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Introduction

Chapter 25 of McDougal Littell’s World History: Patterns of Interaction covers many

facets of the Industrial Revolution. It includes information about science and technology, global

power shifts, and economic trends related to the time period. The authors utilize many other

texts, in the form of primary sources, to supplement the textbook readings. These include letter

from textile factory workers, quotes from autobiographies, readings from popular books of the

time, and even political cartoons. They are inserted into the text at intervals that make sense to

help continue the flow of the narrative, which is largely chronological. The information is

broken down under many headings and subheadings, making it relatively easy to follow. In my

opinion, the positive aspects of this textbook far outweigh the negatives, and I would use this

book in my own future classroom.

Strengths

This World History textbook has many features that help students with both reading

comprehension and understanding of the material. At the beginning of each chapter, there is a

section for previewing the main ideas, in which the authors introduce key concepts and give

students some questions they can ask themselves while reading to check their how their own

understanding is developing. It is helping to prime students for what they will learn in the

upcoming chapter, as well as giving them tools to succeed. Following this preview section, the

authors utilize a timeline, illustrated and in color, that compares developments in Europe and the

United States with those around the world. What I like most about this feature is that it

continues throughout the chapter, helping students contextualize in real time as they learn new

information. It is helpful to create as many connections as possible for a deeper understanding of

the material. Another helpful item in this textbook is its sections focused on interacting with
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history. Here, the authors ask students to put themselves in the shoes of someone living during

the period being studied. In this chapter, it is a 15 year old child working in the factories. To

make it more real for readers, the authors have decided to use the second person pronouns, which

helps overcome the disconnected feeling of just reading about someone else’s life. They have

made it personal, and that will only help the information stay with students for longer.

Throughout the chapter, there are many graphics about taking notes. The authors have given

students a plethora of different note-taking strategies depending on how the presented

information could best be organized. I believe this is very important because we cannot assume

that students have learned the skill of notetaking. In addition, students are not required to use

these, but they are always there just in case.

Weaknesses

Although this textbook has many strengths, there are still improvements that can be

made. First, the important vocabs words on each page are bolded and underline, which is very

helpful. However, the definitions are not included on the same page. Even though students can

use context clues most of the time, we should not assume that each student will make the proper

connections. As they move further to build on those understandings, we want them to be strong

and correct as they move on. In addition, some pages of the textbook seem very overwhelming.

While they have included bolded and colored headings, subheadings, and key terms, sometimes

this is not enough. There are still pages with no graphics or visuals, and it is likely some

students will just gloss over the page and not absorb as much of the necessary content. Finally,

this textbook sometimes feel like it jumps around a bit and has an interrupted or jumpy narrative,

which is likely because there is so much material to cover. Whatever the reason, this can make it

difficult to read and stay engaged.

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Assumptions

Unfortunately, many of the people portrayed in graphics and visuals throughout the

chapter were men and boys. Female students reading this textbook do not see much

representation of themselves, which can sometimes make it hard to connect with the material.

Although there could be more female representation in the textbook’s visuals, the authors do a

great job of including different perspectives and types of sources. There are primary sources

sprinkled throughout the chapter, and there is even an activity involving comparing perspectives.

These sources include a letter written by a female factory workers, part of Andrew Carnegie’s

autobiography, quotes from Friedrich Engels, and a political cartoon. Just in these four sources

on this one page, we can see female, male, young, old, wealthy, middle class, and worker points

of view. In addition, the different types of sources are important. For example, if students are

more artistic minded, they may make a connection with the cartoon, while others might like to

read text. It is important to involve a variety of viewpoints to appeal to students from all kinds of

backgrounds.

Teaching

While this textbook is inclusive and expansive, it simply is not possible to use just one

source in our teaching. We, as teachers, need to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of the

text and find way to supplement our student’s understanding with other sources. This can

include simply worksheets or activities that help take the book’s material to a new level, or

primary sources that help expand knowledge. On particular aspect of this textbook that I believe

may give students trouble is the lack of definitions to accompany bolded vocabulary words. To

help with this issue, I might try a vocabulary prediction activity as a pre-reading strategy. I

would compile a list of vocab words from the chapter, and have students work together to try to
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define each one, using words or concepts they already know. After this was complete, I would

have students use the index of the book to define each word and compare the textbook definition

to their own. In addition to interacting with the words before getting into the content, students

will also have an easy reference page when the words do come up, instead of having to flip back

and forth or gloss over unknown words.

Conclusion

Unless given the opportunity to complete an activity like this analysis or being asked to

choose their own textbook, most teachers likely do not think about this process. As a student, I

assumed teachers were just arbitrarily assigned a textbook and that was it. However, the process

of choosing a textbook is extremely important, and it is vital to understand its strengths and

weaknesses in order to find supplemental materials and activities to foster a complete

understanding. In addition, it is important for us to look at textbooks in the lens of how they

support students. The textbook is not for us; it is simply a tool that we use to help students learn.

Finally, I truly believe that any textbook, even ones mandated by the school, can be great if

teachers know how to use them. Every textbook will have its pros and cons, but if we know how

to combat those and choose other texts and sources that can fill the gaps, we can help our

students be as successful as possible.

References

Beck, R. B. et al. (2009). World history: Patterns of interaction. McDougal Littell.

file:///C:/Users/Makenzie%20Kaput/Downloads/SOCIAL%20STUDIES%20World%20
History%20TextBook.pdf
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Appendix