Integrated Curriculum

Integrated Curriculum

Last spring, I collaborated with the French teacher in my building.  Her French II/III class studied New Orleans, Fat Tuesday, and Mardi Gras, and my food prep class was learning to cook breakfast foods.  We combined the classes and made sweet and savory crepes for 50 kids in 90 minutes.  Despite the crowded kitchen, the students loved the opportunity to learn from one another.  The number of eggs and the amount of butter consumed that day still amazes me.

We had a wide variety of students involved with this project, including honors French students and students in food prep with IEPs for learning disabilities.  The students were grouped together at random.  Divided into the five mini kitchens and given the recipes, tools, and ingredients.  It went surprisingly well, though it was a bit louder than normal.

What did this experience teach you about integrated lesson design?  A properly designed and well-organized integrated lesson will build on student needs and interests.  Kids love to cook and eat!  They also learned a lot about Mardi Gras and New Orleans.  Integrated units will: allow for creative, high-quality projects; help students make connections across disciplines; link the academic with the technical; and possibly introduce student work to a larger community (Jacobs & Jacobs, n.d.).

What observable impact indicated the success or failure of the lesson plan?  The lesson was a massive success in every way you measured it.  The food prep students were proud of their kitchens and were excited to have guests and to show off what they had already learned.  The French students were eager to do some hands-on activities involving sugar and butter.  After the students enjoyed their crepes and cleaned up their kitchens, they wrote a short essay on the experience.  I was amazed at how many French students were eager to sign up for food prep the next year.  (I knew it was a popular class, but this really sold it).

Which components of the integrated lesson plan were responsible for its success or failure?  I would say the eating was very popular.  You can’t go wrong with food.  I am lucky to have a kitchen attached to my regular classroom.  When teaching my yearbook, English or speech classes, I often incorporate recipes into the lessons (as an excuse) to get the kids out of their seats and into the kitchen.  The French teacher was the first cross-curricular integrated project on which I had collaborated.

References

Jacobs, G., & Jacobs, J.-A. (n.d.). Integrated units: A planning guide for teachers. Edutopia. Retrieved August 15, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/integrated-curriculum-guide.pdf