Textbook Review

Content Area Text Assessment
By: M. Derek Compton

Name of Text: Our United States
Class: ED 3110-436
Author(s):
1) Juan Garcia
2) Daniel J. Gelo
3) Linda L. Greenow
4) James B. Kracht
5) Deborah Gray White
Copyright: ©1997
Publisher: Silver Burdett Ginn
Grade: 5th

A. Overall Structure of the Book
1. Table of Contents (Yes)
2. Glossary (Yes)
3. Index (Yes)
4. Appendix (Yes)

B. Overall Content
1. Does the overall content of the text reflect what you feel are essential concepts in
your course? (Yes)
2. Examine the scope and sequence of the content, is the content presented topically, chronologically, or are the two methods combined? Based on these considerations, is the scope and sequence appropriate to the material covered in the text? (Yes)
3. Examine (if applicable) sections of your text which focus on more recent issues. Is the content up-to-date? (Sometimes)

C. Organization of Chapters
1. Does the title of the chapter specify the main idea of the selection? (Yes)
2. Is chapter information broken down into sub topics? (Yes)
3. Do titles and sub topics appropriately reflect the main ideas specified in the section? (Yes)
4. Does the chapter contain introductory statements, questions, paragraphs, or sections? (Yes)
5. In the chapter introduction, are there questions or statements which focus the reader’s attention to that they should learn from the chapter? (Yes)
6. Is sufficient background knowledge provided so that students can link new knowledge with information previously learned? (Sometimes)
7. Does the author include statements which remind students about information they already know about the topic? (Yes)
8. Read the material following the introductory paragraphs. Does the author follow through in developing ideas specified in the introduction? (Yes)
9. Examine the summary or conclusion. Does the author summarize the essential concepts in the conclusion? (Yes)
10. Does the summary reflect ideas presented in the introduction? (Yes)
11. Are study questions integrated within sub topics for self-review? (Yes)
a. Do these questions help the students evaluate the information in the text? (Yes)
b. Do the questions ask the students to analyze the information? (Yes)
c. Do the questions guide the students to generate their own ideas? (Yes)

D. Paragraph Development
1. Main Idea Development
- Examine a section of the chapter. Read it through to determine if there is a consistent pattern of main idea development. If the answer is yes, analyze the pattern.
a. Are main ideas explicit? (Yes)
b. If main are explicit, answer the following:
    1) Main ideas are usually specified at the beginning of paragraphs (Yes)
    2) Main ideas are usually specified at the end of paragraphs (No)
    3) There is no specific pattern of main ideas location (No)
2. Details
- Choose four paragraphs where main ideas are explicitly stated. Examine the details used to develop the main ideas.
a. Are details relevant to the development of main idea? (Yes)
b. Are there a sufficient number of details for the development of the main idea? (Yes)

E. Sentence Level
1. Are sentences consistently short or simple? (Yes)
2. Are most verbs in the active voice? (Yes)
3. Does the author use explicit signals to indicate sequencing of ideas? (Sometimes)
4. Does the author use emphasis words to indicate important concepts (Most of all, a key feature, a significant factor)? (Sometimes)
5. Does the author use explicit signals to indicate comparisons (but, however, on the other hand)? (Sometimes)
6. Does the author use explicit signals for illustrations (for example, such as)? (Sometimes)
7. Does the author use explicit signals for conclusions (Therefore, as a result)? (Sometimes)

F. Concept Development
1. Are new concepts linked to a student’s prior knowledge? (Sometimes)
2. Are concepts first defined, then followed by clear examples? (Sometimes)
3. Are concepts explained clearly, with sufficient explanation? (Yes)
4. Are questions provided for students to self-review concepts? (Yes)

G. Vocabulary Density
1. Choose two 100-word samples from your text, and circle all technical and non-technical vocabulary which your students might not know.
2. Count the number of circled words and record below:
Selection #1: 5 words
Selection #2: 3 words

H. Contextual Clues
Total number of unfamiliar words in selection: (0)
Number of words developed through context: (4)
Number of direct definitions: (2)
Number of restatements: (1)
Number of contrasts: (1)
Number of inferences: (1)
Number of examples: (2)
Number of other: (0)

