Thematic Lessons in

Middle School
How thematic lessons that cross subjects
create stronger engagement.

By Charlie Jang
 Presentation Objectives
Show why thematic lessons are important.
Show examples of thematic lessons.
Engage in discussion for potential thematic lessons.

Standards Addressed
CSTP 6.3 Collaborating with colleagues and the broader professional
community to support teacher and student learning
How do you teach math through
drawing a picture?
 Using polygons to draw a portrait

Like this

Using polygons to construct a floor plan of your

dream house and calculating the total area.
What is a thematic lesson?

Thematic lessons are lessons that span across

multiple subjects on the same idea. For example, if a
theme is the environment, English students can
study rhetoric by writing arguments for and against
various green proposals, science/math students can
calculate impacts of action/inaction and art students
can create art through the use of recycled materials.
NCTM - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

“An effective mathematics curriculum

focuses on important mathematics that will
prepare students for continued study and for
solving problems in a variety of school, home,
and work settings.” - Principles and Standards
of School Mathematics
Thematic lessons can
increase ENGAGEMENT
across MULTIPLE
SUBJECTS. Students
apply KNOWLEDGE from
one class to another.
AN EXAMPLE
6th grade students were
exploring American geography
in history. I decided to see if
including a lesson related to
geography for math would
increase engagement. I posed
the question: What polygons
do you see in the map of the
United States. I see POLYGONS...
This is an excerpt
from the assignment called “What
Shapes are the States?”. Students arre
given a list of polygons. States are
selected and students were supposed
to write some facts about the states
as well as determine the shape.
Students then calculated the area of
the states and compared their
calculations to values they looked up.
 What students said
“Hey, I learned “TENNESSEE is like a
“I didn’t TRAPEZOID.”
about the states
already! I realize
“Its more like a
remember the facts FLORIDA PARALLELOGRAM.”
about Nevada!”
was so big!”
Students were so
ENTHUSED about the
activity that they
reported back to Ms.
Johnson that they got
to use their knowledge
of US states in math
class.
 TRY THIS:
Think of a current event or a
subject that is relevant to your
students in some way.
 TRY THIS:
As we take turns relaying our
ideas, think about how you
would create a lesson that
would go with that.
Thank you for listening. I would like to ask all of you to try
and do at least one type of thematic/interdisciplinary lesson
within the first semester of the next school year.
Let us be purposeful
and deliberate. But
above all, let us be
FUN. Remember,
ENGAGEMENT is
key!