¶ … Trade Books in a Specific Curriculum In the book give title, author's name discusses the potential advantages and difficulties of using textbooks and trade books in a specific curriculum. Though the use of such books can cause problems in terms of student learning, there are also many ways to integrate the use of text and trade books into specific curriculums. The key lies in the way the teacher integrates the material into their thematic study curriculums.

This paper looks at two examples of the use of textbooks in specific curriculums.

In the first article, Jean Ciborowski argues that too many students have difficulty comprehending information that is in their textbooks. Among the reasons Ciborowski cites are unduly difficult textbooks and uninspired teacher's editions.

Meanwhile, in the second article, Peter Afflerbach and Bruce VanSledright examine a case where an innovative history text enhances the learning of history in middle school classrooms.

This paper thus argues that when integrated with care, textbooks have much to offer the learning process in children. However, this task also depends largely on the teacher, who will need to use their skills and knowledge to fully utilize what these books have to offer.

Ciborowski: Using textbooks with children who cannot read

Ciborowski believes that many textbooks cause problems for students at very early grades. In first grade, some children remain stuck in the early stages of reading, struggling...

The result is children who have great difficulty reading.
This difficulty, Ciborowski believes, soon snowballs. Their lack of reading skills hinders other the development of other skills as well, such as vocabulary, spelling and even writing. By the time they are old enough for textbooks, many do not have the skills necessary to truly benefit from the textbook material and exercises.

Ciborowski cites two reasons for the failure of students. First, while textbooks have remained "relatively unchallenged in their role as a primary instructional tool" (Ciborowski 1995), these materials have actually been criticized by several educators. Some critics charge that these books cover too much information, are poorly written and poorly designed for instruction.

Furthermore, Ciborowski points out that these textbooks do not take into account the needs of students who have poor reading skills. As a result, many children who cannot answer the textbook exercises simply get labeled "slow" or get sent to "watered down" classes.

Afflerbach and Van Sledright: Hath! Doth! What? Middle graders reading innovative history text.

In this study, Afflerbach and Van Sledright look at a case where the use of textbooks has resulted in a positive learning experience for middle school history students. The authors examined how innovative history textbooks with "embedded" texts such as news stories, poems and diary entries affected…