PLACE IN RETURN BOX to romovo this ohookom from your record. TO AVOID FINES roturn on or boforo ddo duo DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE MSU Io An Afirmotivo Action/Ema Opportunity Institution A STUDY OF THE CONTENT OF BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL FOUND IN SELECTED TEXT BOOKS AND COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES COMPARED WITH STUDENTS' STATED PREFERENCES By S. Lynn Wilhelm A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy 1991 ABSTRACT A Study of the Content of Biogaphical Material Found in Selected Textbooks and Collective Biogaphies Compared With Students' Stated Preferences By 5. Lynn Wilhelm The purpose of this study was to assess preferences of sixth grade students about biogaphical figures and categories of biographical figures. The study also examined and compared collective biogaphy sketches and gade five subject matter textbooks to determine the depth and breadth of coverage. and queried students about information they wanted to know about selected biographical figures. The researcher used two instruments to assess students' preferences. The first instrument. the Category Preference Instrument, had students rank categories of personalities they found interesting and gave them an opportunity to list up to ten personalities they mid'tt choose for biographical reading. The second instrument. the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument, measued students' knowledge about the most commonly appearing biogaphical figues in their fifth gade subject matter texts. and asked students to choose the five personalities on the list they found most interesting. A content analysis instrument was desigted by the researcher to assess the literature samplings. The instrument was validated by four readers knowledgeable in the field of childen's literature. There was a S. Lynn Wilhelm high percentage of ageement between the raters and the researcher. The results of the study indcated that sixth gade students preferred the categories of entertainers. sports figwes and scientists. The categories of US. political figures, world political figures and explorers and pioneers were chosen least. Students listed a wide vuiety of figtres; most were sports and entertainment figues. paralleling the'r category choices. The students chose Babe Ruth, George Washington. John F. Kennedy. Jackie Robinson. Neil Armstrong. Adolf Hitler. Thomas Edson. and Mark Twain as the most interesting figures from the'r textbooks. Biogaphical sketches and textbook passages about these eight figtxes were examined and child'en wrote questions of interest to them about each figue. The study found wide va'iation in the depth and breadth of the biog'aphical sketches. As a whole. however. biogaphical sketches answered more of the students' questions than did the textbook passages. Vital statistics (b'rth, death. major accomplishment ) were covered more often than personal information about the individual. The textbook passages gave almost no personal information which students indcated in the'r questions was most interesting to them. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To all the people who have been instrumental in the completion of this study with my sincere appreciation: To Dr. Patricia J. Cianciolo. my major professor and advisor, who demanded excellence. taught with enthusiasm. and guided me patiently through my yeas of study. I truly admie her expertise and dedication in chilcren's literature and look forward to a lasting friendship. To Dr. Sheila M. Fitzgerald. Dr. Stephen N. Judy. Dr. James E. Snoddy. the members of my committee who were always willing to gfve the'r time and expertise for this project. and whose excellence as teachers was insp'ring. To Jean Babcock. Ray Kettel. Kathleen Nickerson. and Janet Rose who served as raters for the instrument used in the study. To Julianne Watson. her students. and Principal Frank Haynes at Central Intermedate School for their participation in the pilot study. To the sixth grade students. teachers. and Principal Robert Saber at Holland Woods lntermedate School who participated in the study and made it all possible. A special thanks to Margaret Sutton and Alice Myron who completed the th'rd phase of the study with the'r students. To Mickey Weston who administered the first two instruments in the study and continues to serve as a role model to students in the community as an educator and an athlete. To my husband. Ken. who offered constant support and love and an optimistic attitude that carried me througt the most (fifficult days. To my own third gade students who have gown with this final manuscript. May they always enjoy books and see learning as a lifelong endeavor. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables vii List of F igtes viii CHAPTER I. lntrodrction 1 Statement of the Problem 4 Need for the Study . 5 Sigrificanoe of the Study 12 Limitations of the Study 13 Reseuch Questions 15 Definition of Terms 16 Summay of Chapter I 18 ll. Review of the Literature 19 Bi aphy as a Genre of Literatue 19 Chi den's Preferences for Biogvhy 33 Biogaphical Figues in Subject after Textbooks —— 38 The Uses of Biogaphy in the Curiculum 46 Summary of Chapter I 52 Ill. Selection of Subjects. Procedtes and the Desigt of the Study 53 The Desi of the Study 55 Sample elected for the Study 62 Procedu'es Used to Elicit Information 65 The Pilot Stu 67 Criteria Used or Selection of Literattre 89 The Instrument and Procedure for Analysis of the Literatue Samplin 91 Summ Of Chapter I l 107 IV. Analysis of Resins 108 lnstumentation 106 Reseach Questions 111 Data Analysis Relating to Research Question One —- 112 Data Analysis Relating to Reseach Question Two -— 121 Data Analysis Relating to Reseach Question Tlvee —- 134 Data Analysis Relating to Reseuch Question Fair — 156 Data Analysis Relatin to Reseuch Question Five -— 175 Summ of Chapter 180 iv CHAPTER V. Summa'y and Conclusions Summay of the Find Reseach Quesnggn One Reseuch Question Two Resesch Question Three Reseach Question For: Research Question Five Roblems Encountered in Resea'ch Recommendations for Father Reseach Summuy of Chapter V References APPENDIX A. Collective Biogaphy List 8. Annotated Bibliogaphy of Selected Personalities C. Inter-Rater Reliability Score Sheets on Thomas Edson Articles D. Textbook Passages About Selected Biogaphical Figues Page 131 133 133 187 192 207 21 0 216 234 257 Table 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 LIST OF TABLES Pilot Study: Summuy of Category Preferences Pilot Study: Biog'aphical Categories by Choices Pilot Study: Gender Preferences for Biog'aphical Subjects -— Biogaphioal Figures Listed by Pilot Study Participants --- Pilot Study: Correlation of Students' Categories With Persondities Pilot Study: Students' Selection of Personalities From the Textbook-Driven lnstument Pilot Study: Students Identification of Biogaphical Subjects Ag'eementonArticle 1: W ————-— Ageement on Article 2: W Ageement on Article 3: BMW -—--—- Agreement on Article 4: WWII)!— AgeementonArticle 5. . Agreement on Mide 6: Wm —— Rater Ageement With Researcher Bsisgaphical Subjects Found in Fifth Grade 'ect Matter Textbooks Personalities Found in lndvidrsl Textbooks Selection of Biog'aphlcal' Su 'ects b 06530 Six Students b. y Category Reference Instrument Students Cat Preferences Based on Five Selection ces vi 71 73 74 85 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 113 117 122 125 127 Table 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 Student Selectbns By Category and Choice Brogaplucal' ' Subjects' Listed Grade Six Students by ategories by Personalities Selected by Students and Appeaing in F ifth Grade Textbooks Text-Driven Preference lnst'ument Student References for Biogaphical Subjects Found in Texts Students’ Incorrect Responses Students' Identification of Biomphlcal Personalities —— Summary of Articles About Neil Armstong Summsy of Articles About Thomas Edson Summa'y of Articles About Adolf Hitler Summuy of Articles About John F. Kennedy Summay of Articles About Jackie Robinson Summary of Articles About Babe Ruth Summ of Articles About Ms‘k Twain Summsy of Articles About George Washington 128 135 143 144 147 149 155 160 162 164 166 168 170 172 174 Table 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 4.10 4.11 4.12 LIST OF FIGURES Student Identified Frquency of Biog'aphical Rearing: Pilot Study Students' Ability to Identify Biogaphlcal Personalities: Pilot Study Student Selection of Biogaphical Categories Gender Reference for Subject Selection Stated Fremencies About Biogaphical Rearing Correlation of Students' Categories With Personalities -— Open Selection of Biog'aphicel F igres Listed by Categories Biogaphical Figlres by Number of Mentions Per Category Classroom A: Knowledge About Textbook Personalities —- Classroom 8: Knowledge About Textbook Personalities -— Claseoom C: Knowledge About Textbook Personalities —- Classoom 0: Knowledge About Textbook Personalities —- Classroom E: Knowledge About Textbook Personalities — Classroom F: Knowledge About Textbook Personalities —— viii 75 85 129 130 132 133 139 141 151 151 152 152 153 153 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A large number of biog’aphies are published each year. This reseacher identified the titles of over 1400 biogaphies for chilcren and young adults published between 1978 - 1988; over 200 of those titles were collective biog'aphies. each containing biogaphical sketches about more than one personality. Leona’d Woods (1984. p. 34) Gallup may indicated that biogaphies were one of the most popular categories of nonfiction books. second only to referenceflnstruction books. Perusal of the literatue reporting research about biogaphies. suggests that the collective biogaphy tends to be iglored thougi it holds potential for use in the elementary classroom. From twenty yeas of classroom experience this researcher has found that textbooks all too often failed to provide adequately enough information about the personalities they dscussed, and the accounts about historical events important in various areas of knowledge (is. science. history. mathematics. etc.) tended to amount to merely a progession of chronological reports filled with names and dates with little attempt to provide a setting that enables students to truly understand the events presented. Also. a special interest in chilcten's literature. especially in the genre of biogaphy. has caused this resea'cher to look for ways to use a variety of trade books in the elementary classroom to 1 augment and extend the material found in dslrlct selected textbooks. This reseucher wanted to determine through a carefully structured examination of all the textbooks used in one school iistrict. if they adeqrately provided the kind and amount of information about the lives of important biog'aphical personalities associated with each of these areas of knowledge focused on in these textbooks. Many teachers. especially elementary teachers who must be knowledgeable in all subject areas. need help to gather appropriate materials to augment the textbooks that only provide a basic curioular structure. Those who do wish to find add'tional information ciscover that choosing from supplemental souces is time consuming and often takes a special knowledge of the subject matter. The informal "sharing' network that exists and thrives among teachers points to the need for increased knowledge of supplemental materials. Thus. this researcher thouglt it was important to determine if there were collective biogaphles available about the biogaphical personalities cited and ciscussed in these textbooks. The use of full or collective biogaphies to supplement existing textbook materials could be valuable in all curricular areas such as social studes. science. Endish and read'ng. Supplementing biogaphical sketches of persons mentioned in textbooks with a more detailed accounting could help students place them in the proper historical setting. For instance. textbooks often speak of General Lee and Grant in terms of the baffles they foudlt; in a good biogaphical sketch the plans. moves and motives of each General becomes clear and students can understand the 'why' as well as the “what happened”. Full or collective biogaphies could offer addtional areas for study that are not presently covered in the school curiculum such as curent news personalities. statesmen. sports stars. entertainers. scientists. and others who are ruely covered in textbooks; there is a recent trend to promise more biogaphies of poets. authors. artists. musicians and humanltarians (Huck. 1987. p. 569). This resea'cher has also noticed an increased number of blogaphies about sports personalities and popular entertainers. and current biogaphies are no longer limited to those worthy of emulation; for example. the lives of villainous figues like Hitler and Jesse James as the subject of current biogaphies. This study examines the biogaphical information about selected personalities found in both the fifth gade subject matter textbooks and collective biogaphies. It also examines preferences of gade six students for biogaphical personalities and categories of biogaphical personalities to see if the subjects presented in textbooks and Ior in collective biogaphies reflect their preferences and provide the information they would like to know about the indvidual personalities. The researcher examined the fifth gade textbooks selected for use in one school cistrict. They included the basic textbooks desigiated for use in the fifth gade classrooms to teach rearing. math. spelling. handwriting. Endish. science and social studies. This examination produced a list of 374 biographical personalities mentioned in texts. In most cases. the extent of information g'ven about a biogaphical personality in a mention amounted to a sings sentence or paragaph. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The emphasis of this study will be three-fold: to assess g'ade six students' preferences for biogaphical subjects and categories of biogaphical subjects. to examine the depth of coverage about these same biogaphicel subjects included in fifth gade subject matter textbooks and collective biogaphies. and to assess whether the information found in the textbooks and collective biogaphies is the information gade six students want to know about biogaphical personalities. Several studies have examined childen's preferences for biogaphy as a genre as compaed to realistic fiction. adventlxe stories and other genres (Graham. 1988. Haynes. 1988). In this study. however. this researcher will attempt to determine which biogaphical personalities and categories of personalities gade six students are most interested in read'ng about. After preferences are determined. a comparison will show whether the biogaphical personalities students express an interest in reading about are the same as those mentioned in their subject matter textbooks. The study will also categorize the biogaphical figires accordng to the students' rearing interests to see if the categories of biogaphical figtres students show an interest in are the same categories of figures represented in the'r subject matter textbooks. Another aspect of the study will assess sixth gade students' knowledge of selected biogaphical figtres to determine if students are leaning about frequently mentioned biogaphical figtres that are presented in their textbooks. In relation to this aspect of the study. collective biogaphies containing personalities specifically mentioned in the subject matter textbooks will be identified to accomplish two ptrposes: 1) to compae the kinds and depth of information these sources provide about the biogaphical personalities with that information available in the textbooks. and 2) to provide a resource of available titles that teachers and libruians could use to enrich and extend the curiculum. THE NEED FOR THE STUDY Reseachers. librarians. children's literature specialists and teachers of content area curriculum have stated that the use of biogaphies in the classroom could be beneficial. yet relatively few studes have specifically examined the genre of biogaphy. Kyoon's (1984) study of values and childen's biogaphies found that a lags variety of human values are covered in biogaphies for childen. especially the achievement related values (is. competence. ambition). His study indcates that biogaphies provide excellent readng material for child'en to learn about a wide variety of personalities and instill positive values. Myra Zunowski (1988a) has found biogaphies to be a valuable teaching tool for elementary and midde school students. Her work with fairth gade students using fictional biogaphies and simila research using older childen and authentic biogaphies (anowski. 1988b) has shown that child'en who worked with biogaphies learned a goat deal about the historical figues studed. and were able to summaize and pull out salient parts of a person's life. Zarnowski's work with biogaphies had students listening to biogaphies read aloud. rearing independently. writing biographies on the'r own and working collaboratively. Hermann (1978. p. 86) sees biogaphy as a valuable tool for helping chilcren matlre as indviduals and as thinkers. She notes that the perception of time. paticululy "historic time” is a concept that develops slowly in child'en. She notes: In my own experience. I have observed that it is the third- gader. the eight-yea-old. who seems ready to step inde- pendently outside his own time and space. to explore on his own the lives of people. real people. nonfictional ones. Readng skills. incividualization. and historical sense seem to have progessed together to the point where childen at this stage of their development we ready and eager for facts about 'real' people. people they have not met or will never meet. They want most passionately to 'know'. Althoudl Kyoon. Zarnowski. and Hermann's work have found biogaphies to be valuable classroom tools. like most articles and reseach concerning biog'aphies. they do not deal ci’ectly with collective biogaphies. Major childen's literatue texts tend to iglore the collective biogaphy. indcating a need for add'tional study in this field. For example. Huck (1987. p. 580) devotes only two paag’aphs to the subgenre while Sutherland (1981. pp. 410-11) uses only one paagaph to delineate the collective biogaphy. Norton (1987. pp. 564-580) does not cistinguish between a full biogaphy and a collective biogaphy. althougl she does mention three collective biogaphies in her discussion of books. Sculley‘s (1981) study of the biographies of five United States milituy officers written dlxing two cifferent wztime periods includes an examination of many collective biogaphies. fictionalized biogaphy and biogaphical fiction. but nowhere in his study does he examine the dfferences that midit be found in the collective biogaphy. Jo Car (1981) suggests that collective biog’aphies as short enough to avoid unwaranted fictionalization and might appeal to childen d’scouaged by longer books about the subject. but she does not offer specific criteria or standards the collective biogaphy should strive to meet. Helen Haines (1950. pp.262-63). who successfully described the subtle cifferences among the types of biogaphical writings that have appea'ed since Plutach's time. narrowly defines the collective biogaphy as ”the lives of a number of person‘s. selected or gouped or assembled in encyclopedc form.“ She goes on to say that the collective biogaphy is ”usually more material of information than is the indvidual biography; it is more condensed. more a record of dates and facts. less capable on account of its brevity. of reproducing personality and cha'acter.’ Some of the recent collective biogaphies for childen fit nicely into Haines' definition. but some do not. Most recent collective biogaphies re assembled thematically and tell the lives or a portion of the lives of a limited number of personalities. Done well. the collective biogaphy does. in a limited amount of space. provide the essence or personality of a character. Three curent titles offer typical examples: mm W (Drimmer. 198811008 of six severely handcapped indviduals who became famous because of and in spite of the'r deformities. The book offers a complete but abbreviated look at each life and a dimpse at the mental anguish that ' : (Sills. each had to face. 1989) combines the art and lives of IOU’ modern painters. The author's approach is to show how each artist‘s life effected the'r at: consequently. the was of each artist's productive atwork is hidllighted. flammable, W (Fradn. 1987) deals only with the childhood yeus of twenty subjects who became well known while still childen such as Sacajawea. interpreter for Lewis and Clark; Zerah Colbirn. a mathematical prodgy; and famous artist Pablo Picasso. Yet not all lived to be remarkable adults. Each subject's adult life is condensed into one or two puagaphs. even when the subject continued to live a productive adult life as well. Biogaphies. specifically the collective biogaphy. seem to be a viable and promising use of study. A second question to consider then. is what information can collective biogaphies add to the existing subject matter textbooks? Textbooks have often been the tuget of hash criticism. Allen (1988). for example. examined social studes instruction and found. in part. that the dominant instructional tool continues to be the conventional textbook. He noted little interdsciplinary teaching. In his recommendations he suggests. in part. that textbooks be used along with a wide va'iety of supplemental resources and that numerous opportunities for integation of other dsciplines be used. In a similu study. Swibold (1984). a school librarian. examined fifth and sixth g’ade social studes books used in her school. Her textbook examination revealed an overall briefness and simplicity in textbook explanations. The sixth gade text. for example. summtized Hitler's treatment of the Jews diting World War II in three pwagaphs: the removal of the lndians in the Southwest is explained in the fifth gade book in the sinde sentence. ”Settlers wanted these lands because they were good for fuming.” After her perusal of the textbooks. Swibold selected trade books from the libruy to supplement several areas of the text. reviewed each book. and sent written comments to each teacher. 10 She found. as a result of her work. many teachers took advantage of the supplemental materials available. Clayton (1989) found that ”it is not the lack of space. but the failtre to analyze. to make connections.” that accounts for the ineffectiveness of most social stucfies textbooks. His study provides a close. compaative analysis of five American history textbooks frequently used in seconday schools today. The most notable condemnation of curent textbooks. however. comes from Diane Ravitich (1989. p. 38) in an article offering suggestions for better education in the future. On curent textbooks she states: The new ctrriculum demands new textbooks. because most textbooks today are hefty and bland encyclopedas. not the exciting naratives that are needed. It also demands collaboration among teachers of history and literattre. so that the best literature of and about the period can be broudit into the classroom. And. needess to say. it will requ're well-educated teachers who have the same zest for the'r subject matter. The same approach in the teaching of rearing and language arts would force a major overhaul of the mechanistic methods and (teary basal textbooks used in most schools today. No adult would willindy read the basal textbooks and the encyclopedc history texts that we foisted upon school childen today. If we won‘t read them. why should we be strprised when childen don't want to. A final aspect of this study will assess the knowledge six gade students possess about the biogaphical figu'es found in the'r textbooks. and determine what information students want to know about the 11 biographical figures they read about. This information will provide valuable implications for content was teaching. If students lack backgound knowledge of the personalities mentioned only briefly in the'r textbooks. then the students' ability to comprehend will be limited. If the information presented about the biogaphical personalities in the textbook is of no interest to students. they probably will not retain the information presented. Slater and Graves (Muth. ed.. pp. 140-166) noted several studes that found that expository text became more dfficult to read when childen were rearing unfamiliar text and were unable to dscern text structLre and main ideas. Ode’s (Muth. ed.. pp. 205-223) KWL (the know. want to know. learn) strategy reinforces the need for teacher instruction to beg‘n with an assessment of students' prior knowledge. H’rsch (1987) calls for a shued body of information that every person needs to know in order to be “culttrally literate.” This body of information includes a passing knowledge of geat biogaphical figtres from history and contemporuy times. as well as a knowledge of world geogaphy and other subjects. l-l'rsch contends thatthis knowledge is no longer received in school. William Bennett (1986. p. 165) agees with H'rsch that 'the ability to comprehend depends chiefly on the amount of relevant prior knowledge one has.“ If students do not know about important biogaphical personalities from history and contemporary times. it seems important to try and 12 dscern why they do not retain this information that is introduced in the textbooks in an effort to improve students' leaning. In a recent interview Lynne Cheney (1969. p. 10) was asked why she thought that many students lack basic cultural knowledge: F 'rst of all. they've never studed some of what they're asked about. Some of what they we asked about they have studed. but they’ve forgotten it. often because it hasn't been made to seem interesting or important to them. This is a problem in history. pa'ticulu'ly. where textbooks are all too often collections of try facts. The (rams of the past is missing. and so is a sense of its simificance. In summay. the need for the study involves the assessment of the collective biogaphy as a specific type of literature for childen. an assessment of the content of subject matter textbooks to see if they offer sufficient information about the biogaphical figures mentioned. and an assessment of wade six students' knowledge. preferences and interest in biogaphical figtres. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Continuing curlculum development is important to teachers' professional gcwth. Teachers need to find new resouces to supplement the basic textbooks designated by school dstricts to update andlcr improve current instruction. This study provides a valuable list of supplemental resources that teachers and curiculum planners in the 13 dstrict involved in the study could use when ordering new library materials. On a more dobal scale. this study extends and supplements curent reseach that has been done on biographies. Though earlier studes have examined biogaphies in terms of values (Kyoon. 1964). and compaed information written about specific biographical figures dtring cifferent periods of history (Sculley. 1981). this study looks specifically at the collective biog'aphy and compares it to information provided in subject matter textbooks. Collective biogaphies can be easily used in the clastoom and can provide addtional information not available in texts. In addtion. collective biogaphies can provide material for students who have trouble leaning textbook material. It is always important to monitor students' knowledge. preferences and interests. This information is essential for developing an understandable and motivating curiculum. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 1. The study examined only the gade six students at one large intermediate school in eastern Michigan. about an how northeast of Detroit. Althougw the school's population is dverse. the ent're Iagsly rtral area is conservative when compaed with more urban populations. 14 2. The study examined only the textbooks curently selected for use in the taget school dstrict. It also assumes that all fifth gade teachers used all the cistn'ct selected texts for instruction. 3. All data for the study was collected during a two week period. Students who were absent for the administration of one of the two main instruments were eliminated from the study. 4. One of the clasa'ooms involved in the study was taugit by a substitute while the regular teacher was on a medcal leave. dtring the time when the study took place. 5. The researcher was not able to administer the two main data collecting instruments herself. Instead. another person was trained to administer the two instruments. Oi . Like other preference studes. this study is static in natu'e. Thoudt this study determines the biogaphical figures and categories of figures students indcate they would like to read about. it does not meme rearing that is actually done by the students as an interest study would. 15 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. What biogaphical figures are portrayed in subject matter textbooks and in collective biogaphies? a. Are the same figues featured in the subject matter textbooks also written about in collective biogaphies? b. Are there collective biogaphies written about the figures students say they would like to read about? 2. What categories of biogaphical figures do gade six students want to read about? a. Is gender a consideration when choosing categories of biogaphical figu'es or specific biogaphical figures? b. How frequently do gade six students choose to read about biogaphical figues? c. Do students' perceived category preferences match the figues in which they express an interest? 3. Which biogaphical figtres do sixth gade students want to read about? a. Are the figures students select. the same personalities found in the'r subject matter textbooks? b. Which textbook figtres do sixth gade students find most interesting? 16 c. How much knowledge do sixth gade students have about the biogaphical figures mentioned in the'r subject matter textbooks? 4. Do collective biogaphies answer sixth g'ade students’ questions about the most preferred biogaphical figlres mentioned in their subject matter textbooks (is. vital statistics and personality traits) as indicated by the students in the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument? 5. What kind of treatment (is. depth. breadth. and style) of the biogaphical subjects is given in the subject matter textbooks as compared with the collective biogaphies? DEFINITION OF TERMS biogsphy - The story of a life. biowaphical sketch - A short. informational piece written about a puticula person that can vuy in length from a few puag'aphs to several pages. collective biography - A biogaphy that examines more than one subject in a series of biogaphical sketches. Each entry is shorter than a full length biography and can cover the ent‘re life or a portion of each subject's life. They we mostly factual accounts with no fictionalization. 17 full biogaphy - A biogaphy of one individual that spans the ent‘re life of a personality. It is well researched and uses no invented dialogue or incidents that cannot be documented. (Some literatLre scholss use the terms authentic biogaphy and full biogaphy interchangeably.) partial biogaphy - A. biography which completely covers one period of a person's life. Most often the childhood yews are hidrligrted in works for chllrren and they are often highly fictionalized. fictional biography - A book that is primarily biogaphy with some fictionalization. It damatlzes some events and personalizes the subject. The author may invent dialogue and include the unspoken thoudrts of the subject. but events are most often based on actual facts taken from period sources. biogaphical fiction - A book consisting ent'rely of imagined conversation and fictional events. It is often based loosely and generally on an historical period. subject matter textbooks - Those books selected for use by a school dsfrict and provided to all teachers and students for use. These books we evaluated and replaced or updated on a revolving schedule. every five years in the dstrict involved in the study. 18 trade books - Any books other than textbooks written expressly for children. preference - A student's choice when asked to determine among personalities or categories on a list which they would choose. A preference does not measure students' actual behaviors. it measures the'r perceived choices and possible actions. SUMMARY Chapter I presents the statement of the problem to be studied. The study contains a comparison of information found about selected biogaphical figures in collective biogaphies and in fifth gade subject matter textbooks. It also examines sixth gade students' preferences for biogaphical personalities and categories of biogaphical personalities. their knowledge about selected biogaphical figures from their textbooks. and compares questions students' have about biogaphical personalities with the information available to the students in textbooks and collective biogaphies. Chapter II includes a review of the related literature in the areas of biogaphy as a genre of literature. childen's preferences for biogaphy. the content and treatment of biogaphical figtes in subject matter textbooks. and the use of the biog'aphy in the curriculum. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The review of the literature is civided into four main areas which are pertinent to this study: 1) biogaphy as a genre of literature. 2) chilcren's preferences for biogaphy. 3) the content and treatment of biog'aphical figures in subject matter textbooks. and 4) the use of biogaphies in the curriculum. BIOGRAPHY AS A GENRE 0F LITERATURE 77): history a/mma’k m II/sray slits year mm: to finder/(Mouse, down we mic/n #7007. andp/ace Mom on meipqas'peml. 7270072362319 (Taylor. 1970. p. 17) Several school and public librarians. chilcren's literature scholars and reviewers have attempted to define a “good" biogaphy for childen. Huck et al. (1987. p. 573). Norton (1987. p.. 566-569). and Sutherland et al. (1981. p. 402-406) include an examination of the choice of the subject. chuacterization. theme. accuracy and authenticity. and style in the'r criteria for evaluation of biogaphies for childen. Cullinan (1989. p. 461-2) suggests similar criteria for evaluation though she. uses the same 19 20 criteria for both historical fiction and biog'aphies. Thoug'r criteria vaies slightly depending on the scholar. there is widespread ageement that biog'aphies for chilrren va'y geatly in quality. Taylor (1970. p. 13) warns that ”teachers must be critical in their selection of biogaphy.“ Haines (1950. p. 252) states: The profusion of biogaphies entails constantly more thorough sifting. more careful ciscrimination and comparison in current selection; for though work of high quality and of varied and unusual aspect may be found in rich abundance. there is also a mounting deposit of books that we trivial. shoddy and superfluous. Good biogaphies are not common. Great biogaphies are rare. A look at the basic criteria established by scholars in the field of children's literature will help those wishing to use biogaphies able to make wise choices. Choice of Subject Worthy subjects for biogaphies today exist everywhere. Chadwick (1985. p. 16) says that personalities come from the fields of ”scientists. rock stars. sports heroes. writers. political and historical figures. educators. statesmen. explorers. theatrical performers. dancers and mists. She says that in choosing a subject to write about. writers need to ”please children. please editors and themselves.“ The most important criterion for choosing a subject. however. is the writer's personal interest in the indvidual (p. 17). Fritz (1986) agees that authors must have a personal interest in the'r subject. She says she 21 does not need to like the chu'acters she writes about. but she does have to understand them. Witucke (1985) identified eigtty incividual biogaphies published in 1983 in a study to determine trends in juvenile biogaphy. She found that of the eigity personalities. half were living; Among the deceased subjects. the largest number were from the twentieth century. A third of the living figures were athletes and entertainers. Authors most often chose to deal with the subjects' whole life rather than one part of it. Mellon (1990. p. 226) says that while it is less important for biogaphies to be current than it is science books. “for the browsing teen. biogaphies of 'dead people' are not the reason they select books from this category. They as interested in people of modern times, people they can “relate to' - biog'aphies of movie stss. athletes. and adventurers. Though students indcate a high interest in these types of personalities. they don't often make the best subjects. Gellert (1986. p. 28) found in his examination of hockey biog'aphies and autobiogaphies that most are structured to "present the hig'uliguts of a hero's career chronolog'cally. While this approach is a good way to present the development of athletes over the'r caeers. he cautions that "a strictly chronolog'cal structure can lead to an over-emphasis on factual content as opposed to broader concerns. Also. while action is necessarily dominant in sports stories. there is the danger of a dulling accumulation of similar episodes.