Becoming Text Analysts: Unpacking Purpose and Perspective

Many students believe that textbooks are objective and read them uncritically. When they find conflicting accounts, they have few strategies for figuring out what to believe. In this study, a fourth-grade teacher invited her students to become text analysts as they examined divergent texts about two social studies topics: the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the so-called new world and the internment of Japanese American citizens during World War II. Descriptions of these topics in textbooks and in children’s literature were compared and contrasted in terms of whose perspectives they privileged and/or neglected and what the authors wanted readers to believe. Students showed growth in their ability to understand and evaluate authors’ purposes and perspectives.