Essay on Textbook Analysis: the American Journey

Section Two: History: Since public schools across the country have faced budget cuts in the past decade and a half, a common cost-cutting measure is to lessen the funding for arts education, prioritizing what are deemed more essential subjects such as math, reading, and science. Yet in fact, the current iteration of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, also known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, lists that the arts are among the core academic subjects, requiring all schools to enable all students to achieve in the arts and reap all the benefits of a comprehensive arts education. Yet the economically prioritized curriculum is still draining the sources from these imperative programs leaving instruments, paintbrushes, and other artistic pieces in closets to collect dust, because no one will be there to teach or use them. Most impacting in the history of

The changes are meant to help the student to have a better understanding of the social studies in preparation for middle school. For instance, every grade in elementary level has the Map and Globe skill as the next to the last topic to help the student learn how to use maps to retrieve social studies information. Additionally, the syllabus gives a more detailed approach, which the teacher must address fully. The information processing skills as mentioned earlier is also one of the vital changes (GADOE, 2016).

Teaching ELL's can be a very challenging aspect of a teaching job. Not only are teachers working with children who are scared, nervous and perhaps confused, but educators are working with students who may be encountering a great deal of culture shock. I believe that for me, this would be difficult. Honestly, I grew up a typical "white American girl" living the typical "white American life." I have not been exposed to many people who were not like me. Nevertheless, I am genuinely, looking forward to expanding my horizons and challenging myself to learn about other cultures and ways of life. Through the reading of chapter one, in Not for ESOL Teachers: What Every Classroom Teacher Needs to Know About the Linguistically, Culturally, and Ethnically

Bell Hooks was born Gloria Watkins on September 25, 1952. She grew up in a small Southern community that gave her a sense of belonging as well as a sense of racial separation. She has degrees from Stanford University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. She has served as a noted activist and social critic and has taught at numerous colleges. Hooks uses her great-grandmother's name to write under as a tribute to her ancestors.

There are a great number of things that can create problems for students in regards to their academics. One such issue is misunderstandings. There are some that are more common than others and will be identified in order to recognize potential problem areas and solutions. In addition, there are some misconceptions that are associated with particular content areas. One content area that will be under scrutiny will be the Social Studies classroom. These potentially problematic instances will be identified and methods will be devised using the “Backward Design” (Wiggins, & McTighe, 2005) approach in an attempt to reduce issues the teacher may face.

Harm de Blij’s book, Why Geography Matters poses a central theme, which I have heard discussed multiple times. Blij argues that the American public is the most geographically illiterate society in the world. Blij blames this decline with the poorly formulated curricula in the American school systems, which ultimately originates from Washington D.C. and the people that run this country. If I had never seen this central theme in action in a classroom I would have been dumbfounded.

Social Studies is a very complex subject for educators to teach and for the students to be interested in learning, this is because it includes so many different disciplines. Not to mention, society is rapidly changing socially and technologically which affects what social studies content is being taught to our students( Passe,J 2002). In past years students were forced to learn at a relatively low cognitive levels, it lack the full meaning social studies that could be transferred into real life situations. It is because of this

As a unit in social studies I would investigate the culture of the Native Americans. Native Americans have a wide range of art because of the many tribes that make up the Native American culture. Their art ranges from paintings, jewelry making, sculptures, pottery, masks, drums, totem poles, beadwork etc. I find Native American culture interesting. I am Native American myself and I enjoy learning and finding new things about my culture. The history of the Native Americans is expressed most times through their art. Their culture is tied with nature and spirits. They believed in respecting the land and the abundance of gifts it offered (Native American

One Foot in Eden by award winning New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash is a story surrounding the lives of the people in the small town of Jocassee in South Carolina. A local Korean War veteran and town troublemaker, Holland Winchester, is missing and his body is nowhere to be found. The novel is separated in sections rather than the normal order of any other novel. It gives the story more depth. As the reader goes further into it, they soon learn how the lives of the people intertwine and what they have to do with Holland’s disappearance. One Foot in Eden has surely been analyzed by many critics and from very different perspectives. It is a very captivating Southern Gothic story loved by many. Has anyone looked deeper into what Rash

As time passes by, with everything seeming in place, we push aside real life. Activities we like to pretend are not occurring are put on the bottom of the list. War, deadly tsunamis, earthquakes, terrorism, economic crisis, all real life changes which have occurred and are occurring now. People are becoming less knowledgeable than ever when it comes to geography. “Given the accelerating pace of change on our increasingly crowded planet, this may not be surprising- even if it is disturbing,” states Harm de Blij in his book “Why Geography Matters: More Than Ever.” While De Blij tells us how illiterate we have become to geography, he also explains to readers how American people could benefit from the knowledge of Geography in specific situations.

Social studies ultimately about civic education, or civic competence. The idea being that all students need to have a certain amount of knowledge, skills, and democratic dispositions to be an active participant in their community (Chapin, 2013). The Arizona standards are quiet complex and thorough when it comes to social studies in the fourth grade, but only in some areas. Asking Mr. Aleman a few questions regarding his personal feelings on social studies as a content area, I was ill-prepared for the honesty of his responses. First, was the question of whether or not social studies was a subject that students needed. This teacher felt that social studies was extremely important because it was a way to connect students with their past and cultural identity. I think that this is reflective of the Arizona state standards, which emphasis learning about the history of civilizations in Arizona and the Southwest. While the focus is on Arizona, it stresses the

The book “Among the Hidden” is a great book about a kid name Luke who is a third child who is not allowed to be seen, so his parents hide him in the attic. The police and the people so they don’t kill Luke. So, they hide him in the attic for his own safety. Then Luke thinks his neighbor The Sports family have a third child Jen. In the book “Among the Hidden” Luke changes a lot from the beginning of the book to the end.

Much of my passion for Geography is derived from the fact that it depicts relevance to all aspects of society. It is dynamic in a sense that my perception and understanding is constantly evolving with the growth in understanding and perception. What intrigues my further pursuit of geography is how Geography unlike other subjects has direct links to both human and physical attributes. By further pursuing geography at a higher education level, I wish to enrich my understanding of the wider significance of issues being faced and how it affects society on a local and global level. It is important to identify and understand the interconnecting aspects of the world around us and apply such knowledge towards a more sustainable future. Geography

as more suited for a political geographer. In addition to Key 1949, whose exhaustive account of Southern

Enables customers to choose what they want to watch and whenever they want, without commercials (p.155)