Brett Johnson

READ 472

11/9/15

Textbook Assessment

The textbook I chose to use for this assignment is the assigned book in the

Augusta County Public School system for seventh grade world history. The textbook

is entitled United States History: Civil War to the Present and it was published in

2012 by the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Readability

There are a various number of formulas and techniques that can be used to

measure readability. Readability is the measure of how easy or hard a text is for the

reader to understand. For my sample, I have chose to use the Flesch-Kincaid

readability test. The Flesch-Kincaid tests gives two scores, the reading ease and

reading level, and they are both based on the length of the words and sentences. The

reading ease score gives a number from 0-100 that assesses how easy the text is to

read. Generally, scores between 90-100 are easily understood by the average 5th

grader. The average 8th and 9th graders easily understand scores between 60-70.

Finally, college graduates easily understand scores between 0-30. The higher the

number is, the easier the text is to understand. The reading level test gives a number

that directly correlates with the grade level the text would be best suitable for.

Below is a table I created which shows different scores and statistics for three

randomly selected passages in the textbook.

Page Number

Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

Syllable Count

Word Count

Sentence Count

Words per Sentence

616 57.6 8.6 173 108 8 13.5707 62.3 7.1 208 131 13 10.1895 55.7 8.6 206 126 10 12.6

These readability calculators are generally good measures when determining

the grade level. School systems can run these tests when they are trying to

determine what textbook to buy for their classrooms. There are some assumptions

these calculators make though that might not necessarily be true. The first

assumption is that passages that have sentences of longer lengths are more difficult

to read. The second assumption is that longer words are harder to read and

understand. While these assumptions could skew the data a bit, these calculations

are a pretty accurate judge of the readability of the book. As you can see from my

results from the three randomly selected passages, the reading ease and grade level

scores are all fairly close, while the syllable count and words per sentence have

more varied results. The Flesch-Kincaid reading ease scores tell us that the average

8th-10th graders should easily understand the book. This concerns me a bit because

this textbook is used in a 7th grade classroom and the reading ease tells me that this

book might be too challenging. The Flesch-Kincaid grade level test confirms this as

well. Two of my tests resulted in a grade level of 8.6 and one of my tests resulted in a

grade level of 7.1. The average of these three scores is 8.1 which tells us that these

sections are suggested for an eighth grader. Because this is concerning, the school

board would have to run more tests to see if this is consistent level throughout the

book. I believe these scores are very realistic based on the language used in the text.

Being a history textbook, there are many names and events that are longer in length

and that students may not be familiar with. From these scores, it has led me to

believe that this textbook might be a little too challenging for most seventh graders

in the Augusta Country Public School System, especially struggling readers and ELL

students.

Content

The content of this book covers material from the Civil War to the present

times, going all the way up to George Bush’s presidency. The book begins with a

table of contents that is broken up by unit and then under each unit are the different

chapters and sections. After the table of contents, there are a couple of pages

teaching the reader how to “become an active reader.” This is a cool aspect of the

book because it reminds students how they should be reading text and some of the

most beneficial strategies. Another

thing I really like that this book

does is there is a prologue at the

very beginning that reviews the

United States history from the

founding of the nation all the way

up until 1860. I think that in

history, which is very The prologue reviews the history of the nation up to the Civil War.

chronologically based, it is important that students understand what has happened

in history that got them to that point. This section of the book talks about Columbus,

the American Revolution, the Constitution, slaves, and the nation breaking apart, all

things important to our nation up to the Civil War.

Vocabulary and important terms are key to understanding in all content

areas, but especially in social studies. Throughout the chapters, all of the important

names and dates are in bold, usually with a definition or explanation in the same

paragraph as the bolded term. Although this is simple, by bolding the words it draws

the students’ attention to important terms they should be aware of. These terms,

although usually defined before or after the bolded term in the text, are all available

in the back of the back in the glossary. I think the textbook could have benefitted

from some vocabulary strategies that emphasize certain important terms. One

strategy I really like is the most important word strategy, which Kylene Beers

presents. This strategy “forces students back into the text to consider what was the

most important aspect of that text.” (Beers, page 174) There are many vocabulary

strategies out there and I think that the book could benefit from including some of

them.

I believe that the content in this book is very appropriate to the subject and

although it covers a huge time period (1861-present), it analyzes the major events

very well and in depth. The book allows for students to be an active reader when

they are learning about the different events that took place in history. There are

images, maps, or timelines on every page, sometimes more than one of those. Along

with the images and maps are questions for the students to consider. At the end of

each section, there is a section assessment which lets to the student or teacher know

how well the information was received. The assessments do a good job of triggering

higher order thinking through high levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Format

On the first page of every

chapter, the authors tell the reader what

they will learn, an outline of the

different sections, a timeline of major

events in that chapter, and an essential

question that will be answered

throughout the chapter. At the

beginning of each section, which are

smaller parts of the chapter, there are

main ideas the reader will learn.