“ 22 Selecting an appropriate subject to depict in a biogaphy is often a difficult process. Fisher (Carr. ed.. 1982. p. 134) believes that some subjects are unsuitable for all ages of child'en who read biogaphies. She states that “certain subjects seem unsuited to biogaphy for all but older boys and g’rls. who may be expected to make reasonable judgments of (the subject's) irregular or unusual or puzzling behavior." Hermann (1978). however. feels these taboos are slowly slipping away. She uses the new biogaphies for juveniles about George Eliot and George Sand as examples that extramarital affa'rs are no longer reasons to imore otherwise worthy individuals. For the most part though. biogaphers either leave out or gloss over most unsavory or controversial material. Kamen (1978. p. 21) says: Information must also be made comprehensible and have some relevance to a child. Adult 'gossip' of ' disappointing love affa'rs. nasty court cases. political squabbles don't belong in the book. unless they carry the story to some new conclusion or give some insight into the personality of the man or woman. Characterization The character depicted by the author in a child'en's biogaphy can be flat or interesting and mum-dimensional. Groff (1980) says that most biogaphies for chilcren present a stilted view of cha'acters where they are seen as invincible superhumans. He warns that the more child'en read about biog'aphical personalities that we portrayed as heroes. ”the less it is possible for them to achieve the personality 23 integration that supposedy will be the result of such a rearing." (p. 271) Fisher (1972. p. 303) says that the most important job of a biog'apher is to show a man as he really was and to try and get readers to realize that they are reacing about real human beings. Kamen (1987. p. 21). an author of child'en's biogaphies herself. stresses the need to make characters come alive. and in her analysis. a good biogaphy is quite similar to novels. She says: I like to think of (biog'aphies) as novels coming drectly from life. but with certain constraints: Characters and events are set out for you and cannot be changed. You are as free as any writer. however. to interpret them. Like a novelist. you must breathe life back into people and events. Lomask (1986. p. 13) states. as well. that biogaphy is not just a collection of facts about a life. but a “portrait of a man or woman in conflict with himself. or the world around him. or with both.“ A good biogaphy then. must produce a chu'acter of some depth rather than a flat portrayal that relies strictly on the subject's deeds and exploits. Historically. Thomas Carlyle (Pachter 1979. p. 11) was the first biogapher to try to show the whole person. Haines( 1950. p. 267) states that a biog’aphy will be good only if the subject is interesting or made interesting by the author. Well developed portrayals. according to Carr (1981. p. 21). allow child'en to identify with biogaphical figures without encouraging adulation. Unfortunately. Moore (1990) states that often current biog'aphies for child'en do not g've that whole picture. She 24 is especially concerned that biogaphies ‘ra'ely contain even a smidgen of personal information.“ As an example she states: In W for example. Albert C. Gross igtores or briefly glosses over the French king‘s personality. health. eating and crinking habits. finances. relig'ous beliefs. and court life. and neglects to summarize his achievements. ln addtion. Gross examines Henry‘s life from b'rth to age 34 in just nine scattered pages. (p. 95) Theme Even a biogaphy has an implied theme of sorts. Though the author is dealing with real occurrences and documented facts. the interpretation of the facts determines how the character is portrayed. Edel (Pachter. ed.. 1979. p. 18) describes what he calls the "biogaphical responsibility.‘ This responsibility includes “not only accumulating and offering facts; it entails the ability to interpret these facts in the light of all that the biogapher has leaned about his subject.“ Kearns (Pachter. ed.. 1979. p. 101). who wrote a recent biogaphy about Lyndon Johnson. reiterates Edel's job of the biogapher as she states. “the biogapher finds that the past is not simply the past. but a prism throudt which the subject filters his own chang'ng self image.“ Grad (1988. p. 464) suggests that theme is one of the most important elements needed to develop a worthy biogaphy. She says: The only biogaphy worth rearing is one that is a result of art. Biogaphers select. arrange and gound the'r work on some 'invention' - some plot or criving line. some theme about a person in his or her time. They decide what to 25 higuligtt. what causes to assim the actions: they recreate scenes. sometimes with dalogue. sometimes without. She goes on to describe the unique and popular style of Jean Fritz. today's child'en's biogapher extracrdna're. Not all biogaphies have a theme. explicit or implied. but all worthy biogaphies do. Accuracy and Authenticity Though most biogaphies for childen in the past were not well documented. well-written books today are incorporating more research and documentation into the creation of the'r books. However. Moore (1985. p. 34) says that errors in children's biogaphy we still common and fit into three categories: 1) inaccuracies in numbers. dates and names. 2) incomplete or misleading information due to simplification of the text. and 3) blatantly false or incorrect information. Her examination of several biog'aphies clscovered many violations of accuracy. In her conclusion she suggests the following remedy to improve the accuracy and authenticity of juvenile blogaphies: Authors and publishers we aware of the need for factual accuracy. Their concern. though. is dminished when they see error-filled books as purchased. Libruians. book reviewers. teachers. and parents can assist by setting higher standwds and by analyzing. examining. dscussing. questioning. critiquing. and even ciscredting materials. (p. 35) Saul (1986) says that cistortions in biogaphies fit into two main categories. simple misrepresentation of fact and misplaced emphasis. 26 Her conclusions were based on her extensive examination of several biogaphies written about Marie Curie. She found. for instance. that most biog'aphers placed strong emphasis on the perfect marriage of Pierre and Marie because that interpretation fits our own cultural mores. In fact. the Curios dd had a solid marriage. but Saul says it was based on simila interests and devotion to their work more than on the storybook love that is portrayed. Saul found that “incidents which crematically support current notions of femininity. politics and science are repeated in tale after tale“ (p. 104). Most biogaphies examined by Saul also failed to look at the other side of Guide personality: her anti religious sentiments. her failure to admit that radium might be harmful. and her lack of strong maternal instincts are gossed over or not ciscussed. (p. 105) Vipond (1983. p. 22) says that many of the inaccuracies that occur in children's biogaphies are due to the disproportionate amount of space devoted to the subjects' early life. the time that the least amount of factual information is available. Under these circumstances. she says. ”the author's creative imagination tends to replace factual data. Vipond examined four full length biogaphies of the Canadian scientist. Frederick Banting. All books she examined tried to show that Banting was an average child from and average home who succeeded because of extracrdnary hard work and persistence. She also ciscovered through her research that “althougw in the past childen's biogaphies often eulogized the pure hero. without warts. the modern tendency is to show 27 some character flaws. Thougr all four books examined portrayed Banting as a geat man. two of them also point out his frequent impatience and g'uffness (p.29). Vipond also found. in the case of the Banting biogaphies. that most authors do little original resea'ch and rely on previously published accounts (p. 30). Groff (1973. p. 214) criticizes biog'aphers for the same practice. He states: Many biogaphers for child'en can be said to belong to the “rewrite school of production.‘ These are the authors who cut-up-and—paste-back a previously written biogaphy for adults. These writers go to an acceptable full-length. adult account of a geat man's life and rewrite it into a brief narrative. and what now is hoped will be a narrative understandable by child'en. However. the rewrite biogapher does not make a committed search for truth and new information. ‘ Hermann (1978). however. defends the biogapher's rig'ut to use akeady published sources. She says the crig’nal research is often too time consuming and may ”occupy a lifetime.“ Instead she suggests that authors have "the obligation to discover authoritative sources. to select from them judiciously. and to document scrupulously one's use of sources. dfferentiating between fact and opinion” (p. 91). Haines (1950. p. 267) says that “sympathy and impartiality are the two goat attributes of a fine biog'aphy. for there should always be critical perception of the weaknesses and tempermental defects of the subject.“ Pachter (1979. p. 13) says that modern biogaphers are less like to expose than in the past. He says that the biog'apher's job is ”to 28 portray the whole sense of the person. the relationship between the public ideal of himself. which he holdsas his 'personal mythology' and the inner fears. longings. and sp'rited aspirations that call it forth.” Fritz (1986. p. 402) speaks about the multiplicity of her characters. When she writes an authentic biog'aphy. she says it "requ'res not only research but a coming to terms with that open end. She explains: I often wish I could beg'n biogaphies the way Russians beg'n the'r fa'ry stories. There once was and there was not. There once was a very brave man Benedict Arnold who was also not very brave at all. There once was a man named Christopher Columbus who was rigut when everyone else was wrong and wrong when everyone else was right. The accuracy of the setting can often delineate a good biogaphy from a mediocre one. Tuchman (Pachter. ed.. p.183) claims that she uses biogaphy “less for the sake of the indvidual subject than a vehicle for exhibiting an age.“ For chilcren the setting is especially important because it helps them put the story in the correct historical period and refines the'r cogtitive skills. Accordng to Hermann (1979. p.86). ”events are told and accepted as icons. images to be assembled and reassembled over a period of years. to be fleshed out with reading and experience and thinking and physical gowth into an increasingly complex conceptual framework.“ Fisher (1972. p. 303) believes that one of the main purposes of biogaphy for child'en is to “help a young reader develop a sense of 29 period.“ Expandng on this theory she says: Biogaphy should partake of history not only in describing outward details of costume. wchitecture or manners but also in providng broad generalisations (sic) of the kind which stay in the memory because of the'r impact. and atb'act to themselves more facts and ideas as we read more about a pwticulw subject. (p. 334) Kamen (1987. p 21). another children's biog'apher. also ag'ees on the importance of a rich setting. She says “because eidrt-to eleven-yew- olds we expected to have only a limited knowledge of history or foreign cultures. it is necesswy. somewhere along the way to add the essential backgound information in your book.“ Style A final consideration of the criteria of biog'aphy is style. Carr (1987. p. 711) says that style is crucial. She relates an experiment by a University of Minnesota professor to show the effects that readable text has on the reader. The professor had two writers revise a 'd'y-as-dust' account of the Vietnam ww. After testing the new text with students. he found that ”vivid writing. complete with concrete language and strong verbs and nouns. is not only more fun to read but easier to understand and remember." er suggests the following test to measure the readability of good nonfiction: Compwe the writing in a trade book with a textbook account of the same subject. The contrast will be obvious: one personal. the other impersonal; one specific and detailed. the other vague and general; 30 one lively and enthusiastic. the other cry and scholwly. The author of a good tradebook seems to be speaking to the reader as one enthusiast to another. (p. 711) Unfortunately. Carr believes that too few nonfiction tradebooks are well- written and that many suffer from the same faults as textbooks. Longfcrd (1987. p. 21) describes her own personal rules she follows when creating biogaphies: always'keep your nwrative moving. and never lose sight of your subject for more than a page or two. Avoidng those pitfalls usually prevents authors from the cry. textbook type rhetoric that Carr describes. In general. the question that gwners the most debate is how much fictionalization is permissible in the juvenile biogaphy? Haines (1950. p. 265) states that one should consider the following when assessing biog'aphies for child'en: A workable general rule is to consider that constant use of the present tense in nwrative. Introduction of dialogue. and a hig'uly pictorial rendering of d'amatic and emotional scenes. constitute undue fictionalization; that a sustained framework of plot. combined with dialogue. soliloquy. and use of imag'nwy chwacters and episodes. denote a novel. Stylistically. according to adult standards. many child'en's biog'aphies like those of Jean Fritz violate many of criteria for excellence. However. Girard says that perhaps child'en's biogaphies need the truth and authenticity of the adult biog'aphy mixed with some stylistic techniques that include some elements of fiction. Girwd (1988. p. 469) 31 summwizes her beliefs: Good biogaphers make inferences. They select or devise images holdng a book together - in fact. holding a life together. That inference comes from a combination of small. painstaking results of human inqu'ry. By journalism’s standards Jean Fritz is not pwticulwly responsible. But by artistic standwds. her work is superb. She knows how and when to use several fiction tools: invented dialogue. inufiect dscourse. interior monologue and attribution. Carr (1981. p. 22) supports Girwd‘s belief in the stylistic genius of Jean Fritz. She states that “her lively biogaphical writing has blown like a fresh breeze across the chilwen's book world. She sticks to the facts. but she ignites them with such spwk that they illuminate ordnary facts.“ Fisher (1972. p. 306) says that juvenile biographies we filled with action so that they will appeal to chilwen. Because of this ”most biogaphies written for them emphasise (sic) deeds rather than words or thoughts.” Yet. in contrast to her believe that many biogaphies are bland because of the emphasis on action rather than examination of the whole individual. Fisher (p. 359) does not believe in the current stylistic techniques of today's successful biogaphers for chilcren. She says of biographical writers. “the author never invents conversation; she never intrudes into private thoughts or deduces what she has not been told." Tuchman (Pachter. ed.. 1979. p. 134). a noted adult biogapher. 32 however. dscusses the importance of a readable style when she states: Whether in biogaphy or straigtt history. my form is the nwrative because that is what comes naturally to me. I think of history as a story and myself as a storyteller. and the reader as a listener whose attention must be held if he is not to wander away. Gellert's (1986. p. 30) examination of hockey biogaphies and autobiogaphies found that mom suffer from "exaggeration. lack of imagination. oversimplification and sentimentality.“ However. he does not consider that the geatest flaw of most of the sports biogaphies he examined; he says “the sings flaw most prevalent is the vwiters' penchant for awkward. stilted. and sometimes cliche-ridden language.“ Gellert pulled examples of cliches from the books he examined inducing: tougt as nails. the funniest man I ever met. punching out his coach. one in a million. and newly tied on the spot. In summwy. biogaphy can be a valuable genre both for education and entertainment. However. not all possess the criteria for quality. Only after an examination of the author's choice of subject. its chwacterization. theme. accuracy and authenticity. and style can the merit of a biogaphy be determined. Haines (1950. p. 249) states the lasting value of the biogaphy. the reasons why readers should continue to sift througt the good. the meuioore and the bad. However difficult biogaphy may be. it merits the devotion of our toil and of our emotions. The cult of the hero is as old as mankind. It sets before man examples which we 33 lofty but not inaccessible. astonishing but not incredible. and it is this double quality which makes it the most con- vincing of wt forms - the most human of relig'ons. CHILDREN'S PREFERENCES FOR BIOGRAPHY Kyoon's (1984) study on values in child'en's biogaphies is the most significant in this was because it looks solely at the genre of biog'aphy when examining students' interests. Kyoon randomly selected ten elementwy schools in the Knoxville. Tennessee school cistrict and collected data on all the biogaphies held in each school library collection inducing each personality's name. profession. sex. race. and . nationality. He also recorded each book's author. the number of pages. and the number of times it had been checked out. From this data Kyoon selected the twenty most frequently checked out books for content analysis of the values presented in biogaphies. For another aspect of the study. however. Kyoon collected demogaphic data on each biogaphical figures. This information allowed him to categorize the figures by profession: explorer. statesman. scientist. solder. figtter for human rigtts. relig'ous figure. humanist. and entertainers (includng athletes along with actors. musicians and dancers); by sex: malerfemale; by race: Black. white. and others; and by nationality: United States. European countries. and others. Kyoon discovered that students preferred to read biographies written on 34 statesmen. entertainers. and explorers. They preferred to read biogaphies written about male. white and United States figures. The biographical personalities that students chose most often included Hank Awon. Tony Dorsett. Ben Franklin. Daniel Boone. John F. Kennedy. thin Luther King. Jr.. Babe Ruth and Christopher Columbus. Kyoon's study is an interest study rather than a preference study. however. Data was based on the books students actually checked out of the librwy most often. Therefore. students' choices were limited to those books already purchased for the librwy. Another limitation of Kyoon's study was that data was based on c'rculation of books; students were not questioned about whether they actually read the books they checked out. Sculley‘s (1981) study of the treatment of militwy officers written about in child'en's biog'aphies during two dfferent wartime periods used teacher preferences, rather than student preferences to determine which biogaphical figures should be studed. Sculley asked teachers to list five generals they felt the'r students should know. The top five militwy officers that teachers named included Dwight D. Eisenhower. George Washington. Ulysses S. Grant. Robert E. Lee. and Dougas MacArthur. Unfortunately. Sculley was unable to locate five biog'aphies written during each time period about Dougas MacArthur. or the sixth most popular response. George Patton. (Biogaphies about the two World War II generals had probably not been published yet during the 1942-1946 time frame involved in the study.) Consequently. John Paul Jones. the 35 seventh most popular choice was substituted for further study. Sculley's study examined both collective biogaphies and full biogaphies though no cistinction between the two was noted by Sculley; this information was gwnered from an appendix listing of the books examined. Though an interesting study. the preference instrument used in his study was only completed by forty-five respondents from one school district. a small sampling in which to draw wide ranging implications. In addition. the study was concerned with teachers' perceptions rather than students'. Watson (1985) examined differences in preferences according to genre in both fiction and nonfiction weas with second and fifth gade children. Her instrument included lists of both categories and book titles and asked students to select between pairs of entries. However. her study included 1070 books and only 111 belonged in the nonfiction category. so there was little emphasis on nonfiction. With the nonfiction books that were included in her study. however. she found that girls preferred biog'aphylautobiogaphy and books about animals, while boys preferred books about animals to biog‘aphylautobiog'aphy and science books. She indicated that no books were selected in the areas of crafts. geography. hobbies. nature. other countries. plants or travel. although these categories were listed on the book category sheet. Watson did find that the biogaphylautobiogaphy category did not vary much accordng to the gade level examined. 36 Watson‘s study is similw to most preference studes in that it offers students a chance to select from a whole spectrum of genres. In each case resewchers since Thorndike. who studed reading interests in 1941. have found nonfiction genres less appealing than fiction choices. Graham (1988) provides one of the most recent preference studies in the field. She examined rearing preferences of fourth. seventh and ninth gade students in five different Massachusetts communities. Her preference instrument pa'red one genre against another and asked students to choose the one they would prefer. For instance. fiction (make believe stories) was pitted against sports (football - baseball - tennis). while adventure (action - excitement - thrill) was placed against science (animals - nature - machines). In all. the instrument included forty-five pairs. so all genres were compwed. Graham's genres included fiction. mystery. animal. non-fiction. biogaphy. sports. science. humor. newspapers/magazines. and adventure. Graham's study found that categories of higt preference were adventure. mystery. and history. while categories of lowest preference were biogaphy. newspapers/magazines and science. Looking at biogaphy either by g'ade or community. it fwed dsmally as opposed to other genres. Among the fourth gade students it was ranked sixth in populwity by the boys at one school. and seventh by the g’rls at that same school. Two goups of w'ls from dfferent communities ranked biogaphy eig'lth. Four g'oups of boys and one 37 wow of w’ls ranked biogaphy ninth in preference. while one g'oup of girls ranked it last among the genres. Seventh gade students had two tenth rankings. four ninth. two eiglth. one seventh and one sixth place ranking. In this case the hig'lest sixth place ranking was attributed to the g’is in one community. Among ninth gade students. biogaphy received no higter ranking than seventh; Summwy rankings for ninth gade students included three seventh place (all g'oups of g'rls). four eighth place (two g'oups of each gender). and three ninth place (all g'oups of ‘ boys). Haynes (1988) also examined literature preferences. but her thesis was that content was just as powerful in determining preferences as genre. She examined 492 g'ade four students in four different states. Her sixty-eight item preference instrument contained fictitious. annotated titles in which students mwked the'r interest in each title on a five point continuum. Half of the items asked students if they would like to read about the fictitious book described; the other half asked students if they would want to watch a video of the item described. Her study found that boys preferred the categories of mystery and suspense. science fiction and science while mystery and suspense. realistic fiction and fantasy received the himest ratings from the g'rls. The instrument included not only genres but also specific topics. Space was the number two preference among the boys and one of the populw choices was the biogaphy of Astronaut Alan Jerrell. Graham explains that the biogaphy 38 seemed populw because of its interesting content to students rather than an interest in the genre of biogaphy. Haynes' study is limited in that only four of the sixty-eight fictitious titles and annotations were biog'aphies. Mellon's (1990) latest survey of leisure rearing choices of rural teens in North Cwolina was collected over a three yew period and included over five hund'ed subjects of vaing ability levels. Contrwy to Graham's study. Mellon found that magazines and newspapers were the all-time favorite reading material of teens. She also found a positive response towwd nonfiction as leisure readng. The top categories preferred in nonfiction reading were biogaphy and science; girls ranked biogaphy f'rst while boys chose science f'rst. Mellon stated that students indcated that ”througt biogaphies they found out about 'real people‘ to whom they could relate (p. 225).“ Other findng ind'cated that teens we more interested in current personalities like movie stws. athletes and adventurers. than they we in the biog'aphies of 'dead people'. Mellon also says that biogaphies should include illustrations. if available. BIOGRAPHICAL FIGURES IN SUBJECT MATTER TEXTBOOKS Most biog'aphical information about noted personalities is found in social studes texts. Therefore. this section of the review places special emphasis on social studes texts and instruction because that is 39 where resewch and professional writing has been done. In addition. it must be noted that the social studies field is broad and encompasses many woes of which biogaphies of famous personalities is only a small part. In the social studies classroom the text continues to be the primwy mode of instruction. in many cases the entire curriculum (Allen. 1988. Hornstein. uses, Hogs. 1986. New York State School Boards Association. 1988). There is little interdisciplinwy teaching and current social issues and controversial topics we rwely tauglt (Hornstein. 1986. p. 24). Allen (1988. p. 118) examined midde gade social studes pregame and found throug'l his review of the literature that: 1) teachers we still the key to good social studes instruction. 2) the dominant instructional tool is still the textbook. 3) there is little interdisciplinwy teaching and little attention to societal issues. 4) instruction is dominated by lwge g'oup recitation and lecture based on the textbook. 5) the “knowing’ expected of students is recitation of textbook material; there is little inqu'ry or experience-based lewning. 6) teachers rely on gades for motivation rather than student interest. 7) students generally find social studes and social studes instruction boring. and 8) affective objectives we rwely an implicit pwt of the curriculum; students we taught to accept authority and lawn the ”truths" about history and government. Based on these findings. Allen 4o recommends several paths to follow to improve social studes education. Among those recommendations Allen suggests “that textbook should be cwefully selected and used as a major resource in addition to a vwiety of supplemental resources.” In addition. he stresses the need for middle g'ade social studes to “emphasis history. government. and geogaphy with numerous opportunities for integation of other social science dsciplines. humanities. and students' personal life experiences.“ Hoge (1986. p. 4) says that “as with math. science. and health. there is a temptation to allow the textbook to define the curriculum with the flow of topics determined by consecutive pages.“ His examination of elementwy social studes textbooks found that child'en had trouble understandng the material presented because of a lack of experiential backg'ound and the inherent dfficulty of the social studes content. His suggestions for improving the content of social studes content include: 1) increased development of experiential backg'ound. 2) accommodation of students' vaing reading levels. 3) ciect instructional help. and 4) a selection of lewning activities that helps students apply and extend concepts. Althoug'l Hoge presents no specific materials for his improvement plans. the use of biog'aphies mig'lt well help to provide needed backgound. meet students' vaing rearing levels and help students extend and apply concepts. Hornstein (1986) looked at chilwen‘s perceptions of the social studies class. He interviewed th'rty-six fifth and sixth g'ade students and 41 had the eighteen social studes teachers involved complete questionaires; some of the staff were followed up with personal interviews. From his examination of the classes he found eight basic classroom models which included: 1) the teacher reads the text aloud, 2) the students read the text aloud or silently. 3) the teacher lectures. 4) the students copy the teacher's notes from the board. 5) students outline sections of the text. 6) students complete packets of worksheets. 7) students correct the previous day's assignment and work on a new one. and 8) a wide range of activities. In all cases the text was the dominant tool of instruction. and in all but model eigtt. the instruction was predctable and unvaing. It is no wonder that Hornstein found that students disliked social studes instruction the most. He found that ”ninety percent of classroom time is spent using curriculum materials with the majority of the time being used in the textbooks.“ (p. 31) When Hornstein asked child'en what they lewned in social studes. “only three children from two different classrooms described what they learned in social studes as being about people or about the earth.” (p. 69) The most traditional “extra" among the classrooms examined was the resewch report. One student's comments seem to sum up the use of research reports in social studies. which teachers and students said were incorporated once per mwking period. or once per 42 unit depending on the teacher: Once we had two weeks to write a sixteen page report. It was about the goat explorers. I just sat down and wrote it and wrote my bibliogaphy at the bottom. I got most of my information out of the encyclopedias since we had been doing that stuff. We usually get most of our information out of the encyclopeda. and write it down. you have to reward it. She makes us do that. (p. 74) As a final aspect of Hornstein's study he asked students what they liked and disliked about social studies. Most of the negative comments centered on instruction rather than content. In fact. the most common response that students gave about what they liked concerned the content of social studes. One student who claimed to like social studies stated: I like lewning about the people and how the'r past got stwted and it is usuwa something we never creamed of today. Sort of about the things they had then and it sort of makes us think about what we have now. (p. 92) In his recommendations. Hornstein suggests that social studies texts go back to the presentation that was prevalent before the 1930's “when social studes focused on bigger. more colorful chwacters and the conflicts in which they were involved" (p. 124). and was more developmentally appropriate and interesting to chilwen. Taylor and Birchell (1983) examined social studes textbooks from two different periods. 1969 - 1972 and 1979 - 1982. to see if there have been any changes in presentation since the back-to-basics movement. 43 What they found were 1) an increased emphasis on rearing development. 2) an increased emphasis on American history. geogaphy. map and globe skills. citizenship education and tradtional American values. 3) the use of simplw vocabulwy. shorter sentences and fewer concepts. and 4) a de-emphasis on innovative teaching suggestions and increases in testing on factual recall. In addition to these findngs they noted that the newer texts had improved g'aphics. fewer racial. ethnic. or sexist stereotypes. and improvements in layout and design (p. 11). In 1987. the Education of Democracy Project issued a Statement of Principles urging teachers and pwents to look at current social studies and history training so that child'en could achieve a “reasoned allegiance“ to democratic society (Gamon. 1989. p. 8). The project included several leaders in education inducing Diane Ravich. professor at Columbia University; and Lynne Cheney. cha'rman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Both we vocal critics of textbooks. especially social studes texts. Ravitch (1989. p. 38) condemns most history texts as “hefty and bland encyclopedas. not the exciting nwratives that we needed.“ and finds fault with basal texts as well. In her call for better textbooks and instruction she calls for new initiatives like the history-social science curriculum recently adopted for the State of California that teaches historical content in eleven of the twelve g'ades and contains “rich 44 historical content - biogaphies of siguificant men and women. myths. legends. folktales; family history. local history. (and) studes of geography appropriate to young childen.“ Cheney (1989. p. 10) echoes the sentiments claiming that utextbooks we too often collections of d'y facts. The d'ama of the past is missing. and so is its sense of siguificance.“ Gag'lon (p. 40) studed the content of five United States history books for the eleventh gade in order 1) to determine the helpfulness in teaching the history of democracy in the United States. and 2) to consider how they might be more helpful. A complete chapter by chapter analysis of all five texts found “it is not the lack of space. but failure to analyze. to make connections along the lines of major themes and questions. that reduces the effectiveness of these books.“ As fw as biog'aphical figures we concerned. Gagnon found that personalities were introduced. but not explored in depth. During the books' studes of the American Revolution. the texts include short biogaphical sketches of several persons. However. most of these fail to capture the whole indvidual and do not make connections between the history and the people who made it. Gaylon ciscovered that “Washington. Adams. Jefferson. Madson. Hamilton. and even the news- worthy Franklin all fail to own adequate descriptions of their ideas. intellect. chwacter or work (p. 43).” During the Civil Ww period Gagnon discovered that coverage for Abraham Lincoln was lacking in all books. The longest portrait was six 45 pwag'aphs and did not reach ”Lincoln's beliefs or depth of character.” Gagnon explained: In Lincoln's case texts should relate his formative experiences. what he read. some of what he knew and believed. the sources of his language and eloquence. his temperment. his humor and his mourning. his handling of affairs under the awful pressures of w. (p. 69) Swibold (1984). a school librwian. read fifth and sixth g'ade social studes texts to develop supplementwy readng lists of trade books that could supplement the text. In her study she noted several things. most notably that “the textbooks seemed to me at vwious points to be boring. bloodess. evasive. uncritical. and so general as to be uninformative" (p. 94). Convwsely. she found the trade books much freer to criticize historical events. and much richer in detail. Swibold says: My rearing revealed that our textbooks alone we frequently unable to bring the subject to life. The reason may be that elementwy texts have to be so simple that much that is fascinating or controversial or specific must be left out. Or it may be that authors and publishers purposely avoid discussion of certain questions and events because they believe they migut be unacceptable to some community goups or administrators or bowds of education. (p. 97) Weible and Evans (1984) surveyed fifth and sixth g'ade students in order to examine their perceptions of social studes. Students responded positively to the content of the'r social studies classes. preferring the study of history most. the study of cities and states least. 46 Negative perceptions were gewed towwd instruction; students expressed dslike of homework and tests; rearing. writing and language arts activities; and memorizationtasks. Weible and Evans also discovwed that some students had no concept of what social studies entailed. When asked what he would like to learn more of in social studies. one student wrote “more about the lwge and small intestine.“ while another listed. “animals such as snakes and fish" (p. 247). Osterlund (1962. p. 30) examined child'en's experiences in social studes with middle gade child’en. One of her findings offers a possible reason for students' lack of ability to assimilate knowledge. She says. “studies over the years of child'en's understandngs of time and chronology reveal that below gade six. the ability to gasp these understandngs is poor.” One study she examined found that most students below junior higt level cannot goup dates. decades. centuries. and the sequence of periods and movements we beyond their experience. Osterland concluded in her study that expansion of maturity is more effective when explorations in social studes literature we linked with concepts. facts and ideas gained in other school experiences. THE USES OF BIOGRAPHY IN THE CURRICULUM This section of the review of the literature is a compilation of professional sources that offer suggestions for the use of biogaphies in 47 the classroom. De Lin Du Bois and McIntosh (1986) believe that reading about past events. people. and cultures in school textbooks presents conceptual problems for students with little backgound knowledge about the subjects they we studying. They feel additional materials we needed to develop “students' conceptual notions of history“ and suggest that teachers read aloud to secondwy history students to fill in the backgound knowledge that students need to understand text. Appropriate read alouds for high school students include several historical fiction novels as well as biogaphy and autobiogaphy selections such as Richwd Wrigtt's. Elm Cwl Sancburg’s. A121 1.1mm and Milton Meltzer's social nwratives. 131911.19 W and MW W. The authors contend that reading aloud to secondary students in history classes will 1) help students comprehend the content covered by developing the'r concepts of history and by increasing the'r vocabulwy. 2) aid students in understandng the format of their textbooks. 3) improve students' language and speaking skills. 4) increase students' motivation to read. and 5) affect students' social attitudes. Storey (1982) similwly suggests the use of fictionalized biogaphies for use in social studes. but in the elementwy classroom. 48 She says: At times there is a gap in chilwen's ability to shift to this different type (content wea) of rearing. For instance. in social studes. students may be able to pick out facts (names. places. events). but they often overlook the deeper aspects of such information. (p. 799) She says that using fictionalized biogaphies will help child'en to determine the accuracy and authenticity of facts and will “bring history to life on a more personal level than nonfiction material such as textbooks.“ Distinctions can be made between f'rst person fictional narratives and third person biogaphies; students will loan that many facts can be found in fictional pieces. Common (1986) also suggests the use of “stories" in the social studies curriculum. She says that “througl stories. information about social studes matters exists not as independent. factual. and conceptual bits. but is locked into a context of human intenfions and activities.