Text Information When a student enters Sixth grade in Texas, it marks a shift in the way new information is taught to them; in science, the information becomes more interdisciplinary and information starts to build on top of previously learned concepts. While Sixth and Seventh grade focus on physical science, organisms, and the environment; Eighth grade focuses on earth and space science. Over the years, many textbooks have been written to specifically comply with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, or TEKS, to ensure that students are learning the correct information to pass state-mandated tests. This essay is meant to review the textbook Texas Science Grade 8 in its credibility, effectiveness, and usefulness for both teaching students
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Though the Average Readability for this book is only one grade level higher than its intended target range, which isn’t abnormal for most textbooks, some of the individual passages scored much higher; with that in mind, the readability range this book has can pose as a problem to a student who has any kind of reading or learning disability and some sections may even pose a difficulty to students who excel at reading. The Fry method is a reliable source of determining readability because it depends on vocabulary and sentence structure, not the content of the text. It is commonly used to evaluate healthcare and other governmental publications to ensure that the average American adult will be able to understand it (The Committee on Undergraduate Science Education, Board on Science Education, National Research Council, & Davis, 1997, p. 50). Overall, the average American adult can read at a sixth grade level; therefore, the average American adult could have some difficulties reading this textbook. For students, this means that if the student is having problems reading the book, their parents may not be able to help them. Overall, his could be seen as a time consumer to teachers because they will have to slow down their lessons and/or provide extra supplemental materials to aid students in understanding a section over basic information because it …show more content…
In the Student edition, at the end of each chapter, there is a chapter study guide and chapter assessment that review basic and important concepts and test the students understanding of the material. In this Teacher edition, at the beginning of each chapter there is a chapter organizer and resource manager (see description in Figure 4), and an introduction to the chapter; at the end of each chapter, the answers to the assessments are provided. The layout and text are easy to read with headings and subheadings indicating what the student will be going over. There is an English and separate Spanish Glossary at the end of the book that defines the main vocab and an Index to locate major topics with corresponding page numbers for easy
Though the Average Readability for this book is only one grade level higher than its intended target range, which isn’t abnormal for most textbooks, some of the individual passages scored much higher; with that in mind, the readability range this book has can pose as a problem to a student who has any kind of reading or learning disability and some sections may even pose a difficulty to students who excel at reading. The Fry method is a reliable source of determining readability because it depends on vocabulary and sentence structure, not the content of the text. It is commonly used to evaluate healthcare and other governmental publications to ensure that the average American adult will be able to understand it (The Committee on Undergraduate Science Education, Board on Science Education, National Research Council, & Davis, 1997, p. 50). Overall, the average American adult can read at a sixth grade level; therefore, the average American adult could have some difficulties reading this textbook. For students, this means that if the student is having problems reading the book, their parents may not be able to help them. Overall, his could be seen as a time consumer to teachers because they will have to slow down their lessons and/or provide extra supplemental materials to aid students in understanding a section over basic information because it …show more content…
In the Student edition, at the end of each chapter, there is a chapter study guide and chapter assessment that review basic and important concepts and test the students understanding of the material. In this Teacher edition, at the beginning of each chapter there is a chapter organizer and resource manager (see description in Figure 4), and an introduction to the chapter; at the end of each chapter, the answers to the assessments are provided. The layout and text are easy to read with headings and subheadings indicating what the student will be going over. There is an English and separate Spanish Glossary at the end of the book that defines the main vocab and an Index to locate major topics with corresponding page numbers for easy