Student-Tested Suggestions for Using Textbooks More Effectively

by Sarah Bretz and Erin Weiker, Clay High School, Oregon, Ohio

"Do we have to take these home?" "Oh no! Not the textbooks again!" And so it goes from our students―a litany of complaints, moans, and groans, and every sort of excuse used to avoid reading. To make matters worse, the reading is in textbook format, which is virtually one of the most un-user-friendly tools of learning possible.

So how do you overcome the way students' eyes glaze over while using a textbook? How do you avoid the moans and groans? How do you use textbooks more effectively?

Focus on the Prereading

Have students create a double-entry journal (DEJ) prior to reading. We use a DEJ like this:

DEJs assist in organization when taking notes while reading. By having students infer, not only are they focusing on a performance verb, but they are actually thinking about what might come next, ensuring excitement in the reading to come.

Another way to ensure excitement is to create anticipation guides. Teachers may use guides provided within the teacher's manual, or they may simply create one. Anticipation guides are great ways to get students thinking (what a novel idea), and students tend to look forward to what they read.

We also like students to play Stump the Star―another means of pursuing excitement. Stump the Star can be played a few ways.

In one version of Stump the Star, students try to stump the teacher with questions regarding the text. Teachers first assign a section to read, and then students create questions to challenge the teacher. Questions may include simple comprehension questions, like "Who is Chris's aunt?" or something more complex, like "Why is the title symbolic?"

Another way to play Stump the Star is by using the dictionary or any end-of-textbook glossary. If teachers find themselves with an extra five to ten minutes at the end of class, when they thought their lesson would take two days (we've all been there), encourage the students to retrieve a dictionary or thumb through a glossary. Students ask the teacher questions about words. For instance, what is the definition of streptomycin? Or, spell streptomycin.

Students love the idea of proving a teacher wrong, plus for every question with which they "stump the star," they receive extra credit points. This activity, although simple, encourages students to use critical thinking skills and enjoy what they're doing. In fact, many of them don't realize they're even learning!

Focus on the Reading

Encourage reading in pairs, which means students read to each other aloud. They love it, they learn to read better, and it's something different from reading silently.

An alternative is to create a "jigsaw" of reading. Students break up into four or five homogeneous groups, each group reading a different section of the text. Next, students break up heterogeneously. The students teach the other members of their new group the information they read. Students enjoy what they read, and they tend to get excited about it.

And if you have access to the stories on CDs or tapes, use them too! Students love to hear the story read to them, which brings us to our next point: Teachers, read aloud to your students! By modeling appropriate reading skills, students hear the sounds of words, intonation, and reflection in your voice.

After Reading

As noted earlier, we like students to play a version of Stump the Star. In the "after-reading" version, teachers first assign an excerpt from the text to read, and then students try to stump the teacher with questions.

Hands-on Activities

Providing group work and/or kinesthetic activities is an added bonus for most students. Activities such as playing with play dough, creating comic strips, or drawing scenes from a story create excitement when the usual reading and writing begs for a break in the monotony. Since some students still have trouble with reading and writing, throwing in group work or kinesthetic activities at least once during a textbook story may increase the likelihood they'll like and understand the story.

So textbooks don't necessarily have to be scary, heavy, and boring. Okay, well maybe they are heavy! Regardless, they should be informative, educational, and fun. As many people know, excitement breeds excitement. If teachers are excited, the students will be too. And that may be the most important factor to use the textbook effectively: excitement!

Sarah Bretz is a high school language arts teacher at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio. She teaches tenth grade general language arts and yearbook. She earned her B.S. in education at Bowling Green State University.

Erin Weiker is a high school social studies teacher at Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio. She teaches tenth grade general American history, economics, and AP American history, and she is advisor to the model United Nations. Erin earned her master of education in curriculum at Bowling Green State University.

Sarah and Erin co-teach a tenth grade, year-long double-blocked class called American studies, which encompasses both language arts and social studies.

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