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Should Teachers Use the Teachers' Choices Books in Science Classes?
Author(s) -
Broemmel Amy D.,
Rearden Kristin T.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the reading teacher
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.642
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1936-2714
pISSN - 0034-0561
DOI - 10.1598/rt.60.3.5
Subject(s) - mathematics education , set (abstract data type) , narrative , scientific literacy , science education , quality (philosophy) , psychology , resource (disambiguation) , physical science , literacy , science learning , picture books , computer science , pedagogy , visual arts , literature , art , computer network , philosophy , epistemology , programming language
Using literature in science instruction has the potential to increase student motivation and to improve student achievement in both literacy and science. The process of identifying high‐quality picture books, however, can be challenging and time consuming for teachers. The authors identified 74 science‐based picture books from the annual Teachers' Choices booklists and analyzed their science content, visual features, and genres. Their findings suggest that the majority of these books are engaging and provide accurate science content. However, they provide somewhat limited coverage of topics set out in the U.S. National Science Education Standards: Over 75% of the books analyzed support instruction in the area of life science, but very few are dedicated to physical science. All of the books make appropriate use of illustrations and photographs as a means of enhancing and extending the text, but fewer incorporate visual features such as graphs, charts, or differentiated text. Finally, an examination of genre indicates a move away from storybooks containing science concepts toward narrative and nonnarrative information texts. Overall, the analysis indicates that the Teachers' Choices books can be used as a resource for identifying high‐quality picture books useful in elementary and middle school science instruction.