Middle Years Social Studies

Textbook Exploration

Look through your teacher’s edition of a middle years textbook and answer the following questions in order to be ready for our classroom discussion.

Teacher’s Edition

Comment on the following giving examples and recording page numbers if possible.

1. Ease of use and organization.

2. Are outcomes and / or objectives, scope and sequences clearly stated and organized?

3. Does it easily correspond to the student text?

4. Does the Teacher’s Guide provide ideas / examples of teaching strategies, student assessment

possibilities, extension activities, alternate strategies for enrichment or remediation?

5. a. What evidence is there that indicates that the authors of the text made an effort to deal with cultural, racial, and sexual bias?

    b. Does it have lessons that delve into social justice issues? Describe or outline any examples.

6. Do the authors provide activities or strategies or deal with topics of a controversial nature? If so give an example or two.

7. Other Comments or observations.

Student Textbook

Now look through the student textbook. Make comments on the following.

1. Comment on the physical features such as size of text, font size, page layout, illustrations, tables,

charts, and graphs. This will include quality, clearness, appropriate for age group, design, attractiveness, etc.

2. a. Comment on the organization of the text, which may include usefulness or effectiveness of table of

contents, glossaries, appendices, reference sources, index, etc.

     b. Comment on the clearness and suitability of the unit / chapter / lesson format or organization.

3. How does the text material compare to the Manitoba Social Studies Curriculum?

4. Comment on instructional features such as the reading level, vocabulary, alternate activities for

individual difference (learning styles, MI), review or study questions, skills activities, etc.





5. Comment on instructional content of the following:

              a. Does there seem to be sufficient examples of the relationship between past and present?

              b. Are there sufficient references to primary documents used as examples?

              c. Are the other social science disciplines (geography, political science, economics, anthropology, etc) cited

                 or referred to or used in activities? Are they integrated?

              d. Is there an attempt to deal in depth on some topics or themes or is the text mostly coverage of a lot of


              e. Are any controversial topics included? If so, give examples.

6. Other observations and comments.

***Minimum expectation is that you would need about 2 typed pages single spaced.

Due: October 15, 2015

Weight - 12 points (%)