These include the big idea, key terms

and important people. I think this is

one of the main strengths of the book because I have learned how important it is for

the students to know what the big ideas of the chapter are and what they will learn

from reading. This can be seen in different settings as well, like in my practicum

On the first page of every chapter, the authors preview what you will learn in the chapter.

classroom. The teacher has the essential question for the day posted on the board

with an outline of the day’s activities.

Like mentioned above, there is an assessment at the end of each section that

allows students to apply what they have

learned from the previous section. At the end

of each larger chapter, one page is dedicated to

a different social studies skill. This is a very

effective aspect of the book because it teaches

different skills that the students need to be a

more complete learner. Right after that page,

the book goes into a chapter review. There is a

visual summary of the chapter, which appeals

to the visual learner, vocabulary and terms

review, critical thinking, reviewing themes, and

using the Internet. In addition to all of this

review, is a page with relevant standardized test practice questions. These are very

important because as we know, standardized tests, such as the SOL’s, whether you

like them or not, are a very important part of a student’s public school career.

At the end of the book, the authors chose to include basic information that

didn’t fit the scope of the textbook, but that they feel is important to our country and

that every student should know. This section includes an atlas, list of the presidents,

facts about the states, the American flag, Declaration of Independence, the

At the end of the chapters, one page is dedicated to a social studies skill.

Constitution, and an English and Spanish glossary. Part of this “historical thinking”

idea we have learned about in our methods course,

is creating students that are well-rounded citizens.

I think it is important to know this general

information, like the Constitution and Declaration

of Independence, in order to be a well-rounded

and knowledgeable student. This section gives the

student a wealth of knowledge on documents that

our country was built on, basic history on the

presidents our country has had so far, and basic

information on each of the states. More relevant

to the material in the textbook, the English and Spanish glossary allows students to

quickly look up different vocabulary words, wars, and people. The fact that they

include a Spanish glossary as well is extremely beneficial to a school system that is

very diverse, like we have here in Harrisonburg for example.

Utility

As mentioned before, the book does a great job of review and using critical

thinking skills to figure out higher-level problems. The book is broken up into

different units and within the units there are chapters, and then within the chapters

are sections. Review is a big part of a textbook and I believe that review is one of the

strengths of this book. At the end of each section, there is an assessment that

requires the student to use higher order of thinking from analyzing to identifying

cause and effect. At the end of each chapter, there is a chapter review, which

includes a wide variety of questions that enables the student to use varying skills to

answer the questions. I think the visual summary is a very effective tool because so

many people are visual learners. The visual summary is a simple picture that

highlights the key parts from the chapter. Students can easily understand these

pictures and it would be very beneficial to a lot of students. The other aspects of the

review include vocab, terms, and people, critical thinking, themes, social studies

skills, using the Internet, and reading skills. This is such a wide range of topics that it

allows the teacher to focus on certain aspects for certain students. It makes

differentiation easy because you can have certain

students do specific sections.

In addition to this extensive review the book

provides, there is also a section with standardized

test practice. This is very valuable tool because

standardized tests are something that is a big deal in

schools. Although there is much debate on the topic,

standardized tests are how school districts collect

data and judge the different schools. This practice section allows the students to see

what kind of questions they will be encountering at the end of the year.

Style

There is a section of standardized test practice at the end of every chapter.

I believe that the style of writing used in United States History: Civil War to

the Present is very relevant to the intended grade level of seventh grade. The

information is presented in a very educational and informative way. As we saw

earlier, two out of the three passages I analyzed suggested that this book is a high

eighth grade level. With that being said, I think the way this book is written can

allow for a seventh grade understanding as well. The authors do a great job of using

a variety of sources to teach the material. The constant use of images and primary

sources allows different types of learners to understand the material. Although the

reading levels may suggest an eighth grade level, the way the sentences are put

together, or the syntax, makes the readings understandable for a lower grade level.

For the most part, the sentences are made up of high frequency words and the

sentences are not too long in length. I also think that because the book is broken up

into many small sections, it enables the teacher to assign short sections of readings,

which will not overwhelm the student. While the book may be challenging to some

readers, it delivers the information in the clearest way possible.

Summary

After reflecting on all of the aspects I talked about, I think that this book is a

good tool that is generally appropriate for the seventh grade classroom, which it is

intended for. Just like any other textbook, there are some strengths and weaknesses.

The first strength that is worth noting is the wide array of review activities that are

available to the learner. There is review at the end of each section, chapter, and unit.

