Chapter 8 of Amy Benjamin’s Writing Across the Content Areas introduces the concept of across-the-board journals. These are student writing projects that require two or more teachers of different content areas to work together to help students create interdisciplinary journals. In these journals students make entries which tie together ideas or concepts which are related, even though they’re part of the different course curriculums. The goal of these journals is to encourage students to make connections between the content of different classes and to synthesis those themes into journal entries within a single notebook.
In my opinion this is an ambitious proposal because it would require extra planning and coordination by the teachers of different content areas. Not only would these teachers need to meet to coordinate common themes within their curriculums, but they would need to agree on a common rubric and decide how assessments would be done and by whom.
I found this to be a very provocative idea, one which would really challenge students to think and to realize how knowledge is connected. Obviously its more work for teachers, so getting teachers onboard would be job one. If one did succeed in getting teachers to sign on I think the journal would be an exciting project for both the students and the instructors.
If I was going to initiate an across-the-board journal program I think I’d frame as a treasure hunt for interconnected knowledge. Everyone likes a hunt or a puzzle to solve. The puzzle here would be to figure out which concepts, ideas, knowledge, historical events, scientific phenomena, literature, etc., are related.
Setting up the curriculum might be challenging, but it could be a fun. For example, perhaps the history class is learning about the life of Ben Franklin, while the science class is learning about electricity, at the same time the English class is reading early American publications, such as Poor Richard’s Almanac. Or maybe the history class is learning about WWII, while the science class is learning about the discovery of mid-ocean ridges and the theory of tectonic plates. (There is a connection, but it takes a little digging.)
I think students would enjoy looking for the connections within different content areas. The writing up of those connections within the journals would promote critical thinking. This is a great idea, hopefully someday I’ll be able to give it a try!
Cheers! Michael Kaas