“ Her examples provide stories from both fiction and biogaphy and include W MW . a book dealing with the industrial revolution in Engand. along with a biogaphy about Peter the Great. She says that "stories also enable teachers and students to beg'n the'r shwed experiences in social studes classrooms with a common point. the story itself” (p. 247). Her purpose for employing stories in the curriculum is suummwized : The objective for employing a story as an instructional vehicle in social studies is to lead the students from the nwrative about someone else in another cultural context 49 back to themselves in the'r context — to reflect upon what they have read and to question their undwstand'ngs of their experience and the'r worlds. (p. 248) Lehman and Hayes (1985) we concerned with students lewning critical reading skills; they see the social studies class as a good place to stwt. They say that in the social studes classroom. “the child may fret begin to gain knowledge about people. events and concepts. Througl its chronolog'cal presentational events. the social studes text provides manageable points of reference for the child being introduced to the flow of history.“ (p. 165) Though they promote the use of biogaphies and historical fiction to supplement the text. they say that “the use of historical fiction and biogaphy must move beyond the enrichment stage of making past events come alive for chilwen. They suggest the use of a number of trade books on the same historical topic to: 1) encourage vwious ways of interpreting events. 2) teaching students to keep an open mind and to suspend judgement. 3) allow students to sewch for evidence and gather relevant materials. 4) teach students to compwe and check sources. and 5) to have students develop the ability to evaluate sources and literature. Martorella (1985) states that the lack of accuracy and authenticity in many child'en's biogaphies can be used as a positive force in the curriculum. He says that biogaphies we of geat interest to many students and we available to a wide range of rearing abilities. Therefore. he suggests that students be encouraged to read multiple biogaphies about the same personality and compwe the information 50 found in d‘fferent volumes. so students can lewn to analyze information and crew their own conclusions of what is true. In his text he has devised an exercise to compwe multiple biogaphies that includes questions which ask students to compwe information about vwious parts of the subject's life. to summwize what they learned from all books examined. to choose which book they liked most and be able to give reasons for their choice. and to compwe information found in biogaphies with that found in encyclopedias. anowski (1988a) studed a fourth gade class that used fictional biogaphies for both reading and writing. The class in the New York Public School District frst spent four months lewning about fictionalized biogaphies. then lewning about Benjamin Franklin. and finally writing their own fictionalized biogaphies based on one pwt of Franklin's life. The teacher introduced the students to fictionalized biogaphies by rearing aloud several books by F. N. Monjo. and then reacting Robert Lawson's We to the class. She also gathered a lwge collection - of biogaphies about Benjamin Franklin for independent rearing in the classroom. After the students had read several of the biogaphies about Franklin. they were able to compwe accounts and pull out conflicting information for further study. Students also kept journals recording their reactions to what they had read. F inally. students created the'r own fictionalized biogaphies with the help of teacher designed planning sheets. 51 Schreiber (1984. p. 13) says that "biogaphies can make valuable contributions to the child's introduction to history and study of the past.“ She assembled a lwge annotated bibliogaphy. arranged thematically. to aid the social studies teacher. In the wea of history and biogaphy. she especially encourages teachers to incorporate the works of Jean Fritz in the classroom because she ”is meticulous in her resewch. and she always presents the information in a lively and amusing form. 'Leftovers' information is included in the back of each book in notes which the teacher might use.“ Freedman (1986) states that nonfiction books for child'en have improved gsatly in recent yews. He cites competition with television as one of the reasons writers have re-examined their craft. Because of this ' he notes several trends in the nonfiction book includng: 1) a more visual approach with more use of gaphics. and 2) a change from a definitive. all encompassing volume about a subject to books with a nwrowed focus. Greenlaw (1986, p.634) says that there we now many more nonfiction books “that are about an interesting topic. and that have an attractive format.” She says that when selecting books for use in the classroom. “the clwity of the concepts presented should be pwamount. The purpose of a book should be determined and then the book evaluated on the basis of how well it fulfills the purpose.“ Thougl both Freedman and Greenlaw speak generally about nonfiction works. the’r belief that nonfiction is improving and can be a 52 useful tool in the classroom can also be applied to the biogaphy. Greenlaw's summwy points out the benefit that can be gained from a classroom that utilizes trade books and incorporates them into the curriculum: The responsibility of all educators is to broaden the scope of our students'worlds and to provide the opportunity for more wide-ranging experience. If we will regularly incorporate excellent informational books in the free-reading aspect of our classrooms as well as in the planned curriculum. if we shwe books that interest us. and if we teach students the skills of selection and evaluation. we stand a good chance of fulfilling our responsibility. (p. 636) SUMMARY This chapter has reviewed pertinent information dealing with this study. It examined the criteria for biogaphy selection. child'en's preferences for biogaphies. biogaphical material found in the textbook. and possible uses for biogaphies in the curriculum. Chapter III will examine the methodology and procedures used in the study and will examine results of a pilot study. CHAPTER I I I SELECTION OF SUBJECTS. PROCEDURES AND DESIGN OF THE STUDY Introduction In this chapter the resewcher will describe (1) the desigr of the study. (2) the sample selected for the study. (3) the procedures used to elicit information from the sample. (4) the pilot study to establish the validty and reliability of the instruments and procedures used in the study. (5) the criteria used for selection of the literature examined. and (6) the instrument and the procedure used for analysis of the literature samplings. This resewch is designed to study gade six students' preferences for biogaphies about individual persons and the subject categories of biogaphies. This study also queries a selected sampling of the students about the kinds of information they would like to know about selected biogaphical figures. The subjects who pwticipated in the study were gade six students enrolled in six. self-contained classrooms at one intermedats school in a lwge school dslrict in Michigan. an hour northeast of Detroit. In order to assess the students' readng preferences about biogaphies two instruments were desigled: the Category Preference Instrument and the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument. The Category Preference Instrument was desigled to identify three 5 3 54 factors: (1) students' interest in rearing biogaphies. (2) categorical preferences about biogaphical figures. and (3) names of up to ten biogaphical figures the students migtt choose to read about. The Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument was desigled to identify two factors: (1) students' knowledge of biogaphical figures most commonly mentioned in the gade five subject matter textbooks used in these students' claswooms. and (2) biogaphical figures which were named in the textbook list and which were most frequently named by the students as persons they mig'lt choose to read abouut. A th'rd. Open-Ended Writing Instrument attempted to identify specific quuestions the students asked about the biogaphical figures they named in the second instrument. The instruments and the procedure were piloted in one sixth gade claswoom at another intermedate school in me same dstrict to refine them for the study. A Biogaphical Analysis Instrument was devised to complete a content analysis of collective biogaphies with the most recent sketches of a selected biogaphical figure from the Textbook- Driven Preference Instrument. An inter-rater reliability was done on this instrument. and the necesswy changes were made. This revised instrument was used in the content analysis of a selected sampling of collective biogaphies and textbook passages. The rest of this chapter will deal with each of these aspects. 55 THE DESIGN OF THE STUDY This study is desigled to assess the preferences of sixth gade students about biogaphical figures and categories of biogaphical figures. and to compwe biogaphical information presented in subject matter textbooks with biogaphical sketches found in collective biogaphies. The study attempts to answer five resewch questions: In order to answer this quuestion. this resewcher read all the gade five textbooks adopted for use in the twget dstrict and compiled a list of all of the biogaphical figures mentioned in these texts. Fifth gade textbooks were examined instead of sixth gade textbooks so that students could be presumed to have covered the ent're texts. The - textbooks included those adopted for English. handwriting. spelling. readng. science. social studes and math. The name of each textbook and the page numbers mentioning the biogaphical figures were recorded. To determine what biogaphical figures have been written about in collective biogaphies. this resewcher fret compiled a master list of all biogaphies published within the last ten yews using the three most commonly selected sources of review for new childen's books. namely wmmdmmhmmm 56 CW. A list of the collective biogaphies was created from this master list and cross-referenced with the Wye Wanders because it is an inclusive list of collective biogaphies published during the last forty yews. Published in October of 1988. this book supplied an up-to-date master list that was not available until its recent revision. This book became the master list of the collective biogaphies available. A few addtions. gwnered from new publishing lists and the tires review sources listed above. were added because they had been published since the October. 1988 release of Bowker’s collective list. The Category Preference Instrument was desigted to determine the categories of biogaphical figures in which students expressed the most interest. The categories used in the Category Reference Instrument were selected using three sources: (1) the subject index in - : (2) Kyoon's 1984 study of values and chilwen's biogaphies. and (3) categories formulated by the textbook review. From these sources. selection was refined so that ten categories were developed. These categories were: creative wtists. entertainers. explorers and pioneers. militwy leaders. minority figures. scientists. sports figures. US. political figures. world political figures. and others. Each category contained examples of the types of figures that 57 would fit in each category. but no names of specific biogaphical subjects. For instance. the entertainer category was further delineated with the description. “This includes TV and movie stws. elngers. dancers. and other performers.” The Category Preference Instrument also incorporated questions on biogaphical rearing frequency. gender preference. and afforded students an opportunity to list up to ten persons they would like to read about. The subjects listed at the end of the Category Preference Instrument were used to answer the next resewch question. Students were given two opportunities to assess preferences for biogaphical figures. The f'rst opportunity was given at the end of the Category Preference Instrument. After an examination of all the different categories of persons who miglt be the subject of a biogaphy. students were asked to name up to ten persons they miglt want to read about. Students' choices were not limited. They could choose any indvidual they cleared. The Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument was designed to assess preferences. but choices were limited to the most frequently mentioned figures in the gade five subject matter textbooks desiglated for use in the twget school cistrict. One mention was g'ven for each unified piece of information. Sometimes a mention was only a single 58 sentence. while other times a mention equalled a two to four pwagaphs about one suustained incident or subject. The subject matter textbooks geaned a master list of three hunded and seventy-four biogaphical figures. F'rst. a random sample of all the figures mentioned in the texts was created. It was determined that preferences could not be accurately identified without some knowledge about the persons on the list. Because the random sampling contained many figures who were unfamiliw to the students. the random sampling was abandoned in favor of a list based on frequency of mention. The figures listed on the final Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument were mentioned at least three times. That is. figures could have been mentioned three dfferent times in the same text. once in three dfferent fifth gade texts. or two times in one text and once in another text. A total of only th'rty-six biogaphical figures were mentioned in the texts at least three times. In order to broaden the scope. personalities who were mentioned twice. but in dfferent textbooks were included. The total number of biogaphical figres listed on the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument was forty-eiglt. Students were asked to mark the'r level of knowledge about each of the forty-sign biogaphical figures as the names were read aloud to the students by a person trained to administer the instruments. Choices of knowledge level included. “Don't Know”. 'Hewd the Name. but Don't 59 Know". and "I Know“. To check the students' knowledge. students who checked the knowledge level. "I Know“. were instructed to write a brief description identifying the biogaphical figure. At the end of the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument students were asked to list the five biogaphical figures they would most like to read about; however. the'r choices were limited to the forty-sign personalities included in this instrument. After an examination of the frst two instruments completed by the students. a list of eight biogaphical figures was selected from the Text- Driven Preference Instrument. The selected figures were the persons chosen mom often by students as those they wanted to read about. In edition. the eight figures represented seven of the ten possible categories of biogaphical figures; some of the selected figures fit into more than one category. Two of the six claswooms were selected to complete the Open- Ended Writing Instrument. After the frst two instruments were administered. this resewcher souglt volunteers among the six pwticipating teachers to extend their classes“ pwticipation into the final stage: the two teachers selected were the frst two to volunteer their 60 students. Each of the classes was instructed to write questions about four dfferent biogaphical figures. One class wrote about sports stw. Babe Ruth; world political leader. Adolf Hitler; scientist. Thomas Edson; and creative wtist. ka Twain. The second class wrote about militwy leader. George Washington; U. S. political leader. John F. Kennedy; scientist. Neil Armstrong; and minority figure. Jackie Robinson. Students were told the names of the figures they Would be writing about the day before the question writing period. Students were instructed to think about all aspects of each subject's life. and then indcate with questions what information they wanted to know about each figure. Because of the advance notice about the suubjects they would write questions about. the students were allotted only ten minutes to write questions about each biogaphical figure named above; all students seemed able to complete the'r questions before the time was up. The students' questions about each of these biogaphical suubjects were tallied. The questions were then categorized. A set of sixteen generic questions was created. If the same question was asked about six of the eiglt biogaphical figures. that question became pwt of the generic list. Other questions . specific to the indvidual figure. were included on another list. The specific and generic question lists for Thomas Edson were added to the content analysis discussed later in this chapter. so that an inter-rater reliability could include a judgment about the extent to which 61 the students' questions were answered in selected. biogaphical sketches taken from collective biogaphies about him. Trained readers and the resewcher evaluated these collective biogaphies to determine whether questions were answered fully. pwtially. or not at all. Those results were tallied to answer the fourth resewch question. and the process was repeated by the resewcher with the other seven selected biogaphical figures. In order to assess the text taken from the textbooks and the sketches taken from the collective biogaphies. this resewcher designed a Biogaphical Analysis Instrument containing criteria for evaluating collective biogaphies. Criteria for evaluating collective biogaphies were geaned from ttree major textbooks inducing: (1) Wm: intbLElamemarLSclml by Huck. Helper and Hickman. (2) m ; by Norton. and (3) W by Sutherland. Monson and Arbuthnot. Each of these texts reflects a common criteria for evaluation of chilwen's books and is used widely in college childen's literature courses throughouut the country. Seven weas of evaluation were established including: (1) the authenticity of the facts. (2) the backgound information about the setting and era. (3) the theme. (4) the chwacterization. (5) the span of the life 62 covered. (6) the illustrations. and (7) the intended audience. The Biogaphical Analysis Instrument. including the criteria for evaluation. the students' generic questions. specific questions about Thomas Edison. and six of the most recent sketches about Thomas Edson were read by four trained readers and the resewcher. The trained readers included two children's librwians in a lwge county librwy serving the twget school detrict and two instructors in chilwen's literature. The raters and the resewcher read the sketches and rated them using the instrument desigled for the study. It was ageed that the ratings would be reliable at the .70 level. After the inter-rater reliability was done and an acceptable reliability established. the resewcher rated the other sketches and text passages to answer the fifth resewch question. THE SAMPLE SELECTED FOR THE STUDY The school dstrict selected for study is located in the lwgest city in mideastern Michigan. about 60 miles northeast of Detroit. The school system is incorporated, covering a lwge geogaphic wea and inducing several surrounding small towns and townships as well as the city itself. The dslrict ranks fourteenth in size in the State of Michigan with over 12.000 students and 600 teachers. The elementwy school enrollment totaled 6.151 for the 1989-1990 school yew; the district is composed of th'rteen elementwy schools (gades K throug'l 5) with populations in each school varying from 228 63 to 771 students. There we four intermedate schools (gades 6 through 8) with a total population of 2,507 students based on 1989-1990 figures. There we two class A higl schools with a total population of 3,378 students. (Class A hig'l schools we size designations and mean that a school has over 1.000 students in gades 912.) Based on income. education and employment the dstrict offers a diverse population. Five of the-elementwy schools we “cut of formula“ schools. that is. they receive no additional funds from the government to support addtional progams for needy child'en because there is not a high enougr percentage of low income childen in the attendance wea to merit such federal funding. The other eigut elementwy schools receive Title I funds. government money to support schools with a high incidence of low income families. In these schools populations ranging from 19.25 percent to 49 percent have low incomes. Tires of the four intermediate schools also receive Tltle l monies. inducing the twget school which serviced 108 students during the 1989-1990 school yew. The intermedate school selected for the study had an enrollment of 518 students during the 1989-1990 school yew with 21 percent coming from low income families. The school is located in the city and has two main elementwy feeder schools. thougu the school has other elementwy school representation due to movement within the district. Some students also transferred to the school from other school districts and local pwochial schools. The buildng had 33 teachers during the last 64 school yew inducing the six. gade six teachers involved in the study. The intermedate school was selected for the study because it offered the most civerse population of students from all socioeconomic backgounds. The subjects for the study were six heterogeneously gouped gade six social studies claswooms. The six gade six classrooms at the twget school we basicwa self-contained. thougt indvidual teachers do per up and switch classes for some subjects. All but one of the classes received social studes instruction from the'r regulw claswoom teacher. One of the six teachers involved in the study taugtt two sections of social studes. Therefore. all students received social studes instruction from the teachers involved in the study . The six classes provided a total of 168 possible students. 77 boys and 91 g’rls. A total of 165 students were administered the first instrument. One hund'ed and fifty-eight students completed the second instrument. A total of 155 students. sixty -eiglt boys and eiglty-seven g'ls. completed both instruments. The N number used for calculations was 155. as students who were absent for administration of one of the instruments were eliminated from the study. In add'tion. 51 students from two of the classrooms involved in the study completed the th'rd open-ended question writing instrument about the selected biogaphical figures. 65 THE PROCEDURES USED TO ELICIT INFORMATION Before the resewch was initiated. the resewcher met with the assistant superintendent and explained the proposed plans for the study. He recommended the study be conducted in the school that offered the most dverse population of students. Next. the principal of the twget school was contacted and a similw familiwization with the proposed resewch was dscussed and letters detailing the study for pwents along with pwmission forms for the students' pwticipation were examined and discussed. The principal at the twget school made the initial contact with his gade six faculty; the resewcher then met with this faculty goup. It was ageed that the first two instruments. The Category Preference Instrument and the Text-Driven Preference Instrument would be administered on two consecutive days . Because the resewcher is a full time teacher in another school in the derict. it was necesswy to his an indvidual to administer the frst two instruments. Based on the principd's recommendation. a certified teacher who frequently substituted in the twget school was selected. In addtion to his credentials as a teacher. the person h'red was a local ”celebrity”. familiw to many of the students because of his position as a pitcher on The Baltimore Orioles baseball team. He has excellent rapport with the students and the staff. and it was thought that his position as a 66 professional athlete would be an asset to a study examining interest in reading biogaphies. The resewcher met with the selected data collector a week before the scheduled work in the school. At this time the purpose of the study. the procedres for administration of the two instruments. namely the Category Preference Instrument and the Text-Driven Reference Instrument. and the schedule for administration were explained. Special emphasis was placed on the procedures for administration based on the results of the pilot study. For instance. instructions to explain all the categories on the study before passing out the instrument were reiterated. The data collector was reminded to make sure he instructed the students to think about the ten categories they had aready prioritized before writing down the names of persons they migtt want to read about. He was also instructed about how to assign student numbers to each response form to assure anonymity of each student. The two instruments were administered by the data collector on two consecuutive days. Completed instruments were returned to the resewcher for analysis. From the initial analysis. eiglt personalities were selected for use on the third instrument. The Open-Ended Writing Instrument was then administered to two gade six classes by the resewcher with the help of the two classroom teachers involved. The classroom teachers spoke to the'r classes. the day before administration of the Open-Ended Writing Instrument and told them the four biogaphical 67 figures they would be writing about. They were g'ven basic information about the people they would be writing questions about in case they had no knowledge about the indviduals. They were instructed to think about the kinds of things they would like to know about the indviduals in prepwation for the writing instrument to be administered the next day. The Open-Ended Writing Instrument was administered the next day by the resewcher. Students were well prepwed for the question writing exercise and the classroom teachers had already coded the instruments with student numbers. For each of the four personalities in each class. students were g'ven ten minutes to list the'r questions. If students finished before the allotted time. they were instructed to sit quietly until the time exp'red. After all four question writing periods had been completed. the instruments were collected by the resewcher. the questions for each personality categorized. and generic and specific question streets developed for further analysis. THE PILOT STUDY The pilot study was conducted in one gade six claswoom at an intermedate school in the twget district. The intermedate school chosen for the pilot study was not in the same school scheduled for the study. The purpose of the pilot study was to establish the validty and reliability of the instruments and procedres to be used in the study. The 68 resewcher met and dscussed the pilot study with the claswoom teacher and three dates for administration of the instruments were determined. Each instrument was administered on a dfferent day. The Category Reference Instrument was g‘ven to twenty-five students. fifteen g'is and ten boys. After a brief introduction describing the purpose of the pilot study and explaining what the fist instrument was desigued to measure. the actual instruments were dstributed and student numbers were assigled. The fret three questions on gender. reading frequency of biogaphies. and gender preference for biogaphical figures were read together and mwked. Next. the resewcher explained each of the ten biogaphical categories and answered any questions the students had. For example. students wanted to know if they could choose more than five categories (The response was. "No. that only the frst five choices will be tallied"). They also asked if they could choose less than five categories if they were only interested in three of the categories (The response was. ”Yes.” althougl none chose less than five). The students were then asked to choose the five categories they most wanted to read about and prioritize those choices by mwking (1) beside their fret choice. (2) beside the'r second choice. etc. When all students were finished with this section of the instrument they were asked to list the names of up to ten personalities they miglt want to read about in a biogaphy. They were instructed to name persons they were interested in reading about and were not limited in anyway. Again the students asked questions 69 before beg'nning. These questions included. “Does spelling count?" (The response was. “No. sound the words out the best you can“). and ”What happens if you don't know the person we write down?“ (The response was. “Every attempt will be made to identify the persons you write down") After administering the Category Preference Instrument. the resewcher noted several points that would improve responses in the actual study. These points were then included in the training of the data collector in the study. First. the students' questions were automatically incorporated into the introductory instructions for completing the instrument. Secondy. students were so eager to choose their categories during the pilot study that many of them completed their choices before all the categories were dscuesed. Special cwe was taken during this explanation to describe the types of persons that fit each category without mentioning specific names. Students were cautioned not to mention names aloud. They were. however. allowed to ask the resewcher privately if a specific person fit into a category. This was done on an indvidual basis. while they were working on the instrument. Finally. because the d’ections for prioritizing the five categories with numbers from 1 to 5 had not been clear. or because students were not listening. some students put checks by their categories. Most mistakes were cauglt while students were working; however. two completed surveys were turned in with only checks in the categories and had to be omitted 70 from this pwt of the study. To avoid confusion during completion of the Category Reference Instrument. the data collector was trained to g‘ve an oral presentation of the categories using either the blackbowd or an overhead projector before the instruments were detributed. The data collector was also taugut how to model the prioritizing of the categories. In the last segment of the Category Reference Instrument. which asked the students to list up to ten people they migtt want to read abouut. students were encouraged to look at the categories they had just prioritized to help them think about personalities they miglt want to include on their lists. In the pilot study the Category Reference Instrument showed that gade six students preferred entertainers. creative artists and sports figures when all five of each student's choices were considered. World political figures. US. political figures and militwy leaders were chosen least often. The percentages of students who chose each category we as follows: entertainers (92 percent). creative wtists (80 percent). sports figures (76 percent). and scientists (64 percent). explorers and pioneers (44 percent). minority figures (49 percent). militwy leaders (32 percent). US. political figures (28 percent), and world political figures (20 percent). No students listed persons in the “Others“ category. These percentages indcate the number of students who chose each category as one of the'r five choices. For instance. although 49 percent of the students chose the minority figures category. no students 71 chose this as the'r f’rst or second choice. while only one student selected it as a third choice. Though entertainers was chosen by twenty-three of the twenty-five students. only fourteen chose entertainers as their first choice. Those fourteen votes. however. made the entertainer category the frst place favorite as well as the overall preferred category. Figure 3.1 shows Table 3.1 Summwy of Category References: Pilot Study .——_——————p—————-—r——— careeonv air"? .33". ”m to... 1. CreativeArtlete '4 93x 6 sex 20 sex 2. Erlertahers ls uoox e on: 23 93:4 3. PloneersandExplolere e 40: 5 so: 11 44x ‘1- “MW 1 7x 7 70x e 32: 5. Mlnorly Flgules 5 34: 5 5“ ,0 «ms 6. Scientists '3 so: 3 so: 16 six 7. SportsFlgueee 11 73x 0 Box 19 76% l 8. U.S. PolIblLeaders e 4qu I to: 7 23: I 9. WorldPoIlcalLeaders 4 27,. I to: 5 20: 10. Others (mecly) 0 our II or o ox 72 the category preferences of students involved in the pilot study. The figure provides totals by gender as well as a total for each category. The Category Reference dd offer some minor dfferences between the genders. Entertainers was the most populw category of both boys and the w‘ls with 100 percent (15) of the 9'18 and 80 percent (8) of the boys choosing that category as one of the'r top five choices. The creative wtist category was second in the rankings with 80 percent (20) of the students selecting the category. However. only 60 percent (6) of the boys selected this category while 93 percent (14) of the g'rls indicated an interest in this field. The sports figures category was chosen by 80 percent (8) of the boys and 73 percent (11) of the g'rls. Althougl 87 percent (13) of the g'ls chose scientists as one of the'r top five choices. only 30 percent (3) of the boys chose scientists. The most pointed dfference though. involved militwy leaders; 70 percent (7) of the boys said they would like to read about militwy leaders while only one girl. or 7 percent. chose this category. US. political leaders was not a populw choice for either boys or grls. although 40 percent (6) of the girls chose this category while only one boy (10 percent) made it one of his selections. Little interest was shown in world leaders by either gender with only 27 percent (4) of the die and 10 percent (1) of the boys choosing this category. 73 Table 3.2 Biogaphical Categories by Choices: Pilot Study category first second third fourth fifth TOTAI GIRLS BOYS creative wtist: 5 6 2 4 3 20 14 6 entertainers I4 6 I 2 0 ‘ 23 15 8 surplwerslploneers l 2 3 2 3 1 1 6 5 military leaders 0 3 2 1 2 B 1 7 minority figures 0 0 1 4 5 1o 5 S sdentistsllrwentors I 0 7 3 5 16 13 3 sports figures 3 6 3 6 1 19 1 I 8 US. political lasers 0 0 3 I 3 7 6 1 world political leaders 0 1 2 1 1 5 4 1 others 1 1 1 l 1 5 0 I Despite some gender preferences in category selection. 88 percent (22) of the students ageed that they would rather read about both men and women as opposed to selecting a specific gender. Only 12 percent (2 boys and 1 girl) indicated they would prefer to read specifically about men. No students said that they wanted to read just about female biogaphical figures. 74 Table 3.3 Gender References for Biogaphical Subjects: Pilot Study GENDER mementos GIRLS sovs - roruuu I‘IEN . I 2 :5 women 0 o 0 com new AND women 14 o 22 In consort with ewlier studies examined in the review of literature. biogaphy does not seem to be populw with young readers as compwed with other genres. Only one g'l (4 percent) acknowledged frequent reacting of biogaphies. Eig'lt students. four boys and four g'is. indcated that they read biogaphies "sometimes“. accounting for 32 percent of the class. Ten students (40 pwcent) said they seldom read biogaphies. while six students (24 percent) admitted that they never read biogaphies. Even thougl students migtt choose other genres if they had the chance. 76 percent (19) have had experience readng biogaphies either by choice or as assigned work. 75 Figure 3.1 Student Indcated Frequency of Biogaphical Readng: Pilot Study Biography Reading Frequency .eseeeeeeem€d€d¢€€ddd€€d€€€€€ oceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee wwwwwwwww???????¥????¥?338€d Illlll'l'lll III ..... ................,..‘. eeeeeeeeeflfifififififififififi flfififlfififififififl .....................a O vOOOOOWI TOTAL GIRLS BOYS m nu IL E Ru 8 ISOMETII'IES EEIOFTEN When students had free reigl to choose any person they would like to read about. the list gleaned from their choices was lwge and diversified. The twenty-five students respondng to the Category Reference Instrument named a total of one hunded seven (107) different persons they thougut would be of interest. From this total. only twenty of the figures (19 percent) were named more than once with only 76 nineteen of those true biogaphical subjects; two students expressed an interest in readng a biogaphy about Moby Dick. The current rock goup. New Kids on the Block. was mentioned most often with six students (24 percent) selecting the goup. George Washington. Thomas Edson. Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy were each listed by five students (20 percent). Three more pOpulw teen idols includ'ng singer. Debbie Gibson; television stw. Alyssa Milano; and lead singer of Kiss. Alice Cooper. all were mentioned by four students (16 percent). Listed by three dfferent students (12 percent) were pop singer. Tiffany; the rock goup. Skid Row; and basketball stw. Michael Jordan. Rounding out the list of personalities who were listed twice. or by 8 percent of the students. were Chad Allen. Motley Crue. Jasmine Guy. Isiah Thomas. thin Luther King. Edwin Ald'in. Hulk Hogan. and George Bush. When students ranked the categories of biogaphical figures they would most like to read about. entertainers was the category they clewly favored. The figures the students identified in the free choice component of the Category Reference Instrument indicated that this was the top choice with forty-six of the names listed. or 43 percent of the total. Except for the students' pwtiality towwd entertainers. there was little similwity between the categories they chose and the name of the individuals they listed that they would like to read about. For instance. US. political leaders ranked in eiglth place with only 20 percent (5) of 77 the students selecting this category. However. on the open selection. US. political leaders were listed twenty times with Kennedy. Lincoln and Table 3.4 Biogaphical F igures Listed by Pilot Study Pwticipants Davy Crockett Roger Craig Eve Bunting Lewis and Clark Jose Conseco Helen Keller Kirk Gibson f‘tad l'lagazlne creator Hulk Hogan (2) ”“3”- Ulyssee S. Grant Mark Jackson Shel Sllversteln Theodore Roosevelt Michael Jordan (3) V'“Ce“’-V3"G°9h George Washington (5) Jerry Rice M Dennis ROdman W Babe Ruth Aerosmith Bobby Brown Isiah Thomas (2) Chad Allen (2) Jose Conseco ' Steven TYIel“ Roseanne Barr J. J. Fad i‘like Tyson Bobby Brown Michael Jordan (3) Hershel Walker Kirk Cameron Martin Luther King (2) Spud Webb Cars Chief Pontiac Steve Yzerman Alice Cooper (4) Dennis Rodman J.J. Fad Isiah Thomas (2) Michael J. Fox Mike Tyson stggzssgfgrfazgt Debbie Gibson (4) Hershel Walker John F. Kennedy (5) GU95 and R05” SW“ Webb Abraham Lincoln (5) Jasmine Guy (2) Ronajd Reagan C°"°Y "3"“ M1515- Theodore Roosevelt B"IY J0“ Edwin Aldrin (2) George Washington (5) "018"“ Nell Armstrong Alyssa Milano (4) Thomas Edison (5) W Motley Crue (2) Orville and Wilbur wright New Edition Queen Elizabeth New Kids on the Block (6) Fred Savage 9.1113125 Skid Row (3) Sylvester Stallone Moby Dick (2) Arnold Swartzenager Tiffany (3) John Wayne ( ) denotes number of times listed If more than once 78 Washington among the most populw choices. These selections accounted for 19 percent of the total number of persons listed on the open selection portion of the instrument. ranking it second in popularity rather than eighth. Sports figures ranked third with 18 percent (19) of the total number of personalities listed. Only three personalities. Hulk Hogan. Michael Jordan and isiah Thomas were mentioned more than once. Minority figtres received twelve mentions accounting for 14 percent of the total number listed. It must be noted. however. that most of the minority figures listed were also counted in the rankings of the other categories as well. The other category totals included scientists with nine listings (8 percent). military leaders with seven mentions (7 percent). creative artists with six figures (6 percent) listed. explorers and pioneers and the other category both with two listings (2 percent). One student expressed an interest in world political leaders by listing Queen Elizabeth. It should be noted that the category totals do not equal 100% because some of the individuals were counted in two categories. George Washington. for example. was counted as a militwy leader and a US. political figtre. and all the figures listed in minority figures with the exception of Martin Luther King were counted in either the entertainer or sports category as well. King was not counted as a US political figure because he never held public office. With such obvious discrepancy between students' categorical preferences and the figures they identified in the free choice component 79 of the Category Preference Instrument. it was necessary to compare students' preference choices from the predetermined list of categories with the figtres they listed. This examination revealed that 40 percent of the class. or ten of the students. listed a person from their first category choice on the first section of the instrument as their first choice on the open selection portion of the instrument . Another for students. or 16 percent. listed a personality from the'r first category preference in the open selection portion of the instrument. but that person was not listed first on their list in the free choice component. These two goups. accounting for 56 percent of the class. were consistent in their choice of category and biographical figures representing that category. Eight students (32 percent) failed to include any figue from their preferred category on the predetermined list. In addition. one of the students failed to prioritize the categories and could not be included in this analysis. while two students listed no specific figues on the instrument. The fact that three of the most mentioned figures. George Washington. Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. are US political figures. the students' ninth category choice is interesting. When students were asked to list people they wanted to read about. several of the participants struggled to list biogaphical figures. Even with the categories listed on the other side of the paper. names of individuals did 80 Table 3.5 Correlation of Students' Categories With Personalities: Pilot Study ll of students F 'rst category [personality match 10 personality match! not f'rst listed 4 no match 6 Total students 25 %of students 40 96 16 96 32 % 100% not come easily to some students. in theText-Driven Preference instrument. students had no trouble listing the five figtres they would most want to read about. The most common question in this instrument was whether they could list more than five. The Text-Driven Preference Instrument was given a week after the Category Preference instrument. This instrument consisted of a list of forty-eight of the most frequently mentioned biographical figures from the fifth gade subject matter textbooks adopted for use in the d'strict. After a brief explanation of the instrument along with an explanation of how the names on the list were determined. the instruments were dstributed and coded with student number and feeder school codes. The researcher 81 then read each name on the list aloud. allovln'ng time for students to check the box that matched the'r personal knowledge of the subject. Students were instructed to check “Don‘t Know“ if they had no knowledge of the person and could not remember hearing the name. Students who had heard the name before but could not identify the individual were instructed to main the column. THeu'd the Name. but Don‘t Know". Students who could identify the person when the name was read were instructed to check the column 'I Know“ and to write a phrase to identify - that individual. All forty—sign names were read and instruments were mwked. On the second part of the Text-Driven Preference instrument. students were instructed to look back over the list of the forty-eight biographical figtres and choose the five indviduals they would most like to read about from the list. Students were then given about ten minutes to make their selections. Questions generated from this portion of the instrument included. "Do we have to know about the people if we put them down. or can we just list them if they sounded interesting?“ (The response was. “You may list someone who you don't know who sounds interesting"). ”Can we put down more than five names?” (The response was. ”No. only the first five names will be included in the results"). and "Can we put down less than five names if we are only interested in two of them?" (The response was. “Yes. you may list less than five if you are only interested in two or three indviduals.") 82 Twenty-six students completed the second instrument. Students who dd not complete both instruments were not eliminated in the pilot study because the main purpose was to test the validty of the procedures and instruments; therefore. the larger sampling was more important than the actual results. Students had no dfiiculty with the Text-Driven Preference Instrument. although the researcher had to tell several students to write more complete responses in the “i know' column. For instance. several had identified Queen lsabella with the one word descriptor. “Queen”. The students were told they had to tell more about her to get credit such as what country she ruled or what she had done. Many listed her as the Queen of England and their incorrect responses were coded under the “head the name but don't knoW" column. Other incorrect responses were similarly coded. The results of the Text-Driven Preference instrument indicated that the knowledge students had about the forty-sign biogaphical figures was dverse; two students. able to identify twenty-seven of the figures on the list. were most knowledgeable. while three students were only able to correctly identify six of the forty-sign personalities. The average number of biogaphical figures from the list of forty-eight in the Textbook- Driven Preference Instrument that pilot students could identity was 14.5: the medan score was fifteen correct responses. The selection of biogaphical figures for the open selection portion of the Textbook-Driven Reference instrument was much easier for 83 Student Number Feeder School— TEXT -DRIVEN PREFERENCE INSTRUMENT Please mwk the category that best fits you knowledge as each name is read aloud. If you mad: the column that says 'I Know-Desaibe'. please write a few itwordsabout that person explaining who they «a andlor what they we known or. 84 Now list up to five names from this list indoeting who you would most like to read about. Please do not list persons who we not on this list. 1. 9‘95”.” 85 students. Only three of the students listed less than five indviduals; three other students listed more than five names despite the fact that they had been told that only the'r f'rst five choices would count. The pilot study Figure 3.2 Students' Ability to identify Biogaphical Personalities: Pilot Study 0 F 13- number know * heard of i don't know g so ~ H ; 2° “ "A it i ’I i ‘ ""e‘€\_‘a '3 I D I O I '0 _ " v n a u I 0 1 1 1 1 1_/' 0 5 l0 IS 20 25 students students indcated an interest in th'rty-four of the forty-sign Wble figures; fourteen of the personalities were not listed by any of the 8 6 Table 3.6 Pilot Study Students' Selection of Personalities from the Textbook-Driven instrument: Numbe :1 Personality Personality Select ".3 Thomas Edison Elizabeth Blackwell John F. Kennedy Warren E. Burger Babe Ruth merge Washington Carver Samuel de Champlain Jackie Robinson Bartholomew Dies James Madison Adolf Hitler Sandra Day O'Connor Sacajawea Theodore Roosevelt George Washington William Howard Taft t Orville Wright Edwin Aldrin Mark Twain Jacques Cartier Hernando Cortes Neil Armstrong Dwight Eisenhower Benjamin Franklin Alexander Fleming Ulywes S. Grant Henry Hudson Abraham Lincoln Francis Scott Kay Ronald Reagan Robert E. Lee Charles Lindberg Louis Armstrong James Monroe Vesco Balboa Oliver Hazard Perry Christopher Columbus Franklin Roosevelt Queen Isabelle Junipero Sara 0 Paul Revere Alan Shepard Patrick Henry Thomas Jefferson Montezuma Harriet Tubman Ell Whitney Wilbur Wright students. Scientist. Thomas Edsen. former President. John F. Kennedy. and baseball legend. Babe Ruth garnered the most interest. They each were chosen by ten students (38 percent). Jackie Robinson. the first Black baseball player allowed to play in the major leagues. was selected by eight students (31 percent). Four personalities were selected by 23 percent (6) of the students including German leader. Adolf 87 Hitler; Sacajawea, the lnd'an guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition; George Washington. f'rst President of the United States. and flight pioneer. Orville Wrigit. Ma’k Twain. popula' American humorist and author was selected by five students (19 percent). Astronaut. Neil Armstrong and US. political leaders Benjamin Franklin. Ulysses S. Grant. Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan were all selected by 15 percent (4) of the students. Most students. however. identified Franklin for his role as an inventor rather than as a statesman. Louis Armstrong. Vasco Balboa. Christopher Columbus. Queen lsabella and Paul Revere were found among the most interesting to three students (12 percent). Six biogaphical figures were chosen by two students (8 percent) including Patrick Henry. Thomas Jefferson. Montezuma. Harriet Tubman. Eli Whitney and Wilbur Wrig'it. Elizabeth Blackwell. Waren E. Buger. George Washington szer. Samuel de Champlain. Batholomew Dias. James Madson. Sande Day O'Connor. Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft were all chosen by one student (4 percent). Students' ability to identify biogaphical personalities also varied geatly. While Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan were correctly identified by all the students. thiteen of the figures could not be identified by any of the pilot participants. Complete information on identification of the figures can be reviewed in Table 3.7. Students' Identification of Biogaphical Subjects: Pilot Study 88 Table 3.7 ill in m g S g m 2 3 2 e- i- a- a- >- 3: 5 z a E 2 E 2 l” l- I“ l- “ 1.1.1 l- III-I l- E z E E E z o 2 Es gm 5“ Abraham Lincoh Ulysses S. Grant RonaldReagah 26 100% Paul Revere 6 23% ChristopherColunbus mrm 5 19% John F. Kemdy W W as 95% nae-n E. Lee 4 15% Vaaco Babea Thomas Edison 23 east. Sacajawea 22 as? wrllam i-lcwardTaft 3 12% Babe Bah James Madison Ell warm 2 8% Thomas Jefferson Louis Amlstreng Benjamin Franklin George Washlngon Carver Theodore Redeem Francis Scott Key 4% Orville wriglll wmwm '3 50* Elizabeth seem Warren E. Burger SamueldeCharnplakl 12 46% Hemando Cones Bartholomeleae mm Mammal; 19 3511 Patrick Henry Neil Armstrong 9 35% Queen Iaabelh Merl-run cranesng Molliezuna Jacques Cartier 7 27% Sandra DayO'Connor l-ienry i-hrdaon Olver Hazard Perry Junbero Serra Ahn Shepard 0 095 After the first two instruments were tallied. the researcher returned to the pilot class for the administration of the Open-Ended Writing Instrument. In order to select the figures used for inclusion in this 89 instrument. interest and knowledge about each of the biogaphical figtres in the second instrument was determined and three figures. Thomas Edson. John F. Kennedy and Babe Ruth. were selected as the figures for further study. These figlres were selected mod often as indviduals students said they would want to read about; they were also known to the majority of the students. The students pa'ticipating in the pilot study had no prior knowledge of the people about Whom they would be writing before the question writing exercise. This put the students at a deadvantage. as many students had difficulty coming up with questions without prior thought. From this experience it was determined that students should be told who they would be asked to write about the day before the question writing segment of the study. In addtion. the teachers involved in the study gave a brief synopsis of each selected figtre the day before to prepare students who were not familiw with the figlres. Even though the most often recomized and selected figures were chosen. there was often a substantial number of students in the class who were unable to identify those personalities on the Text-Driven Preference Instrument. THE CRITERIA USED FOR SELECTION OF THE LITERATURE Dtring the preliminary research it was dscovered that the study of collective biogaphies was difficult for several reasons. First. it 90 was found that there we far less collective biogaphies published each year than biogaphies about an individual. Of the 1300 titles garnered from a search of biogaphies published from 1976-1968. only 200 of them were collective biogaphies. In addition. a search of local libraries revealed that the 920 Dewey Decimal designation for collective biogaphies is not as regularly updated as other genres; often the collections contained only five or six titles published in the last ten years with the rest of the collection considerably older. A third limiting factor was the wide variety of collective biogaphies available. Some offered a twenty or thirty page comprehensive sketch of a personality. Most commonly. the collective biogaphy contained a two to five page overview of each indvidual presented in the book. Some offered a page or less in an encyclopedc listing of facts. After examining the possibilities. it was determined that literature for inclusion in this study would be chosen by selecting the most recent sketches available. thus providng a cross section of length and quality. and an indcation of the most recent trends in the genre. Despite the fact that the most recent selections were delineated for inclusion in the study. many of the articles selected were published more than ten years ago. After the eigwt personalities were selected for study. a complete bibliogaphy of all the collective biogaphies in which each individual was recorded was completed. The five most recently published sketches about each personality were then checked out of the library. 91 purchased. or ordered through inter-library loan. This was a difficult task because most of the titles were out of print despite the fact that the most recently published selections were chosen. but eventually all the books were obtained except two titles which could not be located even with the search of other libraries. Two of the books arrived from a library in Baton Rouge. Louisiana indicating that a thorough search was done. The two books that could not be obtained were then replaced with the next most recent publication. The most recent sketches about indviduals varied from personality to personality. The presidents included in the study were included in the most recent publications although updating often amounted to the addtion of the newest president. In order to obtain the five most recent sketches about Mark Twain. it was necessary to go back to the early 1970's. A comprehensive list of collective biogaphies about each of the eight biogaphical figlres is included in the appendx. as well as an annotated bibliogaphy of the collective biogaphies examined for this study. THE INSTRUMENT AND PROCEDURE USED FOR ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE SAMPLINGS Development of the instrument used for analysis of the literature samplings consisted of three phases. In phase one. criteria for 92 evaluating biogaphies was examined and seven areas of review were established. in the second phase. generic and specific questions about Thomas Edson were developed using the Open-Ended Writing Instrument completed by the students. Phase three of developing the instrument consisted of determining the degee of inter-rater reliability of the instrument to be used in the study. . The researcher developed the instrument in order to assess writing samples about biographical figues found in collective biogaphies and in fifth gade subject matter textbooks. The purpose of the instrument was two-fold. F'rst. the researcher wanted to examine the quality of the literatue samplings. The second ptrpose was to examine the content of the literattre samplings to determine if the information child'en expressed an interest in knowing was available in either the collective biogaphy sketches or in the subject matter textbooks. Statements in the criteria section of the instrument were developed using professional literatue and related research in the field of childen's literattre and the genre of biogaphy. This material is dscussed in detail in Chapter ll of this study. From this research seven areas of review were designed that allowed the researcher to examine theme. characterization. setting. illustrations. authenticity and the intended audence of each selection. A forr point scale was developed for each area. each point defining a specific quality. For instance. in the area of authenticity of the facts. the scale asked persons using the instrument to 93 delineate among sketches that provided source notes and a bibliogaphy. those that included ciect quotations. those that seemed factual but contained no quotations and souce notes. and those with obvious discrepancies in the factual information. In addtion to the seven criteria items desig'led for the instrument. the researcher compiled the questions that childen asked about each of the selected biogaphical figu’es. Diring compilation it was discovered that students had similar questions about all the biogaphical figures as well as specific questions about a particulu indvidual. A set of sixteen generic questions was determined; these questions were asked of at least six of the eiglt biogaphical figues selected for the question writing phase of the study. It was determined that these questions were of interest to students about all the biogaphical figu'es they read about. Those questions which were asked about less than six of the biogaphical figtres were also compiled for each of the eig'lt biogaphical figtres after the questions sheet concerning Thomas Edison had been evaluated by the raters to determine inter-rater reliability. There was no set number of specific questions determined for each figure; the number depended on the interest of the students who wrote the questions. A three pat scale was designed to measure the deg'ee to which each generic and specific question was answered. The rater was to judge whether each of the childen's questions was answered fully. in 94 part. or not at all. Raters were encouraged to comment on any of the'r ratings. but they were not requ'red to do so. in addtion. each sketch that the raters evaluated contained a cover sheet that allowed the rater to make general comments about each article. E | I' | . II I -B I Four raters ageed to score the instrument in order to establish ag'eement that a samplings of sketches scored by the researcher was in ag'eement with the scores obtained by the raters. The four raters selected had experience working with childen as well as knowledge about child'en's literature. Two of the raters have degrees in library science and work as child'en's and young adult librarians at a large county library. The third rater has been a high school and college English teacher and is curently teaching composition and childen's literature at a local community college. The fouth rater is curently an assistant professor teaching childen's literatlIe and language arts classes at a state university. The raters were indviduaily given a folder containing six sketches about Thomas Edson from the following collective biogaphies: Reggie; AflsngLgLQlL‘flma. Gallery Press. 1986; MW Facts on F ile. 1979; WWW Wm Plait and Munk Publishers. 1973; Wen WW Julian Messner. 1987; him 95 INSTRU‘IENT ANALYSIS OF SELECTED COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY AND TEXTBOOK SELECTIONS PART I: (Select the appropriate number) ( ) l. Authenticity of facts I . The facts are dicumented with blbl logrephy and source notes. 2. There are no bibliography and/or source notes. but the author includes direct quotations. 3. The facts worn to be authentic. but no bibliography. source notes or direct quotations are used 4. There is an obvious discrepancy in the facts. or wrong information is given when compared with other articles. . Background Information I. A clear picture of where and when the subject lived ls presented important historlcai events or‘ the period . unrelated to the subject's accomplishments. are also presented to help establish a time frame. 2. A clear picture of where and when the subject lived is presented. however. only historical events related to the subject's accomplishments are presented. 3. Major facts about the subject are presented. but little attention is given to where and when the subject lived. 4. No dates are Included. and there is no Indication of the setting In which the subject lived. . Manipulation of facts to fit a chosen theme There appears to be no theme. There appears to be a unifying theme. but It is Inferred rather than spelled out in the title of the sketch. The theme appears in the title of the sketch. The theme appears in the title and is repeated more than three times in the sketch. :M" N.- . Characterization I . The subject is multl-dimentional. including the subject's accomplishments as well as weaknesses. 2.. Few If any faults in character are indicated. but the reader is given a fairly complete picture of the ~aubject. in contrast. if the person is infamous. few if any positive qualities are given. 3. Only the subject‘s mmplishments are discussed; the tone Is so Iaudatory that the character does not seem real. 4. This is not a character sketch. but merely a listing of facts. No character development is attempted. . Extent of life covered I. All portions of the subject's life is given attention; the author doesn't concentrate on one aspect. Many anecrbtes bring the subject to life. 2. The subject's entire life is covered. but the author concentrates on one portion of the subject's life. Some anecdotes may be included. 3. The subject's entire life is covered. but coverage is sketchy with no anecdotes included. Only facts and major accomplishments are included 4 . Only a portion of the subject‘s life is presented ( to. birth to teen years on iy). 96 I )6 illustrations ()7. 2. 3. 4. The illustrations reflect and extend the text. Captions supply additional information that is not included in the body of the article. The illustrations reflect and extend the text. but captions are absent or supply no additional information. The illustrations are misplaced and/or do not reflect the text. No illustrations are included Intended audience i . 2. This article is weighed for proficient readers. For example. sentence structure and vocabulary are complex; print is small and a column format is used. This article is designed for readers with some background knowledge or an interest in the subject. Some vocabulary may be difficult. but sentence structure is less complex. Print size is medium. and a column or full page format may be used. . This article is designed for younger or less proficient readers with little prior knowledge. Vocabulary and sentence structure are easy. Print size is large and a full page format is used. . This article is designed for those who are visually rather than text oriented. This article is a photographic essay. Text is limited to captions and brief remarks and is not of prime Importance. PART ii: (Select the appropriate level of coverage for each of the foliowmg generic questions.) answered fully ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( answered not in part answered ( ) ) I. When was the subject born? ( ) ( ) 2. Where was the subject born? ( ) ( ) 3. When did the subject die ( ii deceased)? ( ) ( ) 4. How did the subject die? ( ) ( ) 5. How old was the subject when he died? ( ) ( ) 6. Who were the subject's parents? ( ) ( ) 7. Did the subject have any brothers and sisters? ( ) ( ) 8. What was the subject's childhood like? ( ) ( ) 9. Did the subject have friends? ( ) ( ) I 0. What kind of education did the subject have? i ) ( ) I I. Did the subject like school? ( ) ( ) I2. How did the subject behave in school? ( ) ( ) I3. Did the subject marry? ( ) ( ) I 4. Did the subject have children? ( ) ( ) I5. Was the subject rich or poor? ( ) ( ) I6. What did the subject do to become famous? 97 Specific Questions about Edison I. Howdldhegetthename Thomas? anwered fully answered ml not answered 2. Did he like school? 3. What did he hate most? . Did he ever get beat up? 4 5. When he was young. did he Invent things or take them apart? . Didhehaveahorse? . Did Met rich from his Inventions? , 9 Did he flee from the Canadian Rebelligi? lo. ‘ ' 6 7. How many wives did he have? 8 What was his first job? Ii. When did he decide to be an inventor? i2. What were his most useful Inventions? 13. Did he have a lot of people working for him? 14. Did he sell the stuff he invented? 15. HOW did he invent the Iioi’ttbulb? 16. Was everyone impressed with his lightbuib? 17. How did he invent the Waph? i8. Did he have any special tools to make his inventions? 19. Did he ever have explosions? 20. How many years did it take him to invent all his projects? 98 Wind. T.S. Denison. 1973: and W Atheneum. 1984. Each rater‘s folder also included scoring instruments for each of the articles. They were instructed to score each article. Space for readers to write narative comments about each article as well as about each generic and specific question was given, thin narrative comments were not mandatory. The formula used to compute the inter-rater reliability of the instrument to be used in this study is: x .. it? where: X - the percentage of ageement. n - number. A . ageements. and V - variables. After the selections were rated. the researcher compared the responses of the raters with her own responses to each of the articles. The pirpose of this comparison was to ascertain the percentage of ag'eement that existed between the responses of the raters and the responses of the researcher. The following tables ( Tables 3.8 - 3.13) show the raw responses to each of the articles. Ageement is marked with (X); lack of ageement is marked with H for easier understanding. Raw responses with the number designations for each of the sketches 99 as available in the appendx. The last table (Table 3.14) shows the percentage of ageement between the researcher and the four raters. first for the indvidual articles and then as a compilation of all «tides. When considering all 258 items examined in the six sketches. this researcher found ageement to exist for 184 items or for 71 percent total ageement between her evaluation of the responses with the evaluation of the let: raters. There were no items showing less than 70 percent ageement between the researcher and the raters. Few areas of dsag'eement were revealed when it is considered that the instrument consisted of two hunded and fifty-eight items. Disagreements were scattered among diferent raters on different items and no pattern could be determined. except that total consensus was harder to obtain on the criteria items rather than the generic and specific questions. It should be noted that using articles about Thomas Edison provided-a unique challenge. Thomas Edson's boyhood home is the city used for the study. As a result. residents have a geat deal of prior knowledge about Edson that help them interpret information. Unfortunately. only two of the raters were local residents. thus putting the other raters at a cistinct dsadvantage. in addtion. raters had strong personal reactions to the sketches as evidenced by their anecdotal comments. 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CRITERIA - 7 ITEI‘IS 107 and the frat rater to a higt of .957 percent ageement between the researcher and the fourth rater. OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERIII Chapter III contained the design of the study. the sample selected for the study. the procedures used to elicit information from the sample. the pilot study to establish the validity and reliability of the instruments and procedures used in the study, the criteria used for selection of the literature examined. and the instrument and procedures used for analysis of the literature samplings. Chapter IV will examine the data analysis of each of the research questions included in the study. 108 CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF RESULTS In Chapter IV descriptive data we analyzed. These data were collected through two instruments completed by 155 gade six students in order to determine the'r preferences for particula biogaphical figues andlor categories of biogaphical figures. In addtion. this study examined fifth gade subject matter textbooks and selected collective biogaphies in order to determine what information is presented about selected biogaphical personalities in the two formats. Finally. a th'rd instrument asked childen to list mestions that they wanted to know about pa'tioulu biogaphical figtres. The'r responses were analyzed to determine if the information students want to know about paticula' biogaphical subjects can be found in either fifth gade subject matter textbooks or in collective biogaphies. Wm. Two instruments were used to gather information from a total of 68 boys and 87 g'ls. all gade six students at one intermedate school. The 109 first instrument. the Category Preference Instrument. asked students about the'r gender preferences and readng frequency in the genre of biogaphy. had childen prioritize categories of biogaphical figures they would most like to read about. and gave students an opportunity to list up to ten individuals they would choose to read about. The second instrument. the Text-Driven Preference Instrument. asked students to identify the mom commonly cited biogaphical figues from the'r fifth gade subject matter texts. This instrument also asked students to chose the five most interesting biogaphical figures from those most frequently cited in their textbooks. A th'rd instrument was administered to two of the six. gade six classrooms to examine further their interest in biogaphical subjects. Each class wrote questions about four biogaphical figues who were of interest to them; fou of the eidit personalities tugsted for ILflI'iU study were assimed to each class. The questions were compiled so they could be compared to the information found in selected collective biogaphies and the fifth gade subject matter textbooks. Phase II of developing the instrument involved establishing inter- rater ageement. The fol: raters who volunteered to pa'ticipate in determining the validty of the instrument were knowledgeable in the field of childen's literature and had experience working with child'en. In order to establish interrater ageement. the researcher selected one of the eight biogaphical figues to be studed more closely. The six most 110 recently published collective biogaphy sketches of that one person were chosen; six uticles were chosen rather than the five most recently published articles as established in the methodology because two articles both had a 1973 copyright. After the raters examined all six of the articles. one of the 1973 articles was eliminated from further examination in the study. The raters and the resewcher rated the papers with the instrument developed for the study. It was ageed that the ratings would be reliable at the .7 level. The tables listed in Chapter "I give the results of the percentage of ageement between the raters and the researcher. The lowest percentage of scoring between the raters and the resewcher was .71 percent; this occured only three times out of eighty-four total instances. The hig'test percentage of scoring between the resewch and the raters was 100 percent and this occured twenty times of the eigtty-fou' total instances. The mean percentage of ageement was 93 percent. The accumulated data obtained will be riscussed and analyzed througt an examination of each research question. The data was based only on those students who were present to complete both the Category Preference Instrument and the Text-Driven Preference Instrument. While the total population was n - 168. the number of students included in the study will be h - 155. which represents the total of the students who completed both instruments. Five major research westions were formulated to conduct the interpretation of the data. 111 BMW! For the erpose of this study. the resewcher looked at the following questions and sub-questions: 1. What biogaphical figues are portrayed in subject textbooks and in collective biogaphies? a. Are the same figtres featued in the subject matter textbooks. also written about in collective biogaphies? b. Are there collective biogaphies written about the figtres students say they would like to read about? 2. What categories of biogaphical figtres do gade six students want to read about? a. Is gender a consideration when choosing categories of biogaphical figtres or specific biogaphical figures? b. How frequently do six gade students choc“ to read about biogaphical figu'es? c. Do students’ perceived category preferences match the figtres in which they express an interest? 3. Which biographical figu'es do sixth gade students want to read about? a. Are the figtes students select. the same personalities found in the'r subject matter textbooks? b. Which textbook figu'es do sixth gade students find most interesting? 112 c. How much knowledge do sixth gade students have about the biogaphical figures mentioned in the’r subject matter textbooks? 4. Do collective biogaphies answer sixth gade students' questions about the most preferred biogaphical figues mentioned in the'r subject matter textbooks (is. vital statistics and personality traits) as indicated by the students in the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument? 