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Tip of the Week: One Bad Reason to Quit Using a Textbook

This happens to all of us. You find what seems like a great curriculum. But halfway through the textbook, you come across something with which you disagree. Maybe you think it’s wrong, or maybe you just don’t like the point of view represented. Whatever the reason, don’t throw that textbook out just yet.

I’ll give you an example.

A popular language arts series I used with my children taught that the subject of the sentence is “what the sentence is about.” In other words, if I asked one of my kids to identify the subject of a sentence, his telling me “what the sentence is about” or the “basic idea” would not be the response I, or any other classroom teacher would want to hear.

The subject of a sentence is a word, typically a noun or pronoun, which does the action in the sentence. This is the standard understanding of the term subject presented in all textbooks I’ve seen– except this one. Knowing the correct definition for a part of speech and a part of a sentence is important when studying the grammar of any language. This definition error for the term subject was repeated throughout the series at succeeding grades, and each year I found myself constantly correcting the textbook.

Why did I continue to use the series year after year?

Because it did some things I really liked, such as teaching how to identify prepositional phrases first, thereby making it easier to identify the other parts of speech, or parts of the sentence. I liked the length of each lesson. I liked the fact that the assignments did not require diagramming.

For me, there was a lot to like about this series, except for that one not-so-insignificant error in my opinion. So, I taught around it.

Don’t stop using a textbook simply because you disagree with some of its content or a point of view prevented.

That’s the tip of the week!
Curt Bumcrot, MRE

Need some help in teaching the fundamentals of writing to your junior high/high school student? It’s not surprising if you do since there isn’t an answer key when it comes to teaching and evaluating a student’s written expression. Natalie Trust, one of our English teachers, has been teaching creative and expository writing to students for several years. You can check out the courses she and the rest of our teaching staff are presenting this year here but you’ll need to act fast – classes start in two weeks!

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