Throughout this program, you have had the opportunity to research different methods of incorporating various content areas. As an elementary educator, one of the greatest challenges will be incorporating each of these content areas in your planning. The ability to use each content area to support the others will lessen this challenge in planning throughout the year. Further, using content-specific areas to support other content areas helps students draw real-world connections to curriculum and instruction.
Part 1: Cross-Curricular Plan
You are an elementary teacher, and your school has decided to conduct two days of virtual learning each week. Therefore, your planning must be a hybrid of in-person and virtual learning where you consider how to differentiate and engage students in each environment.
For this benchmark, plan how to integrate social studies into your weekly planning. For example, think about how social studies content can support math computation, or how social studies can support learning to critically read. Use the “Cross Curricular Social Studies Weekly Plan” template to plan how you will utilize social studies to support other content area standards. Within the plan include the following:
A minimum of two social studies standards.
At least one arts standard that can be used to enhance student learning throughout the week.
At least one science and/or math standard that can be supported during the week.
At least one English/ELA standard that can be supported during the week.
In the Instructional Strategies section of the planning template, include strategies and tools that encourage students to creatively identify, question, and analyze ideas from diverse perspectives.
In the Activities and Engagement Strategies section of the planning template, include experiences that engage students in collaborative and self-directed learning in both virtual and in-person environments.
At least one opportunity for students to create real-world connections and extend their learning locally and globally.
Part 2: Reflection
In 250 words justify how you created real-world connections that motivate students, promote cross-curricular skills and inquiry, and extend learning locally and globally. Describe your struggles and strengths in creating a cross-curricular plan for a hybrid environment.
Support the plan with 3-5 scholarly resources.
This benchmark asks you to build a cross-curricular weekly plan that integrates social studies into a hybrid (in-person + virtual) elementary schedule, using social studies to support other content areas. Plan for differentiation and engagement in both environments.
Key takeaways
- Integrate social studies into other subjects — e.g., using it to support reading and math.
- Design for hybrid: parallel in-person and virtual activities that meet the same objectives.
- Differentiate for varied learners and for the two environments.
- Build real-world connections so content feels relevant.
- Align every activity to standards and use the provided weekly-plan template.
Plan cross-curricular integration
Show how social studies reinforces other content areas: reading informational texts and primary sources supports literacy; analyzing data from a community survey supports math; writing about a historical figure supports composition. The goal is content areas supporting each other, not isolated lessons.
Design for the hybrid model
For each objective, plan both an in-person and a virtual version. In-person might use group discussion and hands-on artifacts; virtual might use recorded primary-source walkthroughs, interactive maps, and collaborative digital documents. Keep the learning target identical across both.
Differentiate and engage
Include supports and extensions (visuals, sentence frames, choice boards) and note how you’ll keep remote learners engaged (short tasks, check-ins, interactive tools). Address students who need extra support in each setting.
Finish the template
Complete the Cross-Curricular Social Studies Weekly Plan with objectives, standards, activities for both environments, differentiation, and assessment. Add a short rationale explaining your integration choices.