5. What kind of treatment (i.e. depth. breadth. and style) of the biogaphical subjects is g’ven in the subject matter textbooks as compwed with the collective biogaphies? In order to addess this question, an extensive search through each of the gade five textbooks approved for use In the twget dstrlct was completed and a master list of all biogaphical figues included in those books was compiled. Table 4.1 provides the master list. 113 Table 4.1 Biogaphical Subjects Found in Fifth Grade Subject Matter Textbooks Biographical FIQUI‘CS F0000 in FIT"! Grade SUDJCCE flatter TCXLDOOKS ' John Adana ' Samuel Aderns " Jane Addams Emilio Aguinaldo ' Edwin Aldrin ' EIIIl'l Allen Ewhemia Allen l'lajor John Anderson ' Neil Armstrong ' Louis Armstrong ' Crispus Attucks ' Stephen Austin " Francis Bacon ' Vasco Balboa ' Benjamin Bemeker ' P.T. Barnum ' Rick Barry " Jim Backwoirth " Alexander Graham Bell John Berkeley - Larry and Black Kettle ' Elizabeth Blackwell Henry Blackwell Guy Bluford Jr. ' Daniel Boone John Wilkes Booth ' Bjorn Borg " Jim Bowie ' William Bradford " John Breckenridge " Jim Bridger Hoses Brown Robert Brown " Blanche Bruce ' Pearl Buck Buffalo Bird Woman Warren E. Burger ' John Btrgoyne " John Cabot ' Pedro Cabral Francois—Louis Cailler ' Cecillus Calvert ' George Calvert Karel Capek Al Capone ' Francis Cardoza ' Antew Carnegie ' William Carney ' Kit Carson ' Jlrnrny Carter George Carter-at ' Jacqies Cartier ' Alexander Cartwriwt ' Jack Dempsey ' Hernando DeSoto ' George Dewey " Bartholomew Dias ' Joe Dif‘laggio Abner Doubleday ' Frederick Douglass " EL. Drake ' George Washington Carver" Sir Francis Drake ' Carrie C. Catt ' Eugene Cernen ' Henry Chadwick Deborah Champion " Samuel de Charnplaln " King Charles I ' King Charles ii ' Salmon Chase ' Cesar Chavez Connie Chung ' Winston Churchill " George Rogers Clark ' William Clark ' Henry Clay ' Grover Cleveland ' Ty Cobb ' Hertha Collins ' Michael Collins ' Christopher Columbus ' Henry Comstock ' James Cook ' Peter Cooper ' Charles Cornwallis ' Francisco Coronado ' Hernando Cortes ' Jacques Cousteau " Crazy Horse ' Davy Crockett ' Harte Curie ' George A Custer Virginia Dare ' Lydia Darragh ' Benjamin Davis ' Jefferson Davis Jane Davis ' Sam Davis William Dawes " Charles Drew Alexander Duilap " John Baptiste DuSabIe ' Amelia Earhart ' Gertrude Ederle " Thomas Edison ' Dwight Eisenhower " Duke Ellington " Leif Ericsson " Julius Ervlng ' Estevanico ' King Ferdinand ' Geraldine Ferraro ' Rachel Field ' John Fitch ' Alexander Fleming ' Peggy F lemlng " Gerald Ford " Henry Ford " Benjamin Franklin ' Robert Frost i'lelvllle Fuller ' Robert Fulton Emile Gagnen Bernardo de Galvez ' Vasco da Gama ' Deborah Sampson Gannet " Greta Garbo ' William Lloyd Garrison ' General Horatio Gates ' Lou Gehrig ' King George lli Jonathon Gibbs ' John Glenn ' Jane Goodall ' William Gorgas ' Ulysses S. Grant ' Nathanael Greene ' Angelina Grimke Sarah Hale " Prince Hall Dennis Heller ' Alexander Hamilton ' Hannibal Hamlin ' John Hancock ' Nancy i‘lorgan Hart ' Rutherford Hayes ' Richard Henderson " Patrick Henry ' Prince Henry the Navigator ' Hiawatha " Wild Bill chkock ' Miguel Hldalgo Richard Hill " leohlto ' Adolf Hitler ' Olvete Culp Hobby ' Robert Hooks Thomas Hooker " Herbert Hoover ' Sam Houston General Oliver Howard ' William Howe " Henry Hudson " Charles Hughes ' Langston Hughes Sara 1'. Hughes " Anne Hutchinson Daniel lnouye ' mean lsabella ' Andrew Jackson ' Jesse Jackson " John Jay ' Thomas Jefferson Peter Jenkins ' Edward Jenner ' Andrew Johnson " fiery Catherine Goddard " Lyndon Johnson ' George Gothals " Samuel Gompers Commander Phillip Johnson Katherine Johnson 114 Table 4.1 (cont'd) ' James Weldon Johnson " Louis Jollet ' John Paul Jones ' Chief Joseph ' Baron de Kalb " John F. Kennedy Francis Scott Kay ' Martin Luther King ' Henry Knox " Thaddeus Kosciusko ' Pierre L'Enfant ' Marquis de Lafayette ' Robert de LaSalle ' Dr. Louis Leakey ' Richard Henry Lee ' Robert E. Lee 1' Anton von Leeuwenhoek ' Merlweather Lewis Green Liliuokalani ' Abraham Lincoln Nancy Lincoln Tom Lincoln ' Charles Lindberg " Robert Livingston Stephen Long Konrad Lorenz ' King Louis XIV Francis Lowell " Douglas MacArthur ' Connie Mack ' James Madison ' Ferdinand Magellan 1' Francis Marion ' Jacques Marquette 1' James Marshall " Chico Marx ' Groucho Marx " Harpo Marx ' Zeppo Marx ' Massosoit ' Christa McAullffe " George McClellan Bill Melendez Pedro Menendez Nelson Miles ' Peter Mtnuit Tom Mix ' James Monroe " Montezuma " Jacques Montgolfier ' Joseph Montgolfler ' John P. Morgan " Gouverneur Morris ' Esther Morris ' Grandma Moses ' Lucretia Mott ' ' Stan Musiei " Benito Mussolini ' Nucleon ' Thomas Nest Christopher Newport ' Sir Isaac Newton ' Chester Nimitz ' Richard Nixon Daniel Norton ' Sandra Day O‘Connor ' Annie Oakley " James Oglethorpe ' Frederick Law Olmsted ' Juan de Onate 1' Thomas Paine John Parker 1' Ely Parker ' Rosa Parks " Ivan Pavlov ' Walter Payton 1' William Penn Gov. Morris Penn " Oliver Hazard Perry ' Zebulon Pike ' P.B.S. Pinchback " Molly Pitcher ' Francisco Pizarro " Pocahontas " James Polk ' Marco Polo ' Juan Ponce de Leon ' Salem Poor Gaspar de Portoia ' Casmir Pulaski ' Pierre Radisson ' Sir Walter Raleiw 1' Edmund Randolph ' Ronald Reagan ' Willis Reed ' leern Revels 1' Paul Revere " Charles Richter ' Branch Rickey ' Sally Ride Pat Robertson " Paul Robeson " Jackie Robinson " John D. Rockefeller ' Roy Rogers John Rolfe ' Franklin Roosevelt ' Theodore Roosevelt ' Pete Rose " Betsy Ross Erno Rubik ' Babe Ruth " Sacajawea " Peter Salem " Jonas Salk Samoset ' Santa Anna Harrison Schmitt ' David Scott " Winfield Scott ' Junipero Serra Daniel Shays 1' Alan Shepard ' Sitting Bull " Samuel Slater Robert Small 1' Bessie Smith " John Smith " Robyn Smith Snorri ' Squento Bonnie St. John ' Colonel St. Leger " Elizabeth C. Stanton Jane Gates Starr " Baron von Steuben ' Thaddeus Stevens ' Adlai Stevenson ' Lucy Stone Harlan Stone ' Harriet Beecher Stowe Peter Stuyvesant ' Kathy Sullivan " John Sutter ' denotes collective biography available ' William Howard Taft " Zachary Taylor ' Tecumseh " Tom Thumb 1' Samuel Tilden " Bill Tilden Paul Toscanelll ' William Travis " Harry Truman " Sojourner Truth " Harriet Tubman " Gene Tunney " Nat Turner " Mark Twain Rudolph Valentino " Martin Van Buren Geovanni Verrazano ' Amerigo Vespuccl " 01000 Victoria Frederick Vinson " Honus Wagner Morrison Waite " Earl Warren " Booker T. Washington ' George Washington ' Martha Washington " James Watt ' John Wayne Alfred Wegener " Jerry West ' Phyllis Wheatley John White " Byron Raymond White ' Marcus Whitman " Nerclssa Whitman " Ell Whitney " Roger Williams ' Helen Wills ' Woodrow Wilson Dr. Rosalyn Winters ' Orville Wright ' Wilbur Wright " Jonathon Wright Edward Wynkoop ' Brigham Young 1' Cy Young 115 Seven textbooks were included in the study: the readng text. 8mg Henislnm (Alvermann et al.). a 1989 publication of 0.0. Heath: . use '~.l Barbe et al.). published by Zaner Bloser in 1984; EMMiBUUfaId et al.). also a1984 copyright; Wm (Madden and Carlson). a 1933 book published by Harcout. Brace and Jovanovich; WRamo et al.), 1985; WRucker et al.). a 1985 publication and the social studies text. WWW Published by Silver Budett in 1988. The procedue for compiling the names of the biogaphical subjects was the same for all texts: each book was read page by page: each time a biogaphical figlre was mentioned. the book and the page number were recorded. One mention was given for each unified piece of information. In many cases a mention equalled a single sentence from an exercise with a fact about the biogaphical figlre. Usually the focus on the indviduai was seconde to the exercise at hand. so information was scant; this was especially so in the handwriting. spelling. Engish and math books. Most often the dscussion about a biogaphical figure in the science text was relegated to three-to-fou paragaphs. included in the science book were sketches of Jane Goodall. S'r isaac Newton. Charles Richter. Jacques Cousteau and Charles Drew. In each case. the sketch about the biogaphical subject focused on the subject matter of the unit. For instance. Charles Richter‘s sketch appears in the geology 116 unit while Cha'les Drew. the scientist who ciscovered how to preserve and sepuate blood pats. is featued in a chapter studying the circulatory system. There was typically one sketch per unit and the sketch provided limited information. In the social studes book. Wm W a mention constituted sustained vwiting about an incident or subject. For instance. George Washington is described in connection with one of the monuments in Washington DC. in the sings sentence. "Three of the most beautiful monuments in Washington were built to honor three of our most famous presidents——George Washington. Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln." (pg 21). The second mention credts George Washington with making Thanksgiving Day a national holiday. (pg 140) A th'rd mention (pg 148). which consisted of two short paragaphs. desaibes the forming of the Second Continental Congess. in all. George Washington received ten mentions in the social studes book; each consisted of a single sentence or a sustained incident and was mwked by a change of subject. The social studes textbook not only supplied the majority of biogaphical subjects (73%) collected from all of the textbooks. it also offered the widest variety of mentions. Some mentions were' only a sentence long while others were a full page. The rearing text povided the most information for a sings mention; most biogaphical sketches included in the roaring textbook were five to ten pages long and counted for one mention. A total of 374 biogaphical personalities were gleaned from all 117 seven textbooks. The social studes book accounted for two hund'ed and eigwty-one of those mentions or 73 percent of the total. The handwriting book produced th’rty names or 8 percent of the total. Twenty- two names were collected from the roaring text for 6 percent of the total while the science. spelling and English books each prodJced 4 percent of the total with seventeen. seventeen and sixteen mentions respectively. The math book offered only fott names. accounting for 1 percent of the total. Table 4.2 Personalities Found in lndvidual Textbooks Percent Sub ect Text Year Mentions 01' Total 50‘3“” 5W“ Wait. l988 28' 73% Militia! Handwriting WW 1984 30 8% culmination: Reading W 1989 22 6% Science mm 1984 17 4x Spelling Wag l983 i7 4% English WW 1985 is 4% Math Will 1985 4 iii 118 in order to determine what figures have been written about in collective biogaphies. a master list of all biogaphies published within the last ten years using the most common review sou'ces for new childen's books. namely 5511mm ngkljst, and In]; W was comPIIOd and abandoned in favor of the [DEW Budge. This index was published in October of 1988 and provides the most complete and up-to—date reference available. A few additions of books published since October of 1988 were also made. With the aid of Bowker‘s collective list. all biogaphical subjects found in any of the texts were cross-referenced to determine if collective biography sketches were available. From the 374 names found in the text ( Refer to Table 4.1). three hunded and one. or 80 percent of the total. were also represented in at least one collective biogaphy. Only seventy-three names. or 20 percent. cid not appea in the subject listing of It - .. . Therefore. it can be concluded that for the most pat. the same biogaphical personalities feattred in subject matter textbooks are also the subject of collective biogaphies. From the seventy-three figxes not mentioned in collective biographies. interesting observations may be made. At least seventeen of the figures or 23 percent of those not covered in the collective biogaphies were minority figu'es. Some of the minority personalities 119 were obvious recent addtions to the texts. inducing figtres such as Guy Bluford Jr.. the frat Black astronaut in space; Connie Chung. CBS newscaster; and Daniel lnouye. a member of the House of Representatives and a Japanese American. This resewcher did not recogfize fifty-two of the seventy-tires names on the list of biogaphical subjects who were not represented with collective biogaphies. in addtion. obscue names like Emilio Aguinaldo. a Filipino freedom figlter dtring the Spanish American war; Henry Blackwell. the husband of woman's rights activist Lucy Stone; Swa T. Hug'les. the judge who swore Lyndon B. Johnson into the office of President of the United States in 1963 after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; and Snorri. a Viking baby thouglt to be one of the frat born on this continent are just a few of the examples. in Table 4.1. the textbook personalities who were not covered in collective biogaphies are listed; those personalities without an asterisk by the'r names do not curently have collective biogaphy sketches available. in order to determine if the figltes students chose to read about as selected on the Category Preference instrument were also included in collective biogaphies. the same cross reference was made using the master list of all personalities mentioned by the students (Table 4.3). The students listed three hunrted and sixteen indviduals. Only one 120 hund'ed and ti'l'rteen. or 36 percent of the total. were also written about in collective biogaphies. Two hunded and three names. or 64 percent were not represented by collective biogaphies. it must be noted that the students showed a strong preference for the here and now; most personalities they selected are curently popular singers. movie and television stus and sports personalities who might or might not be the subject of collective biogaphies in the futue. Personalities listed by the students included several rap singers and goups like The Boys. Bobby Brown. LL. Cool and Heavy D. in addtion. students expressed interest in curent stas on television situation comedes includng Candace Cameron. Michael J. Fox and Alyssa Milano. Beethoven and Mozart were listed alongside the New Kids on the Block on one student's list. Fictional characters like All. Murphy Brown and James Bond were also listed. inticating that some students still confuse fictional and real people. In total. however. the students provided an eclectic list with the majority representing today's populw entertainers and sports figlxes. However. for the pltpose of this study. it must be observed that the majority of the biogaphical personalities that students expressed an interest in rearing about are not represented in collective biogaphies. 121 In order to answer this question students were g'ven the Category Preference Instrument to complete. This instrument listed ten broad categories that migtt be of interest to students inducing creative artists. entertainers. explorers and pioneers. military leaders. minority figu'es. scientists. sports figues. US. political figues. world political figtres. and an "others" category for all who these who ddi't find an was of interest described. The categories were devised using the categories desigled by Kyoon in his 1984 study on values in child'en's biogaphies. the subject listings in Bowker's 1988 WWW 121mm and information geaned from the subject matter textbooks. These categories were designed to be broad and inclusive in order to fit each indvidual into at least one slot. introductions and explanation by the data collector before the instrument was completed took students throudi all ten categories and the types of persons who would be included in that g'oup. After the initial introduction. students were asked to choose the five categories they found most interesting and prioritize those categories with numbers 1 - 5; the number 1 indcated the student's frst choice 122 Table 4.3 Open selection of Biogaphical Subjects by Grade Six Students BIOQI‘BDIIICZI FIQUI'CS CI’IOSCI’I by Grade 30‘ SLUGCDES ' Hank Aaron Jim Abbott Paula Abdul Grizzly Adams " John Adams Andre Agassi " Louisa May Alcott Alf " Mohammad Ali Chad Allen ' Sparky Anderson Anrk‘e the Giant Pierce Anthony Christina Applegete ' Neil Armstrong Chet Atkins B 52's " Johann Sebastian Bach ' Lucille Ball Dances Charles Barkley Rosanne Barr " Clara Barton Rob Base Boris Becker ' Ludwig von Beethoven George Bell Bryan Bellows ‘ Johnny Bench Matt Blondl ' Larry Bird Mar Blackmen Linda Blair " Judy Blume " Wade Boggs James Bond Ben Jovl Kim Boyce The Boys Bobby Brown Julia Brown Murphy Brown Christine Buffs ' George Burns ' George Bush " John Cabot Candace Cameron Kirk Cameron ' George Washington Carver " Wilt Chamberlain Gary Chattmen Tim Chevaldia Will Clark Beverly Cleary ' Roberto Clemente " Grover Cleveland ' Ty Cobb ' Christoer Columbus ' Nadia Comaneci Jose Consece LL. Cool Alice Cooper ' Francisco Coronado " Charles Cornwallis ' Hernando Cortes ' Davy Crockett Tom Cruise ' General Custer Bobby Dahi Chuck Oaiy Bob Dance Eric Davis ' Sammy Davis Jr. " Leonardo DaVIncl Johnny Depp Ted DiBiase ' Charles Dickens ' Walt Disney 1' Frederick Douglass Nancy Drew " Joe Dumars Duran Duran 1' Arneila Earhart Easy E ' Thomas Edison ' Albert Einstein 1' Dwight Eisenhower Boomer Eisseson John Eiway Robert England ' Leif Ericsson Darryl Evans Janet Evens Carrie F lsher ' Peggy Fleming Harrison Ford 1' Henry Ford Michael J. Fox ' Anne Frank Benjamin Franklin Grant Fuhr Gerald Gallant Mitch Gaylord 1' Lou Gehrig Debbie Gibson Kirk Gibson Sarah Gilbert Margie Goldstein Michell Gorbachev Mark Grace Rebecca Graham Amy Grant " Ulysses S. Grant Mike Greenweli ' Wayne Gretzky Jennifer Grey Ken Griffey Jr. Guns and Roses " Dorothy Harniii ' Scott Hamilton Glen Hamlin Mike Hammer Tom Hanks Heaven Heavy D Pee Wee Herman Ron Hexstali ' Adolf Hitler " Gil Hodges Dustin Hoffman Hulk Hogan ' Harry Houdini " Gordie Howe ' Henry Hudson Rachel Hunter Lee Iococca * Andrew Jackson Bo Jackson Janet Jackson * Michael Jackson * Thomas Jefferson Greg Jef fries ' Joan of Arc Ben Johnson ' Magic Johnson Vinnie Johnson ' Walter Johnson Michael Jordan ' Al Kaline Big Daddy Kane Stacy Keach Carolyn Keene ' Helen Keller ' John F. Kennedy 1' Martin Luther King Jr. Kiss Petra Kllma ' Sandy Koufax . Bernie Kozar Biil Lambier Cindy Lauper 123 Table 4.3 (cont’d) Bruce Lee Mario Lemieux lvan Lendi I JON! Lennon CS. Lewis Carl Lewis e Jerry Lee Lewis leerache .- Abraham Lincoln Greg Louganls Madonna a Ferdinand Magellan e Frank Mahovlch a HIICDII'TI X Karl Malone . Nelson Mandeila Brry Manilow . Mickey Mantle d Bet Masterson a Don Mattingly .John I'ICETI‘DG Mrk McGuire Joseph McIntyre Rodney McKay McSweet Metalllca Mark Messier Alyssa Milano Kevin Mitchell Marilyn Monroe Joe Montana a Montezuma Motley Crue . Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Eddie Murphy a J00 Namath New Kids on the Block .- Sir isaac Newton Jack Nicholson .. Richard Nixon Matt Nokes Manuel Noriega Roy Orbison Outlaws Ozzie Ozborne Nicky Pain Barbara Park Lance Parrish Francine Pascal a General George Patton Sandi Patty . Walter Payton Kate Pearson Petra "Pablo Picasso Roudy Roddy Piper Scotty Pippen “Molly Pitcher Poison “Jaime K. Polk “Pope John Paul XXIII “Elvis Presley Kirby Puckett “Olsen Elizabeth I ' Olsen Victoria Colin Olinn Ellen Reskln Ratt "Rembrandt Mary Lou Retton Paul Revere Dusty Rhodes "Sally Ride " Cal Ripkln Jr. “David Robinson 'Frank Robinson 'Jackle Robinson Dennis Rodman Mickey Rooney Axel Rose “Pete Rose Patrick Roy Kurt Russell “Babe Ruth ”Nolan Ryan Winona Ryder John Bailey 'Ryne Sandberg Barry Sanders Macho Man Savage Charles Schultz Arnold Schwarzenegger Tom Seiieck “William Skakespeare Charlie Sheen Gary Sheffield Steve Shutt Rubin Sierra 'OJ. Simpson Skid Row Slash Christian Slater Slaves Michael J. Smith ' denotes collective biography sketch available ' Ozzie Smith ' Stephen Spielburg Hilde Stehi ' Joseph Stalin Sylvester Stallone Maurice Starr Greg Steffen Terry Stelnbach Rod Stewart Bram Stokes Chris Szabo Elizabeth Taylor Hudson Taylor ' Lawrence Taylor Debbie Thomas Isiah Thomas Cheryl Tiegs Tiffany JRR. Tolkien Alan Trarnmei Mike Tramp Donald Trump ' Mark Twain 2 Live Crew 1' Harriet Tubman Steven Tyler Mike Tyson Ultimate Warrior ' VincentVanGogh Milli Vanilli Mike Vernon Vixen Donny Welber Jerome Walton ' Martha Washington " George Washington Warrant isaac Watts " John Wayne Spudd Webb Walt Weiss Mickey Weston ' EB. White White Snake Lou Whittaker ' Laura Ingalis Wilder Dominique Wilkins Bob Winkloman Catrina Witt " Orville Wright ' Wilbur Wright 124 and the number 5 indicated the student's last choice. After the instruments were completed. the results were tabulated. Students who dd not complete the Text-Driven Instrument as well as the Category Preference Instrument were eliminated from the totals. After this was done the final N - 155. and included sixty-old“ boys and eig'ity- seven g'ls. The Category Proference instrument showed that gade six students preferred entertainers. sports figues and scientists when all five of each student's choices were considered. The entertainers’ category was chosen by 82 percent (127) of the students. while 78 percent (121) of the students expressed an interest in reacting about sports figues. These two categories miror results of the pilot study. The scientists category ranked th'rd in popularity with one hunded and five students. or 68 percent. selecting this goup. Least populw among the students was the US. political leader category with only 34 percent of the students (53) choosing this goup among the'r top five choices. The percentages of students who selected the remaining categories are as follows: creative artists (52%). militwy leaders (45%). minority figues (43%). world political leaders (40%). and explorers and pioneers (37%). Only ten students listed persons in the others category. and three of those students listed "animals“ when asked to specify the'r choice. The others category accounted for one percent of the total. Table 4.5 shows students' category preferences for each category. 125 Table 4.4 Category Preference Instrument CATEGORY PREFERENCE INSTRUMENT STUDENT NUI‘IBER— FEEDER SCHOOL NUMBER—— CHECK ONE: 1. lam a: _boy ___glrl. 2. I like to read biographies: __.often ___sometlmes ._.seldom ___never 3. I prefer to read about famous: women ._men .__both men and women LISTED BELOW ARE TEN CATEGORIES G PEME YGJ MIGHT WANT TO READ ABWT. AFTER YOJ HAVE READ THRCIJGH ALL THE CATEGGQIES. NUMBER THE FIVE THAT INTEREST YOU THE MOST. THE CATEGUIY YCXJ MARK I WILL BE THE QIE YW WANT TO READ ADNT MOST; NUMBER 2 WILL MARK YWR SECCND CHOICE. ETC. W GILY FIVE CATEGGIIES. ' CREATIVE ARTISTS (This includes authors. composers and artists) sumaramens (This includes TV and movie stars. singers. dancers. ma other performers) EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS (This Includes settlers and frontiersmen) MILITARY LEADERS (This Includes generals. soldiers. spies and others who played Important parts In wars) ~ MINORITY FIGURES (This includes Blacks. Indians. Hispanic. Eskimo and other minority figures who have contributed to history) SCIENTISTS (This includes Inventors. astronauts and doctors who have contributed to science) SPORTS FIGURES (This includes football. basketball and other sports players of pest and present times) U.S. POLITICAL FIGURES (This Includes presidents. senators. governors and others who have contributed as public figures) __.... WORLD POLITICAL FIGURES (This Includes leaders of other countries. Kings. (kleens and the Pope) OTHERS: PLEASE LIST LIST THE NAMES or AT LEAST FIVE PEME you MIGHT WANT TO READ ABOUT. YOU MAY LIST UP TO TEN. l 2 7 3 e ‘ 9 a I0 126 The Category Preference Instrument offered some minor differences between the sexes. most makedy in the category of militay leaders and creative artists. Only 31 percent of the g'rls chose military leaders while 78 percent of the boys expressed an interest in this category. Conversely. 69 percent of the g'rls expressed an interest in the creative artist category while only 29 percent of the boys were interested in this field. More marked differences appea when f'rst througi fifth choices are examined incividually. The entertainer and sports figire categories were by is the most popular with 82 percent and 78 percent of all the students selecting those categories respectively. However. sixty-one or 70 percent of the g'ls. chose entertainers as the'r f'rst choice while only five ( 7%) boys chose entertainers as the'r f'rst choice. Boys clewly preferred sports as the'r f'rst choice with th'rty-five (51%) selecting that category as the'r favorite while only five 9'18 (6%) chose spate figtres as their first choice. In the end the differences in gender selection 127 Table 4.5 Students' Category Preferences Based on Five Selection Choices CATEGORY 1. CregtLve Artiste . Entertainers . Pioneers and Explorers . Militwy Leaders . Minority Figures . Scientists . Sports F igu'es . U.S. Political Leaders . Worid Political Leaders 10. Others (specify) narrows with 68 percent of the boys and 93 percent of the 918 choosing entertainers as one of the'r choices. while 69 percent of the g'rls and 90 percent of the boys chose sports figures as desirable biogaphical reading. Table 4.6 shows all category results. 128 Table 4.6 Student Selections by Category and Choice (3‘00"? is! choice 2nd choice 3rd choice 4th choice 5th choice TOTAL 9"“ NY! 9"“ 5°” W 9°” 9"“ W 9"” 007’ 9"” 507' “WOW. 3 2 I. .4 12 4 IO 5 II 5 80 20 entortelners II ifi "I M I O 3 C l '2 M 48 pioneers; explorersq 2 3 3 5 3 4i 3 to s 7 28 29 millteryleeders o 5 3 3 3 M 3 is to to 27 53 mlnorityiiaores i 2 3 s 12 2 to 4 to. s 43 to scientists 1 to it s 13 Is 13 s 13 S 57 48 ”m. ""‘m s as 24 is is o s 4 s i so Si ”‘3‘ ”mm “9°" 2 2 2 t s e s e toi to as as w“ '“mi'm‘m o i s s 4 e l o s to so 26 others 0 l t o 2 2 t o l 2 S 5 no ategories listed i 2 Fig." 4.1 gives a gaphic illustration of the most popular category choices of gade six students involved in the study. 129 Figue 4.1 Student Selection of Biogaphical Categories. sum"insomnia:[installmentsparallax1 // Ghee-s :l musicals-om” osmotic-rm” l j 35%;; , mm - . 0 too 200 WWW Aside from prioritizing categories. students were also asked whether they would prefer to read about men. women. or both men and women. Students clearly indcated that the gender of the biogaphical personality made little d’fference with one hund'ed and fou of the students (67%) choosing both men and women over a specific gender. Boys showed more preference toward the'r own gender with twanty- eidtt (41%) of them indcating a preference for men while thity-seven (54%) selected both men and women. Only three boys (4%) said they preferred to read about women. Sixty-seven (77%) of the g'ls indcated they would want to read about both men and women while thiteen (15%) preferred women and seven (8%) preferred male biogaphical 130 personalities. Figtre 4.2 Gender Preference for Subiect Selection 1 i0 GENDER PREFERENCE FOR SUBJECT SELECTION 'll" . . . 99¢ 88+ 77‘ ssj .-. .5 gm: + ¢§ 1 44" 3. 1 33“ :ee 1 22 _+ ii: 4 4 ii 3 4 .. . g ‘ 0‘ ,2 21 GIRLS Bovs Gender preference EBHEN lwonEN asom MEN AND woman The Category Preference instrument incicated that eighty- five percent of the g’ade six students read biogaphies in vaing frequencies. Only 15 percent . ten boys and th'rteen g'rls. said that they never read biogaphies. Of the 65 percent of those who claimed to have 131 There apposed to be no major cifferences between the genders in their stated frequency of biogaphy rearing; results indcsted that 6 percent (4) of the boys and 11 percent (10) of the g'ls said they read biogaphies ”often.” “Sometimes“ was selected by 37 percent (25) of the boys. and 41 percent (36) of the g'rls. Slightly more boys (30). accounting for 44 percent. chose ”seldom" while only 31 percent (27) of the w‘ls selected this frequency. “Never“ was chosen by 15 percent of the w’is (13) and the boys (10). in order to determine whether students' category choices were consistent with the personalities they listed on the free choice component of the Category Preference Instrument. the researcher compared the frat choice category of each student with the personalities listed on the free choice component. The aossreference indicated that ninety-six of the students. or 62 percent. listed a personality from their favored category as the‘r frst choice on the open selection component of the instrument. Another twenty-five students. or 16 percent. listed a personality from their frst choice category on the free choice component. but that personality was not listed fest. These two goups. accounting for 78 percent of all the students in the study. were consistent in their choice 132 read biogaphies. however. only 9 percent of the students (four boys and ten girls) claimed they read biogaphies “frequently." The largest goup of students (sixty—one or 39 percent) stated that they read biogaphies “sometimes." while 37 percent (57) indcated that they read biogaphies “infrequently." Figu'e 4.3 Stated Frequencies About Biogaphical Rearing “O ”IOU‘aC: (no-*DOQCFU’ BOYS GIRLS TOTAL IOFTEN ISOMETIMES Eamon INEVER 133 of category and personalities. In contrast. thirty—let: students (22 percent) dd not list any personality from the category they indcated as their number one choice. It should be noted that students were instructed to look at the categories they selected to help them think of personalities they migtt want to read about. Some students listed one or two finges from each of the categories they selected. Others listed several personalities from one specific category while still others listed an eclectic variety of selected and not selected categories. However. only 22 percent were unable to show an understanding of the relationship between the category and the figwes they chose. The figure below shows the correlation of the students' categories. F igue 4.4 Correlation of Students' Categories With Personalities ist cstegorylpersoosiity notch persecsiity match! not first listed as latch hetvreee cstegery and personalities listed BIB 134 The open selection component of the Category Preference instrument was used in order to addess this question. in this portion of the Category Preference instrument. students were able to list the names of up to ten personalities that they might choose to read about. The. personalities listed by the students were tabulated and categorized to see which biogaphical figures and categories of figures students found most interesting. A listing of all figtres mentioned and listed by categories is presented in Table 4.7. Students listed a total of three hunded seventeen rifferent personalities. A total of 856 listings were made by the one hund'ed and fifty-five students included in the study: each student was allowed to list up to ten personalities and many personalities were listed more than once. These two numbers were used in determining percentages of the whole. Some personalities were counted in more than one category; however. these figures were only counted once in the total number of figures and mentions. For instance. Ulysses S. Grant. Dwidtt Eisenhower and George Washington are categorized as both US political figures for their service to the country as presidents. and as militwy leaders for the'r service du'ing the was 135 Table 4.7 Biogaphical Subjects Listed by Grade Six Students By Categories Biogaphical Figures Listed on the Free Choice Component Mam Lease MayAloott MM” Ludwtgvoneeethoven mam Bevertbeery moms CinrbleclOns WahOtsnsy AmeFrarat Carob/nits“ i-leienlteler (:3.wa wmmnn BarbaraParit FranchiePascal Pablo Picasso Blenheim liemhrand Chanes saw msmpeare Bram stokes can. Tolrlen MM Vhoera vm E3. Wile Latnlmlsm Entertainers Fatima cradAlien Claim» 662‘s Lucilleaal flanges Roseanneaarr Lindeahh aonJovl ‘i'heBoyl‘ BohhyBrown " .hrlearown ‘ Georgeatlns mansion Kittcamemn LLCooi ‘ AloeCooper BICowy ‘ TomCMse Sammyoavlsa'. “ Johrl'lyDepp DuanDtnn Ewe " flotsam carriel'isher Elnbethi'aytor ‘l’ltany 2leeci'ew‘ “V“ th OonnyWaber Warm! Join Wayne Ulysses 3. Oral! " W i-hrieraron‘ MotemmadAl‘ crartssaarldey‘ watchmen‘ TheBeys‘ Bobbyarown‘ JulleBrown‘ GeorgeWashlngtonCarver‘ metamberhh‘ RobertoCiemerIe' JoeeConseoo‘ LLCooi‘ SammyOavisJ.‘ Frederickooufiss‘ Jontsnars' EasyE " Bothckson ‘ mm ‘ Widaclrson ‘ BenJohnson“ Magchohnson‘ Vinniebhnson" WaherJohnson‘ 136 Table 4.7 (cont'd) WW‘ 0mm OlgmddyKane‘ .Iohnnyaendi ten-image. melons CartLewls‘ Larlyald max wahclsnen‘ mm:- Wadeeoggs Museum ' MW' adieu-phy‘ mm mm- mm WaherPayton " wacark WHIP.“ ' MW‘ Franitnobhson‘ Tycoon mm ‘ MW Deulsflounan‘ JoseConseoo ‘ Jamaaley' hobbyDahi Barry8anders ‘ Chad: mature“ Eric Davis 048W ‘ TedDhBaae OzzbOmlh ‘ .loeDtanars‘ Lawrenoei’aybr‘ BoomerEisseson Dehhie‘l’heraae‘ JohnEhvay imm‘ mam 2LheCrew‘ .hnet Evans i'hflthtbm‘ mm WW‘ GMFW WWII“ WW NM‘ Whaaybld Mum “ Loom MWWICII‘ mom ”Grace “personnel Waynearetzlty §_c_lentiats merit-ya. Dorotliyihml momma . scoot-imam saw“ .......... New Mflw set-room l-lervaord ream BerlamhFranitli‘ Genet-touts Shlsaachlswton BoJaciaon . “a“ Greg ms mm mm . spits a." mm” , mum‘- Wahertlofatson ‘ mm was». Anew-Agassi AIKahe mmu- mm m salicyxom Andetheehu Bernbltonr WW BILaIrIblsr Clarissaarlby‘ OnIoeLee Robease mutilate: Bortsaecior 137 Table 4.7 (cont'd) U. 3. Political Figures World Pomlcai Figures Unidentified figures John Adams Mlclnll Gorbachev Pierce Anthony George Bush Adolf Hitler “ Kim Boyce Grover Cleveland Montezuma “ Christina Bills Frederick Douglas Manuel Noriega ‘ Bob Dance Dwight Eisenhower Queen Elizabeth i Sarah Glbert Beniamln Frankli Queen Victoria Margie Goidsteln Ulysses S. Grant Joseph Stalin McSweet Andrew Jackson Kate Pearson Thomas Jefferson Others Petra John F. Kennedy . Colin Oilnn Abraham Lincoln m Bond Patrick Roy Richard Nixon Mumhvfimwn Gary Sheffield James K. POI: vaDr-w Christian Slater Paul Revere Mikel‘hmmr Michael w. Smith Matha Washington L00 W Hiro- suhi George Washington J0." 0' NC Maurice Starr Bat Maureen mrnmp Pope John Paul iorm Sign" up; Cheryl Tlegs Milo Vernon WWW lssaac Wats Harriet Tibman ‘ Walt Weiss White Snake Bob Winldeman " denotes that figure appears in more than one groin that brought them to prominence . Most of the figures who are included in more than one category are minority figures. Since there appears to be geat concern in the government that minorities are fairly represented. this researcher attempted to see if that was true. The compilation indcated that fifty two personalities or 16 percent of the figures were minority personalities. However. 85 percent of the minority figures were Other. representatives of the sports and entertainers categories. categories were not equally represented with minority figures; also. other 138 categories dd not include large numbers of incividuals like the sports and the entertainers' category. George Washington Carver was the only minority listed in the scientist category. and accounted for 10 percent of total number listed. Other minority representation included Frederick Douglass in the US. political category. and Manuel Noriega and Montezuma in the world political figure category. The Category Preference instrument indcated that students indicated that they preferred biogaphical subjects associated with the sports world slightly over entertainers. Students listed one hund'ed and nineteen different sports personalities. while the names of entertainers appeared second in frequency with eighty-five different personalities listed. Sports figures accounted for 38 percent of the total number of figures listed; entertainers captued 27 percent of the total. it seems important to note that several students listed several members of the same sports team. perhaps indicating that names came to mind more easily when students categorized them. The minority figures category was third in popularity with fifty-two personalities listed. accounting for 16 percent of the total; however. nearly all of these figures ae also represented in the sports or entertainers category. it appears these personalities were selected more for their career accomplishments than for race. This is evident in the students' category selections. While sixty-six students (43 percent) expressed an interest in resting about minority figures. thirty-five of them 139 (53 percent) chose this category as their fourth or fifth choice. and only three students (2 percent) chose minority figures as their first choice. Figure 4.5 Open Selection of Biogaphical Figures Listed By Categories ll9 0 25 50 75 1(1) 15 150 Popularity of a particular category cannot be measured solely by the number of biogaphical figures found in each category. The number of times each figure was named is equally important. The majority of the biogaphical subjects listed by the students. accounting for 61 percent of 140 the 316 personalities. appeared only once; only 124 persons. or 39 percent were listed more than once. Of those listed more than once the rock goup. New Kids on the Block was listed most with fifty-seven students selecting them as desirable biogaphical rearing. The number of mentions affected the overall populwity of some categories. The militwy leader category. for instance. had only eid'it biogaphical subjects listed. However. George Washington was mentioned twenty-two times and Adolf Hitler was named twelve times. showing there migit be more interest in the militwy leader category than a tally of persons might indicate. The US political figures category provided the mom striking diference. however. in the category selection. students chose this category as the'r least favorite. On the open selection component of the same instrument only sixteen diferent US political figtres were named. but those figites accounted for seventy- eigit mentions and were among the most populw biogaphical figures. From this g'oup George Washington was mentioned 22 times. Abraham Lincoln was listed by 19 students. while 18 selected John F. Kennedy. Ranking categories by the number of total mentions puts U.S. political figures fourth in popularity rather than ninth. Figure 4.6 shows each category's populwity based on the number of mentions. 141 in order to add'ess this question the biogaphical subjects found in the textbooks were compwed with the biogaphical subjects named by the sixth gade students in the open selection component of the Category Preference instrument. There were three hunded and sixteen biogaphical subjects listed by the students on the open component portion of the Category Preference instrument; Figure 4.6 Biographical Figtres by Number of Mentions per Category Hentlens By BlWlCfl Categery en Category Preference lnstruent 142 the textbooks supplied 374 names. These two lists were com referenced to see how many names appeared on both lists. The two lists had only fifty-one names in common. Of the fifty-one names fifteen were US. political figires. accounting for 29%. Other categories represented in the g'oup appearing on both the students' lists and the textbook lists were ten explorers; pioneers (20 percent). nine scientists (18 percent). eight sports figures (16 percent). seven minority figures (14 percent). six military leaders (12 percent). three world political figures (6 percent). and one person from each of the remaining categories (2 percent) including creative artists. entertainers and the other category. Percentages do not add up to 100 percent because some individuals were counted in more than one category. The low correlation between the students' Open Selection List and the textbook personalities is not surprising since nearly all the personalities students listed on the open component of the Category Preference instrument are current spots stars and entertainers. What is surprising. however. was the fact that several students listed prominent creative artists that the textbooks did not. For instance. students expressed an interest in Charles Dickens. Walt Disney. Mozart. Picasso. Rembrandt, VanGogt. Shakespeare and Bram Stokes; none of these were mentioned in the textbooks. Table 4.8 lists all personalities selected by students and also mentioned in the subject matter texts. The Textbook Preference instrument was used to answer this question. This instrument consists of a list of forty-sign of the most Table .4.8 Personalities Selected by Students and Appearing in Fifth Grade Texts Personalities Selected by Students and Mentioned in Texts John Adams Dwight Eisenhower Richard Nixon Neil Armstrong Leif Ericsson Walter Payton Lory Bird Peggy Fleming Molly Pitcher Jonn Cabot Henry Ford James Polk George Washington Carver Benjamin Franklin Queen Victoria Grover Cleveland Lou Gehrig Paul Revere Ty Cobb Ulysses Grant Sally Ride Christopher Columbus Adolf Hitler Jackie Robinson Francisco Coronado Henry Hudson Pete Rose Charles Cornwallis Andrew Jackson Babe Ruth Hernando Cortes Thomas Jefferson Mark Twain Jacques Cousteau John F. Kennedy Harriet Tubman Davy Crockett Martin Luther King Jr. Martha Washington General George Custer Abraham Lincoln George Washington Frederick Douglass Ferdinand Magellan John Wayne Amelia Earhart Montezuma Orville Wright Thomas Edison Sir isaac Newton Wilbur Wright frequently mentioned personalities from the gade five textbooks adopted for use in the ta'get school cistrict. The Textbook-Driven Preference instrument is shown in Table 4.9. The forty—eight subjects on the list were mentioned at least three times. either in the same textbook or a combination of different textbooks. or were mentioned twice in two different texts. From this list students were asked to chose five 144 Table 4.9 Text-Driven Preference Instrument Student Number Feeder School TEXT-DRIVEN PREFERENCE INSTRUMENT Please mark the category that best fits you knowledge as each name is read aloud. If you malt the column that says 'I Know-Deeaibe". please write a few wordsabout that person explaining who they we andlor what they we known for. 145 Table 4.9 continued Now list up to five names from this list incicating who you would mom like to read about. Pieaee do not iiet persona who are not on this list. 1. :59!