Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's

Formal Response to Written Comments

Textbook Hearing #2

August 23,2002

Comments Concerning Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Grade 1, People and Places

1. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 1, People and Places

Strengths

Visual: Variety of maps, picture glossary

Content: Addresses all races, many cultures, balanced socially, economically, politically,

TEKS adequately implemented and reinforced

Age Appropriateness: Clear, age appropriate

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

We appreciate your recognition of the strengths of the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Grade

1, People and Places, Pupil Edition.

2. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 1, People and Places Weakness: Maps should be larger.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response:

Almost all the maps in the book used for teaching content and geography skills are % page maps or larger. The smaller "locator " maps found throughout the book help students get a sense of where a place is located in relation to the United States. They are not the focus of the lesson and are therefore small, allowing more space on the page for the more important visuals.

3. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 1, People and Places Weakness: Primary Source too brief.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response:

Understanding and appreciating primary sources is an important skill for students of social studies. That is why, for the first time, we have included examples of these sources in our pupil books at the primary grades. Typically, quotations and writings from important historical figures are above a grade 1 or 2 student's reading level, so we have kept these excerpts necessarily brief.

4. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 1, People and Places Weakness: Timelines could be expanded.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response:

The visual that accompanies the timeline skill on pages 232-233 includes six entries and fully extends across two pages. There is no room on these pages to expand the timeline. On page 233, the "Make It!" activity invites students to create their own timelines, encouraging them to expand and extend the project as desired.

Comments Concerning Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Grade 2, We Live Together

1. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 2, We Live Together Strengths

Visual: Use of pictures, age appropriate, picture glossary

Content: Bias is fair, balanced socially, economically, politically, relevant, will appeal to

students

Age Appropriateness: age appropriateness

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

We appreciate your recognition of the strengths of the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Grade

2, We Live Together, Pupil Edition.

2. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 2, We Live Together Weakness: Maps too small.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

Almost all the maps in the books used for teaching content and geography skills are 1/3 to */2 page maps or larger. The smaller "locator" maps found throughout the book help students get a sense of-where a place is located in relation to the United States. They are not the focus of the lesson and are therefore small, allowing more space on the page for the more important visuals.

3. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 2, We Live Together Weakness: Primary Sources too brief.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

Understanding and appreciating primary sources is an important skill for students of social studies. That is why, for the first time, we have included examples of these sources in our pupil books at the primary grades. Typically, quotations and writings from important historical figures are above a grade 1 or 2 student's reading level, so we have kept these excerpts necessarily brief.

4. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 2, We Live Together Weakness: Bilingual aids

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

A number of resources meet the needs of English Language Learners. In the Pupil Book,

these include the visuals, the reading check questions at the end of each spread, The Big

Idea lessons, The Words To Know lessons, and the highlighted vocabulary. In the Teacher's Guide, these resources include thefoldables, the graphic organizers, theRPTE (Reading Proficiency Test in English) leveling, and the ESL support strategies. Further support for Bilingual is provided in our equitable and parallel Spanish program. In addition there is the ESL activity book which provides development of academic and social studies concepts at every grade.

Comments Concerning Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Grade 3, Our Communities

1. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 3, Our Communities

Strengths

Visual: Green, red highlighting, good picture selection, picture age appropriateness

Content: Point of view varied, graphics enhanced content, cultural influences many and

varied

Age Appropriateness: age appropriateness

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

We appreciate your recognition of the strengths of the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Grade

3, Our Communities, Pupil Edition.

2. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 3, Our Communities Weakness: No reteaching activities

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

We provide alternate strategies to meet the reteaching needs of all students through the following materials: the Reaching All Learners activities in the Teacher's Guide, theESL Handbook, and thefoldables in the chapter openers and chapter reviews.

3. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Grade 3, Our Communities Weakness: Bilingual aids

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

A number of resources meet the needs of English Language Learners. In the Pupil Book, these include the visuals, the graphic organizers, the reading check questions at the end of each spread, the outlines at the beginning of each lesson, and the highlighted vocabulary. In the Teacher's Guide, these resources include theRPTE (Reading Proficiency Test in English) leveling, and the ESL support strategies.

Comments Concerning Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Grade 4, Texas Our Texas

1. From Naomi Carrier Grundy

None of the texts covered to my satisfaction the importance of slave labor to the economy

of Texas, while they all stressed that "Cotton was King."

