Cross-curricular teaching

In addition to taking Math for Elementary Teachers, I am also currently taking Children's Literature and PE for Elementary Teachers. Having multiple classes related to one broad topic (elementary education, in this case) allows for some pretty exciting connections. I did this a lot with my psych, natural science, and liberal arts courses in undergrad. I am a huge fan of "making connections," and studies have shown that students benefit from this, as well!

Interdisciplinary/cross-curricular teaching has been shown to engage students by allowing them to see the importance and value of topics taught. I am new to the concept but very intrigued. It sounds like an important element of this type of teaching is explaining to children what you are doing with cross-curricular teaching and how it will benefit them.

http://adyteaching.blogspot.com/2013/05/i-know-what-but-i-want-to-know-why-make.html

While browsing pinterest, I discovered math journals. I have heard of them before but haven't truly appreciated their value until now. What an awesome way to get students to reflect upon their learning, utilize reasoning skills and critical thinking in math (no automated number crunching in these things), and develop their writing skills and vocabulary across subjects. Math literacy much? I love the "My Life in Numbers" entry idea!

http://love2learn2day.blogspot.ca/2011/10/my-life-in-numbers.html
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/134052526382032083/

My PE class has made me recognize the importance of incorporating physical activity into many disciplines, math included. I am inspired to discover activities that get their students out of their desks and into their thinking caps! I am really into "Whole Brain Teaching" and hope to one day incorporate it into my classroom. The first link I posted describes it briefly at the end of the post. See video, too!

Here are some active math activities I discovered while browsing:

http://www.motheringwithcreativity.com/2013/04/adding-fun.html
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/134052526382032126/

The first game could certainly be made even more physical: by throwing balls into hoops, multiplying the balls in the basket by a certain number of jumping jacks, etc. In my PE class, we played a game where two dice were rolled and students had to calculate the sum and do that many of a certain action (i.e. squats, leap frog jumps, etc).

Share some engaging cross-curricular activities you've stumbled upon, created, or reinvented!