Traditionally, each subject at school has been taught in isolation. In social studies class, students learn about a social studies topic. In English class, they study an English topic. And so on across the different subject areas. At times, this can feel like an information firehose for students, and educators increasingly find that exploring a single major topic across multiple subject areas allows students to engage more deeply and take away more from their learning.

One such innovative approach to exploring a single topic across multiple subject areas occurred this past year when Grade 6 students engaged in an interdisciplinary project that fused humanities with art and design.

In Grade 6 social studies, students explore the topic of human displacement. Rooted in the idea that international interactions shape regional realities, students investigate how political, environmental and economic crises force people and populations to move. They also learn about the experiences of refugees and minority groups and connect this to why it is important for Canada to respond to global humanitarian crises.

The project began in the first term with the class together reading a novel called Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen. This story is set in 1893 Lithuania and follows a twelve-year-old girl who flees occupying Russian soldiers after her parents are arrested. She joins an underground network of book smugglers, risking her life to preserve her country’s banned culture and language.

Building on this learning experience, the class moved to a small-group “book club” format where students chose from a list of displacement-themed novels to read and sat in literacy circles to participate in guided discussions, explore the topics and share their personal impressions.

“Literacy circles give students a chance to develop their thoughts, work through different ideas and benefit from other students’ perspectives,” said Grade 6 teacher Kaycie Hebert. “ They are less afraid to share and are much more motivated to work through topics with peers.”

Next, students were challenged to further explore their understanding of the stories through a series of authentic design experiences that integrated curricular competencies from applied design, skills and technology.

Their first challenge was to create a classic book diorama, transforming reclaimed books into visual storytelling pieces that represent themes, settings, symbols or moments from the novel. Their second design project was to design and code an interactive video game inspired by the novel’s themes and topics.

This task specifically encouraged students to think critically about plot, character motivation, conflict and audience engagement. Lastly, students were challenged to construct either a wooden box or a sewn bag designed to transport and protect precious belongings over long distances.

This challenge encouraged students to empathize with individuals experiencing displacement and consider what objects hold personal, cultural or practical significance.

“Engagement is always a great gauge of how things are going in class,” said Ms. Hebert. “Throughout this project, engagement was really, really high. Students were very focused, showed up for each other and overall demonstrated a deep connection with their learning.”