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Text Analysis & Critique Social Studies Grade 4 EDDN 637

Mary Stieveling

Touro College

EDDN 637

Professor Jasmin Cowin

February 21

This paper will analyze a Social Studies textbook, unit 4. Unit four discusses The American Revolution. Since the writer is currently not working inside a classroom, the professor provided the text. The author will use data from the local school district’s report card to compose this paper. According to the nysed.gov report card (2020-2021), the school district has four hundred thirteen students. There are two hundred seven Female students, two hundred Male students, three hundred fifty-six General Education Students, Fifty-seven students are labeled as Students with Disabilities, fifteen students are Asian or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, seventy-eight students are Black or African American, Ninety-four is White, fifteen students who are Multiracial, two hundred fifty-four Economically Disadvantaged students, sixty-five English Language Learner students, one student in Foster Care, six students are homeless, and one student who has a parent in the Armed Forces. The average class size is 26 students in Gardner Manor’s school, according to their website (https://www.bayshore.k12.ny.us/GardinerManor.cfm?subpage=78739), and the average class size is twenty-five according to South Country’s website, (https://www.bayshore.k12.ny.us/SouthCountry.cfm?subpage=78740). According to the New York State K-8 Social Studies Framework (2017), five key points are to be addressed for the unit, and each key point is broken down into one key point a week. The social studies reading is ninety-eight pages long.

            The text has challenging vocabulary words that may be challenging for ESL students. Words like “freedom, important, colonists, willing, suffer, terrible, hardships, disagreements, impacted, revolution, events, and affect” (Social Studies Textbook, nd) are examples of complex vocabulary words that are on the first page of this text. The text was scanned through the Word text inspector website textinpector.com to determine the lexical level of the reading. The Lexis website scored the text as C1. This uses the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) to determine the ability of the language skills of the reader. C1 is considered proficient in the language and able to comprehend complex text. The average syllables for the sentence and average words for the sentence are level D1. This means this is the highest reading level a learner can reach. This text would be challenging for ESL students.

There are six states of second-language acquisition: pre-production, early production, speech emergent, beginning fluency, intermediate fluency, and advanced fluency. TESOL’s English Language Proficiency Standards framework (2006) states that fourth-grade ESL students would be at standard three for their language proficiency. ELLs are learning to speak academically to help them better understand mathematical and nonfictional reading concepts. Their language proficiency skills would be considered developing, meaning they are learning to understand more complex speech and reading skills; students learn through repetition. Suzanne Irujo (2006) states that before students can learn to read complex texts, they need to speak with greater fluency. At level three, students are just developing to comprehend more complicated vocabulary words. Still, they have difficulty expressing their views because they have not developed the language acquisition skills needed to accomplish this task. This information is based upon the framework; some ESL students may have had formal education in their native country, been taught English in school, and learned reading and writing skills in their primary languages. Other factors that may determine the ESL’s ability to transfer language acquisition skills from their primary language to English are what acquisition stage the students are at, the additive or the synergic (Salameh-Matar, Basal, & Weintraub, 2018; Keckes, 2008). During the first period, the ESL student transforms information from their primary language to English. During the second period, transfer of information, the student can transfer language back and forth between their primary language and English (Salameh-Matar et al., 2018). The educator needs to determine the level of language acquisition skills for one’s students to differentiate the lessons to accommodate the multiple levels of language acquisition skills inside the classroom.

The textbook does not depict it from the lens of other people living in America then. Thayendangea was the leader of the Mohawk tribe and helped the British during the war. The textbook does not examine his lens and discuss why he chose to help the British. The text states that Spain, France, and Britain were fighting for control of North America, but it does not state that there were people already living there, such as the Native American tribes. In 1763, King George III created a law that all of the land west of the Appalachian Mountains was the property of the Native Americans, and the settlers needed to leave their homes. The text discusses how the settlers may have felt but does not discuss how the Native Americans who were residing there and the people that the land was promised to felt (Social Studies textbook, nd).  When texts are not socially relevant to the readers, it makes it more challenging for the students to relate to the text (Gibson, 1996).

The text is challenging for ESL students to gather information from the context due to the challenging vocabulary. The cause-and-effect boxes are very small, which makes it challenging for students with emerging writing skills. The layout of the text has multiple images and text, which may be overwhelming for ESL students who are just learning to comprehend English.

In conclusion, this textbook is not developmentally appropriate for ESL students. The vocabulary is challenging for students to comprehend, and the text does not present a cultural perspective on how other people and cultures were affected by the American Revolution. The educator would scaffold the text and differentiate the lessons to accommodate the ESL students inside the classroom.

 References:

Bay Shore UFSD Report Card. (2020-21). Bay Shore UFSD Grades 3-8 ELA Assessment Data. Third grade. https://data.nysed.gov/assessment38.php?subject=ELA&year=2021&instid=800000037240

Gardner Manor Elementary School (2021-2022). Bay Shore UFSD Grade levels 3-5. https://www.bayshore.k12.ny.us/SouthCountry.cfm?subpage=78740

 Gibson, S. (1999). Using Culturally Relevant Approaches To Teaching Social Studies. Canadian Social Studies, 30, 183-185. https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=2a64ee1f-448a-4b6b-8000-e6a2c5f9c8f1%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWlwLHNzbyZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d#AN=EJ533357&db=eric

Irujo, S. (2006). What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners? The ELL Outlook, a publication of Course Crafters, Inc. www.coursecrafters.com. https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/what-does-research-tell-us-about-teaching-reading-english-language-learners

New York State K-8 Social Studies Framework. (2017). Grade 4: New York State and Local History and Government. Nysed.gov, 52-57. http://www.nysed.gov/common/nysed/files/programs/curriculum-instruction/ss-framework-k-8a2.pdf

Salameh-Matar, A., Basal, N. & Weintraub, N. (2019). Cross-linguistic transfer of handwriting performance: a comparison of Arabic bilingual and monolingual elementary school students. Reading and Writing, 30(5), 1257-1274. https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=f542de7c-2cb9-4f14-8679-419abe67dbac%40redis.

Social Studies textbook (nd.) Unit 4 fourth grade. Social Studies textbook Unit 4 637.pdf

South Country Elementary School (2021-2022). Bay Shore UFSD Grade levels 3-5. https://www.bayshore.k12.ny.us/SouthCountry.cfm?subpage=78740

TESOL (2006).  Pre-K-12 English Language Proficiency Standards Framework.