Many teachers try to find ways to create new learning experiences to capture students’ attention spans. However, few have taken an innovative new approach to education like MMS’s Maverick Team and their SSLA collaboration. The class, pronounced and known as “slay,” combines Language Arts and Social Studies, creating a modern and unique learning experience that benefits both teachers and students.
For this class, students do not have separate ELA and Social Studies periods. Rather, on alternating days they have SSLA–two 90-minute blocks dedicated to both classes. Classes are co-taught, meaning students have access to both teachers during this time, and assignments deal with social studies content but include practice in reading and writing skills. Often 40-50 students are in this class and either work in a large space like a cafeteria or can switch between the two teachers’ classrooms depending on what they are working on.
Each unit is “propelled by a thematic driving question.” The students investigate a topic of interest that relates thematically to both Social Studies and English Language Arts, and each unit culminates with a project.
Mrs. Rutigliano, Language Arts teacher, explained the purpose for tackling the two subject together. “What we found is that there are so many similarities between language arts and social studies. So instead of trying to teach them as two separate subjects, why not merge them together? Because the impact is more powerful when students can see the connections between two subjects.” Rutigliano highlights the powerful combination of two similar subjects, showing the substantial impact on students’ learning.
Rutigliano indicates, “We found that students liked it when we were all together more often and when the lessons were clearly aligned and didn’t feel like it was like a third subject.” This suggests that students appreciate the integrated approach, and by blending language arts and social studies, teachers can create more engaging lessons that highlight the relevance of each subject.
What are the benefits of cross-curricular work? Kelly Jeffery, the ELA curriculum director at Studies Weekly, states, “Integrating ELA strategies into social studies allows students to use and refine their ELA skills while engaging with relevant content.” Similarly, Mrs. Trentanelli, the social studies teacher and one of the main educators in the Maverick SSLA class, explains, “It provides students with more choice and a personalized approach, allowing them to engage in inquiry and see how two subjects can work together.” Similarly, studies show that combining social studies into your language arts block improves student language, reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
SSLA class also has benefits for the teachers, not just the students. Both Mrs. Rutigiliano and Mrs. Trentanelli prefer this interdisciplinary approach over regular isolated classroom environments and even said that ideally they would “tear down the wall” between their two rooms. “We’ve been begging Mr. Destino to do it for three years now, but no dice,” Trentanelli joked.
According to Mrs. Gnjatic, co-teacher in the SSLA classes, “I like it and I know students like the connected classroom experience.”
Similarly, Trentanelli states, “I think [students] like having more than one teacher in the room at the times where we’re all together… I think the biggest complaint I’ve heard this year is sometimes it’s just crowded in our room.” One Maverick student noted that working on the same work all day can become “kind of boring.” He added, “you are just there for so long.” However, students generally enjoy the unit projects and chance to work with others.
Overall, the idea of a combination of Language Arts and Social Studies creates a modern and unique learning experience that benefits both teachers and students.
