Integrated Curriculum Ways to Increase Teaching Time in a Primary School
- Integrated curriculum is a type of teaching method. According to ASCD, or the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, integrated curriculum can be as varied as making casual comments about how other subjects in class relate to the current information, to unifying all information in classes around a central theme and mixing up lessons so information from every subject is put into various lessons.
- Teachers need to plan integration before starting the class for the best results in speeding up teaching time to get through material quickly. For example, teachers in elementary school might decide before the math class to add some spelling words to the class by spelling out words relating to the math lesson, such as "addition" or "subtraction."
- Relating the lessons in integration to real-life situations can make comprehension much faster. Integration is not only about showing how subjects in school relate, but also how school relates to real life. For example, a teacher giving a lesson in history might relate the information about the historical figures to current events that interest the students. Teachers at the primary level should keep relations to real life simple so the students better understand the information.
- Getting the students involved in the curriculum makes it easier to design lesson plans the students will benefit from. For example, ask the elementary class about their favorite sports, games, art projects or hobbies. Use examples in class that relate to the student's out-of-class activities and give assignments for students that relate to their out-of-class hobbies or sports. The students end up remembering the information from class during these activities, which results in faster teaching results.