69传媒

Opinion Blog

Ask a Psychologist

Helping 69传媒 Thrive Now

Angela Duckworth and other behavioral-science experts offer advice to teachers based on scientific research. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

Time for Bin Busting: Teach Math, 69传媒, and Social Skills Together

By Hailey Gibbs, Elias Blinkoff & Kathy Hirsh-Pasek 鈥 December 15, 2021 2 min read
How do I integrate whole-child instruction across different subjects?
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

I support a whole-child approach to teaching, but how do schools integrate it when we have so many different subjects to cover?

Stop teaching in 鈥渂ins.鈥 Math is from 10 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., followed by reading until 11:50, then off to recess to build social-emotional skills. We often break the whole child into fragments to receive piecemeal instruction in individual subjects.

Even though the science of learning indicates that teaching in bins is not optimal, the practice has remained a mainstay for decades. Take the bins we absolutely believe in鈥攖he divide between reading and math. There are number people and good readers, and they often do not exist in the same person, right? Well, it turns out that even here, the science demonstrates that reading and math skills enjoy a lot of overlap. Would you believe that early-language ability is the of both math and reading scores? Children who know number words and spatial terms like over, under, around, and through have better STEM scores. And a recent study reports that both reading and math ability is contingent on the same : memory, attention (executive function), language, and general knowledge.

Instead of binning, try a whole-child approach built from children鈥檚 interests. Consider, for example, using a birthday party as a thematic exercise. For kindergartners, planning a party requires diverse (previously binned) skills. How many people will we invite, and who will be included? How can we write invitations for each child? What should the invitation look like?

For a 3rd grade math class with fractions as part of the curriculum, just adjust the questions. If we鈥檝e invited 12 children, and 10 can come to the party, what percentage of our invitation list is available? How much pizza should we order, assuming that each child will eat two slices and a large pizza includes 12 slices? Here again, we motivate children while still teaching writing, reading, and division!

By coming up with integrative themes, you can carry out your curricular goals while creating an engaging climate for your students. Think about the key characteristics of a good classroom activity, then test if it works by using this checklist: Is your activity 鈥

Active or passive?
Engaging or distracting?
Meaningful to your students or disconnected from their lives?
Socially interactive with peer collaboration or entirely independent?
Iterative, allowing students to build on ideas each time they come to the classroom, or merely repetitive?
Joyful or boring?

A whole-child approach is not hard to do. Just pick a topic that you like and that you think children will enjoy鈥攔ace cars, family recipes, music, dinosaurs鈥攁nd create integrated lessons that draw on a range of topics in reading, math, social skills, geography, and science. You will have a happier classroom, and your students will not only learn reading and math but also how to collaborate, communicate, critically think, and create.

Related Tags:

The opinions expressed in Ask a Psychologist: Helping 69传媒 Thrive Now are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69传媒
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What鈥檚 Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide 鈥 elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Download How to Build a Classroom That Supports Difficult Conversations (Downloadable)
69传媒 need opportunities to learn how to talk openly and respectfully about divisive topics. Teachers can set students up for success.
1 min read
Word bubbles of different sizes and abstract content arranged in a grid like pattern.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + iStock
Teaching Opinion 5 Small Classroom Changes for Big Rewards
Most educators know that building relationships is crucial to student learning. Small actions by teachers can help foster them.
10 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Teaching Opinion 69传媒 Are Often Blamed for Our Foundering Democracy. It鈥檚 Not That Simple
Regardless of who wins the election, teachers must help students see what it means to forge a collective path ahead. Here are three steps.
Nicole Mirra & Antero Garcia
4 min read
Collage art of civics and democracy images.
iStock/Getty + Education Week
Teaching Opinion Post-Election Advice for the Classroom From a Teacher
What educators can say to their students or families if they express concerns or anxiety about election-related classroom discussions.
7 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week