I. Visual Aids
- Choose one chapter in your text, and examine the pictures, graphs, maps, charts and other visual aids.
1. Do you think the author has used a sufficient number of visual aids? (Yes)
2. How appropriately are visual aids placed in the text? Are the visual aids located on the same page as the written information describing the aids? (Yes)
3. Does the author explicitly direct the reader to refer to a particular visual aid? (Yes)
4. Are visual aids appropriately labeled? (Yes)
5. Are pictures representative of race and gender? (Yes)

· See Appendix A for Raygor Readability Estimate

Content Area Text Assessment
By: M. Derek Compton

Name of Text: America’s Story: United States, Canada, Latin America
Class: ED 3110-436
Author(s):
1) Dr. Richard G. Boehm
2) Claudia Hoone
3) Dr. Thomas M. McGowan
4) Dr. Mabel C. Mckinney-Browning
5) Dr. Ofelia B. Miramontes
Copyright: ©1997
Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company
Grade: 5th

A. Overall Structure of the Book
1. Table of Contents (Yes)
2. Glossary (Yes)
3. Index (Yes)
4. Appendix (Yes)

C. Organization of Chapters
1. Does the title of the chapter specify the main idea of the selection? (Yes)
2. Is chapter information broken down into sub topics? (Yes)
3. Do titles and subtropics appropriately reflect the main ideas specified in the section? (Yes)
4. Does the chapter contain introductory statements, questions, paragraphs, or sections? (Yes)
5. In the chapter introduction, are there questions or statements which focus the reader’s attention to that they should learn from the chapter? (Yes)
6. Is sufficient background knowledge provided so that students can link new knowledge with information previously learned? (Sometimes)
7. Does the author include statements which remind students about information they already know about the topic? (Yes)
8. Read the material following the introductory paragraphs. Does the author follow through in developing ideas specified in the introduction? (Yes)
9. Examine the summary or conclusion. Does the author summarize the essential concepts in the conclusion? (Yes)
10. Does the summary reflect ideas presented in the introduction? (Yes)
11. Are study questions integrated within subtropics for self-review? (Yes)
a. Do these questions help the students evaluate the information in the text? (Yes)
b. Do the questions ask the students to analyze the information? (Yes)
c. Do the questions guide the students to generate their own ideas? (Yes)

D. Paragraph Development
1. Main Idea Development
- Examine a section of the chapter. Read it through to determine if there is a consistent pattern of main idea development. If the answer is yes, analyze the pattern.
a. Are main ideas explicit? (Yes)
b. If main are explicit, answer the following:
    1) Main ideas are usually specified at the beginning of paragraphs (Sometimes)
    2) Main ideas are usually specified at the end of paragraphs (Sometimes)
    3) There is no specific pattern of main ideas location (Yes)
2. Details
- Choose four paragraphs where main ideas are explicitly stated. Examine the details used to develop the main ideas.
a. Are details relevant to the development of main idea? (Yes)
b. Are there a sufficient number of details for the development of the main idea? (Yes)

E. Sentence Level
1. Are sentences consistently short or simple? (Yes)
2. Are most verbs in the active voice? (Yes)
3. Does the author use explicit signals to indicate sequencing of ideas? (Sometimes)
4. Does the author use emphasis words to indicate important concepts (Most of all, a key feature, a significant factor)? (Sometimes)
5. Does the author use explicit signals to indicate comparisons (but, however, on the other hand)? (Sometimes)
6. Does the author use explicit signals for illustrations (for example, such as)? (Yes)
7. Does the author use explicit signals for conclusions (Therefore, as a result)? (Yes)

F. Concept Development
1. Are new concepts linked to a student’s prior knowledge? (Yes)
2. Are concepts first defined, then followed by clear examples? (Yes)
3. Are concepts explained clearly, with sufficient explanation? (Yes)
4. Are questions provided for students to self-review concepts? (Yes)

H. Contextual Clues
Total number of unfamiliar words in selection: (0)
Number of words developed through context: (5)
Number of direct definitions: (3)
Number of restatements: (2)
Number of contrasts: (2)
Number of inferences: (3)
Number of examples: (2)
Number of other: (1)

· See Appendix A for Raygor Readability Estimate

Textbook Comparison
By: M. Derek Compton

Textbooks:
(1) Our United States
(2) America’s Story: United States, Canada, & Latin America

Grade: 5th Grade

Introduction:
These two books are currently adopted by North Carolina. They were both very well done with a few but distinct differences between them. It was very hard to choose one textbook over the other. They each had their strong points and had a few weaknesses between them. What I tried to look for was consistency and thoroughness of the textbook as a whole.

