New Curriculum Review: Special Topics in Social Studies Courses

BookLearning List has reviewed both of the comprehensive products submitted for state-adoption in response to Texas’ Proclamation 2018 for “Special Topics in Social Studies” courses. These products include:

Kendall Hunt’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) Toolkit.  The course emphasizes the experiences of Mexican Americans in Texas, particularly in the Houston area, and focuses heavily on how racism and bias have influenced Mexican American lives. Instruction addresses contemporary issues affecting Mexican Americans (e.g., Arizona’s 2012 ban on ethnic studies).

Discussion prompts and collaborative learning activities are interspersed throughout the text.

Content is available in print and eBook formats.

Tanglewood Publishing’s Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz. Instruction focuses on using a memoir of the Holocaust as the basis for a book study that explores themes related to perseverance, love, and forgiveness. Although the text deals with disturbing subject matter, it does so in a manner that is appropriate for young adults. The memoir eschews gruesome detail and emphasizes the themes of perseverance through unimaginable hardship, commitment to family, and, ultimately, the importance of forgiveness. Content is available in print format and includes an Educator’s Guide. [Read more…]

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Learning List and EdReports: Differing Reviews of CCSS-Aligned Mathematics Materials

EdReports recently released their reviews of four publishers’ instructional materials aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for mathematics: Math Learning Center’s Bridges in Mathematics (K-5), McGraw Hill’s Everyday Math (K-6), Kendall Hunt’s Math Innovations (6-8), and Origo’s Stepping Stones (K-5). Reviewing the materials for alignment to the instructional shifts of the CCSS, EdReports found only one material, Bridges in Mathematics, to be fully aligned and sufficiently easy to use. …[read more]

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