Reid 1

Anna Reid
TCH LRN 409
Armento, B. (1997). Some People I Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

The textbook, Some People I Know written by Beverly J. Armento is aimed toward
second grade students and the topic of the textbook is social studies. Using the three questions
formulated for the Me teach, You Book activity discussed in Woodward I am able to evaluate
this textbook effectively. (Woodward, p. 148, 2007) I think that many students would be able to
relate to the topics in this book, for example the first lesson is titled, The Lunch Box Story
which discusses what is in students lunch boxes and the people who helped get their lunch to
them, including farmers, delivery drivers and their parents. (Armento, p.2, 1997) The book has a
table of contents that includes the units and the lessons that are in each unit. This book is highly
organized and easy to navigate because of the table of contents.
The book is aimed toward students in second grade, and not necessarily aimed toward
ELLs. However, because it is a social studies book that covers topics such as ancestry, traditions,
celebrations, and important people who have made a difference in our society, I think all kinds of
students would benefit from this textbook. There are not specific sections to aid the student if
they are encountering difficulties, but there are review questions included at the end of each
lesson that the student could answer to ensure they learned the main topics of the lesson. I think
this textbook meets the standards for students in second grade. For example, the standard 4.2.1
from the Washington State K-12 Learning Standards for social studies for grade two states,
Understands individuals who have shaped history in the local community. This standard would
be fulfilled once the students complete Unit 4 which is titled, People who Have Made a
Difference.

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There are 4 units included in this book with roughly 4-7 lessons in each unit. I think to
better pace using this textbook in the classroom it would be helpful if there were more units that
were more specific. I think it would take more than a year to cover the topics included in this
textbook, and as a teacher I would most likely pick and choose from the units what is appropriate
to teach my students according to the classroom environment.
One lesson I would use to adapt to fit my ELL students needs would be the lesson titled,
Two Countries, Two Traditions. (Armento, p.56, 1997) I think this would be a great lesson for
a classroom with both ELLs and native English speakers because it illustrates how one person
may have multiple cultures included in their family. The language demands of the text are
appropriate for the second grade level, for example the two vocabulary words indicated in this
lesson are history, and tradition. I think these words are attainable for a second grader to read and
comprehend. There is a large amount of cultural diversity present in this lesson, and I really like
how it discusses how Teresas family came from Mexico. I also like that it includes words in
Spanish which are then translated into English. I think it would be a fun activity to have the
English speakers learn some Spanish, while the ELLs are learning English. This is also an ELL
program known as two-way bilingual education where students of different backgrounds learn
from each other. (Crawford, p. 15, 2004) I think that this lesson is set up appropriately and I
really like every aspect about it, the only thing I would do differently as a teacher would be to
also mention other cultures and their traditions and not focus solely on the Spanish culture. I
think it would be a fun activity to have the students bring in food from their cultures to share
with the class. The class could have a fun, engaging, party learning about each other and where
they come from.

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References
Armento, B. (1997). Some People I Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Crawford, J. (2004). Educating English learners: Language diversity in the classroom (5th
Edition). Bilingual Education Services.
Washington State K-12 Learning Standards. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from
http://www.k12.wa.us/CurriculumInstruct/learningstandards.aspx
Woodward, T. (2001). Planning lessons and courses: Designing sequences of work for the
language classroom. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.