Assessing Textbook Publishers' Recommendations for Using Children's Literature in Science
The use of children’s literature to teach science is becoming an increasingly common practice in elementary schools. In fact, many science textbook publishers are now including recommended children’s literature titles in their classroom materials for science teachers. When considering these recommendations, teachers play an important role in assessing the quality of the children’s literature they use in their classrooms. This paper suggests standards teachers may use to evaluate the quality of children’s literature being considered for use in science instruction.
The authors constructed a Children’s Science Trade Book Evaluation Instrument guided by the systematic, comprehensive criteria employed by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) when naming outstanding science trade books each year. The instrument was then used to evaluate a set of over 200 children’s literature titles recommended by three science textbook publishers. The paper presents conclusions about the quality of the set of books recommended by the publishers. It also includes implications for classroom teachers who are seeking appropriate children’s literature titles to use in their science instruction.