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Response

In the Grade 4, Texas, Our Texas, Pupil Edition, the text on page 202 will now read:

Study the graphs to see how the economy of Texas depended on enslaved African

Americans.

2. From Naomi Carrier Grundy

What these texts will probably take another 10-20 years to mention is

• The Underground Railroad Resistance Movement from Texas to Mexico during the years prior to the Civil War which liberated over 5,000 African Americans wit the help of Mexicans and Germans.

• The importance of Kiamata to the survival of Jane Long during the winter of 1821.

• The Battle of Turkey Creek and the Jaybird-Woodpecker War in Post Reconstruction Fort Bend County.

• Slave Landing at the Port of Velasco.

• The extent of the Texas slave trade; that there was strong discussion for its continuance in 1859 and the participation of the Bowie Brothers, William F. Travis, Thomas F. McKinney, Michel Menard and Samuel May Williams, all of whom have cities, State Parks and historic homes in their honor.

• The first all black labor union, longshoremen known as the Lone Star Cotton Jammers.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

The historical specificity mentioned in the examples listed here are more appropriate for

7* grade. None of these examples were included in the TEKS for grade 4.

Comments Concerning Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Grade 5, Our Nation

1. From Eleanor Hutcheson, Texas DAR Textbook Chairman

McGraw-Hills 5^th grade, I am sure will note that Juan Sequin DID LIVE past the Alamo

and had a busy life in Texas there after.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

In the Grade 5, Our Nation, Pupil Edition, on page 394, the caption will now read: David Crockett (right) died at the Alamo during the attack led by Santa Anna (left). Juan Seguiin (center), -who left the Alamo to seek help, took part in the battle of San Jacinto.

2. From Eleanor Hutcheson, Texas DAR Textbook Chairman Page 568, Joseph McCarthy has since been cleared due to the release of the "Venona Decoding Soviet Espionage" which documented vast amounts of material proving that Joseph McCarthy was correct in has accusations all along. Please correct.

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

Research indicates that while some historians believe the Venona Project and the 1930s-1940s Kremlin files prove that McCarthy was accurate about communist infiltration, others think that the information gained from the breaking of the Soviet codes is too incomplete to reach conclusions about individuals referred to only by code names. The text about McCarthy is correct. He could not prove his charges. We will add information in the Teacher's Edition, page 568, bottom of the side column, explaining that recent evidence proves that the Soviet Union did indeed have a vast spy ring in the United States. However, the identities of most of the spies in the United States, remain unknown.

3. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Grade 5, Our Nation Strengths:

Visual: Graphic organizers

Content: Good variety of primary sources; strong reference section

Age Appropriateness: On grade level

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Response

We appreciate your recognition of the strengths of the Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Grade 5,

Our Nation, Pupil Edition.

4. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Grade 5, Our Nation Weakness: Too many visuals on a page

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

The visuals in the textbook were all chosen carefully to illustrate the text and provide

aids to student comprehension. The majority of pages have only one visual. However,

many topics require more than one illustration. The inclusion of more than one visual on a page is for the purpose of teaching content. On pages 6-7, for example, the text describes the variety of-waterways and landforms in the United States. The illustrations on the two pages show some of these landforms. In other instances, several topics are discussed. On page 63, for example, the text discusses Native American canoes and wigwams. The illustrations show these items. Often a second visual will be a map, an important geographic teaching aid, or a portrait to help students identify the people integral to the history being taught. Occasionally two maps will be included for comparison purposes—an important social studies skill. Another reason for including more than one graphic on a page is exemplified by our Datagraphic feature. The purpose of this feature is to help students extrapolate information from different forms of data.

5. From the Texas Council for the Social Studies Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, Grade 5, Our Nation Weakness: Overkill of bold print

Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's Response

Certain social studies terms, people, and places are part of the established fifth grade United States history curriculum. Sometimes a number of these terms appear in just a few pages. For example, the lesson on the Constitution requires that we teach about the major players at the Constitutional Convention, the compromises that were part of the creation of the Constitution, as well as some of the bodies of government that were under discussion. Students will be tested on these people and concepts and, therefore, we show them in bold print. If a topic or era does not contain many important terms, few words will appear in bold print, as on pages 346 to 349.