“ 146 biogaphical subjects from the list that they considered the most interesting. Results of the instrument were tallied and the top eidtt biogaphical subjects were selected for father examination in the question writing phase of the study. in accordance with earlier find’ngs that show that students prefer sports figures, Babe Ruth was selected most often as a person they would choose to read about when looking for biogaphies. with lust over 40 percent of the students choosing him. Second in the students‘ preferences was German leader. Adolf Hitler with fifty-nine students. or 39 percent of the total study population selecting him. Following the two top personalities were U.S. political fig-tea. John F. Kennedy and George Washington. scientists. Neil Armstrong and Thomas Edson. and creative a'tist (author). Mxk Twain. From the list of forty-aid“ biogaphical subjects cited in the textbook. only two persons. Butholomew Dias and Oliver i-lazwd Perry. were not selected as interesting biogaphical times by any of the students. In contrast. Babe Ruth. the most popular choice. was selected by 41 percent of the students. making students' preferences widespread among all the biogaphical subjects. The biogaphical subjects most frequently mentioned in the textbook were of interest to at least some of the students. The interest shown in Queen lsabella is deceiving. Although th'rty students indicated an interest in readng about her. when 147 students were asked to identify her. thirty-seven of the students who said they knew who she was in actual fact did not. She was most often identified as the Queen of England. but others said that she was the Queen of France. Asia. lsrael and Canada. A complete list of students' interest in biogaphical subjects frequently mentioned in the textbooks personalities is shown in Table 4.10. . Table 4.10 Student Preferences for BiogaphicaiSubjects Found in Texts Student Preferences for Biographical Subjects Found in Texts ' The number in parentheses indicates the number of students who selected that individual. Babe Ruth (63) Christopher Columbus (19) Adolf Hitler (59) Harriet Tubman (18) John F. Kennedy (45) Elizabeth Blackwell (17) George Washington (43) Benjamin Franklin (16) Neil Armstrong (43) Ulysses S. Grant (13) Thomas Edison (40) Ronald Reagan (13) Jackie Robinson (38) Edwin Aldrin (l2) Mark Twain (33) George Washington Cm (i 1) Henry Hudson (1 i) Green lsabella (30) Robert E. Lee (1 l) Charles Lindberg (i 1) Abraham Lincoln (24) Eli Whitney (i i) Orville Wright (22) Dwight Eisenhower (l0) Montezuma (21) Louis Armstrong (9) Wilbur Wright (2 i) Vasco Balboa (8) Paul Revere (20) Alexander Fleming (8) Sandra Day O‘Connor (8) Hernando Cortes (7) Alan Shepard (7) Thomas Jefferson (6) Samuel de Champlain (5) Patrick Henry (5) . James Madison (5) Theodore Roosevelt (5) Sacajawea (5) William Howard Taft (5) Francis Scott Key (4) James ljlonroe (4) Warren E. Burger (3) Junipero Serra (3) Jacques Cartier (2) Franklin Roosevelt (i) Bartholomew Dias (0) Oliver Hazard Perry (0) 148 Using the Textbook-Driven Preference instrument. it was possible to determine whether students had any knowledge about the mom frequently appeaing biogaphical figtres in their subject matter textbooks. The Textbook-Driven Preference instrument was administered orally; the data collector read each name on the list aloud and allowed students to mark the'r perceived knowledge of each personality. if students marked that they knew an individual. they were requ'red to write a short descriptor describing who the biogaphical subject was or what he was known for. if a student incorrectly identified an individual. the students’ response was changed to the ”head the name. but don't know' category. Seventy-nine students identified personalities incorrectly. Queen lsabella was mistakme identified most often. Other mistakes were often maiapropisma. For example. tires students identified George Washington Carver as the frst President of the United States. One student identified Patrick Henry as “the strong rait‘oad men”. while another said that Jackie Robinson was a Motown singer. Louis Armstrong was identified as an astronaut by few students. while one claimed he was a boxer. Among the funniest responses was the student who identified Orville Wright as “the guy who makes fancy popcorn“. The 149 most confusing response came from three students who identified Harriet Tubman as one of our US. presidents. Only after geat thought did the researcher make the assumption that the students had probably confused her with President Harry Truman. A list of incorrect responses is shown in Table 4.11. Table 4.11 Students' incorrect Responses about Biogaphical Personalities Students' incorrect Responses PERSONALITY RESPONSE PERSONALITY RESPONSE Edwin Aldrin brother of Buzz mean lsabella (been of England Louis Armstrong astronaut h.“ “n m boxer (been of France f (been of Asia Elizabeth Blackwell writer 04000 of cm Black lady - fought for rights a...“ at Iscaai . George Washington Carver explorer James l'lonroe Marilyn’s husband M f‘lontezuma E tlan Kin , Samuel de Champlain President 32:90; the 52. President of CM Dwight Eisenhower scientist Paul Revere ° Civil War guy M. r Fleming “I post. author Jackie Robinson M’st‘ornrsln or w Benjamin Franklin President . 9 "0°“ b0Y Babe Ruth guy with the blue ox Patrick Henry explorer William Howart Taft pilot railroad man president Mark Twain events man traitor Harriet Tubman president Adolletier British leader M "m" W~ en Whitney Black author - almanac Henry Hudson president singer famous slave Results from the Text-Driven Preference instrument indicated a wide range of knowledge among the students about the most commonly mentioned biogaphical figures from their textbooks. The highest correct response was thirtybseven correct responses or 77 percent correct on all 150 possible responses. The lowest number of correct responses was four or 2 percent of correct identifications. While it was not this resewchers intent to compwe indviduai ciassooms. complete responses to the Textbook-Driven Preference instrument are presented by classes for visual clarity The average number of correct responses on this portion of the instrument was 20.1 based on the responses of all 155 students. The average scores calculated by class showed no ia'ge dfference between the classes and the overall average. The twenty-six students in Class A averaged 20.8 correct responses while Class B averaged 16.4 correct responses. The other fou' ciasses' average scores were: Class C. 20.0; Class D. 20.2; Class E. 22.2; and Class F. 21.1. Figtres 4.8 throug'i 4.12 incicate each student's knowledge of the biogaphical figtres most frequently mentioned in textbooks . To father examine students' knowledge about these most frequently mentioned textbook personalities. it is necesswy to examine students' knowledge about each of the biogaphical figures to see if there is any pattern to students' knowledge or lack of knowledge. When each biogaphical personality was examined. it was found that no biogaphical personality was recognizable to every student in the study. On the other hand. only one personality. Supreme Court Justice Warren E. Buger. was unknown to all the students. Of the forty-eight 151 Figtre 4.7 Classroom A - Knowledge About Textbook Personalities i will ,2: 4.8 Classroom 8 - Knowledge About Textbook Personalities stsdeats j alums-knows -+- Heads! 8 -s- Deatkaow ‘i‘iéi Ir“ . : L l j 20 24 88888 152 Figure 4.9 Classmom C - Knowledge About Textbook Personalities :. .. ii ,4“ ., . 1:: “‘fii'ljfil‘vim’i- Figure 4.10 Classoom D - Knowledge About Textbook Personalities ” r, ‘ fits?" J 1 1 1 O 3 6 9 I2 f5 f0 2| 2“ 27 students 153 F igtre 4.11 Classroom E - Knowledge About Textbook Personalities 35" ' .9.Ndmtarknswn a ‘ a +— “yids! 30 " «e Dos‘tkaow fl " n . 20 L l" is - i‘\ J lo'r s i- o 1 O 5 W0 is; 20' 25 students Figtre 4.12 Classroom E - Knowledge About Textbook Personalities 4; . - . j I: ’“fQ’Q‘VV‘T‘é’L‘ V + 00mm 5 r . “j 00 5 ‘3 {5 20 25 students 154 Ronald Reagan and George Washington were correctly identified by 99 percent (153) of the students making them the most known biogaphical subjects. Only seven personalities were known by 90 percent or more of the study population. Besides Reagan and Washington. this goup included John F. Kennedy. Christopher Columbus. Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Edson and Babe Ruth. Of these most commonly recognized figtres. for: of them belong to the US. political category that students indcated was the'r ninth category preference for biogaphical readng. When examining the personalities that over half of the students could recogiize. twelve of the twenty-two Or 55 percent of them belong to the US. political figures category. This indicates that even thoudi students express little interest in reaciing about this category. students have the most knowledge about these figrtes. A complete list of all forty—eight figues can be examined in Table 4.12. Students' recomition of biogaphical personalities migit well be attributed in put to geogaphy. Students' ability to identify Thomas Edison must be attributed to the fact that for several years the inventor lived in the city involved in the study. The railway station where Edson worked as a boy has been restored recently. a statue of the inventor stands along the river parkway. and a ieadng resort hotel and meeting center in the city bees his name. Students' knowledge of Edison is due in large measrte to the history that srarounds them. Junipero Serra. one 155 Table 4.12 Students' identification of Biogaphical Personalities if ur -‘ u: o < t! 2 "E 2% 2 mg 3 § '- 5 '- E '" 3t “‘3’ ‘“ at “i i .e is i .. Ea RonaldRsagan 153 99% l-iemandoCortes 6e 41% Johngl' K 9 96% Mark‘l’wasi 54 35% ' 152 Montezuma 52 34% ChristopherColurnbus 151 97% .lacqiiss Cartier 51 33% Abraham Lhcoh 149 sex. Vasco Babes 49 32% Thomas Edson 143 92% l-lanfstTibman 34 22% Babe Run 139 90% Theodora Roosevel 126 61% an,“ i 30 rm Jefferson 109 70% Robert E. Lee 29 19% Franklh Roosevel 107 69% Queen lsabsh 27 Ulysses S. Grant 103 66% AlanShspsid 26 17% Jackie Robinson 97 63% Charlesng 23 15% NellAnnstrong EdwlnAldrh 19 12% warm 99 Francis Scott Kay 13 AdolHlier 91 59% y El Whitney 12 8% James Madson 90 56% Lode Armstrong 10 6% i-lenryHudson 89 67% Bartholomeleas 7 5% DwightElsenhower Orvlle Wright EIzabeth Blackwel 5 3% wwwm 55* AlennderFlemlng SamusldsClInvhh ogverHanrdPeny 3 2% Paul Revere 7’ 51* SandraDayO‘Connor 2 Jamestilonroe 74 46% Junknro Sons 1 1% MlltamHowardTafl 67 43% WarrenE. Super 0 0% 156 of the early California settlers. was known by only one student. Even though Serra is one of the biogaphical personalities who is cited most frequently in the gade five social studies book. he offers little relevance to the midwestern students involved in the study. The two gade six classooms who completed the Open-Ended Writing instrument supplied the data necessary for examination of this question. The two classrooms who took part in this phase of the study were chosen because their classroom teachers were the fist to volunteer for the addtionai research. Each of the classrooms was assimed four biogaphical figues for father examination. The eight biogaphical personalities examined by the two classrooms were the persons that students selected as the most interesting personalities in the Textbook-Driven Reference instrument. The day before the Open-Ended Writing instrument was administered. the two gade six classroom teachers told their classes 157 about the upcoming question writing exercise and gave a brief synopsis of each of the for: biogaphical figtres they would be asked to write questions about the next day. The students were asked to think about the information they would like to know about each person. if they already knew a lot about the individual. students were asked to think about questions that they thought other students might want to know or read about in a biogaphical sketch. The next day students were allowed ten minutes to wife the questions they had about each of the four biogaphical personalities assigned to the'r class. At the end of the how long question writing session. the questions were examined and tallied. it was found that some questions were asked about all. or nearly all. of the personalities. A list of those questions were compiled and listed as generic questions if the question was asked about six of the eight biogaphical figures chosen for further study. These sixteen generic questions included questions about where and when the subjects were born and died as well as personal family information such as. “What was his childhood iike?." "Who were his parents?." ”Did he have any siblings?." “Did he marry?." and ”Did he have any child'en?“ Questions specific to each biogaphical personality were also compiled. The number of specific questions about each personality varied from twenty to twenty-six depending on the questions the students asked. None of the students' questions were eliminated. but similar 158 questions written by more than one student were rewarded and written as one question. After the generic and specific question sheets were developed for each biogaphical personality. the five most recent biogaphical sketches from collective biogaphies were read in order to determine if the students' questions were answered. Sketches about Thomas Eciison were read first by the researcher and four other raters in order to establish the reliability of the researcher's ratings. After this reliability was established. the reseacher read the biogaphical sketches about the other seven personalities chosen for further study. Only four sketches about Neil Nmsirong were read because that is all that were available. After reading. the researcher determined if the students' questions had been answered fully. partially or not at all. From the list of all generic and specific questions about the eight personalities selected. only one question. "What dd he do to become famous?." was consistently answered by all the articles about all the personalities. Since the articles were selected by the'r date of publication. sketches varied in length from one page to thirty pages. Sketches about some individuals consistently offered more information than others. The sketches of Adolf Hitler. for example. were all lengthy and contained much infromation. while articles on Neil Armstrong almost all ignored his personal statistics and concentrated only on his missions in space. in order to answer adequately the research question each of 159 the biogaphical subjects will first be looked at individually. Sketches about Neil Armstrong proved to be the least available and least informative. Only five out of the sixteen generic questions were answered by at least 50 percent of the misles. All for: of the articles examined told of Armstrong's accomplishments. thougr Edga Tharp's (1970) sketch failed to mention his most famous voyage to the moon in July of 1969. Three of the for: articles told when Armstrong was born. while two of the articles told where he was born. The only other generic questions addessed at least 50 percent of the time were. “What his chilcihood was like.” and ”what kind of education did he have?.' Obviously. none of the sticles answered questions about his death. Armstrong is the only one of the sidit personalities selected for hrther examination that is living. Only six of the twenty-two specific questions about Armstrong were answered by at least 50 percent of the «ticlea. The sketches told what Armstrong dd before becoming an astronaut. named the spacecraft Armstrong took to the moon and told what year he landed on the moon. None of the articles talked about Armstrong's hobbies or explained why he was chosen for the moon mission. None answered questions about how he ate and slept or how he went to the bathroom when he travelled in space. Thoudt Garfinkei's (1973) sketch was most complete. all the «gaggless :3538gtzsiw. '— Jaal gazette-82.8 .n. pie-58:85:39.8)! .N— 9803521343“; .3 p vig‘iiiidu 92.533323 1..) 160 mm. {it—FTWWFWWWTF TI Fiftmrmrrr Won-ad" O “versed-Iv an seat so Artists 4 so "”6103 Arttolsz " Article 1 g; d! has . £53 0.3; asses. s2 53.. 8.03. s 5525 3583.8»; .3 g8§£3d¢ $9353.: gygd og‘yifloag d- agg!8 .8 Eiggan-ahi‘ gei!ad gluihid gsyi!s .h Egg.- fiiugigg d guaggd Pas-tags s m a gag.— “ a . . sax—gs . a a 338358.53: 5.4.8.13. . a a a .a: a 2:63.25.» . a . .3555» £73.13“ a a a a Egg-Saga . v v a gens... 234883.38... a m m m 9.? 036... 161 articles examined failed to answer the majority of the students‘ concerns. See Table 4.13 for information on all questions and articles concerning Neil Armstrong. Wm The sketches about Thomas Edison varied geatly in length and quality . but overall they stiill fared better than the sketches about Armstrong. Half of the generic questions (8) about Edson were answered by at least 50 percent of the articles. Vital statistics about his birth and death were covered with the exception of the question. “How did he die?." which was only pwtially answered by Richards (1984) sketch. All articles gave some information about Edson's childrood. while the majority of the sketches gave facts about his education and his wealth. it is important to note that only one of the articles dd answer each of the sixteen generic questions. Specific questions about Edson were not answered as often as the generic questions. Only six of the twenty specific questions (30 percent) were answered by more that 50 percent of the articles. Six of the specific questions (30 percent) were not mentioned by any of the articles. Students wanted to know if Edson had a horse. whether he ever got beat up. what he hated most. and if he ever fled from the Canadan Rebellion. However. fourteen of the specific questions (70 percent) were answered. at least in part. by one of the articles 162 TWTVTWWTTTTTWWTTWWTT Passrrtags a! a a 3215:3925; .8 a! a a genius-n: «33:32:23 .2 as a a 2.3.9.! sass-.8. Wales}! a! a . gsfli2gd at... 921.8 .2 .890. ...... §§§13e£§ Ea a a «all, a! . Eigggoa. sea axial-Eels!!! .9 a: . a 32228 9.9.33.5 1.251.!!! .9 g n a gagifiips‘d 8.135.251.5382...- .v. a! . . gin-.8 «as E. a a garlic... begs-8.31.2223: .n. a! a . 839.030.3339. «51:33:82.8.st jrliljllll Ea . a .3288: pisxsiuczasi.) .: s. . a! a . 53.8.9.3 .. Fails; 2 I. s . ecu-1238!; 2.35:3” j I. a . 8.8%.. kiiggilz .0 gen 33% M adapts. alias use. Snag-2218 .o Jail an ..... gs Slat-Sluséiglslg .n NW nnnnn gas-d isms-twist! .e . 32.2.5330.» ..... elm-83.8534 . . ..... 3.3330 «aliases-.51»: 8.. Sous-aid s «328.1239 « ..... as.» «355.8133! .. «Ears-3.5a...“ aaaaa angels-gags ace—ii." aaaaaa guns... 0 ..... in! 3w 3'3... :2 its-I2.. 888.0388 M m m as! Ian: I... Illa Seam 862:. Sons 3.0.5. .o .3555 is one... 163 examined. Total coverage varied geatly; Richards (1984) sketch answered th'rty of the th'rty-slx questions (83 percent) at least in pot while Corn and Moline's (1987) sketch broached only sign (22 percent) of the th'rty-six questions students posed. WM Compared with the other biogaphical figtres examined in this portion of the study. sketches about Adolf Hitler provided the most information. but they were also geared for the older reader. Most of the generic questions. th'rteen of the sixteen posed (81 percent). were answered by at least half of the articles. Only one of the generic questions. “Did he have childen?." was not covered by any of the slides. Specific mastions about Hitler were also well covered; eleven of the twenty (55 percent) specific questions were answered at least in part by over half of the sketches. Only three of the specific questions were not covered by any of the sketches includng. ”What was his favorite book?." "Where dd he get a name like Adolf?." and “Why dd he let only blonds. blue-eyed childen go to school when he had brown hair and eyes?." Complete data on sketches about Adolf Hitler are shown in Table 4.15. 164 7... a . . . . . .s a... 5... aghast...“ .8 8. a . . . . . 28.388.280.88! . .8 a a a a a « 82863291... Ton . . a a a n «9925235283 o. E a n a a a a 32228: . m u a a a . . «.523. .5. .o. .8. a . . . . . 8228... T. a . a a . u «8.82.38.58.23... .85. 258 o a a a a a «8.3852 8 a a a a a a . I 288...... Ezzggsaga V o a 0 G N $393.58 u. 8.883.... 823...) .o. a a a a a « 83.829.893.82 We . a a a a a 3 .8. a . u . . a 39823.28.- Ts a u a a . . «838.3813! a a a a a a 889508.884 T... a . a a . . Julius-.851, . a a a a n 852228.. To. a a a a a a «flaunt-36....) .M..r .8 a a a a . a 8288a T! v . a a . . «1883588288.. ... a . a a . . 822232888...- Te a . . a a . «be... a... a . . a . . 828.5... a E .8. a . a a . . 828.93.. T a a a . . «.sa .8 832.8 .o 8 a . . a . . sea-28203.. To. . a a a a « «222383.535 .o 8 a . . o . . 828.03.. T! a u a a . . «25211111152335 .« llama-Ha.” 8:8 8 E o a a a a a iii-alai is. 8 a a a a a a «3.323;... .a c a a . . a 818.. 8. a a a a a a «£288,126 MW o a a u n 293834 .8. a u a a . . «damaa_|||4wl.e.as.a§ 8.8.5.38“ . a e a a 8.288884 8 . . a a a a a a a a a . «stat-5.2.”; « «8.3.3.88... 8.3.3300 in. e a a a u a «818).. a a a p . id s d s 4 .s 2 u «8.6.3.83.» . a n . . figs-8888a: W MM Ms. W .m do. We a. Refills . a a a s a . 8.5.2303... M I”. A m w an: .80.. .53. 8... .8.— s a t 8 m .. m m m as. as N .8 8 8...... =03. Sons 8.0.5. .o 8825 m «.w are... 165 W Sketches about John F. Kennedy also provided a substantial amount of generic information with twelve of the sixteen (75 percent) questions being addessed by at least half of the articles. Three generic questions inducing. ”Did he have friends?." “Did he like school?.' and "Did he behave in school?." were not'answered by any of the sketches examined. Examination of the specific questions students asked about Kennedy showed that only nine (35 percent) of the twentyosiX questions posed were answered by at least half of the articles. Another 35 percent of the specific questions were not covered at all. Thouw it is not uprising that the sketches dd not tell what kind of cue he d'ove and whether or not he liked animals. information about living in the White House. where he is bwied. and about his alleged assassin is available. information about Kennedy's extramarital afla'rs. which three students expressed an interest in. we not mentioned in any of the sketches thougi that information is available in some adult biographies. Coverage about Kennedy among the sketches was strprisingy consistent; Sullivan's (1984) sketch answered twenty-four (57 percent) of the students questions. while VanSteenwyk's (1980) sketch provided only seventeen (40 percent) of the answers to students' questions. Complete information about John F. Kennedy is shown in Table 4.16. 166 it I. I. lb flow 1' E I. ‘0 5 s Vow citizens-£331.33... .3ch .u 5.0.. 58a 8.2.2 .0 F883 , §u§8!8h‘§§ §8§!3§ ggigi gflkldv rg‘mvi!8§ .5 .80.!!8 .3 rm»! yawn—gag w; .3 ""~.'~flfllflhflvw vac—unannaanvnn— w—Dvflflfiflflflnnfluwv OQFVC~CNICIOOnuv ww-rvlflflflvnne-flv- ww.'...."fl.'..'~'. W00“! WHIHHHHHH! ‘.i§id £1.31]... 82.13.11.” al.18luid 88.3-00.2!“4 v96 036% “D'QVIG ”av-aw“ flflvflflflfl eta—On-- m. mun 167 SI | I | | ! I . B I . Generic questions about Jackie Robinson were not consistently answered by the majortiy of the articles. Only six of the sixteen generic questions (38 percent) were covered by at least 50 percent of the sketches; however. sketches variedgeatly in the'r amount of coverage. Only four generic questions. “Did he have friends?." "Did he like school?." "Did he behave in school?." and “Was he rich or poor?" were not broached by any of the sketches. In contrast. half of the specific questions posed by the students were answered by half of the sketches examined. The specific questions that were not covered at all. in some cases. could not be answered. For example. students wanted to know what it was like gowing up on a plantation; Robinson. while born on a plantation in Georg'a. moved to Pasadena. California before his frst birthday. Another student wanted to know whether Robinson was a better player than Babe Ruth. a question that could be debated for hou's without a clear. unequivical answer. The sketch by the Associated Press Edtors (1986) geaned the mod information supplying full or patial answers to twenty-three (64 percent) of all questions while Ritter’s (1986) sketch provided only five (14 percent) answers to students' questions. A summary of all wticles examined about Jackie Robinson is shown in Table 4.17. 168 gigging .on .2 .3 fill""!£g .5— 6r iiiig #— .Vw .3 .3 .5 Jr .0 d N iglzx .0 6 iii}! .0 il’gil .n .u .w confine: e20... 98:83 93.8...." §L§8!8h;¢ =23!!on g EES .np ogigi!8§d Siv!!8d Eggs-3‘.- §!¥!3a§ d 58%! .n 8: 1.3.853!!!“ 8.1.2.3152... “81:9... a 8.1.2.8.?!» a .8.§€!._ 8238 38., 58» 8.25 .0 3.55%. 5...? 036k 1 6 9 MW Though 50 percent (8) of the generic questions about Babe Ruth were answered by at least 50 percent of the sketches examined. there was a goat difference in the amount and kinds of coverage among the sketches. Only two of the generic questions. “How d‘d he behave in school?." and ”Did he have childen?“ were not covered by any of the articles. More specific questions. were answered by all the «tides than any other personality. Where Ruth lived. the explanation of how he got his nickname. and a relatively complete accounting of his baseball career including batting average. pitching statistics and home runs are supplied by all the sketches. Suprisingly. other questions like ”What was his favorite team when he was young?." What was his favorite stadium to play in?," “Did he ever get injured?." and ”What number was on his jersey?” were not answered in any of the sketches. Sullivan's (1988) sketch includes the most information. answering twenty-five (66 percent) of the students‘ questions. Corn and Moline's (1987) supplied full or patial answers to only twelve (32 percent) of all questions. Table 4.18 summarized information presented about Babe Ruth. W Generic information presented about Mark Twain was relatively complete compared with some of the other personalities. Thirteen of the sixteen generic questions (82 percent) were answered by at least half of 170 1m . n a 352... t~§hfir§a€§¢ . 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I 4 a a t «In-Io » m w m m m nasal! use; .8. . :33.- 9 an a a m m m I: 38 .3. II! N 53. Sam 58. 8.0.5. s seesaw 3s on.» 171 the sketches examined. Only one question. “How dd he de?”. was not covered in any of the sketches. Specific question coverage was also good: only three of the twenty-two questions (14 percent) were not covered at all. These questions included. “How tail was he?." “Did he like books when he was little?." and ”Who was his favorite character to write about?." The amount of coverage among the examined sketches was the most varied of all the personalities examined. Hancock's (1976) lengthy sketch answered th'rty-one of the students th'ny‘eight questions (82 percent). In contrast. McCulloudi's (1987) piece which includes an excerpt from Twain's autobiogaphy answered only eleven (29 percent) of the students' questions. Table 4.19 shows the summary of all sketches and questions about Mark Twain. W More biogaphical sketches as available about George Washington than any of the other subjects examined in this portion of the study. The five most recent sketches included books which were all published since 1985. The number of sketches available is not an indcation of more complete coverage. Of the sixteen generic questions. only eleven (67 percent) were answered fully or in put by at least half of the articles examined. Only one question. however. “How did he behave in school?" is not broached by any of the sketches. The specific questions answered a smaller percent of the students' questions. Only 5 5...... 3 v S —_. ”CDC-0 172 "T wwla'wE-rmfiwwwwwwwwfirwwww c-Naeeeeeuv-v-c-ee—u-N—ee sen—c-u-u-c- wflflnflFaC-FU-F-Nfla- new. §§§33!§!§§!!‘§§ ‘5 hides Add“ .w“ Mdel NUDDIMMmN—oo—mvn—vvvu— .wmuunv iii/am a... a —. _ . . _. gees-28285:! 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II! gas» sis. .38 8.03 a 32.55 2... one... 173 seven of the twenty-two specific questions (32 percent) were answered in at least 50 percent of the articles. The questions students asked about George Washington. however. provide a special challenge. Many of the questions students deal with legends about George Washington instead of fact. For example. students asked. ”What did his dad say when he cut down the cherry tree?." Was it true he kissed his schoolteacher?." and “Did he obey his elders?“ Other specific questions that are not considered by any of the articles include. ”Was John Adams related to him?," "What color was his real ha'r?." "Did he ever have a beard?.“ "Who helped him get so famous?. and ”Why did they make a coin of him?." Only two of the sketches mentioned the fact that Washington owned slaves and one of those articles carefully balances this issue by stating that he freed all his slaves in his will. 01 all the sketches examined about Washington. Blassingame (1990) offered the most answers to students‘ questions. with twenty-eight of the thirty-nine (72 percent) answered fully or in part. Quinn (1987) provided the answers to only eleven (28 percent) of the questions posed. Table 4.20 shows complete information on the sketches examined and the questions asked by the students. After examining each biogaphical figure incividually. can it be said that the biogaphical sketches answer students questions about the biogaphical figu'es examined? The answer is both yes and no. As a whole. all the sketches do not answer the majority of the questions 174 Elsie-Ilia; .9 it‘s-big! a {all}!!! .a ins-Ills. .3 oil"! .0— ilti.’ '! d— i"l}£ .5— Us! ii‘!"‘! ‘— sn‘t-vile» 1 91...! .0— Eli‘a .8 it'itIB .ww Sal-Ill!!! .3 . il’lil .- 31}!!! a _ ill-Ill! s il.'! .0 ‘1’..! d 3.11:! .9 i.“l‘c! .» it'll-8 d nannunnnnnnnnnnwnn—nnnn QQGOFG-flflflflflvvunnv—u—nn CRWIGHNHRQH~F~HRSVFUHQR Gflflflvnflflflfl’nwhvwn—annn nrnnvuwnnnnurunrn—vvnfln if geneticist-Ila!!! .. p..“... uusssuassgssstsgtu ngm“ o—oonauooou—nnunevnvn—o (Worm Article 5 Article 4 Article 3 Article! Article I [-55.33 00.300 mus—bug 9.5.0; 55:28; 8.80 Sons 9.25. .o .3653 gu§88£8pi .3 Sega .3 §!8 .3 ~§tu>§!8§ .«u E! gggar; 4v Egan’shi d gsgi!8 H E!!§ d REV-Euaiag d i!8! d 175 students asked about the eight biogaphical figues. namely Neil Armstrong. Thomas Edison. Adolf Hitler. John F. Kennedy. Jackie Robinson. Babe Ruth. Mark Twain. and George Washington. More Specifically. the sketches vary geatly in both the quality and quantity of information presented. They we not all written for the same audience. They all do not cover the entire subject's life. Yet despite the dfference among the sketches and among the personalities examined. some of the sketches do provide rather complete portraits of the subjects portrayed. In addition. if several of the sketches about an indvidual we read and compared. the information presented is even more complete. In order to answer this resewch question every mention in all of the subject matter textbooks about the eight biogaphical figues examined in the collective biogaphies was pulled from the text and recorded. All textbook excerpts can be examined in full in appendix D. The textbook excerpts were then examined as if they were one biogaphical sketch to see if the same questions posed by the students were answered by the textbook passages. 176 The passages about Neil Armstrong included three separate entries from the social studies book. All tires focused on the 1969 moon landng . Of the th'rty—eigit generic and specific questions students asked about Neil Armstrong. only five (13 percent) were answered. The textbbok passages told what Neil Armstrong dd to become famous. named the spacecraft that was used to go to the moon. told how many people were on the trip to the moon. gave the year of the trip. and explained how long the astronauts were in space. lnformation on Thomas Edson included a short passage from the - spelling text and two separate entries from the social studes text. Although one passage was quite a lengity sketch about the inventor. only nine of the th'rty-six questions (25 percent) were answered fully or in put. The textbook passages did tell where and when Edson was born. what his childhood was like. what kind of education he had. and what he dd to become famous. Specific questions that were covered included. “What was his fist job?." ”When dd he decide to be an inventor?." ”What were his most useful inventions?." and “Did he have a lot of people working for him?" The text passage explained that the inventor often worked together with an inventing team better than any of the collective biogaphy sketches examined. though specific examples of the collaboration found in the biogaphical sketches were not included in the text passages. Only six of the th'rty-six questions (17 percent) posed about Adolf 177 Hitler were answered in part or fully in the three social studies passages containing information on Hitler. A single sentence explains when and how Hitler ded. The passages explain how long ago Hitler lived. and gave a list of some of the countries he invaded. The text says that Hitler was responsible for killing 6.6 million Jews. and though it explains what Hitler did to become famous. the text fails to explain how how he came into power and offers no personal information about the leader. Although passages about John F. Kennedy appear in three dfferent texts. only six of the forty-two questions (14 percent) students asked are broached. The text explained Kennedy's main accomplishments in office. offers some idea of the stress he faced while in office. tells when he took office and how he ded. Students can assume he was married only because it mentions that his wife. Jacqueline. was sitting next to him in the car when he died. The text passages mentioned that Kennedy was the first Catholic to be president of the United States. a fact not mentioned in any of the collective biogaphies. The most complete textbook information was about Jackie Robinson. It included a short passage from the social studes text. along ‘ with a biogaphical sketch in the the basal reading text. In all. fourteen of the thirty-six questions (39 percent) asked about Robinson were answered by the text passages. Seven of the generic questions were answered including when and where he was born. when and how he 178 died. his age at death. the kind of education he had. and what he did to become famous. Specific questions covered included information about his baseball career. how people treated him as the first Black in the big leagues. and about his interest in other sports in college. lnformation about his life after baseball in not included. Only two short passages appear in the textbooks about Babe Ruth. one in the social studies book and a'passage about the Baseball Hall of Fame in the reading Text. Only four of the thirty-eight ( 11 percent) questions asked about Ruth were answered. Like other biogaphical sketches. the text passages told what Ruth did to become famous. listed some of his baseball statistics and creditied 1927 as his best year when he hit sixty home runs. The text says that Ruth was a New York Yankee. but fails to mention other teams he also played for during his career. Textbook passages about Mark Twain were the most engaging of any of the biogaphical personalities examined. though they only supplied answers to four of the thirty-eight (11 percent) questions students asked. The social studies text uses some of Twain's early writing from the V'rginia City Tammy Enigma to explain the rise and fall of mining towns during the western expansion. While this long passage does not answer many of the students' questions. it provides some of the most interesting readng found in any of the textbooks. Text passages about Twain told what he dd to become famous. told in part where he lived. gave his real name. and explained that most of his ideas 179 sprang from his own experiences. Textbook information about George Washinmgton was. by far. the most plentiful. Information about Washington appears in the English. handwriting. and the spelling texts as well as several sepaute mentions in the social studies text. In spite of the volume written about Washington in all the fifth gade subject matter texts. only ten of thirty-nine (26 percent) questions students listed were answered. The text dd offer answers to the generic questions. "Did he have any siblings7.“ 'Did he maury?." ”Was he rich or poor?," and “What did he do to become famous?." Washington is one of the only biogaphical figures in which the text offers any personal information about the individual. Specific questions covered included, “What state dd he live in?." ”What war was he in?." “What battles dd he fight in?." “What dd he do before he was President?.“ “When did he become President?." and “How long was he President?.“ As a whole and viewed separately. the textbook passages offer much less information that any of the biogaphical sketches examined. The textbook passages offer almost no personal information. which the students expressed the most interest in with their questions. Students wanted to know what biogaphical figures were like as people; they were interested in their families and what is was like for them while they were g'owing up. Though the biogaphical sketches often failed to answer the majority of the students questions. they supplied far more information of 180 interest to the students. Summary in Chapter IV the descriptive data collected from the instruments used in the study were analyzed. Each research question was dscussed to show which biogaphical figures and categories of figures gade six students preferred. After analysis of the gade five textbooks used by the students. the eight most interesting biogaphical personalitieswere examined in biogaphical sketches and in textbook passages to see what kind of coverage is available about these selected biogaphical figures. In Chapter V the summary of the findngs of this study will be presented along with conclusions and implications extracted from the data. Recommendations for further research in related areas will also be presented. CHAPTER V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Chapter V contains a summary of the findings of this study based on the analysis of the data collected. The conclusions and implications concerning the responses of gade six students about their interest in and preferences for biogaphical personalities and categories of biogaphical personalities are examined. A comparison of information about selected biogaphical figures taken from g'ade five subject matter textbooks and collective biogaphy sketches will be discussed. Problems encountered in this research study as well as recommendations for further research in areas related to this study are presented in this chapter. Througt an extensive review of related research and other professional resou'ces. this researcher became awe of the untapped potential found in the genre of biogaphy. Biogaphical sketches can supplement subject matter texts. They can provide a more personal look at a person rather than just the accomplishments of a biogaphical personality. Research also indicated a need to examine collective biogaphies 181 182 specifically. to further define what is meant by the term. Fisher (Carr. ed.. 1982. p. 129) says. "it seems inevitable that we shall continue to use the term biogaphy loosely. that it can never be relied upon to define a book which could be a picture storybook. a selected episode. a d'amatised (sic) study. a monogaph. or an historical novel in disguise." A review of related research involving child'en's preferences for biogaphy. the content and treatment of biogaphical personalities of biogaphies in subject matter textbooks and the uses for biogaphies in the curriculum was also examined. To further define the potential of the use of the biogaphy in the curriculum. this researcher assessed sixth grade students' preferences and categories of preferences for biogaphical figures chosen from the subject matter textbooks and chosen by the students in a free choice component using two instruments: the Category Preference Instrument and the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument. The study also queried students about information they wanted to know about selected biogaphical figures, and examined collective biogaphy sketches and textbook passages to determine their depth and breadth. 