Content Weaknesses:
1. America’s Story: This textbook was a very good read but it has some minor drawbacks:
Overall Content
- The content was not up-to-date (Only went to the Gulf War)

Organization of Chapters
- The textbook did not always provide sufficient background knowledge so that the students can link new knowledge with information with information previously learned

Main Idea Development
- The author(s) jumped around with the main idea in the different areas of the paragraph

Sentence Level
- The author(s) did not consistently use explicit signals in sequencing of ideas
- The author(s) did not consistently use emphasis words to indicate concepts
- The author(s) did not consistently use explicit signals to indicate comparisons

Vocabulary Density
- The technical words were a little high for my taste: An average of 6.5 technical words per 100 words
Contextual Clues
- No unfamiliar words in selection

2. Our United States: This textbook was a little better in the overall with fewer weakness than the previous textbook:
Overall Content
- This textbook was not up-to-date either as it went up the Presidency of Bill Clinton, although it was more up-to-date than the previous textbook

Sentence Level
- The author(s) did not use explicit signals consistently enough to indicate sequencing of ideas
- The author(s) did not use emphasis words to indicate important concepts consistently
- The author(s) did not use explicit signals to indicate comparisons consistently
- The author(s) did not use explicit signals enough for conclusions

Concept Development
- The new concepts were not always linked to a student’s prior knowledge
- The concepts were not consistently followed by clear examples

Vocabulary Density
- The technical words were a lot better than the previous text: An average of 4 technical words per 100 words

Contextual Clues
- There were no unfamiliar words in the selection
- There were less direct definitions, inferences, contrasts, etc., than the previous text

Readability (Raygor Readability Estimate):
1) Our United States: (Point A on the graph) was a little out the validation area and a little on the low end of the 5th grade reading ability.
2) America’s Story: (Point B on the graph) was right on the 5th grade medium reading ability and was within the variance of the validation area.

Comparison & Contrast:
Overall Structure of the Book
> winner: None (equal)

Overall Content
> winner: None (equal)

Organization of Chapters
> winner: None (equal)

Paragraph Development
> winner: “Our United States” (because the consistency of the placement of main
ideas at the beginning of paragraphs)

Sentence Level
> winner: “America’s Story” (because the text had more explicit signals for
illustrations and conclusions)

Concept Development
> winner: “America’s Story” (because it had consistent links to prior knowledge and
concepts were defined by more clear examples)

Vocabulary Density
> winner: “Our United States” (because its average of 4 technical words was about
right)

Contextual Clues
> winner: “America’s Story” (because it had a much greater density and number of
contextual clues present throughout the book)

Visual Aids
> winner: None (equal)

Readability
> winner: “Our United States” (because it well in the more appropriate range of
reading even though it was very close)

Conclusion:
The choice was very difficult because they were almost evenly matched. But I have to the give the edge to the America’s Story because it was more consistent throughout and had better illustrations to connect the passages with.

Grade (1 “poor” - 10 “excellent”):
1) Our United States: (7.6)
A. Overall Structure of the Book (10)
B. Overall Content (8)
C. Organization of Chapters (9)
D. Paragraph Development (5)
E. Sentence Level (4)
F. Concept Development (5)
G. Vocabulary Density (6)
H. Contextual Clues (10)
I. Visual Aids (10)
J. Readability (9)

2) America’s Story: (8.8)
A. Overall Structure of the Book (10)
B. Overall Content (8)
C. Organization of Chapters (9)
D. Paragraph Development (10)
E. Sentence Level (7)
F. Concept Development (10)
G. Vocabulary Density (9)
H. Contextual Clues (8)
I. Visual Aids (10)
J. Readability (7)

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