I know that there are skeptics out there that think cross-curriculum teaching is a waste of time, but I would have to disagree.  I remember teaching one student, in particular, that had a constant blank stare affixed to his face.  All year it seemed as if he were on the verge of falling asleep.  He certainly didn't seem to be paying attention.  That year I made a conscious effort to use a cross-curriculum approach and incorporated math, history, and grammar whenever possible. As we studied the numbers in French, and then later in Spanish, the students remarked on the similarities between the two.  This was the springboard for a history lesson on the Holy Roman Empire and the spread and development of languages.  As exciting as the presentation was, this kid was unmoved.  His eyes glazed over a little more and I almost gave up hope that he would ever "get it".  As the year continued and classes changed, I nearly forgot about my riveting lesson and how unaffected this student had been.  Other students did seem to enjoy learning about the background and it helped to give them a "hook" to hang some new information on.  The last week of school approached and this student made a special trip to come see me.  He said "Hey, you know I got a perfect score on my SOL History test.  It's because of you....that stuff you taught us, you know, about them Romans and talking French and Spanish, I only got those questions right because of what I learned in your class."  Wow!!!  How cool is that??  I actually taught somebody something useful, sort of. If I had not used a cross-curriculum approach, I might not have seen the need or relevance of including that kind of information in my lesson.  It works, it really does.