Interdisciplinary Blog Reflection

As mentioned in class, English and Social Studies as interdisciplinary lessons tend to lend themselves to one another.  This past year, and when student teaching, I taught novels that are set in America in the 1930’s and deal with racism.  The social context of the novels play such a large role as they directly relate to setting, theme, character development, and many other literary devices. 

Matt mentioned the video “The Century, America’s Time: Boom to Bust” provides a broad background of America in the 1930’s.  It provides students a broad, yet informative, look at the social and economic issues Americans faced throughout the decade.  I would use this video as a precursor to a PowerPoint that highlights the main “need to know” historical events prior to reading the novel.  Because the video provides a broad overview of many issues, I think it would be helpful to let students choose a topic that interests them most covered in the video (women’s right to vote, segregation, etc.)  This would allow students to further investigate an aspect of the 1930’s that interested them, then share that information with their peers.  This way, when we begin to read the novel as a class, students will have a reference point for specific events and characters in the novel.  Also, I have found that students enjoy documentaries, and it would be a great way to pique their interest, even if it was only in a specific topic covered in the documentary clip.

The Century, America’s Time: Boom to Bust

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foooDFF9Dgs

I also came across a webpage that encompasses a few resources on one webpage.  The homepage has an overview of the Great Depression.  On the left, there are various useful links.  The first useful link is entitled “Discrimination at Home and Work.”  Once you click on the link, you will arrive at a page which has interview from African Americans.  These interviews detail the discrimination these African Americans experienced in the work place (one man discusses how he received a $1 raise after working for a company for 12 years).  The interview transcript is also true to the speech of the interviewees and provides students a brief introduction to the unique dialect that is also seen in the novel. 

The link “Photographic Evidence of Racial Segregation” provides various galleries which depict segregation.  These galleries provide students with a broad view of several means of segregation.  This link is great for visual learners but also makes the segregation very real.

The last link that is resourceful is “Three Generations- White and Black.”  This link interviews a white woman who was a kindergarten teacher in Georgia in the 1930’s.  She describes the relationship between her family and the employees who were descendants of slaves owned by her own ancestors.  This link provides interesting insight into the resulting relationships that form after slavery has ended and African Americans and whites interact under new circumstances.

The Library of Congress:

http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/depwwii/race/

Interdisciplinary teaching provides various opportunities to engage students.  Students always feel empowered when they can bring something to classroom conversation.  Therefore, if students have learned about a historical context for a novel they are reading in English, they will be more likely to become involved in class discussions.  As we all know, students are more interested in specific subjects.  Therefore, if a student enjoys history they may be more likely to invest themselves in a novel in English when an English teacher draws upon historical events or settings in the novel.  Interdisciplinary teaching also provides the opportunity for students to showcase their best work.  Some students may not be great at writing essays, but they may be able to display their understanding of a symbols meaning in a novel through artistic representation.  Also, collaboration provides time for the teacher to learn as well.  If a teacher is comfortable with the historical context through discussions or planning with another teacher, they are more likely to bring that aspect of the novel to life in their classroom.  This provides students various modes to access the content, and you may find that more students become invested in the content.

One challenge that may be faced when trying interdisciplinary lessons is the amount of time it may take a teacher who is unfamiliar with the second discipline to create lessons.  Interdisciplinary lessons can spark the interest of students, but it would be necessary to make sure that content is still being delivered.  I feel it would be easy to have the desire to create interactive lessons that draw upon multiple disciplines, but it would be important to make sure that the objectives are being delivered to students.  The teacher would also need to be mindful that students would need guidance as they attempt to access information through two different disciplines.  This might take a lot of work on the part of the teacher and constant checking for understanding.

I posted a response to Karen Vigna's Blog: karenvigna.blogspot.com