Textbooks For Reference

     This week we had a lot of important readings, but one of the most important facts that stood out to me was that textbooks are created to be reference books.  Would we ever have students read the dictionary or an encyclopedia from cover to cover?  (I know teachers that used this as punishment!)  The answer should be "no!", so why do we see teachers repeatedly forcing students to read every chapter in a textbook?  As teachers, it is our responsibility to teach students how to read/use the textbooks. 

    "Textbooks are designed to inventory huge amounts of information that can be looked up when needed"(40)

       Our book explains that there is too much information for students to digest at once.  We need to show our students how to look up the information they need, and when they can simply skim a section or chapter. Not every picture or figure is necessary to every topic, and sometimes students are forced into information overload. Follow this link to see some textbook strategies directed toward college students.  The method of looking at headings, subheadings and pictures before you start reading the chapter is a great way to break information up into sections or topics.  

     "Central topics are not covered in enough depth to give student a chance to truly understand them" (39). 

     In this case, we (the teacher) need to provide additional resources and information about certain topics.  If the textbook grazes over a large topic,event or person we need to open up the topic and provide extra sources.  At the same time, we can use textbooks to provide background information or to show the connections between topics.  The textbooks provide a skeleton or outline of what we can cover as teachers, but we need to "open" certain topics and bring the information to life.

     This chapter helped me to understand that sometimes textbooks are necessary (especially if they are required by law) and we need to make the best use of the mass of information.  Should students read textbooks straight through and constantly answer the end of the section questions? Definitely not!  But they should learn the skills to navigate through reference books and how to use primary sources to fill in the gaps!