Textbook Characteristics That Support or Thwart Comprehension: The Current State of Social Studies Texts

Berkeley, Sheri; King‐Sears, Margaret E.; Vilbas, Jessica A.; Conklin, Sarah

doi:10.1080/10573569.2014.970721

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(68 reference statements)

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“…The language of historical reasoning, however, is challenging. The text structure, such as the use of nominalization, and archaic vocabulary in historical writing makes reading challenging (Martin 1991;Wineburg & Martin, 2009;Berkeley et al 2016), while source-based writing can be difficult because of the demands when citing (Shi 2012) and integrating multiple sources (Cumming, Lai, and Cho 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical reasoning in an undergraduate CLIL course: students’ progression and the role of language proficiency

Sendur

Drie

Boxtel

et al. 2020

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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In a study of undergraduate L2 students participating in a Content and Language Integrated Learning historical reasoning course, we examined students' changing performance on historical reasoning and how this was affected by their English reading and writing proficiency. Students engaged in written historical reasoning when answering a historical question by using sources and heuristics such as historical contextualization and corroboration. The course was designed based on principles likely to enhance historical reasoning and second language acquisition, and included an overt focus on language form. We found that students were able to reason historically at an emerging level of proficiency. The markers of historical reasoning present in their writing were neither significantly flawed nor highly proficient. A latent growth curve analysis was used to investigate the effect of students' English language proficiency on their source-based writing and the changes in their reasoning over the duration of the course. We found that students' English proficiency level did not predict either their reasoning or changes in their performance during the course. Students at differing levels of English proficiency improved similarly.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical reasoning in an undergraduate CLIL course: students’ progression and the role of language proficiency

Sendur

Drie

Boxtel

et al. 2020

International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

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“…The term trade book refers to publications available for purchase in retail establishments or to borrow in libraries, including novels, biographies, informational texts, picture books, and graphic novels (McGowan & Guzzetti, 1991). Trade books are easier to read, provide more depth to specific topics, and are more engaging, than a traditional textbook (Berkeley et al, 2016; Bickford & Schuette, 2016; Palmer & Stewart, 1997; Richgels et al, 1993; Tracy, 2003). The diversity of available trade books, in content, format, and readability, enables teachers to select texts that they deem to best match their students’ learning needs (Liang, 2002; Saul & Dieckman, 2005).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Portraits of Change: Using Picture Books to Engage Students in Thematic Civic Education

Whitford,

Lintner,

Clabough

et al. 2024

The Journal of Social Studies Research

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This semester-long research project examined the use of social studies trade books to thematically teach about six individuals who served as change agents in the United States during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Three of the individuals were African American men, Robert Smalls, Frederick Douglass, and John Roy Lynch, who took civic action to address racial discrimination faced by the Black community in the half century following the U.S. Civil War. The other three indivduals were women women, Ida B. Wells, Clara Lemlich, and Jane Addams, who challenged social inequities and injustices within their communities. Over the course of the semester-long research project, sixth-grade U.S. history students read selected trade books, examined primary sources, completed graphic organizers, and crafted writing assessments about each of the six individuals. Students demonstrated complex historical thinking, integrated economic and civic thinking, and communicated thematic ideas of systemic oppression of minorities, women, and the poor. They struggled to make connections between examples of historic oppression and contemporary examples of societal oppression.

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“…Texts that are "considerate" are designed to help the reader gain information and establish relationships among concepts (Anderson & Armbruster, 1984). Despite the push for texts to be more considerate, Berkeley, King-Sears, Hott, and Bradley-Black (2014) and Berkeley, King-Sears, Vilbas, and Conklin (2016) found that secondary social studies texts showed only mixed improvement in readability. Although students are more likely to recall material when they read texts that are considerate (Beck, McKeown, Sinatra, & Losterman, 1991;Loxterman, Beck, & McKeown, 1994), and students with learning disabilities demonstrated improved comprehension when textbooks were rewritten to be more considerate (Espin, Cevasco, van den Broek, Baker, & Gersten, 2007;Harniss et al, 2007), few studies address the differences between how teachers use considerate and inconsiderate text in social studies.…”

Section: Challenges and Strategies For Students Who Strugglementioning

confidence: 99%

“They are So Much More Capable than What We Really Allow”: Inclusive Beliefs, Practices, and Textbook Use

Hintz

2017

The Journal of Social Studies Research

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In this qualitative study I researched how five fifth-grade teachers’ beliefs in student capabilities influenced their curricular decision-making in daily activities with the History Alive! textbook. Students in the classrooms had reading levels 4–5 grades above and below grade level and included students with mild high-incidence disabilities. For four teachers, their strong beliefs determined what they did on a daily basis and matched the stated goals of the History Alive! textbook. For one teacher, the relationship was less clear. Three areas of beliefs emerged from observations and interviews, including: 1) beliefs about students’ capabilities in reading, 2) beliefs about students’ individual differences in learning, and 3) beliefs about students’ responsibility. Findings include when teachers believed and could articulate strong beliefs about the capability of students to read, write, and participate in collaborative activities, they designed classroom activities and assessments so that all students could learn from and participate in social studies activities. When teachers’ beliefs about student capabilities aligned with Teachers’ Curriculum Institute's principles for inclusive classrooms, classroom practices reflected those beliefs and textbooks supported their practices.

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Textbook Characteristics That Support or Thwart Comprehension: The Current State of Social Studies Texts

Cited by 10 publications

References 60 publications

Historical reasoning in an undergraduate CLIL course: students’ progression and the role of language proficiency

Historical reasoning in an undergraduate CLIL course: students’ progression and the role of language proficiency

Portraits of Change: Using Picture Books to Engage Students in Thematic Civic Education

“They are So Much More Capable than What We Really Allow”: Inclusive Beliefs, Practices, and Textbook Use

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