183 SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS R er I n 1me t l | I' ll . l' l' 2 a - -.u:fo,._ 1 $0.] I . at t. are". I . n .n I . . . ? A total of 374 biogaphical figures were referred to in the subject matter textbooks. Minorities and women made up a small part of that total; twenty-eight Blacks (7 percent). twelve Native Americans (3 percent). and four other current minorities (1 percent) including a Chinese American. a Filipino. a Hawaiian American. and a Hispanic were also included. Women accounted for sixty~two of the names for 17 percent of the total. A large number of the biogaphical subjects. 73 percent. came from the social studies text. Other subject matter texts mentioned few biogaphical personalities in comparison. The basal reading text supplied the most complete sketches with the most personal information about any of the personalities mentioned. but there were only a few sketches sprinkled throughout the book. Although the social studies text referred to the most biogaphical personalities and the widest variety of figures. most of them received only a passing mention. The science book included short. one page sketches of biogaphical subjects. but although 184 the other texts (spelling. handwriting. English and math) mentioned some personalities. little biogaphical information was provided about them. A crossreference between the 374 biogaphical figures listed in the subject matter textbooks and the Index to Collegiye Biggaphies for W determined that 80 percent of the figures listed in the textbooks were also subjects found in collective biogaphies. A large number of the figures not represented in collective biogaphies were minority figures and women. Current personalities were also not represented in collective biogaphies. In this researcher's opinion. this information has three main implications. F irst, though textbooks do mention a large number of different biogaphical personalities. relatively little pertinent information is supplied. Unless students have previous knowledge about the individuals mentioned in most of the subject matter texts, it seems unlikely that the information supplied by the texts would be retained. The texts supply information about personalities more by accident than plan; the main thrust of the subject matter texts is to present events in a chronological sequence. rather than to present the whole picture of an era of history complete with multi-faceted persons. Second. the majority of the biogaphical figures not represented in the collective biogaphies are minority figures and women. This indcates that textbook publishers are trying hard to increase minority and women's representation in textbooks. Additions like Chinese American 185 newswoman. Connie Chung; Black astronaut. Guy Bluford Jr.; the female Civil War spy. Deborah Champion; Native Americans. Buffalo Bird Woman and Samoset; and female judge. Sara T. Hughes indicate that publishers are making a conscious effort to present more of a ”melting pot“ of figures. while collective biogaphy collections lag behind in this area. Third. many of the personalities not represented in the collective biogaphies but mentioned in the textbooks 8‘0 minor figures in the scope of history. For example. Nancy and Tom Lincoln were the parents of our sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. Virginia Dare was the first baby born to an English settler in the new world. Jane Davis was the wife of Jefferson Davis. Though these minor players might be worthy of mention and of passing interest to elementary school students. they probably would not be good subjects for collective biogaphies. On the open selection component of the Category Preference Instrument. students listed a total of 316 different personalities. Minority figures and women accounted for a small percentage. Forty-nine Blacks were listed by students (16 percent) offering a slightly larger representation than the figures in the subject matter textbooks. Students listed no Native Americans and five other minority figures (2 percent) 186 were listed including four Hispanic and one Hawaiian. A cross reference of this list with the l . : . found that only 36 percent of the figures listed by the students were also represented in collective biogaphies. The implication that can be d'awn from this portion of the research is that current personalities are seldom the subjects included in collective biogaphies. The majority of the personalities that students listed as personalities about whom they would like to read were current. popular personalities from the entertainment and sports fields. The influence of television on students' lives is revealed by the list of current personalities who star in television situation comedes. like Roseanne Bm of "Roseanne". Kirk and Candace Cameron of the series ”Full House". and Bill Cosby of the "Cosby Show". Music videos of current rock goups and singers like the Outlaws. Ratt. and J.J. Cool appear on “MTV“ hosted by Julie Brown. another personality listed by students as possible interesting reading. The increased sports' coverage and pay channels like PASS have made many current sports figures familiar and interesting personalities to many students. A close examination of the collective biogaphy list indicates that personalities must be well entrenched in their field before they become a subject included in a collective biogaphy. An inspection of the local librwy shelves and school book clubs like Scholastic. Trumpet. and Troll reveal that there are many personalities represented by full biogaphies 187 that are not represented in collective biogaphies. The rock goup. New Kids on the Block; singer. Paula Abdul; and Detroit Tiger baseball star. Alan Trammell. for example. are the subjects of full biogaphies but are not found in collective biogaphies. A current paperback biogaphy of Vanilla Ice was ordered from the school book club by seven students in this researcher‘s class of twenty-six gade three students. While it appears that publishers are quick to supply information about current entertainers and sports figures in full biogaphies. like Mammal; W (Jamil. 1985) and Week (Greenberg 1991). collective biogaphers take a “wait and see“ attitude. Another finding worthy of note is that not all gade six students are able to separate real and fictional characters. While most students listed real figures. a small number of students listed fictional television characters like Murphy Brown played by James Garner; James Bond. the super smart British spy; and Alt. the furry alien filled with rude and brash comments. Nancy Drew. the popular girl detective in the “Nancy Drew" mystery books was also listed. The data from the Category Preference Instrument indicated that grade six students prefer to read about sports figures. entertainers and scientists. Least popular among the students were US. political figures. 188 explorers and pioneers. and world political figures. the three goups best represented in the subject matter textbooks. The most interesting observation gleaned from this portion of the research concerned the minority figures category. Analysis showed that when all five choices were considered. the minority category was a popular choice with 43 percent of the students selecting it. However. when the choices are examined individually. the category selection was relegated to fourth or fifth choice by the majority of the students who selected the category. This difference indcates to this researcher that race was not the primary consideration when selecting biogaphical personalities to read about. Though students recognized minority figures they wanted to read about. they chose the fields that they represented first before the racial goup with which these personalities were identified. When all five category choices were considered. only two categories, the military leaders and the creative artists. showed marked difference between the genders. Military leaders was chosen as a favored category by 78 percent of the boys while only 31 percent of the girls selected it as one of their top five choices. Girls chose the creative artist category more than the boys. with 69 percent of the girls selecting it. and only 29 percent of the boys. 189 Significant differences can be seen when indvidual choices are examined. The entertainers category was the first choice of 70 percent of the girls while 7 percent of the boys selected entertainers first. Conversely. 51 percent of the boys chose sports figures as their favored category while 6 percent of the girls did so. In ageement with Kyoon's (1984) study, entertainers and sportsfigures were the most popular. It should be noted that Kyoon gouped both these categories into one large goup. In the study conducted by this researcher. separation of entertainers and sports figures into two g'oups determined that while both goups are popular choices. girls tend to prefer entertainers more while boys seem to show a clear preference for sports as their number one category preference. When considering the gender of biogaphical figures to read about. the boys and the girls were united in the belief that the gender of the biogaphical subject simply does not matter. Sixty-seven percent of the total population indicated that they wanted to read about both men and women. While more boys indcated that they preferred to read only about men (41 percent). the majority of the students did not prefer to read about a particular gender. Implications of this portion of the research indicate that gender is not really important in category selection or in choosing a biogaphical figure to read about. Though there are obvious differences in the order of the biogaphical categories chosen. there were not significant differences 190 in the categories they chose. Minor differences in the creative artist category. selected more often by the girls (69 percent as opposed to 29 percent). and the military leader category. selected more often by the boys (78 percent as opposed to 31 percent). show that some gender difference between the boys and girls still exist. but these differences are not significant. fi 7 The Category Preference Instrument showed that most students (85 percent) do read biogaphies in varying frequencies. While most students do read biogaphies. only 9 percent of the students read biogaphies frequently. This findng supports other preference studies (Graham. 1988. Haynes. 1988) that indcate that biogaphy is not the most popular genre when compared with fictional genres. Research by Wood (1984) and Mellon (1990) shows geater interest in the genre of biogaphy. but Wood's research was based on a Gallup survey that questioned adult readers. while Mellon's work queried junior and senior high school students. This indicates to this researcher that biogaphy is more appealing to older readers than it is to younger students. 191 c. e. q .21 s' -- :v:- -. '9'. -. . a at :: uz. l t: f'- r:- . | . I 1! . 2 The Category Preference Instrument indicated that the majority of the students (78 percent) were consistent in their choice of categories and biogaphical figures. Only 22 percent of the students selected a favorite category and did not follow through by listing at least one personality who belonged in that category. Although the majority of personalities were from the sports figures and entertainers category. students showed a broad interest in other fields as well. A total of 316 different personalities were listed by the students includng many creative artists. scientists. US. political leaders. military leaders. and explorers along with their favorite entertainers and sports figures. This portion of the research seems to indicate that students have a clear understanding of the categories they chose. and looking beyond students' first and second choices. students have an interest in a wide variety of biogaphical personalities. This seems to indicate that biogaphical reading could be motivating and educational if students' interests were examined by teachers and they. in turn. attempt to locate biogaphical sketches or full biogaphies of interest to them. Even though students do have a strong interest for entertainers and sports figures they do. or can develop a wider interest if they are given the opportunity. 192 W 3. Whi u 0-9 1'11 1 .r' 0.0 .u 9.1031...” 4 o ‘1’» 31321412 Students listed a total of 316 personalities that they indicated would make interesting biogaphical reading. The majority of the figures listed by the students were entertainers and sports figures. but students indcated an eclectic interest in other fields as well. The open selection component of the Category Preference Instrument revealed that sports figures were slightly more popular than entertainers. It was found. however. that students who listed sports figures often listed several members from the same team. or several personalities from the same sport. For instance, one student listed every first string goalie in the National Hockey League. while several other students listed several of the Detroit Pistons. The same was true for many of the entertainers that students listed. Students listed all heavy metal rock goups or all the characters on their favorite situation comedies from television. This researcher feels that students' obvious classification of categories of figures on the open selection component of the Category Preference Instrument is probably responsible. for the large numba of sports figures and entertainers listed. and indcates students' interests in the categories of figures more than the individual figures. The fact that the majority of personalities listed in the sports figures and entertainment field were mentioned only once or twice by all the students is further evidence that 193 this occurred. This classification dd not occur in other categories. For instance. students did not list several classical composers; usually Bach or Mozart were listed along with biogaphical persons from other categories. While students indicated that US. political figures was not among their preferred categories. the open selection component of the Category Preference Instrument indcated that students had a strong interest in personalities from those categories. Students listed sixteen US. political figures a total of seventy-eight times. In this case. this researcher feels that the knowledge students already possess about these figures was probably responsible for their frequency on the open selection component rather than a sincere interest in the category. When students were asked to list biogaphical figures. personalities like George Washington. Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy were first they cited. This premise is assumed to be true because each category was carefully explained to all students before they categorized them. Presidents of the United States was the first example given for the US. political leaders category and students indicated that they were more interested in other categories. Students are. however. inundated with political characters from early elementary school as they celebrate Columbus' discovery of the New World. Lincoln and Washington's Birthday in February and the study of other political characters throughout the year. 194 Students' selection of biogaphical personalities showed that 16 percent of those listed were minority figures. However. further examination reveals that 85 percent of the minority figures listed represent the sports figures and the entertainers categories. Other categories were not equally represented with minority figures. George Washington Carver was the only scientist representing the minority goup. while Frederick Douglass was the only US. political leader who is associated with a minority goup. While minority figures are well represented as a whole. the implication of this portion of the research. namely that minority figures are nearly all from the sports and entertainers category. is that minority figures need to be better recognized in other categories as well. Current textbooks are starting to reflect this need by including biogaphical subjects like Guy Bluford. Jr.. the first Black astronaut. for example. A more complete picture of these individuals needs to be presented. however. Although students seldom selected the others category on the first part of the Category Preference Instrument. a number of personalities the students listed on the open selection component of the instrument did not fit into any of the nine determined categories. This finding indicates that a redefining of the categories might improve results in future studies. A category for humanitarians is indicated by the personalities students listed like Pope John Paul XXXIII. Joan of Arc. and Clara Barton. In addition. business tycoons. Lee Iococca and Donald Trump. also did not 195 fit into any category and still would not fit into any category if a humanitarian category was created. a. Are the figuree gudente eelect. the game pgeeneln' jee feund in their eupjeet mattg textbeeke? The list of biogaphical figures gleaned from the textbook and the list of personalities listed by the students on the open selection component portion of the Category Preference Instrument were cross referenced to see how many personalities appeared on both lists. Results showed only fifty-one names appeared on both lists with 29 percent of those names belonging to the US. political figu'es category. There were also ten explorers and pioneers . nine scientists. and eight sports figures on both lists. Minority figu’es appearing on both lists accounted for 14 percent of the total. Creative artists and entertainers were not well represented on both lists. Though students' preference for current figures from the entertainment and sports world does not make the low correlation between the two lists surprising. the lack of representation of prominent creative artists is of note. Students listed notable figures from the humanities field includng Charles Dickens. Walt Disney. Mozart. Picasso. Rembrandt. VanGogh. and Shakespeare. but none of these personalities was mentioned in any of the subject matter textbooks. The implication from this finding is that textbooks have not been fairly 196 representing the fine arts. Like the textbook movement to fairly represent minority figures and women. textbooks need to represent the humanities as well. Omission of the creative artists listed above fuels the controversy led by current educational reformers like Hirsch (1987) who state that students have little knowledge of biogaphical personalities representing the humanities. From the forty-eight most frequently mention biogaphical figures appearing in the subject matter textbooks. students chose sports star. Babe Ruth. most often. Other personalities considered most interesting by the gade six students were Adolf Hitler. leader of the Nazis during World War II; John F. Kennedy. former President of the United States who was assassinated in 1963; George Washington. first President of the United States; Neil Armstrong. the American astronaut and first to walk on the moon; Thomas Edison. prolific inventor best known for his creation of the incandescent light bulb; and Mark Twain. author of many American classics like [he Adventuree of [cm Sawyg. The selection of these personalities indicates that students' do have an interest in personalities from several categories. This contention is further proved by the fact that all but two personalities. Bartholomew Dias. earlier explorer and a contemporary of Christopher Columbus; and Oliver 197 Hazard Perry. a naval officer who fought in Lake Erie; were selected as one of the most interesting personalities by at least some of the students. Another implication that can be gleaned form this portion of the study is that students do have an interest in unsavory characters like Adolf Hitler who in the past have not been considered appropriate subjects of biogaphies for young readers. Since Hitler was one of the most frequently cited figures by the students who pwticipated in this study. collective biogaphies about him were examined. All of the biogaphical sketches examined were geared toward the older reader. These findings indicate that younger readers also have interest as well; however. there were no biogaphical sketches that most younger readers would be able to read. All articles examined contained sophisticated language and sentence structure and small print. Though some students might be able to muddle through the existing sketches because of a keen interest in the subject, the format of the sketches will not appeal to most younger readers. The selection of Thomas Edison as one of the most popular figures represented in textbooks cannot fairly be proved by this study. Thomas Edson lived in the town in which the study was conducted for most of his boyhood years; therefore. his popularity might be attributed to a g'eater knowledge the students possess about him or reflect a bias toward a hometown figure. In conjunction with the premise that a local tie can bias students' interests. baseball player Mickey Weston was one of 198 the top five selections of biogaphical personalities on the open selection component of the Category Preference Instrument. No full biogaphies or collective biogaphies have been written about him since he has only played in the major leagues for two years with limited success. However. the fact that he is local. creates a special interest. Weston was also the person who administered the first two instruments to the students involved in the study. c. How much knowledgefieejxtfledefiugemenmem t e lo hical fi r ' in ' ' matter textbooks? . Results of the Textbook-Driven Preference Instrument indicate that students' knowledge about biogaphical figures vwies geatly from student to student. As a whole students knew less than half of the figures appearing on the list of the most frequently mentioned biogaphical figures with 20.1 being the average score recognized out of the forty- eight figures. based on the total study population of 155. The most knowledgeable student was able to correctly identify thirty-seven (77 percent) of all the figures on the list. One student could only identify four of the biogaphical figures from the textbook for the lowest number of correct responses. The implication from these results is that students are not learning about the biogaphical figures presented in their textbooks. Students were asked to identify the most frequently cited biogaphical 199 figures from their textbook. 48 of the 374 figures included in the book. Even though the most frequently mentioned personalities were chosen. there was little information presented about them in the subject matter texts. Appendix D includes sample textbook passages and vividly illustrates the lack of depth and breadth presented about the biogaphical personalities in which students expressed the most interest. This researcher feels that students who were able to identify a substantial number of biogaphical figures probably learned about them from sources other than the subject matter textbooks. An examination of indvidual figures showed that no figure on the list was recognized by every student . though at least 90 percent of the students were able to identify Ronald Reagan. George Washington. John F. Kennedy. Christopher Columbus. Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Edison and Babe Ruth. Ronald Reagan and George Washington were identified most often with 153 students correctly identifying him. Other numbers of correct responses about the most recognized figures included John F. Kennedy (152 correct identifications). Christopher Columbus (151 correct). Abraham Lincoln (149). Thomas Edson (143). and Babe Ruth (139 correct responses). This indcates that students do have knowledge about some of the major US. political figures represented most often and most fully in the textbooks. In contrast. at least some of the students. sometimes only one or two students of the 155 involved in the study. were able to identify all the biogaphical figures with the 200 exception of Warren E. Burger. former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. again indcating that students' knowledge about biogaphical personalities appearing most frequently in their textbooks varied geatly. For example. only one student could identify Junipero Serra. one of the first settlers in California; only two students could identify Sanct'a Day O'Connor. the first female justice on the Supreme Court. The number of incorrect responses given to identify the biogaphical personalities indicates that students thought they knew more about the personalities than they actually dd. For example. thirty students incorrectly identified Queen lsabella as the Queen of England. Four students confused Harriet Tubman. conductor of the undergound railroad with Harry Truman. former President of the United States. Blues musician. Louis Armstrong. was confused with astronaut. Neil Armstrong. Over 50 percent of the students gave incorrect responses. ° . has utta arms..- '- iv. 12-1 an 01;. nu Questions asked by gade six students fit into two general categories: questions students asked about all or nearly all biogaphical 201 personalities. and questions asked about specific personalities. The results of this portion of the research study indcated that students are interested in personal questions about the subject's home. family. schooling. and formative years. The implication from this finding is that students want to view biogaphical personalities as real people like themselves. rather than as pieces of the jigsaw puzzle of history. Students' questions also indicate that many of them have been introduced to the biogaphical figure before and already have a developing knowledge base. For instance. one student asked if Adolf Hitler was ever in Olympics. The question indicates to this researcher that he had heard the story about Jesse Owens and the Olympic games in Berlin before. when Hitler was angered by the Black man's appearance and success in the Olympic games. but the student had not remembered the whole senario. Another example is the student who asked about John F. Kennedy‘s affairs. A thorough readng of all sketches and textbook passages about Kennedy indicated that the student did not learn that bit of information from those sources, since none of the sketches examined mention any marital infidelity. and all present Kennedy as a loving family man. Several questions indicated thoughtful interest about things students do not read in textbooks. For instance. many students wanted more first hand information from Neil Armstrong about what it was like in space including. “How did he go to the bathroom?“ and “What was it like 202 with little gavity?" Students wanted to know how Edson created his inventions rather than just a listing of what they were as indcated by questions such as "How did he invent the lightbulb?," "Did he ever have any explosions?." and "Did he have any special tools to make his invenfion?fi A cross reference of the students' questions with each personality indicated that coverage of each personality varies geatly and coverage among the biogaphical sketches also varies. Some sketches were lengthy. complete and well written. notably Richards' (1984) sketch of Thomas Edson. and Sullivan's (1988) sketches about Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth. Other sketches were little more than encyclopedic blurbs. As a whole students' questions were not completely answered. especially the questions concerning the personality's feeling toward and activities in school. Most questions about the personality's vital statistics were answered includng when and where he was born and how he became famous. The sixteen generic questions. such as “Was He married?." Where was he born?." and “What was his education like?“. that were asked about all the personalities were answered more often that the specific questions. Some of the specific questions asked about personalities lead this researcher to believe that students are often learning incorrect information about the biogaphical figures. Students. for instance. asked what George Washington's Dad said when he chopped down the cherry 203 tree indicating that some parents and teachers are perpetuating the myths about Washington rather than the facts. Another student asked if Thomas Edison ever fled from the Canadian Rebellion. No article mentioned any connection with a Canadian Rebellion. An examination of the biogaphical sketches found in collective biogaphies and the textbook passages about the same biogaphical figures indicate that collective biogaphies do a more thorough job of presenting the whole person. Even though the collective biogaphies varied geatly in length and quality. the worst collective biogaphies presented at least as much information as the textbooks. For example. Corn and Moline (1987) dealt primarily with the eccentricies of biogaphical figures. Thomas Edson is portrayed as a man who dabbled with and had geat belief in ESP. Even though limited, their article answered seven of the thirteen generic questions (54 percent). Though Tharp (1970) fails to mention Neil Armstrong's most famous trip to the moon in 1969. his biogaphical sketch does tell when and where he was born. what friends he had. what his educational backgound was. and 204 what his first voyage into space was like. all questions ignored by the subject matter texts. In contrast to the least informative collective biogaphies. some did an excellent job portraying the biogaphical figures as interesting and multi-faceted characters from history. Hancock (1976) wrote an interesting and lengthy account of Mark Twain that included his boyhood, travels on the Mississippi and out West during prospecting times. as well as a thorough account of his adult years. In all Hancock's article answered thirty-one of the students' thirty-eight questions (82 percent). Boardman (1977) wrote an engaging sketch about Adolf Hitler that carefully integated the Incidents of World War II with Hitler's character development. After reading this sketch. this researcher had a better understanding of Germany's acceptance of Hitler and the underlying causes of the war. These excellent sketches include a rich historical backgound. solid character development. and an intertwining of character and incident that leaves readers with an understanding of both the person and the times. The subject matter textbooks. for the most part. failed to present any personal information about the figures; textbooks presented the personality only as a part of chronolgical history. Because of these findings. it is clear to this researcher that the use of collective biogaphies could add to the depth and breadth of social studies and provide the backgound that is missing in textbooks. A final implication is that textbooks need to change if they continue to be the only vehicle of 205 instruction. It is evident that students are not retaining the piecemeal presentations about biogaphical figures presented in the textbooks. PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN THE RESEARCH Defining the criteria for evaluation of the biogaphical sketches and the instrument to evaluate those sketches was the most difficult part of the study for several reasons. First. the biogaphical sketches were of varying lengths and format. This researcher found it difficult to compare a sketch containing only three or four paragaphs with one forty pages long. If this study was replicated it would be valuable to set perameters for the collective biogaphy since the genre now includes everything from a paragraph of encyclopedic style text to longer pieces that could be examined in terms of the criteria established. A second problem with the instrument used to examine the sketches was that the seven criteria that were established attempted to cover too much in one area. There would have been less discrepancy. for instance. if the rater could document the authenticity of the facts with a yes/no checklist that includes statements like "includes a bibliogaphy". "uses source notes to authenticate facts". and "uses direct quotations.“ A third problem was that establishing the criteria for good biogaphy is difficult because many scholars in the field do not ages. For instance. Fisher (Carr. ed. 1982) believes any fictionalization in childen's biogaphies is unnecessary and takes away 206 from the credibility of the piece. Fritz (1986). on the other hand believes that some minimal fictionalization in childen's biogaphy is warranted as long as the author maintains the accuracy of the facts. Putting thoughts that biogaphical characters might have and probably did think is allowed according to Fritz. but would not be acceptable to Fisher. More work to hone biogaphical criteria would improve this difficult section of the study. A second problem in this research was the inability of this researcher to administer the first two study instruments herself. There is little research done in the target district and so procedures for doing a research study have not been firmly established. and some administrators had limited experience in conducting research. More research in the district. along with a more positive approach to the benefits of research in the dstrict would make future studies easier to plan, administer and interpret. A third problem encountered in this study was the difficulty locating collective biogaphies. The libraries this researcher visited showed most collections to be old with few new addtions. According to the librarians at one library. collective biogaphies are a low priority when new purchases are made. Bookstores the researcher visited offered few collective biogaphies. The search for the required collective biogaphies took over four months; most of the selections were obtained from inter-library loan. A final problem encountered in the research was that little 207 research dealing with the genre of biogaphy exists. More study needs to be done in this field. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH This study could be replicated using a more diverse population. Perhaps selecting a large urban city scool dstrict. or selecting communities from different parts of the United States would produce a less myopic view. ' This study could be replicated using high school students from gades 1O -12. Students of this age would have a broader backgound and a more solid base of history courses from which to daw. This study could be replicated using full biogaphies rather than collective biogaphies. Students' questions about biogaphical personalities would have a better chance of being addessed in full biogaphies. It would be easier to evaluate the quality of a full biogaphy. Changing the genre of literature used from biogaphies to historical fiction could produce different results. Recent M.E.A.P. (Michigan Educational Assessment of Progess) tests have indicated that students like and understand narrative text more than expository text. Biogaphies most often have a narrative structure compared the expository structure of most textbooks. A similar study that assessed interest rather than preferences 208 could be undertaken. Establishing what students actually read in the field of biogaphies rather than what they indicate they want to read might be interesting. Refining the instrument created for content analysis. especially in the area of assesssing the criteria for biogaphies, might add depth to the data collected. A new. more suitable instrument might also be devised. In light of the information garnered from the review of the literature about current social studies curriculum. a study that designed and tested a new social studies curriculum incorporating good literature and new instructional approaches would be worthwhile. Would an innovative curriculum affect students' knowledge about or attitude toward social studies? A case study that trained teachers to incorporate literature into other parts of the curriculm and examine the results of that training over a period of time also seems worthwhile. In the field of library science a researcher could look at the genre of biogapies and compare the scope and breadth of collective biogaphy collections with full biogaphies. An examination of how books are selected for purchase would also be valuable. SUMMARY This chapter examined and summarized the findings of this research study. It examined the responses of g'ade six students about 209 their interest in and preferences for biogaphical personalities and categories of biogaphical personalities. The information about selected biogaphical figures taken from gade five subject matter textbooks and collective biogaphy sketches was compared. Problems encountered in this research study and recommendations for further research were also discussed. REFERENCES REFERENCES Allen. Michael. "Middle Grade Social Studies: A Modest Proposal." SecjeLEdueetjm, 52 (February 1988): 113-115. Alvermann. Donna; Bridge, Connie; Schmidt, Barbara; Searfoss. Lyndon; and Winog'ad. Peter. Bare as Hen'eTeeth. 