Should Social Studies Textbooks Become History? A Look at Alternative Methods to Activate Schema in the Intermediate Classroom

Abstract

When the author discovered that the majority of fifth‐grade students in her classroom were comprehending very little in their social studies textbooks, she decided to revamp the methods and materials in order to help all students acquire the content. The textbook not only held new and abstract content, but also contained transition words, vocabulary, and sentence structure with which most of the students were unfamiliar. Therefore, the teacher began to integrate other genres of social science text with her classroom instruction, specifically children's books and poetry that helped students gain background knowledge. Students benefited from the familiar format of read‐alouds and choral reading and soon began using the illustrations and content of the textbook to help them recall literal facts and make inferences about the information presented. This article presents the teacher's accomplishments and frustrations in using nonfiction and historical fiction read‐alouds and poetry to activate schemata and promote comprehension of social studies topics taught in the intermediate classroom.

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