Beverly McBroom
Deanna Callicutt
North Carolina Standard
Course of Study states second graders will study neighborhoods. Work
Together and Meeting Many People are two Social Studies texts used by second
grade found in the Instructional Material Center (IMC) at Appalachian State
University.
The structure of
the two books was alike in that they both contained a table of contents,
glossary, index, but no appendix. As far as overall content, both
books covered the essential concepts of the course, although Meeting Many
People was much more broad, blanketing more cultural aspects such as info
on other countries, and holidays. Work Together concentrated on the
neighborhood and community.
The two texts’
content was presented topically and was consistent throughout. The
books were current and up-to-date. For instance, both books make
sure to mention ways of communication, which are not limited to telephone
and letter-writing. Internet and electronic mail were discussed within
Work Together and Meeting Many People. Each text has chapters that
were organized similarly. Work Together does not have focus questions
at the beginning and end of the chapters, however both books had chapters
with titles that specified the main idea of the chapter. Also, both
had introductory statements and subtopics, which were appropriate for the
area. Work Together had a poem at the beginning of each section.
The very first section had a poem entitled “September” which would fit
well for the beginning of the school year. Literature also held a
place within Meeting Many People. A poem would sometimes be used
for reference to a children’s literature book that coincided with the subject
at hand.
The two texts associated
lessons with previous knowledge and linked that knowledge to new information.
Work Together did not have summaries, nor did it have conclusions, as did
Meeting Many People. Work Together seemed to have reading, which
became more difficult as the book progressed, whereas the other had full
paragraphs at the beginning of the book. Main ideas could be depicted
clearly in both books, but through pictures and small sentences in Work
Together and through more advanced paragraphs in Meeting Many People.
Meeting Many People was more difficult reading, but both books “spoke”
in the active voice, used signals to indicate sequencing of ideas and comparisons,
and used words to indicate important concepts. A good example of
using details to develop main ideas was in Work Together on pages 106-107.
The story was about Rosa Parks, an essential civil rights figure.
There was paragraph form, but easy reading, so the main idea could be easily
detected. This book used more bullets and listing than Meeting Many
People. Work Together used many bold words and Italics to show importance.
Meeting Many People had a higher vocabulary density than Work Together.
Generally, Meeting
Many People is a much more difficult text than Working Together.
Both books are loaded with activities for each section. Meeting Many
People had much more in-depth content such as Unit 5 on government, which
had approximately ten pages. There was a lot of map and graph usage
(pgs. 153, 161, 180, 181).
Work Together stayed
more on the topic of neighborhoods, but Meeting Many People would provide
good background for upper elementary, which deals with state, country,
and eastern hemisphere.