“The Rio Grande Was Originally Known as Rio Bravo”: Multiliteracies in a 4th‐Grade ELA and Social Studies Project

ABSTRACT Despite the natural interdisciplinary nature of English language arts (ELA) and social studies, these two subject areas are sometimes isolated from one another in schools, including upper elementary classrooms. In this research‐in‐action article, we—two university researchers, one classroom teacher, and two undergraduate students at the time of the study—demonstrate an interdisciplinary fourth‐grade ELA and social studies project. Focusing on their favorite places in their hometown, students collaboratively constructed multimedia videos, using co‐written opinion scripts and film‐making technologies like iMovie. We examine the project through a culturally sustaining and funds of knowledge theoretical framework, analyzing how students' multiliteracies and enjoyment supported their construction of this interdisciplinary project. By emphasizing students' prior knowledge and multiliteracies, we offer one way ELA teachers might form an interdisciplinary, culturally sustaining project centered in students' enjoyment and in literacy and social studies pedagogy.