Dylan Barton

November 4, 2014
Textbook Analysis
Social Studies: People and Places (Grade 2)
Organization
The textbook is organized by units and lessons. Each unit has five lessons within it and
there are six units. The units go from Where We Live to People and Places in History
starting large, then breaking it down by talking about the planet to our country. Each unit begins
with a song and a vocabulary preview. It also provides a specific skill students should acquire
after reading the chapter, for them to focus on while reading. Throughout each unit, a character
(real life child) provides real-life examples and explanations of the content. The units end with a
folktale or a song again, and an excerpt from the Discovery Channel. There is also a review that
sums up the entire unit.
Connectivity
The lessons flow very well together and are easy to understand and read. The sentences
are short and use language that students can comprehend. The information is in paragraph form,
which are made up of about 2-3 sentences each. Some of the sections dont flow as well due to
large pictures and the information being separated into textboxes. I find it somewhat difficult to
know where to read next, or what parts of the page to focus on first.
Staging
There are bold and colorful titles at the top of each page telling you what the main idea is.
Key terms and vocabulary are bolded or highlighted within the paragraphs. Sections such as,
Try It! Hands-on History, and What Did You Learn? are outlined in a colorful border with
separate sub-headings. Some information that is separated from the paragraphs of the lesson are
bigger and in color to focus students attention.
Explanation of Concepts
There isnt a lot of information on each page because the text is large and there are a lot
of pictures. However, the concepts are explained fairly well for the grade level of the book. I feel
it is easy to understand and provides just enough information for second graders to comprehend
and stay interested in. There are little sections at the end of each lesson that provide examples of
the content in ways that makes it meaningful to the readers, as well as portrays the concepts in a
different light such as stories, maps, projects, and diagrams/outlines.

Apparatus
There is a table of contents, an index, and a short summary of each skill that is presented
in the lessons in the front of the book, before the units begin. Before each unit there is a short
song, a review of up-coming vocabulary, and an introduction to a character who will explain
concepts throughout each lesson. At the end of each unit there is a section for stories, maps,
suggestions for projects, and examples of different people from history that relate to the topics
covered. There is also a song or a folktale at the end of the unit. Theres an index, a picture
glossary, geography terms, and an atlas in the reference guide in the back of the book.
Illustrations
There are pictures on every page of the textbook. A lot of them are very large and
colorful, grabbing the readers attention. The illustrations are very detailed and relevant to the
content. They are mostly photographs of real people (not drawn), which makes the information
seem more realistic and relatable to the reader. If the reader did not read the pages at first, they
could gather enough information from the pictures alone to get a clue of what the lessons are
about. Similarly, once the reader has read the text, they can use the pictures to further understand
what they read and to make connections.
Appearance
The font is very large on each page, grabbing the readers attention, and making it easy to
read and follow. If there is a section on the page that is meant to be read separately, the font is
different and a different color. The titles are large, bold, and colorful, and the key terms are
highlighted and bolded. There isnt much white space on any page because the pictures are so
large and take up most of the page (set behind the text). Each page is very colorful because of all
of the pictures and font color, however, I do not find it distracting, rather enticing.
Relevance
The information in this textbook is very relevant to the SOLs and is presented in a very
interesting and appealing way. As the units flow, the information builds on itself and is presented
in a clear and concise way that makes it easy for students to comprehend and transfer to different
areas of their lives, in and out of school. The textbook does a good job making the content
relatable to second graders lives, as well as helping them relate and empathize with people in
history through examples, pictures, stories, etc. The skills that are outlined throughout each unit
are very attainable for students at this level, and are appropriate as well.
Accuracy and Currency
Because this book is about ten years old, some of the formatting may seem outdated for
an elementary textbook. However, because it is a social studies textbook, the content is still
relevant and important to students lives. The information is accurate and emphasis is placed on

areas that are still important to students today. The pictures are still meaningful, although not up
to date (clothing, scenes, etc.). The hands-on activities and projects are things students would
enjoy doing today, and are feasible for teachers to implement in their classrooms.
Related Articles
It is important to analyze textbooks as a teacher before using them. Most of the time,
teachers tend to think textbooks have all the information students need to know, and dont stray
too far from them. On the other hand, teachers may write off some textbooks as useless without
discovering everything they have to offer. Without digging deeper through the text and truly
analyzing what it is presenting to students, teachers may be doing a huge disservice to their
students. If the teacher understands focus or bias, he/she can make additions or deletions as
needed to keep the presentation balanced (Textbook Analysis). For example, this textbook,
People and Places, has so many additional resources that it encourages teachers to use while
teaching what is in the textbook such as songs, hands-on activities, out-of-school projects, etc.
My teacher does not necessarily use all of these or implement them as she comes across them in
the book. At the same time, she includes other resources she has found on her own in her lessons
to complement the textbook and add to the information it is presenting.
Three researchers from the University of Pittsburgh studied the importance of social
studies textbook analysis and revealed that, [some] textbooks left out or misordered the cause
and consequence of historical events and frequently failed to highlight main ideas. Three
common problems were inadequate explanations, assumed background knowledge that was left
unexplored, and unclear goals (Learning from History and Social Studies Textbooks, 2014).
With this they concluded that breaking down, reviewing, and analyzing your classroom
textbooks before using them in your teaching is important to decide which topics to cover, as
well as which ones will be made more clear to the students with the use of the textbook; what
parts of the textbook are meaningful to students, and how the teacher can introduce those topics
in way that compliments the book; how to assign readings; and what additional materials can be
used to challenge or provide context for the information from the textbook.
Trade Books
Halmoni and the Picnic by Sook Nyul Choi
My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada
Ellis Island by Patricia Ryan Quirl
These books are listed as additional readings for students who are interested in the people
and places that are discussed throughout this textbook. I find these books to be very relevant to
what is taught in the units and lessons. They dig deeper into the lives of people from history, as
well as tell stories about the people and places that students are studying. What I like most about

these books is that they arent as factual as the textbook (more interesting), but are more storylike and relatable for students. If students are interested in a specific topic they have read about
in this textbook, they can read these books to learn more about that content, and to gain a new
perspective on something the textbook might have just skimmed the surface of.

References
Foresman, S. (2003). Social studies: People and places. Glenview, Illinois: Pearson Education.
Learning from history and social studies textbooks. (2014, January 1). Retrieved November 3,
2014, from http://teachinghistory.org/issues-and-research/research-brief/22019
Textbook analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2014, from
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/?q=instruction/strategies_for_accessing_the_social
_studies_curriculum/teacher_tools/textbook_analysis