Put the Egg Back Together Again: English through Other Disciplines

Abstract

s this math, or is this Armando asked, puzzled. What do you think Lewis Carroll would say? answered, too quickly I guess neither. Or both. Does it matter? he responded. That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. (Romeo andJuliet, II.ii, 44) But parabolas don't smell, he queried. Yeah, they do. They stink! chortled Cathy. Ah, ninth graders. We went on describing the characteristics of quadratic equations. Drawing pictures, writing sentences, simplifying equations, discussing Shakespeare and Alice in Wonderland as students finished writing in their journals. English? Or math? Something? Or nothing? worried. It's so hard to tell. It wasfun, though ... Interdisciplinary can exist anywhere, in any subject, if we hold English to mean oral and written communication skills in the language. Collaborative and ongoing projects serve as vehicles for integrating with other subjects. Successful requires time, proximity, space, access to resources, and, most important, willing teachers who are interdisciplinary thinkers. Successful unites teachers and students in an otherwise disjointed educational universe; it helps us make meaning of the curricular and social fragmentation that can defeat students in their fragile high school years. have taught in settings for the past five years, grateful for the support of site and district administrators who encourage experimentation along the guidelines of the English-Language Arts Framework (1987, Sacramento: California Department of Education), the California History-Social Science Framework (1988, Sacramento: California Department of Education), and Second to None (1992, Sacramento: California Department of Education). The following article describes three configurations of English. Each situation involved successes and failures, yet all three contribute to my belief that is a worthwhile pursuit.