7.2 Resources, Thematic & Interdisciplinary Units, and Planning Partners
Key Takeaways
Every resource should be chosen for the objective and checked for accuracy, readability, accessibility, representation, cost, and legal fit.
A thematic unit's components are selecting a theme, designing integrated activities, selecting resources, and designing assessments.
Interdisciplinary units require collaboration, applicable topics, an integrative framework, instruction for each discipline, and integrative assessment.
School librarians support research, information literacy, leveled resources, and copyright questions.
Paraeducators carry out teacher-designed supports under supervision; special educators, gifted specialists, and IEP team members shape plans for students with specific needs.
Why Resources and Planning Partners Are Tested
ETS asks candidates to understand the role of resources and materials in supporting learning, to know how to develop lessons as part of thematic and interdisciplinary units, and to identify instructional planning partners and describe the role each plays. ETS's discussion questions ask what a teacher should consider when incorporating various resources into a lesson and what the advantages of different resources are, and the case tasks include helping students learn material presented through various media.
Resources and Materials That Support Learning
| Resource (ETS list) | Instructional uses | Selection checks |
|---|---|---|
| Computers, the internet, and other electronic resources | Simulations, databases, collaborative documents, research, adaptive practice | Accuracy, bias, student-data privacy, accessibility, district approval |
| Library collection (books, magazines, pamphlets, reference works) | Research, independent reading, primary and secondary sources | Range of reading levels and perspectives; currency |
| Videos and DVDs (and streaming media) | Visualizing processes, primary footage, expert explanation | Length, captions, licensing, a viewing guide tied to the objective |
| Artifacts, models, and manipulatives | Concrete representations such as algebra tiles, molecular models, historical artifacts, and maps | A clear bridge from concrete to abstract (Bruner's enactive to iconic to symbolic) |
| Guest speakers and community members | Real-world expertise, career connections, local perspectives | District vetting rules, student preparation with questions, connection to the objective |
Choosing and Adapting Materials
Start with the objective, then check each resource for accuracy, readability, accessibility (captions, alternative text, usable formats), representation of diverse people and perspectives, cost, and legal fit (copyright and licensing, district approval, and student-data privacy; for example, the federal COPPA rule restricts online services that collect personal information from children under 13). Plan how students will use the resource: a 50-minute documentary becomes useful when the teacher selects key segments, provides focus questions, pauses for discussion, and debriefs.
Thematic Instruction
Thematic instruction organizes learning around a theme, such as "conflict and resolution" or "water," that connects topics within a subject or across subjects. ETS names the components of a thematic unit: selecting a theme, designing integrated learning activities, selecting resources, and designing assessments. A strong theme is broad enough to connect meaningful content, specific enough to guide choices, and interesting to adolescents.
Interdisciplinary and Thematic Curriculum Design
Secondary schools often isolate knowledge into rigid 50-minute departmental silos (math, science, English, history). Interdisciplinary and thematic units dismantle these barriers by organizing learning around complex, real-world themes, problems, or global issues:
- STEM / STEAM Integration: Combining science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics to solve engineering design challenges (e.g., designing earthquake-resistant architectural structures by applying physics principles and geometric trigonometry).
- Humanities Integration: Weaving literature, historical primary sources, philosophy, and political science around overarching essential questions (e.g., "How do societies balance personal liberty and national security during times of crisis?").
- Benefits for Adolescents: Authentic real-world problems do not come categorized by school subject. Interdisciplinary units significantly enhance transfer of learning, elevate intrinsic task value, and provide diverse entry points for varied student strengths.
Interdisciplinary Units: Components
Interdisciplinary instruction deliberately applies the methods and language of more than one discipline to a central theme, issue, or problem. ETS lists its components:
- Collaborating with teachers from the other disciplines.
- Generating applicable topics that genuinely need more than one discipline.
- Developing an integrative framework, such as a shared essential question.
- Planning instruction for each discipline so that each subject's standards are taught with integrity.
- Designing integrative assessment that requires students to use knowledge from all the disciplines involved.
Example: A 9th-grade team plans a unit called "Water: Resource and Right." The shared essential question asks who should control a community's water. Science classes test local water samples; mathematics classes model usage data; social studies classes research water-rights history and policy; English classes teach argument writing. The integrative assessment is a community water report that uses data, historical context, and a written argument, scored with criteria from each subject.
Instructional Planning Partners
| Partner (ETS list) | Role in planning |
|---|---|
| Special education teachers | Design accommodations and modifications, embed IEP goals, plan specially designed instruction, and co-teach |
| School librarian | Teaches research and information literacy, curates resources at varied reading levels, and advises on copyright |
| Teachers of the gifted and talented | Suggest compacting, extension, and acceleration options and ways to add depth and complexity |
| IEP team members (parents, related-service providers, school psychologist, the student) | Share goals, accommodations, and transition plans that instruction must address |
| Paraeducators | Carry out teacher-designed supports under supervision and share observations about students |
ESL teachers, counselors, and instructional technology coaches are also valuable partners, even though ETS's list does not name them.
Common Exam Traps
- Choosing a resource for novelty. A resource earns class time only when it serves the objective.
- Superficial integration. An interdisciplinary unit must teach each subject's standards, not just decorate one subject with another's vocabulary.
- Unvetted guests or materials. Follow district rules for speakers, media, and online tools.
- Planning alone. When students have IEPs, 504 plans, or advanced needs, the strongest plans involve the relevant partner early.
A teacher plans to show a 50-minute documentary during a unit on the civil rights movement. Which planning step best ensures the resource supports learning?
Show the full film without interruption so students experience it as the director intended
Select the segments tied to the objective, provide a viewing guide with focus questions, confirm captions are available, and plan a debrief discussion
Assign the film as homework so class time is saved for lecture
Use the film as a reward for students who finish their work early
Science and social studies teachers plan a unit on a local river. They agree on an essential question both courses will answer, map which standards each course will address, and design one final product scored with criteria from both subjects. Which interdisciplinary component does the shared final product represent?
Generating applicable topics
Collaborating with instructional partners
Developing an integrative framework
Designing integrative assessment
A 10th-grade English teacher is designing a research unit and wants students to learn to evaluate online sources and to find materials at several reading levels. Which planning partner is most directly suited to help?
The school librarian
The paraeducator assigned to one student in the class
The teacher of the gifted and talented
The school's athletic director
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.