5 Keys to Building Cross-Content Connections Using High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM)

In K–12 classrooms, learning is most powerful when students see how ideas connect across subjects. High-quality instructional materials (HQIM), standards-aligned, research-based curricula, provide a strong foundation for this kind of integrated learning. When used strategically, HQIM can help teachers move beyond isolated lessons toward coherent, interdisciplinary learning experiences.

Below are five keys to building cross-content connections while maintaining fidelity to HQIM.

1. Build Cross-Content Connections Through Shared Instructional Concepts

Start with shared concepts, not separate standards. Rather than beginning with isolated standards from each subject, identify “big ideas” or shared concepts that naturally connect disciplines, such as systems, change, evidence, or perspective. Research on interdisciplinary learning shows that connecting knowledge across disciplines deepens understanding and supports student growth and teacher collaboration.

Many HQIM already embed these conceptual threads. By mapping shared concepts across ELA, science, math, and social studies units, teachers can create coherent learning experiences without rewriting the curriculum.

💡Tip: Create a crosswalk of concepts across upcoming ELA, science, math, and social studies units already present in your HQIM.

2. Use High-Quality Instructional Materials as the Anchor for Interdisciplinary Instruction

High-quality instructional materials shape teacher actions and student learning and are linked to improved student outcomes when implemented with fidelity.  However, HQIMs should serve as an anchor point for integration, not a rigid script. 

Teachers can build interdisciplinary connections by pairing texts, data sets, or phenomena across subjects while preserving the core instructional sequence of materials.

Example: Pair an informational text in ELA with historical primary sources or data connected to a shared real-world context, such as population change:  

Science: Students examine factors that influence population growth or

decline

ELA: Students read informational texts explaining population trends 

Math: Students analyze data sets showing population change over time

Social Studies: Students investigate historical or societal impacts of

population shifts

3. Design Interdisciplinary Tasks with Authentic Purpose

Interdisciplinary instruction is most powerful when students intentionally apply knowledge and skills from multiple content areas to solve authentic problems.

High-quality instructional materials often include strong, discipline-specific tasks that support deep learning within a single subject. While not inherently interdisciplinary, these tasks provide an excellent foundation for building cross-content connections.

Provide interdisciplinary learning while preserving HQIM fidelity by extending or adapt existing HQIM tasks so students must draw on more than one discipline. Project-based or inquiry-driven performance tasks, for example, can integrate literacy, numeracy, and disciplinary thinking without disrupting the core instructional sequence of the materials.

💡Tip: Redesign one HQIM assessment into a performance task that requires students to apply skills or knowledge from at least two content areas.

4. Collaborate Through Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

Cross-content integration is difficult in isolation. Research shows that teacher collaboration, especially through professional learning communities (PLCs), supports instructional coherence and improves practice.

HQIM implementation is most effective when teachers collectively analyze materials, identify opportunities for integration, and align pacing across subjects.

💡Tip: Use PLC time to review upcoming HQIM units across content areas and identify natural points of alignment.

5. Leverage Culturally Relevant and Inclusive Materials

High-quality instructional materials increasingly emphasize culturally affirming content and diverse perspectives, which helps students connect academic learning to real-world contexts.

When teachers intentionally connect culturally relevant texts, historical narratives, and scientific or mathematical applications, students experience learning as integrated and meaningful rather than fragmented.

💡Tip: Pair HQIM texts with local or culturally relevant resources to reinforce shared themes across subjects.

Final Thoughts

Building cross-content connections does not require abandoning your high-quality instructional materials. Instead, it requires a shift in mindset, from viewing instructional materials as separate silos to seeing them as an interconnected learning ecosystem. 

With intentional planning, collaboration, and thoughtful adaptation, HQIM can become powerful tools for interdisciplinary learning that prepares students to think critically across disciplines.