure and safety equipment (if relevant)Guided practice provisionsIndependent practiceChecking for understandingThe students’ learning activities or desired student outcomes

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Lesson Plan Template(Note: This lesson plan template follows BD 378

Procedures (continued)

Assessment/EvaluationIndicate how to determine what students know and are able to do during and as a result of this lesson.Formal and informal evaluations

Rubrics/Checklists used

Wrap-Up/Closing ActivityWhat exciting activity will you end this lesson with? How will you end it? This activity will summarize everything that you have taught in the lesson.

Field TripsList any field trips, if any.

Contributors/ContactsIndicate person(s) or organization responsible for making the lesson/activity available; the source in which the activity or lesson is derived from.

References/Additional Resources List all your literature resources, books, teacher resources, videos, CDs, cassettes, etc. that you used to teach this lesson. References/Additional Resources List all your literature resources, books, teacher resources, videos, CDs, cassettes, etc. that you used to teach this lesson.

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Lesson Plan Template(Note: This lesson plan template follows BD 378

ONLINE RESOURCES

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