The two texts that we reviewed were People and Neighborhoods and My World.  They are both social studies books aimed for the first grade class.  The overall structure was basically the same. They both contained a table of contents and the picture glossary.  Neither of the books contained an appendix but the People and Neighborhoods had an index.  We thought that the picture dictionaries were very helpful and age appropriate for the first grade.  The students would be able to obtain the meanings of the words with the visual aids.  It also gives a page number for reference so the children can find the concept throughout the book.
 The book is presented topically and the topics build on each other.  My World builds from home and family to community to land to country and finally world.  People and Neighborhoods progresses in the same style.  There is not much information on current issues because the issues discussed in 1st grade do not change over time.  They are learning about the same issues such as needs, wants, family, and neighborhoods.
 We also found that our chapters were organized similarly with main ideas presented at the beginning of the unit and broken down into subtopics that appropriately reflected these main ideas.  This grade level did not develop beyond basic sentence structure.  In the 1st grade books the paragraph structure was not highly developed because the students were just beginning to read.  These paragraphs were structured appropriatly for their reading level.  The explicit signals for the illustrations were different.  In People and Neighborhoods they used words to point the children to the pictures while My World did not.
My World used signals for conclusion such words like first and next in the explanation of the making of cheese.  People and Neighborhoods did not use these signal words.
 As the students make their way through the text new lessons were build on previous knowledge gained form earlier lessons.  For Example this was evident on how the topics were laid out in each book.  Our concepts were explained clearly and followed by examples.  Charts, simple time lines, and maps were a few of these example used to help students understand the concepts.
 We did find dramatic differences in the vocabulary of the two texts.  In People and Neighborhoods we only found one word in two thousand that would be difficult for the students.  We felt that the concepts were presented in a straightforward way.  My World resulted in fifteen total inappropriate vocabulary out of two thousand.  In People in Neighborhoods when words were introduces there was a definition that went along to explain the meaning of the word.  We definitions were not give they used content clues.  When My World introduced words not many content clues were included.  They did although use pictures to explain their definitions.
 We felt that both textbooks used a large number of visual aids.  They were appropriate and found on the same page as the written information.  We find that both textbooks used a good variety of race and gender in the pictures.  In People and Neighborhoods the majority of the pictures were photographs while in My World contained cartoon drawing of maps, charts, and illustrations.
 We did not find concluding paragraph in either textbook because of the reading level.  The books did however contain questions at the end of each unit for review.  My World also listed a literature supplement for students to read stories that would back up concepts they had learned through the unit.
 The verbs were in the active voice.  Sentences were short and simple for this reading level.  My World used sequencing words such as first, second, and third, while People and Neighborhoods did not.  Both used words to help students know when a comparison was being made.
 Both books were appropriate for the first grade social studies curriculum.  My World had harder vocabulary but compensated through its literature, charts, and illustrations.  We liked both books and would use them in a first grade class we would teach.