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Textbook Reflection:Instructional Resources
Gracie Frame
School of Education, Liberty University
EDUC 322: Teaching Elementary and Middle School Social Studies
Professor Triggs
September 11, 2023
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Textbook Reflection:Instructional Resources
Part A – Textbook Information
Read each of the three prompts below and respond by writing one solid paragraph of at least five
sentences. Make sure you use your textbook to support your responses.
1. You learned about artifacts and concrete instructional resources, such as field trips, visitors,
art, games, etc. You also learned about representational instructional resources, such as
educational technology, pictures, and simulations. Explain how these resources support learning
of social studies content, especially for understanding historical events. Explain your viewpoint
on this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
Artifacts and concrete instructional resources can considerably help educators as they are
teaching students social studies content. The teacher must first determine the instructional goals
and the ways to assess the goals and then choose the resources that will most likely achieve the
desired learning outcomes (Maxim, 2018, p.181). These visual representations allow students to
understand better the material they are learning that the content from a textbook can not achieve.
Because these instructional mimic a real-world experience, they create excitement and interest
for the students, challenging them to become more involved (Maxim, 2018, p.183). Instructional
resources open up many opportunities for students to partake in collaboration, research, and
creativity.
2. Describe at least one example of a classroom activity that social studies teachers can use one
or more of these resources for. Explain your viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph
of five sentences.
A great activity would be a collaboration activity for students to engage in. The social
studies teacher can provide a virtual field trip to the white house. Students will use a computer or
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iPad to watch the virtual field trip. Once done, they will use a teacher-approved website such as
Boom Writer to write a blog summary about their field trip experience. The blog is an interactive
format for students to contribute written observations on any topic (Maxim, 2018, p. 191). Once
they are done, they will read their classmate's posts and write positive replies to their threads.
The teacher can use these blog posts to view the student's understanding of the topic.
3. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of these resources? Explain your
viewpoint on this with at least one solid paragraph of five sentences.
There are many advantages and disadvatnages of these resources. One advantage is that
these resources are easily available and cover a variety of material making it easy to find
necessary resources to meet learning objectives (Maxim, 2018, p.181). These resources often
make material more engaging and easily understandable for students. These resources can also
be beneficial for students with learning disabilities as it provides a visual way of learning rather
than literary content from a textbook. However, for these resources there can often be trouble on
the technological side. Many websites used on the computer are not sutible for the students and it
is important that teachers provide a child-safe cite for students to use.
Part B – Biblical Worldview
Select one of your responses to the prompts above and fully explain your response utilizing a
biblical perspective. Make sure you include a Bible verse and explain how this verse is relevant
to the prompt and supports your biblical perspective. This section should be two solid paragraphs
of five sentences each.
Just as we provide multiple resources to help students in the classroom, the Lord provides
us with many different resources to help us. Resources help further and strengthen our
knowledge. Even though students need instruction from the textbook, it is just as valuable to
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have additional resources to accommodate their learning needs (Maxim, 2018, p.206). The same
goes for our relationship with the Lord. He gives us the Bible as our roadmap through life, but
we cannot just read the Bible and be content. We are called to serve, pray, and have a
relationship with the Lord. These are the additional resources that are beneficial to our textbook
content.
Proverbs 1:5 says, “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; And a man of
understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.” As educators, we are called to provide our
students with the best resources and materials to help them learn the best they possibly can. The
more resources we provide, the more opportunity there is for learning. The best social studies
teachers are the ones who provide differentiated instruction to meet the needs and further the
learning of all students. Successful social studies instruction in the classroom will be hard to
achieve without various options of representations.
