How to Integrate the Curricula

"This book should make educators stop and consider exactly what they mean when they discuss curriculum integration."
—Julie Prescott, Assessment Coordinator
Vallivue High School, Caldwell, ID

"The biggest strength of Fogarty′s work is its clear, concise organization centered on the guiding questions of each chapter."
—John C. Baker, Eighth-Grade Social Studies Teacher
Salem Middle School, Apex, NC

Strategies for moving students towards more holistic and authentic types of learning!

For both students and teachers, the mission is essential: to connect ideas, discern themes, and thread skills of various content areas into a cohesive whole. Yet, the question remains: "What does integrating the curricula really mean?" The answers are provided in this updated resource that helps teachers create brain-compatible, learner-centered classrooms and better prepare students for lifelong learning.

Based on a four-pronged rationale for using an integrated curriculum—including findings from brain-based research, parental concerns, practitioner challenges, and student perspectives—Robin Fogarty offers ten models that allow teams of teachers to work together to group elements from various content areas into a coherent curriculum that effectively meets standards. The discussion of each model includes:

• A description of the model
• How the model can be applied in the classroom
• Benefits and challenges of the model for teaching and learning
• Guidelines for when and how to implement the model in the classroom
• A wealth of reproducibles to aid implementation

How to Integrate the Curricula offers the support educators need to integrate concepts, skills, and attitudes and immerse students in content through self-selected, personally relevant learning experiences.

Robin Fogarty is President of RFA: A Robin Fogarty Company, a Chicago-based, minority-owned, educational publishing/consulting company. Robin received her doctorate in curriculum and human resource development from Loyola University of Chicago. A leading proponent of the thoughtful classroom, Robin has trained educators throughout the world in curriculum, instruction and assessment strategies. She has taught at all levels, from kindergarten to college, served as an administrator, and consulted with state departments and ministries of education in the United States, Puerto Rico, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Great Britain, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Robin has published articles in Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, The Journal of Staff Development and The Middle School Lournal. She is the author of numerous publications, including Brain-Compatible Classrooms, Literacy Matters, Ten Things New Teachers Need, How to Integrate the Curricula, The Adult Learner, A Look at Transfer, Close the Achievement Gap, Twelve Brain Principles, Nine Best Practices, and From Staff Room to Classroom: Planning and Coaching Professional Learning, How to Teach Thinking Skills Within the Common Core: 7 Key Student Proficiencies of the New National Standards, Invite! Excite! Ignite! 13 Principles for Teaching, Learning and Leading K-12 classrooms Robin received her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education at SUNY, Potsdam, NY, and her Masters in Instructional Strategies from National Louis University in Evanston, IL.  She is known as the teachers’ teacher and has mentored numerous colleagues in the art and science of working with the adult learner. She brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to all endeavors, has a wealth of knowledge in the field and conducts highly interactive PD sessions. Brian M. Pete, co-founder of Robin Fogarty & Associates, comes from a family of educators-college professors, school superintendents, teachers and teachers of teachers. He has a rich background in professional development. Brian has worked with the adult learner in districts and educational agencies throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand and the GCC in the Middle East.  He has an eye for the “teachable moment” and the words to describe what he sees as skillful teaching. He delivers dynamic, humor-filled sessions that energize the audiences with engaging strategies that transfer into immediate and practical on site applications. Comments from school leaders often say that it is the best PD the staff  has ever had. ? Brian is co-author of: How to Teach Students to Think Within the Common Core, School Leaders Guide to Common Core Achieving Results,Supporting Differentiated Instruction: A PLC Approach, From Staff Room to Classroom: A Guide to Planning and Coaching Professional Learning, From Staff Room to Classroom II: The One-Minute PD Planner and  The Right to Be Literate: 6 Literacy Strategies for the 21st Century. His works in progress include two pieces, one on inquiry learning with a focus on Problem-based Learning and the other on how to explicitly teach thinking skills in IB International Schools.