The review is very appropriate and it allows the students to understand the big

ideas from each part of the book. The review does a great job forcing the students to

use a higher order of thinking to answer the questions. I also like how the authors

tell the students what skill each question requires. The second strength is the

prologue at the very beginning of the book. I think this is a very effective tool

because history is understood in a chronological order. Because the book technically

starts at the Civil War, students need to understand some of the events that

happened in our nation before that point. While they should have learned that in

previous classes, this section highlights some of the major events that students

should understand. Finally, the use of imagery throughout the book is impressive.

Like I mentioned earlier, so many students are visual learners, and the authors

obviously understand that. Very seldom is there a page without any visuals on it at

all. The visual summary in the review section is a great tool that allows the students

to visually understand the big ideas from each chapter.

While there are many strengths of the book, there are some weaknesses

worth noting as well. The first weakness of this book is the reading level of some of

the sections. From the first part of this assessment, you can see that two of the three

sections I looked at had a grade level of 8.6. This book is intended for a seventh

grade classroom, and I know that a large amount of students in the class are not

reading at a seventh grade level. This could present a challenge for some students

because they may struggle to understand the information the authors are trying to

get across. Second, I think that overall length of the units may cause the students

stress. Although the authors break down the units into chapters and sections, if the

teacher teaches by units, the 75-100 pages per unit may cause the students some

unneeded stress. Finally, I wish that the authors had given some more activities that

forced the students to use technology. The World Wide Web has so many valuable

resources that can allow for deeper learning. Technology is such a big aspect of a lot

of students’ lives, and I think that teaching the students how to use technology

effectively would have be very beneficial.

There are many text evaluation instruments out there, but the one I chose to

use is from the book Reading Nonfiction: Notice & Note Stances, Signposts, and

Strategies by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst. Their analysis is broken down into

four different instruments. Each instrument is then separated into four complexity

levels, from easier evidence to more demanding. The first measure used is the

complexity of the ideas presented. The ideas presented vary from different

perspectives, the complexity of the information, possible bias, and ambiguity. The

second measure is the structure used. The structure deals with things like visuals,

graphics, and overall order. Easier evidence suggests an easily definable text

structure; visuals that help provide meaning, and headings that guide the reading. A

more demanding text has multiple structures and almost no graphics. Third, the

language used is also an important measure to look at when assessing a textbook.

The scale that language is judged on deals with how familiar the language is, the

complexity of the vocab, tier I, II, and III words, sentence structure, and use of

similes and metaphors. Finally, the knowledge required is the last measure. This

deals with the complexity of ideas, prior knowledge, and specialized knowledge.

I chose to use this text evaluation instrument for a couple of different

reasons. First, We have done a lot of work with Kylene Beers this year and I am

familiar with her. I know she is one of the top scholars in the field; therefore this

instrument has to be reliable. In addition to that, this is a very recent publishing

which is only a couple of weeks old, so this evaluation instrument is possibly the

most up to date evaluation instrument out there. This mix between a scholar who is

at the top of her field, and the up to date information made this specific instrument

an easy choice.

Trade Sources

1. (2014). Retrieved November 6, 2015, from http://www.civilwar.org/

This website is great resource for both students and teachers because it is

very interactive to spark student interest and also has many resources for

teachers. First, I will talk about some of the resources this site has for

students and the tools they can use for their learning. This site is very

interactive and it allows students to explore on their own. The first feature

this website has for students is the “Find a Battlefield” page. Here students

can go into the main page and search by state or year, or they can select a

specific battle. If you select a state, it shows all of the battles in that specific

state and if you select a year, it shows all of the battles that took place during

that year. After you select the year or the state, you can click on a specific

battle and it brings you to this really cool page with tons of different

resources. This page has pictures relevant to the battle at the top of the page,

a brief overview of the battle, different relevant articles, videos, and an

animated map of the battle. There is also a section with suggested reading, so

if a student is interested in this specific battle, the site gives suggestions on

books they can read to learn more. This is an awesome feature because as we

have learned, students should be reading things they are interested in. If a

student knows he or she is interested in a specific battle, they can easily find

books related to it. Another cool feature of this website is the section they

have for teachers. In the teacher section, it has the curriculum for the Civil

War at all levels of schooling, Civil War lesson plans for every level, and then

a field trip planner where you can look up places you can visit by state and it

takes you to the certain battlefield, museum, etc. you click on. It also gives

you all the relevant information about that place.

2.Mullenbach, C. (2014). The industrial revolution for kids: The people

and technology that changed the world : With 21 activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Rasmussen, R. (2014). World War I for kids: A history with 21 activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Panchyk, R. (2002). World War II for kids: A history with 21 activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

Herbert, J. (1999). The Civil War for kids a history with 21 activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.

These four books are all very similar and they teach four very important

events and time periods in history. The suggested reading level for these

books are grades four through eight. As we have learned, books that are a

little below reading level can be very beneficial for kids. These kinds of books

get students excited to read and the struggling readers in your classroom

should be able to handle these books. These books use great images and they

teach the story of these different events in a simplified way, which gives the

students the most important information. Not only are these books a great

resource for your students, they are a great resource for the teacher as well.

