A+

The activities in this book are appropriate and student- centred. There are many “skill smart” boxes throughout the book that encourage the development of skills from the program of studies. The skills that are encouraged often include examining maps, making charts, etc. There are also “thinking it through” boxes throughout the book which ask students relevant questions to the text and topic. The “partners in inquiry” also are found on many pages of the book and often ask questions or make statements making students think about what they are trying to present in the text. The “partners in inquiry” also add learning supports, as they sometimes suggest  ways that students can enhance their learning. For example Sabira offers a way of finding more information on the topic in the text by checking the Internet (Cox, 2006, p.49).

Other learning supports include “skill power and set your skills in motion” pages. These pages emphasize how to make concept maps, how to analyze advertisements, and how to put students’ knowledge to work. This is very helpful to both the student and teacher, because this part can be used as extra resources if students are struggling and need to look something up while the teacher is busy.

I would use this resource specifically to include the viewpoints of others in this topic, especially the viewpoints of children, as my students can learn a lot from this and be able to relate to their viewpoints sometimes better than my viewpoint.  Using the textbook is a good starting point for information but I wouldn’t use it solely in my class because it is important that students use a variety of resources to keep them engaged see things from other perspectives. Using resources beyond the textbook also teaches many of the skills they need to learn such as how to do research,etc. I would modify the book by adding suggested resources for the students to use such as websites etc.  

 

Cox, S. (2006). Voices of Alberta: People, places, and possibilities. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada.