Textbooks vs. Trade Books

Aah yes, the age-old dilemma of textbooks.  Are they out-dated?  Are they even helpful?  Do students even read them?  Depending on the teacher, students, and actual textbook, the answer could be yes or no.

What's wrong with textbooks?  If you're like me, you enjoy reading from a textbook.  It often contains well-organized information that serves as a primary source of the teacher's lessons and tests.  But most people aren't like me.  Most students will find textbooks boring, confusing, and generally written at a higher reading level than the intended audience.  Another problem arises when you think of how frequently information changes from year to year.  Most textbooks that are in schools today probably have or will have a newer edition by next year.  That being said, most schools are on a cycle of approximately 5-7 years before they have the funding to buy new textbooks!  (Imagine getting a brand new textbook the year before we figured out the earth wasn't flat.  Now you have this textbook with false scientific information.  Can you take anything in it seriously anymore?)  Ok, enough hating on the textbooks, after all we all had to have learned SOMETHING from them at some point.

What is a trade book?  That was exactly my question when I began reading Chapter 11 of, Content-Area Reading for this week.  It turns out, we all have likely used these at some point in our educational lives.  A trade book is a book that is "rich in narrative and informational content, [and] can provide a valuable compliment to most textbooks" (Vacca, Vacca, Mraz 360).  They can be nonfiction books, picture books, fiction books, and many other types of books.  The advantage to trade books as opposed to textbooks, is that students have the opportunity to explore a multitude of different texts in a number of different genres, and in any content-area you can think of.  For teachers, using trade books pushes their students to go beyond the typical textbook skimming that, let's face it, all students do at some point.  It can challenge students to think stimulatingly about a large range of important issues happening in the world today.  It is also a way to differentiate instruction, so that all students' learning needs are met, whatever level they may be at.

How can I implement trade books in my classroom?  The possibilities are endless!  Being a future religion teacher, I turn to the teaching of scripture as an example.  As my mentor-teacher, Martha Boerschlein-Tracy told me last semester, "If we're going to be studying Scripture, we're reading the Bible! We aren't going to use a textbook to learn Scripture."  This is so true, and it's a great example of a trade book!  Instead of learning about the Old Testament stories as summaries from textbooks, why not read it from the source, and discuss and analyze it as a class?  Another example would be if we were to be learning about some of the early Christian martyrs.  Why learn about Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch, and James the Just from a textbook, when all of them have writings of their own that can be read?

It's important to note that this chapter wasn't in any way dismissing the need for textbooks in our classrooms.  Textbooks DO have a proper role in education, and they are certainly necessary to learn certain things.  The goal of the chapter was to give teachers motivation and encouragement to move beyond the textbooks at times, to enrich their curriculum, and further the critical reading and thinking of students.

Take Home Lessons of the Day:
1. I still love my textbooks.
2. Trade books are a great way to explore further topics within content-areas.
3. There are MANY different kinds of trade books.
4. We should not do away with textbooks altogether.  They have a time and a place.
5. I really enjoy finding pictures to post on my blog!
6. Happy Fat Tuesday!  Remember, it's Ash Wednesday tomorrow, the beginning of the joyous season   of Lent!  (No, that's not sarcasm.  It really is referred to as the joyous season of Lent!)

One more picture!