Thinking Like a Disciplinarian

1. Thinking Like a Disciplinarian Connecting to, exploring within, and across disciplines. Bakersfield City School District Extended Programs Department GATE Program October, 2010 PowerPoint adapted from Riverside Unified School District’s GATE Program

2. Key Ideas • Increases awareness of the discipline, thus adding depth and complexity to the subject matter. • Requires learning about the specialized vocabulary, tools and skills of each discipline • Connects a student’s own interests and abilities to a subject and a discipline. • Allows the student to immerse self into the study of a discipline. • Creates a greater awareness of the contributions of the disciplines to the world.

3. Thinking Like a Scholar • Disciplinary studies can begin with an examination of scholarly behavior • Attributes of scholarly behavior can be identified and applied to accomplished people and the disciplines they represent. • Students can then make connections between themselves and the disciplinarian.

4. Connecting to a Discipline

5. Exploring Within a Discipline • Directed lessons can be given on disciplines as they relate to an area of study. • Thinking Like an Historian. • Thinking Like a Geographer. • Thinking Like a Sociologist. • Thinking Like a Scientist. • Thinking Like a Mathematician.

6. A Differentiated Word Wall Can Be Developed

7. Within Discipline Studies Can Be Even More Specific • Thinking Like A Scientist • Chemist; • Geologist; • Biologist; • Botanist; • Naturalist; or • Paleontologist.

8. Connecting Across Disciplines • Once students have an understanding of the disciplines, they can look at an area of study from the various perspectives of different disciplines. • The teacher can build this into the content planning.

9. Student Ownership • The goal is for the student to select a disciplinarian role to apply to their studies • Opportunities can be provided through • Learning Centers. • Role-playing. • Revisiting text through the eyes of a disciplinarian.

10. Thinking Like a Sociologist With a Fiction Story Discuss a fiction story the students have previously read using the following chart as the basis of revisiting the story:

11. Use the completed chart as the basis to have students practice identifying the sociological concepts of dynamics,interactions, and roles. Lead discussions with these questions: • Which characters assumed a leader or follower role? • How did the role of the character affect the interaction between them? • How does the role of the character affect their problem or the major problem or conflict in the story? PowerPoint adapted from Riverside Unified School District’s GATE Program