Last year our building purchased new social studies texts.  Each teacher examined the different models and then we voted as a grade level to determine which text we would use.  Our initial judgements were based on how the text was set up, photos used, content, level of difficulty.  Some texts were very "busy" with many captions and photos per page making it difficult to read fluently.  At the time I remember thinking that the layout of one text was much better than the others.  It seemed to flow easily between paragraphs compared to the others.  I hadn't consciously considered the concept of "reading to learn" but had the common sense to know that students would have a difficult time comprehending the main ideas and concentrating on the content from some of the layouts in the texts.  All of the fourth grade teachers agreed on one text which coincidently, or perhaps not, was ultimately chosen for all grades to use.

Earlier this year our principal copied and passed out an article titled, "Reading in the Content Areas: Is There a Relationship to Test Scores?", from PrincipalCEO.  This article suggests that teaching students to ask questions and search for answers are key ingredients for comprehension of expository material.  "Questions can be an effective means to help elementary school students comprehend nonfiction material, specifically textbook passages, and to retain information from the material."   Cynthia Jenkins concluded after a study she did in 1990 that teachers need to teach students to generate their own questions when reading text from a textbook.  They should pause frequently to reflect on what they've just read, ask themselves "what did I just read about", and identify important points.  This is similar to a practice I use in my room.  We stop, think and write.  I ask students reading in pairs to stop after each section of text, discuss what they just read, and then write a "memory sentence" they've composed about the important parts of the material.

The article goes on to say that exposure to expository text in the earlier grades will make it easier for students who at the fourth grade level are beginning "reading to learn" strategies. They cite a study from 1987 by Armbruster, Anderson, and Osterag states, "Expository texts lack an important structural ingredient that makes a narrative text easier.....there is no framework that a reader can use to organize and relate information."  Brenda Moustafa conducted a  study in 1999 called, "Content Area Reading:Summary of Reference Papers."  She says, "Expository text does not have predictable structure, thus students find it difficult to see patterns and organize content into comprehensible bits."

After reading through this article, I've composed a short list of what we should look for when purchasing social studies texts in the future.

1)  Does the text include questions during or after a section and not just at the end of the chapter?
2)  Does it include graphic organizers to help students relate background information to text information?
3)  Does it have appropriate headings and subheadings in bold print?
4)  Does it include an outline of the information at the beginning or end of the lesson?
5)  Is the text easily read?
6)  Are the vocabulary words easy to find and defined adequately?
7)  Are there essay questions about the information?
8)  Does the text include short sections that accommodate stopping between information?
9)  Do the questions throughout the text have high order thinking questions as well as textually explicit questions?
10) Does the text include the desired content?
 

References:

Personal Experiences at Auburn Elementary

Principal CEO, "Reading in the Content Areas: Is There a Relationship to Test Scores?"