Blurring the Edges: Integrated Curriculum Through Writing and Children's Literature

The current emphasis on interdisciplinary teaching offers exciting opportunities to create dynamic literacy experiences across the curriculum. Through a unique approach to curriculum integration that combines quality literature, the writing process, and content-area instruction, Blurring the Edges helps you make the most of these opportunities. Barbara Chatton and Lynne Decker Collins blur subject-area and genre distinctions, presenting dozens of ideas on thematic units.

Blurring the Edges embraces three central themes:

• play as a model for learning
• experimentation as a way of knowing
• language as a vehicle for moving in and out of traditional subject area domains.

Each activity provides students with diverse opportunities to read and write in a variety of forms and for authentic purposes. The goal is to encourage students to express themselves more freely-as poets, scientists, historians, journalists, mathematicians, artists. At the end of each activity, the authors provide extensive annotated lists of appropriate literature to get you started. Each annotation includes a helpful grade level designation and the book concludes with a comprehensive index to help you locate specific authors, titles, and subjects.

Blurring the Edges challenges you to broaden the lens of instruction to create unique viewing experiences for your students. You'll find that just as the edges blur, your students' vision of themselves as competent readers, writers, and thinkers will come sharply into focus.

BARBARA CHATTON is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming. She teaches courses on literature for children and young adults, as well as humanities and social studies education.N. LYNNE DECKER COLLINS is an associate professor on leave from the College of Education at the University of Wyoming, and currently resides in Boulder, Colorado. She specializes in English, language arts, and writing process instruction.