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How to ~Effectively~ Use a Textbook

When I was in middle school, I despised having to go to any social studies classes I was taking, yet now I want to be a social studies teacher. I have had many people ask why I would want to teach such a boring subject and at first, I didn’t know how to respond. At this point in my life, I don’t find many aspects of social studies boring, but I do think that the way public schools often teach it can make the material seem lackluster and unnecessary, largely because students just don’t like reading textbooks. To this day I find myself not reading my textbook… in my History for History Teachers class. This chapter gave me some helpful ideas on how to combat this issue in a subject that is very heavily based on textbooks, ideas that have the potential to not only get students to absorb the material, but also to get excited about learning it. While many activities suggested were not considered “fun” in a traditional sense, each offered ways to allow for personal expression on both the teacher and the students part, which allows for the students to engage with the material in a more personal way, something that can be very helpful in learning. Also suggested was the use of sources such as current news, outside publications, websites, etc. which influenced me to start thinking of ways to incorporate such things into my future classroom. If instead of only having kids read about the Harlem Renaissance in the textbook, I allowed them to also read period newspaper clippings, poems, novels, and first-hand accounts, as well as allowed them to listen to some of music and look at some of the art maybe they would get excited to learn about this critical moment in history. (Word count: 299)

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  1. Kimberly JohnsonSeptember 18, 2019 at 7:59 AM

    Hey Georganna!

    You bring up some really great and relatable points. I too had some of these same experiences in school. Reading a textbook just isn’t really enjoyable, especially for a middle schooler. I think giving students different mediums of text is a great idea. This may sometimes be a little extra work for us teachers, but if we want our students to really engage with the work, I think we must give them something they are at least semi interested in. Maybe even letting them look up a news source on their technology. I don't know exactly how this would work, but I think we should definitely try and include different forms of texts into our classrooms.

    -Kim

    WC: 112

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  2. Katie GreenwaySeptember 25, 2019 at 3:10 PM

    Hey Georganna!!

    I can completely agree with you on having to teach a subject that is seen to so many as boring. As social studies is my second content area, I can relate to the challenge of making class fun while still sticking to the text. Social studies is such a unique subject because we truly can't change what we teach because it is facts and truth from the past, but the way we go about teaching it is how we can change it from a boring class to a fun class. I think your idea of incorporating newspaper clips or any other primary source allows students to get involved in the text, but also show them that these events truly affected others and affected the world. I think it makes history come to life which isn't always easy. Also, I totally hate reading for our social studies class too haha.

    - Katie
    Word Count: 153

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