Just Beyond the Classroom: Community Adventures for Interdisciplinary Learning

Much academic learning can take place in students' everyday environments. For example, a local shopping mall can be the site for learning a great deal about human behavior; exploring a cemetery can be like reading a book. To help teachers turn these themes and 10 others into meaningful interdisciplinary learning experiences, Dr. Knapp has developed organizing problems, background information, outcomes, over 200 ideas for activities (labeled with the academic subjects to be learned), reflection questions, and performance assessments. The activities are geared for students in grades four through nine, but could be adapted easily for lower or higher grade levels.