The teacher could teach from these books and then use some activities that

the books lay out. For example, in the Industrial Revolution book, one of the

suggested activities is to have your students draw a floor plan of a typical

tenement house. These houses were often very small and in rough condition.

By using this higher order of thinking activity, students will apply their

knowledge to fully understand how these houses were a problem and what

kinds of changes came to these houses. These four books all have great

activities like this that the teacher can use in their classroom.

3.How was information shared? (2013, December 19). Retrieved

November 7, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/25332968

This website is full of great propaganda posters from World War I. Posters

are a great example of primary sources. I have learned that primary source

analysis is a great teaching tool and they have many benefits. The students

feel empowered if they have an actual piece of history in their hands and they

feel a connection to the specific primary source. Propaganda was very

important in WWI and the government used it to get people back home in the

United States to do certain things, and to get the citizens to believe in what

they were doing. This site is a great resource because it has propaganda from

all different perspectives and the students will be able to analyze these

posters and figure out what the government was trying to say through them.

4.Boyne, J. (2006). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: A fable. Oxford: David

Fickling Books.

Herman, L., & Boyne, J. (2009). The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Teacher guide. Bulverde, TX: Novel Units.

When teaching World War II, Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust is a unit that you

will spend a lot of time looking at. Also made into a movie, The Boy in the

Striped Pajamas tells the story of a boy whose father receives a new job and

they move to a large house right near one of the Nazi concentration camps.

The young boy, Bruno, is exploring the land near his house one day when he

finds a large fenced in area with people wearing strange outfits. He befriends

a boy on the other side of the fence, which eventually gets him in trouble. The

suggested reading level for this novel is grade seven and above and it has a

lexile score of 1080L. This score suggests an eighth grade reading level. This

is potentially a downside to this source because it would probably be a

stretch for a lot of your seventh grade students, especially students who read

below grade level. This would be a great source though for an eighth grade

class or a gifted seventh grade class. This novel is a great read because it

examines the relationship between outsiders and the people in these

concentration camps. It tells the story through a young boy who is of the

middle school age so the students would be able to relate to what this boy is

going through. I also cited the teacher guide of this book. This book is a great

resource for the teacher because it gives him/her lots of activities they can

incorporate into the classroom. This book enables the teacher to teach

segments of the book if they wanted and then they could use an activity from

the teacher guide that matches with the section of the book they are going to

teach.

5.Bonsper, D. (2015). Vietnam memoirs, Part 1: My experiences as a

Marine Platoon Leader. San Bernardino, California.: AroSage Publishing.

Bonsper, D. (2015). Vietnam memoirs: Part 2: My Experiences as a Marine Advisor. San Bernardino, California.: AroSage Publishing.

This set of two memoirs tells the story of Don Bonsper, who served two

primary roles during the Vietnam War. His first memoir talks about his

experiences as a Marine platoon leader and his second memoir talks about

his experiences as a Marine advisor. Both of these books are very well

written and his strong use of imagery keeps the reader on the edge of their

seat. These books are told from his perspective so the teacher could use these

resources to teach about bias and analyzing perspectives. Because he in a

Marine and fighting for the U.S., obviously his perspective is important to

keep in mind when reading these two books. The reading level of these books

is a ninth grade level so like The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, these books

would probably have to be taught in a gifted class. Another possible negative

is the long length of these books, the first being 280 pages, and the second

being 200 pages. This means that the teacher is going to have to pick out

certain excerpts that they want to use. Despite those two negatives, these

books are very beneficial to the student because they give real life examples

of what these soldiers go through on a daily basis. In order to fully

understand history, I think it is important for the students to understand

what actually happens behind the scenes, and these books do a great job

explaining that.

Having an extensive library of trade books and novels is extremely important

for every teacher to have in their classroom. If we want students to read during

their free time, it is necessary to have books that you have read so you can suggest

them to your students. It is also important to make time in the day to allow students

to read. Ivey and Fisher quoted in their book, “When asked what they found special

about time to read, students consistently said that it allowed them to think and to

learn.” (Ivey & Fisher, page 55) The trade books and resources I chose cover most of

the main events taught in the textbook. There are so many resources out there, and I

think it is important for the teacher to use a variety of mediums to teach, which my

sources reflect.

Other Sources Used

Beers, K. (2003). When kids can't read, what teachers can do: A guide for teachers, 6-12. Portsmouth, NH: Kylene Beers.

Ivey, G., & Fisher, D. (2006). Creating literacy-rich schools for adolescents. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Textbook Citation

Deverell, W., & White, D. (2012). United States history: Civil War to the present. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.