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Charles S. "Elementary Students' Perceptions of Social Studies." Ine_S_QeieI_S_tudiee (November/December 1984): 244-247. Witucke. V'rginia. "Trends in Juvenile Biogaphy: Five Years Later." Tee ottheblms (Fall1985): 45-53. Wood. Leonard. "Biogaphies. Autobiogaphies Growing in Popularity." Publieher's Weekly 226 (October 5.1984): 569. Zanderer. Leo. "Evalutating Contemporary Children's Biogaphy: Imaginative Reconstruction and its Discontents." Canadian CbiIQeQ's Literatgre (5): 33-51. Zarnowski, Myra. "Learning About Fictionalized Biogaphies: A Reading and Writing Approach." MW 42 (November 1988):136-142. . "The Middle School Student as Biogapher." The Reaging Teacher 42 (November 1988): 25-27. APPENDIX A COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY LIST COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHY LIST COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING NEIL ARMSTRONG Dewm. William A. Wee. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. Garfinkel. Bernard. W We]. New York: PIatt and Munk Publishers. 1973. Leipold. L. Edmond. WWW Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1973. . Lewis Shari. Wm. Research by Gerry Matthews. Illustrated by Robert Barrett. New York: Doubleday. 1990. Thap. Edgar. W New York: Groaet and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. COLLECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING THOMAS EDISON Asimov. Isaac. W Boston. Massachusetts: Hougtton Mifflin Company. 1959. (o.p.) Associated Press Edtors. W New York: Gallery Press. 1986. Beckwith. Yvonne. ed. W Chica90- "IINOISI Standard Edtion. 1966. (o.p.) Bixby. William. Were. New York: David McKay. 1964. (0-9.) Bolton. Sarah K. EameueMeneLSeienee. New York: T. Y. Crowell. 1960. (o.p.) New York: T. Y. Crowell. rev. ed. 1962. (o.p.) Burlingame. Roger. inxentnfiehinimunxemor. San Diego. California: Haroout Brace Jovanovich. 1947. (o.p.) 216 217 Carmer. Carl. ed. AW New York: Lothrop Lee and Shepad. 1958. (o.p.) Corn. Kahane and Moline. Jacki. WM film New York: Julian Messner. 1987. Cottler. Joseph and Jaffe. Haym. Wm Boston. Massachusetts: Little Brown. rev. ed.. 1969. (o.p.) Ctrtin. Andew. W New York: Franklin Watts. 1965. (o.p.) DeWitt. William A. WWW New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1964. (o.p.) . W New York: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. (o.p.) Dolin. Arnold. W New York: Hart.1960. (o.p.) Eberle. lrmenwde. W New York: Dodd Mead. 1941. (o.p.) Evans. I. 0. MW New York: Frederick Wane. 1962. top.) Fanning. Leonard M. W New York: J. B. Lippincott. 1962. (o.p.) Feldman. Anthony. W New York: Facts on File. 1979. Fowler. Mary Jane & Fisher. Margaret. W Grand Rapids, Michigan: Fideler. 1968. (o.p.) . W Grand Rapids. Michigan: Gateway Press. Inc.. 1988. Garfinkel. Bernard. W New York: Platt and Munk.1973. (o..p) I-Iylander. Claence J. W New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 1934. (o.p.) 218 Leipold. L. Edmond. WW Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1967. (o.p.) . W Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1973. (o.p.) Lewis. Shari. 002W. Illustrated by Robert Barett. New York: Doubleday. 1990. Mason. M'riam E. and Cutaridtt. William H. W fljeteu. Lexington. Massachusetts: Ginn Company. 1966. (o.p.) Fringe. Patrick. WEB]. New York: Roy Publishers. 1965. (DP) Redford. Ruby L. W New York: Julian Messner. 1969. (o.p.) Richsds. Norman. W New York: Atheneum.1984. Shepherd. Walter. Wee. New York: Fleet Hess. 1964. 1970. (o.p.) SiedeI. Frank and Siedel. James M. W Boston. Massachusetts: Hougiton Mifflin. 1968. (o.p.) Thup. Edger. W New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1971. (o.p.) COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING ADOLF HITLER Archer. Jules. IhLDigtm New York: Hawthorn. 1967. (o.p.) Boadman. Fon W. Jr. W New York: Henry 2. Walck. Inc.. 1977. (o.p.) Carr. Albert. W New York: Viking Press. rev. ed.. 1956. (o.p.) Clark. Philip. W Morristown. New Jersey: Silver Burdett and Company, 1981. 219 Donovan. Frank. W. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1964. (o.p.) Kine-Hall Stephen W Albuquerque. New Mexico: Transatlantic Arts. Inc..1964. Taylor. A. J. P. W New York: New York: Viking Penguin. Inc.. 1979. COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING JOHN F. KENNEDY Assisi. May Francis. Sister. WM”. Lexington. Massachusetts: Ginn and Company. 1967. (o.p.) Baclay, Babaa. WW5. Bowma. 1970. (o.p.) Bassett. Magaet. .. on x ' _ IheLMyes. WheelwrigIt.1969. (o.p.) David McKay Company. “.1976 (o. p.) Bead. Chales A. and Bead. William. W Hm New York: Julian Messner. rev. ed.. 1985. Beckwith. Yvonne. ed. W Chicago. Illinois: Standad Education Corp.. 1966. (o.p.) Blevineeme. Wyatt. MW New York: Random House. rev. ed.. 1990. Buske. Morris. ed. W Chicago. Illinois: Childen's Press. 1975. (o.p.) Canning. John ed. 0 l -. ~ . . . M New York: Taplinger Publishing Company. 1978. Cary. Sturges P. We. New York: Scholastic Publishing Company. 1969. (o.p.) 220 Cavanah. Frances. MW New York: Macrae. rev. ed.. 1965. (o.p.) Cooke. Donald E. W Maplewood, New Jersey: Hammond.lnc.. rev. ed.. 1985. Coy. Haold. W. New York: Franklin Watts, rev. ed.. 1981. Cutin. Anckew. W New York: Franklin Watts. 1965. (o.p.) DeWitt. WilliamA. W New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1964. (o.p.) . mummies. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. (o.p.) D'rksen. Everett McKinley and Jeffers. H. Paul. W W New York. McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. 1967. (o..p) Durant. John. W New York: Hastings House Publishers. 1964. (o.p.) San Diego. California: A.. S._Barnes. 6th rev. ed.. 1973. (o.p.) Faber. Haold and Faber. Doris. Welt! Century. New York: Random House. 1967. (o.p.) Fieder. Jean. W Hart. 1966. (013-) FreideI. Frank. : ' 'I . . Washington D. C.: White House Historical Association.1985. Hoff. Rhoda. WW1. New York: Doubleday 30d Company. 1971. (o.p.) Kelen EmerII. ed. W New York: Lothrop. Lee and Shephad. 1970. (o. p.) Kelly. FrankK. - . . ' .- York: Putnam Publishing Group. 1967. (o. p) Leipold. L. Edmond. MW Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1972. (o.p.) 221 Lengyel Comel W New York: Western Publishing Company. rev. ed.. 1969. (o. p.) . Wham New York: Western Publishing Company. rev. ed.. 1977. (o.p.) Life International. W New York: E. P. Dutton. 1959. (o.p.) McConneI. Jane and McConneI. But. W New York: T. Y. Crowell. 1965. (o.p.) . W New York: T. Y. Crowell. rev. ed.. 1970. (o.p.) Miers. Earl Schenck. W New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1966. (o.p.) Petersham. Maud and Petersham. Miska. ' W New York. Macmillan. rev. ed..1966. (o.p.) Rose. George E W Chicago. Illinois. Rand McNally and Company. 1960. (o. p.) Chicago. Illinois; Rand McNally and Company. rev. ed.. 1969. (o. p.) Rowe. Jeanne A. W New York: Franklin Waite. 1969. (o.p.) Schoor. Gene. W New York: Van Nos Reinhold Publishing Company. 1967. (o.p.) Scott. Macia. W Minneapolis. Minnesota: Lerner Books. 1973. (o.p.) Sullivan. George. W New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1984. Webb. Robert N. LeaderLQLQILIimeiedaaL New York: Franklin Watts. 1964. (o.p.) Weiss. Ann E. W New York: Julian Messner.1970. (o.p.) and Company. 1985“” Yolen. Will and Giniger. Kenneth S.. eds. W Harisbu'g. Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. 1968. (o.p.) COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING JACKIE ROBINSON Allen. Lee and Meany. Tom. I? [II D' I II I II . BafibaILstaLgLEame, New York: Putnam Publishing Group. 1965. (0MP) Associate Press Edtors. W New York: Gallery Press. 1986. York: Atheneum.1975. (o.p.) Bonner. M. G. BaseballjeokiesflhaMadejmd. New York: Know. 1954. (o.p.) Bontemps. Arna. W New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1964. (o.p.) Brosnan.Jim. maLBQQkieuflheMaigLLeawes. New York: Random House.1966. (o.p.) Brown. Vashti and Brown. Jack. Baum. Baden, Massachusetts: HougIton Mifflin. 1968. (o.p.) Buchad. S. H. W. San DIOQO. California: Hacout. Brace Jovanovich. 1983. (o.p.) Butler. Hal. W. New York: Julian Messner. 1973. (o.p.) Davis. Mac. - . .. W. New York: World Publishers.1972. (o.p.) HaILQLEamLmeaIL New York: Collins-World. 1975. (0P) 223 . W New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1974. (o.p.) . W. New York: Growet and Dunlap. 1954. (o.p.) . New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1972. (o.p.) . W. New York: World Publishers. 1968. (o.p.) Douglass. Melvinl. -. ' ' 191%. Brooklyn. New York: Theo ea... Ltd..1984. Flynn. JamesJ. - - I‘ Dodd. Mead and Company. 197.0. (0. p.) Frommer. Havey. W. New York: Franklin Watts. 1985. Gelman. Steve. W New York: Putnam Publishing Group. 1968. (o.p.) Gutman. Bill. W New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1973. (o.p.) . New York: Julian Messner. 1978. (o. p. ) Hollander. Phyllis and Hollander. Zander. We“; Amma‘sfllackAmletee New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1972 (op) Hollander. Zander. comp. -' ' . . .. Cm New York: Random House. 1966. (o.p.) Hughes. Langston. MAW New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1954. (o.p.) Johnston. Johanna. W. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1967. (o.p.) Klein. David. W New York: Random House. 1972. (o.p.) 224 Lorimer. Lawrence T. BecominmAthlete ew York Random House. 1974. (o. p.) ' Ritter. Lawrence and Honig. Donald. W W New York: Crown Publishers. 1986. RObInson. Ray. ..;-14'. k I':- 0 II- 3 —I_|1 ' ; :2 ;: Runners. New York: Putnam Publishing Group. 1964. (o.p.) Schoor. Gene. W. New York: Van Nos Reinhold Company. 1967. (o.p.) ' Shap'ro. Milton J. - - New York: Julian Messner.1966. (o.p.) Shoemaker. Robert H. WI. New York: T.Y. Crowell. 1974. (o.p.) Smith. Robat. WWII. Boston. Massachusetts: Little Brown and Company. 1978. (o.p.) Stratton. Madeline R. W Lexington. Massachusetts: Ginn and Company. 1965. (o.p.) Sullivan. George. W New York: Chales Soribner's Sons, 1988. Vass. George. W Reilly and Lee. 1970. (o.p.) COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING BABE RUTH Allen. Lee and Meany. Tom. ' BasebalLLflnlLQLEnmL NewYork: G. P. Putnam. 1965. (GP) Assisi. May Francis. Sister. W. Lexington. Massachusetts: Ginn and Company. 1967. (o. p.) Bell. Joseph N. W New York: Julian Messner. 1962. (o.p.) 225 .... New York: Knopf. 1954. (o.p.) ' Burchard. S. H. W San Diego. California: Harcout Brace Jovanovich. 1983. (o.p.) Butler. Hal. W. New York: Julian Messner. 966. (o.p.) Corn. Kahane and Moline, Jacki. WW HIEIQLIL- New York: Julian Messner. 1987. Daley. Arter. W New York: G. P. Putnam. 1972. (0-11) . Kinguubaflomzfiun. New York: G. P. Putnam.1962. (0-P-l Davis, Mac. ; ; ' :<- W New York. World Publishing Company. 1972. (o. p.) . WWI. New York: CollinsWorld Publishing Company.1975. (o.p.) NewYork: Grosset and Dunlap. 1974. (o. p.) I . W. New York: Groseet and Dunlap. 1954. (o.p.) . W. New York: Gromt and Dunlap. 1972. (o.p.) . W. New York: World Publishers. 1968. (o.p.) DeWitt. William A. W. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1964. (o.p.) . W. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. (o.p.) Epstein Sam and Epstein Beryl We Easton. Maryland: Garrard Publishing Company. 1965. (o..p) 226 Gelman. Steve. W New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1966. (o.p.) Giea. Joseph and Shoemaker. Robert H. W MW NewYork: T. Y. Crowell. 1964. Random. House 1969. (o..p) Gutman. Bill. W. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1973. (o.p.) . . New York: Julian Messner. 1978. (.. Heuman. William. W. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1963. (o.p.) Hirsch. 8. Carl. W. New York: G. P. Putnam. 1970. (o.p.) Hollander. Zander. comp. . 9mm. New York: Random House. 1966. (o.p.I Lardner. Rex. Ienfimoflbflwanflos. New York: G. P. Putnam. 1966. (o.p.) Leipold. L. Edmond. EamouLAmxisanAthIm Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1969. (o.p.) Libby. Bill. W. New York: Random House. 1973. McAdam. Robert. W Bowmer Noble. 1972. (o.p.) MUPhY. Jim. BanhalllfiAHImLAllfilfl New York: Clarion Books. 1984. Muray. Tom. ed. W New York: Atheneum.1977. (o.p.) Rainbolt. Richard. W Minneapolis Minnesota: Lerner Books. 1975. 227 Bitter. Lawrence. and Honig. Donald. W am. New York: Crown. 1986. Robinson. Ray. W. New York: G. P. Putnam. 1969. (o.p.) Shapio. Milton J. W. New York: Julian Messner. 1970. (o.p.) (o.p.) ' . W New York: Julian Mewner. 1968. (o.p.) Shoemaker. Robert H. W. New York: T. Y. Crowell. 3rd rev. ed.. 1974. (o.p.) Silverman. Al. W New York: G. P. Putnam. 1968. (o.p.) Smith. Robert. W. Boston. Massachusetts: Little Brown and Company. 1978. (o.p.) Sullivan. George. W New York: Charles Scribner‘s Sons. 1988. Wayne. Bennett. ed. WM. Easton. Maryland: Garard Publishing Company. 1973. New York: Julian Messner. 1967. COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING MARK TWAIN Beckwith. Yvonne. ed. W Chicago. Illinois: Standard Education Corp.. 1966. (o.p.) Benet. Laura. EamaAmerimHumodsta. New York: Dodd. Mead and Comapny. 1959. (o.p.) Bolton. Sarah K. W New York: T. Y. Crowell. 1954. (o.p.) 228 Cantwell. Robert. EamousAmedcamMermLLeneLs. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1956. (o.p.) Coflman. Ramon P. and Goodman. Nathan. MW Regal; New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1943. (o.p.) Curtin. Andew. W New York: Franklin Watts. lnc..1965. (o..p) DeWitt. William A. Wise. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1964. (o.p.) . Wes. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. (o.p.) Fowler. Mary Jane and Fisher. Magaret. W Grand Rapids. Michigan: Fideler Company. 1968. (o.p.) . W Grand Rapids. Michigan: Gateways Press. 1988. Hancock. Carla WWW Winston- Salem.th Ca'olina: John F. Bla'r.Publisher.1976. (o. p.) Helmstadter. Frances. W New York: Sterling Publishing Company. 1962. (o.p.) Hoff. Rhonda. W New York: Henry 2. Walck. Inc.. 1961. (PP) Leipold. L. Edmond. WW Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison Company. 1972. (o.p.) McCullough David Willis. ed. CW Boston. Massachusetts: Little Brown and Company. 1987. McMillen. Wheeler. EiflLLIseiulAmeriaans. New York: Putnam Publishing Group. 1965. (o.p.) Reed. Gwendolyn. comp.. W New York: Atheneum Publishing Company. 1971. (o.p.) Smaridoe. Norah. W New York: Julian Messner.lnc..1971. (o.p.) 229 St'riing. Nora. WM New York: John Day. 1965. (o.p.) COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES INCLUDING GEORGE WASHINGTON Allitt. Patrick. WW. Morristown. New Jersey: Silver deett and Company. 1983. Archer. Jules. W New York: St. Martin Pmss.1973. (o.p.) Assisi. May Francis. Sister. W. Lexington. Massachusetts: Ginn and Company. 1967. (o.p.) Baolay. Barbaa. 1970. (o.p.) Bassett. Margaet. : or . .l- Mm Wheelwrig'ItPress.1969. (o.p.) David McKay Company. 1976. (op) Beard. Charles and Bead. William. W. New York: Julian Messner. rev. ed.. 1985. Beckwith. Yvonne. ed. W Chicago. Illinois: Standad Education Corporation. 1966. (o.p.) Blaseinoame. Wyatt. WWW New York: Random House. rev. ed.. 1990. Buske. Morris. ed. Wow Chicago. Illinois; Child'en's Press. 1975. (o.p.) Illinois: Children' 8 Press. 1975. (o. p.) Canning. John. ed. 0|: _, ; ' mm, New York: Taplinger Press. 1978. 230 Cary. Sturges P. W. New York: Scholastic Press. 1969. (o.p.) Cavanah. Frances. MeaLIhLELesIdmIs New York: Maorae. rev. ed.. 1965. (o.p.) Churchill. Winston. ' ' W New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1968. (PP) Coflman. Ramon P. and Goodman. Nathan. W W New York: Dodd. Mead and ComPany. 1945. (o..p) Cooke. Donald E. Aflmflhejiesidems. Maplewood. New Jersey: Hammond. Inc.. rev. ed.. 1985. . W. New York: Hastings House.1969. (0P) Coy. Haold. W, New York: Franklin Watts. rev. ed.. 1981. Cutin. Anaew. W New York: Franklin Watts. 1965. (o.p.) Daugterty. Sonia. W. New York: J. P. Lippincott. 1951. (PP) York: Haper.andRow.1962.(<>..p) . ' Davis. Burke. W San Diego. California: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1975. (o.p.) Wuhan New York: Random House. 1971. (o.p.) DeWitt. William A. Wm. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1964. (o.p.) . New York: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed..1970. (o.p.) Durant. John. IbLSoansaLQILELasiaams New York: Hastings House. 1964. (o.p.) 231 Durant. John and Duant. Alice. ' ' San Diego. California: A.S. Barnes. 6th rev. ed.. 1973. (o.p.) San Diego. California: A. S. Banes. 1978. (o.p.) -. t Evans. Pauline Rush. ed. W. New York: Doubleday and Company. 1964. (o.p.) Ferris. Robert G. and Chaleton. James H. W. Washington. DC: National Archives. 1986. Fieder. Jean. WW. Hart.1966. (o.p.) Fisher. Dorothy C. ~ . . While, New York: McGraw-l-Iill.1959. (o.p.) Flynn. James J. W. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. 1963. (o.p.) Fowler. Mary Jane and Fisher. Magaet. W. Grand Rapid. Michigan: Fideler Company. 1968. (o.p.) . W. Grand Rapids. Michigan: Gateway Press. Inc.. 1988. Freidel. Frank. : ' 'I . ' 2.. Washington. D. C.: White House Historical Association. 1985. Goebel. Dorothy Buns and Goebel. Julius Jr. W Hausa, New York: Doubleday. Doran and Company. 1945. (o.p.) Haskins. James. W New York: J. P. Lippincott. 1971. (o.p.) Hayman. LeRoy. W New York: Scholastic Press. 1970. (o.p.) H'rsch. S. Carl. : a - -. Illinois: Rand McNally. I974. (o.p.) Hoff. Rhonda. W. New York: Doubleday and Company. 1971. (o.p.) 232 Leipold. L. Edmond. W Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1972. (o.p.) . MM. Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison. 1967. (o.p.) LengYel. Cornet W New York: Western Publishing Company. rev. ed.. 1969. (o.p.) . W New York: Western Publishing Company. rev. ed.. 1977. (o.p.) McConnell. Jane and McConnell. Bu't. W. New York: T. Y. Crowell. 1965. (o.p.) . W New York: T. Y. Crowell. rev. ed.. 1970. (o.p.) Mason. Miriam E. and Cartwrigwt. William H. W History. Lexington. Massachusetts: Ginn and Company. 1966. (o.p.) Miers. Earl Schenck. NEW New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1966. (o.p.) Olcott. Frances Jenkins. WWW Boston. Massachusetts: Houg'Iton Mifflin Company. 1922. (o.p.) Petersham. Maud and Petersham. Miska. ' W. New York: Macmillan. rev. ed. 1966. (o. p.) Quinn. Brother C. Edward. ' ' States, Illustrated by Rev. Thomas Roht. New York: Bronx Historical Society. 1987. Ross. George 5- WWW ChicagO. Illinois: Rand McNally.1960. (o.p.) . W. Chicago. lllineie: Rand McNally. rev. ed.. 1969. (o.p.) Rowe. Jeanne A. W New York: Franklin Watts. 1969. (o.p.) Sobol. Donald J. W Philadelphia. Pennsylvania: Westminster Press. 1965. (o.p.) 233 Stevens. William 0. W. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company, 1953. (o.p.) Sullivan. George. W New York: Dodd. Mead and Company.1984. Wayne. Bennett. ed. M. Easton. Mayland: Garrard Publishing Company. 1975. and company.1985 A APPENDIX B ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF SELECTED PERSONALITIES ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF COLLECTIVE BIOGRAPHIES EXAMINED IN THE STUDY Allitt. Patrick. WWW. Morristown. New Jersey: Silver deett. 1983. 64 pp. Including only four key players in the United States' mach towad independence. this publication. feattres George Washington. Thomas Paine. Benjamin Franklin. and Thomas Jefferson. A two page introduction discusses backgound knowledge of the events that led to independence; also included ae a short gossay. index and a bibliogaphy for further readng about the feattred figtres. The book is illustrated with black-and-white and color paintings and photogaphs. Archer. Jules. W. New York: Hawthorn Books. 1967. 179 pp. The life stories of eighteen of this century's most powerful cictators. representing fouteen countries are examined in this book. Soviet leaders Lenin. Stalin and Khrushchev are included as are Italian leader. Mussolini. Ttrkish leader. Ataturk and China's Chaing Kai-shek and Mao Tse-Tung. Other figures in this compilation include Trujillo from the Dominican Republic. Batista and Castro from Cuba. Duvalier from Haiti. Salizar from Portugal. Hitler from Germany. Franco from Spain. 2 3 4 235 Sukarno from Indonesia. TItO from Yugoslavia. Peron from Argentina and Naser from Egypt. Illustrated with black-and—white photogaphs. this publication includes an extensive bibliogaphy and index. In addtion to the indvidual character sketches. it has three chapters about dictatorships; one chapter defines the dctator. a second dscusses how a dictator gains and loses power. and the th'rd compass the cictatorship to the democracy. Associated Press. We, New York: Gallery Books. 1986. 224 pp. This collection contains one-hunched. one-to-two page sketches about a variety of biogaphical figires. The men and women were selected by the Associated Press editors as people who have left their mark on the twentieth centLry. They as gouped into four categories: Government and Politics. Sports. the Arts. and Science. Industry and Medcine. The Government and Politics category includes th'rty individuals. World political leaders as well as Susan B. Anthony. Martin Luther King. Doudas MacArtlILr. Pope John Paul XXIII and Eleanor Roosevelt are feattrsd in this section. Fourteen personalities are featured in the sports section; Mohammad Ali. Edmund Hilary. Jack Nicklaus and Jackie Robinson are examples of the selections. The Science. Industry and 236 Mecicine category includes sixteen cliversifisd selections including John D. Rockefeller. Mother Teresa. Thomas Edson. Maie Gale and Ivan Pavlov as examples. The Arts category includes forty personalities; Louis Armstrong. Enrico Causo. Walt Disney. Robert From. Greta Garbo. James Joyce. Pablo Picasso. HG. Wells and Frank ond Wright as representative examples from this goup. The majority Of the space allotted for each figue is devoted to interesting black-and-white photos; the limited text is secondary. Bead. Chales A. Updated by William Bead. W18. in WHEEL New York: Julian Messner. 1981. 220 pp. Short biogaphies on all the United States presidents from Washington to Reagan are included in this book. The length of discussions for each president vaies. For example. each entry from Washington to Hoover is a scant. two-to-tl'ree pages long. Presidents since Franklin Roosevelt are g'ven four to seven pages. except for Reagan and Ford whose biogaphies are each three pages long. A black-and-white pictue of each president with his signattre underneath introduces each sketch. Following all the sketches. there is a lengthy section entitled “Biogaphical Digest' which lists facts about . each president includng the birth. death. marriage. public caeer. presidential terms and Vice-president. Also included in this section are the results of each election and each president's cabinet. 237 Beckwith. Yvonne. ed. W ChicagO. Illinois: Standad Education Corporation. 1965. 231 pp. Twenty-three diverse figures as included in this volume of fictionalized biographies for younger readers. Johnny Appleseed. Sacajawea. Johanna Spyri. David. Mohandas Ghand. Mozart. John James Audubon. George Washington. St. Francis of Assisi. Mark Twain. Theodore Roosevelt. Abraham Lincoln. Galileo. Maris Cu'ie. Thomas Edison. Thomas Jefferson. Clara Barton. George Washington Carver. Lou Gehrig. Albert Schweitzer. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Helen Keller. and John F. Kennedy as the subjects chosen for inclusion. The book is illustrated with unexceptional photogaphs and line drawings. some in color. A paagaph summary of each biogaphica figure. included in the back of the book. saves as an index of sorts. because it guides the reader to the page where each sketch beg'ns. New York: Atheneum.1975. 221 pp. Written by syndicated sports columnist Ira Berkow. this book himligtts seventy figues from almost every imag'nable sport. The dverse goup includes chess champion. Bobby Fischer. and thoroughbred racing horse. Citation. as well as more familiar sports greats such as Jackie Robinson. Chris Evert. Johnny Bench. Pete Rose. Mohammad Ali. and Arnold Palmer. 238 The book is arranged into sections accordng to the athlete's stage in their career. featuring up-and—coming stars as well as retired legends. Each entry is short. three pages or less and geared toward the sophisticated reader. No illustrations or photogaphs as included; there is no index. classrooms. wan. W. New York: Random House. 1990. 159 pp. Short biogaphies rang'ng from two to seven pages include all presidents. George Washington throug'I George Bush. Each piece concentrates primaily on the presidential yeas. Black-and-whits photogaphs help anchor each term into history. For instance. a catoon shows Theodore Roosevelt overseeing the bulking of the Panama Canal in his sketch. while Herbert Hoover's sketch includes picttrss of long bread lines and a family living in a tin shack dwing the depression yeas. Coverage is adequate. but not always fa'r; George Bush's recent election is devoted five lull pages while James Monroe's eight full years is g'ven two. A short introduction. a table of contents. and a chat showing the electoral votes allotted states precede the sketches. A chat showing the presidents. their terms of Office and the'r major accomplishments is included at the end along with an index. There is no bibliogaphy; limited photo credts as given on the copyrigIt page. 239 Befldrnan. Fen W- Jr- WED. WWW New York: Henry 2. Walck. 1977. 183 pp. Eigtt tyrants from Etropean and Asian history as feattred including Shih Huang-ti. the frst emperor of a unified China; Nero. ruler of the Roman Emp‘re; Attila the Hun. the fierce warior who captued much of Europe; Jongniz Khan. the Mongol warrior who established a dynasty lager than the Roman Emp‘re; Tamerlane. the last of the nomad conquerors; Mohammad ll. conqueror of the Ottoman Ter Empre; Ivan the Terrible. the fist Russian Tsar. and Adolf Hitler. cictator of Germany du'ing World Wa II. This volume also includes a an: page introduction defining the word tyrant. a fur page summay examining the impact of each of the rulers. an index. and a bibliogaphy for father readng. There are a few black-and-white line d'awings and several maps. Burchard. S-H. We. San Diego. California: Hacout Brace Jovanovich. 1983. F outeen former baseball players ae portrayed in four to five pages sketches with exceptionally large print and amplistic sentence structure for younger or remodel readers. The sketches include much personal information as well as baseball statistics. F eattred players include Hank Aaron. Roy Campanella. Roberto Clemente. Dizzy Dean. 240 Joe DiMaggio. Lou Gehrig. Sandy Koufax. Mickey Mantle. Willie Mays. Stan Musial. Satchel Paige. Jackie Robinson. Babe Ruth. and Ted Williams. Black-and-white photogaphs as also included. Clerk. PhiliP- W- Morristown. New Jersey: Silver Birdett Company. 1982. 64 pp. Only Stalin. Hitler. Juan Peron and Id Amin as covered here. with each sketch divided into historical segments with a timeline completing each piece. Hitlers expose. for example. is dvided into titres parts: the rise of the Nazis. the establishment of a police state dtting the second World War. and Hitler's last days. The book contains many good photogaphs as well as a few maps that enhance understandng. An index. a short gossay. a bibliogaphy for father readng. and photo credts as also included. DeWitt. William A. W. Illustrated by Samuel Nisenson. New York: Grosset and Dunlap. 1970. 160 pp. One hunched and fifty figtres as crowded into one-page sketches. with the top half of each page devoted to a line chewing and the name of the featured personality. The sketches are arranged alphabetically. including figures from the beginning Of civilization to present day. Jesus. John F. Kennedy. Babe Ruth. May Queen Of Scots. Daniel Webster. and Roger Williams are only a few representative figtrss 241 from this hodgepodge. There is no index. bibliogaphy. or table of CODtOfltS. Donovan. Frank. W. New York: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1964. 160 pp. Divided into fou periods: the centuy of change. World Wa I. World Wa II. and the rise of nationalism. this book examines twelve rulers including Sun Yat-sen. Chaing Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung from China: Lenin. Stalin and Khrushchev from Russia: Woodow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt from the United States; Mussolini from Italy. Hitler from Germany. Churchill from Great Britain. and Ganchi from Inda. Each sketch is prefaced by a short historical introduction. A section with photogaphs is located in the center of the book. There is an index. but no bibliogaphy. Bonds“. Melvin I. Wm W. Illustrated by James Brown. Brooklyn. New York: Theo. Gaus. LTD.. 1984. 142 pp.. Sixty-sign Black men and women who have received the Spingan Medal honoring persons of African descent are featued in short. one page sketches. Recipients are arranged by decades. Though the sketches as too short to be of much use. an extensive bibliogaphy for each figtre. a complete listing of all Spingan Msdalists. and a 242 breakdown of winners accordng to occupations as included. There as also sign black-and—white line ctawings of selected winners. Feldman. Anthony and Ford. Peter. W. New York: Facts on File. 1979. 336 pp. Over one hunched and fifty scientists and inventors from Empedocles who was born about 430 BC to Christian Barnard born in 1922 as feataed on busy. two-page spreads that include pictures. diagams. and short summaies of each life in small print. The book is organized by the date of each figure's b'rth. not by aeas of specialization. and includes figaes like Galileo. Einstein. Gutenberg. Pasteur. the Wright Brothers and the Curios. A substantial index along with detailed picture eredts as included. but there is no bibliogaphy. Ferris. Robert 6.. Chaleton. James H. and Ryan. Mary. W Washington. DC: National Archives and Records Administration. 1986. 259 pp. Only about one hunched pages as devoted to biogaphical sketches about the men who crafted and ratified the constitution. A huncked pages of backgound comes f'rst. discussing the aims of the founders and all the meetings and procedures that led to the constitutional convention. About a page is devoted to each sketch and indviduals as listed alphabetically. Following the sketches are the 243 complete text of the constitution and its amendments. a seven page history of the document. suggestions for father reseach in the National Archives. an index. a bibliogaphy and extensive picture credits. This is one of the best documented books on the subject. Frommer. Hervey. WW1; New York: Franklin Watts. 1985. 66 pp. . This slim. novel size volume contains half page sketches about members of baseball’s Hall of Fame; the space allotment allows only four or five paagaphs about each personality with at least half of that devoted to baseball statistics. The top half of each page has a photogaph of the bronze plate of eadw player that is on cisplay in Cooperstown. New York. Members of the Hall of Fame as presented in alphabetical order: there is no index. table of contents or bibliogaphy. Fowler. Mary Jane and Fisher. Margaret. W Grand Rapids. Michigan: Gateway Press. Inc.. 1988. 160 pp. Nineteen figues as examined in one to eleven page sketches. George Washington. Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Jefferson. Abraham Lincoln. Harriet Beecher Stowe, Chief Joseph. Susan B. Anthony. Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King. Horace Mann. Claa Baton. Jane Addams. Mark Twain. John James Audubon. Thomas Edison. Henry Ford. George Washington Carver. 244 Rachel Cason and Jonas Salk as included. Each sketch contains black and-white photogaphs. A two‘page index and a five page gossay as also included. but there is no bibliogaphy. Freidel. Frank. Washington. DC: White House Historical Association. 1989. 91 pp. One page sketches in a. two column format with fa’rly sophisticated prose about each president are augmented with full page reproductions of each official presidential portrait. (George Bush is represented with a color photograph.) Copies of official signattres beg'n each sketch. Also included as a one page forwad by George Bush. a table of contents. an index. and a chat listing all of the vice-presidents. There is no bibliography: credit for each presidential portrait is dven in the table of contents. Garfinkel. Bernard. W Men New York: Platt and Munk Publishers. 1973. Two page spreads ae allotted to each personality. but less than one page is used for text. The Edson sketch. for example. includes a full page black-and-white photo of Edson working on the incadsscsnt ligtt bulb as well as a smaller photo of Edison with the phonogaph. There was also a daing factual error in the short Edson sketch; it was picked out by all five readers who were establishing inter-rater reliability. 245 Biogaphical personalities were presented alphabetically and included fifty dverse figtres from all periods of history. Jesus Christ. Soaates. Neil Armstrong. Enrico Fermi. Johann Gutenberg. Rachel Cason. S'r Winston Chtrchill. Ludwig van Beethoven. Maco Polo and James Watt as representative of the categories and personalities included. No index or bibliogaphy was included. Hancock. Cale. WW Winston- Salem. North Caolina: John F. Bla'r. 1976. 207 pp. William Cullen Bryant. James Fenimore Cooper. Washington Irving. Herman Melville. Edga Allan Poe. Mak Twain and Walt Whitman ae feattred in these interesting and complete sketches of American writers. Most of the sketches as between th'rty and forty pages long and cover all aspects of the personality's life. The text is geaed towad sophisticated readers. and a black-and-white line «wing of the biogaphical figtre accompanies each sketch. Leipold. L. E. WW1” Minneapolis. Minnesota: T. S. Denison and Company. 1973. 89 pp. James Fenimore Cooper. Washington Irving. Edga Allan Poe. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Mak Twain. Jack London. Sincla'r Lewis. Ernest Hemingway. Peal Buck and James Baldwin as the figtres included in this slim volume. The readng level of this paticula book is more dfficult 246 than others in the “Famous Heroes and Leaders " series; each sketch is about seven pages and includes no illustrations. An index is included. but the book has no bibliog'aphy. . Hmaotaflflaenmnd Minneapolis Minnesota: T.S. Denison and Company. 1973. 64 pp. Five American personalities includng Black poet. Phyllis Wheatley; lndan athlete. Jim Thorpe; humorous poet. James Whitcomb Riley: inventor. Thomas Edson: and movie producer. Walt Disney as examined in this slim. easy to read volume geaed towad younger or remedal readers. Twelve small color illustrations as included; there is no index or bibliogaphy. Minneapolis. Minnesota: T.S. Denison and Company. 1973. 64 pp. Eleven American astronauts as dscussed in this thin. easy to read book. but only Alan Shepad and John Glenn have snt're chapters devoted to them. V'rg'l Grissom. Edwad White and Roger Chafee as covered in a chapter that focuses on the 1968 mission that claimed their lives. Frank Barman. William Anders and Frank Lovell. the frst men to travel to the moon. as covered together. while Mike Collins. Edwin Alain and Neil Armstrong. the frst to land on the moon as covered in the last 247 chapter. This book dscusses the events strroundng the astronauts' lives more than the men themselves. Color illustrations as sprinkled througlout. There is no index or bibliogaphy. Lewis. Shai. WW5. Illustrated by Robert Barstt. New York: Doubleday. 1990. 47 pp. Each two page spread is devoted to one figure or two related figures. The text. most often only a few paagaphs. is easy to read and accompanied with uninsp'red color illustrations. There is a table of contents. and a two page introduction in which the author tells how she chose the figtres to featas. but no index or bibliogaphy. This book. intended for ealy slementay age chilcren. includes personalities like Columbus. Lewis and Clak. Claa Baton. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Susan B. Anthony. George Washington Caver. and John Glenn and Neil Armstrong. McCullough. David Willis. ed. AW Anthology. Boston: Little Brown and Company. 1987. 405 pp. Sketches of thirty-nine Americans are presented using excerpts fromths'r diaies. memoirs and autobiogaphies. Each entry is about five pages long and focuses on a childtood memory by the subject that occurred betas the age of sixteen. Tied together with an introduction by 248 the edtor. this volume includes authors Mak Twain. Edith Wharton. H.L. Mencken. Jean Fritz. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and Maya Angelou. as well as political figlres such as Benjamin Franklin. John Adams and Ulysses S. Grant. Several lesser known figtres such as James L. Smith. Johanna Draper. Pierrepont Noyes. May Anton. Sanora Babb. Alfred Kazin and Hary Crews as also included. Moline. Jacki and Corn. Kahane. W Womenfimmflistgry, New York: Julian Messner. 1987. 113 pp. Th'rty—eig'lt personalities as examined here because they had qu'rks and eccentricities that make them interesting. For instance. Rasputin. a close adviser to the Czaina Alexanaa. is chosen because of his dsgusting personal hyg'ens rather than his ability to influence the government. Thomas Edison's inventions as not the focus of his sketch. his belief in extra-sensory perception is. Some others included in this volume as May Baker. Diamond Jim Brady. Enrico Causo. Catherine the Great. Chalie Chaplin. Henry Ford. Lady Godva. William Randolph Heast. Howad Hugles. Babe Ruth. Edga Allan Poe and Sash Winchester. Illustrated with black-and-white photos and line d'awings. this volume provides interesting readng. it fails. however. to include an index and bibliogaphy. a serious omission considering the sxtraorclinay material presented. 249 "WM. Jim. W New York: Claion Books. 1984. Twenty-six baseball goats as featlrsd in five-to-six page sketches. The author selected one player for each position for both the American and National Leagues. Each sketch includes a photogaph. a short introduction listing statistical facts about each personality's b'rth. death and caeer length. At the end of each sketch. lifetime bassde statistics as listed. Sketches focus on the personalities' baseball records. but some personal information is supplied. Text is lags and easy to read. Included in this volume as Hank Aaon. Grover Cleveland Alexander. Johnny Bench. Ty Cobb. Edde Collins. Joe Cronin. Bill Dickey. Whitey Ford. Lou Gehrig. Bob Gibson. Lefty Grove. Roger Hornsby. Walter Johnson. Sandy Koufax. Clristy Mathewson. Willie Mays. Stan Musial. Jim Palmer. Edds Plank. Brooks Robinson. Babe Ruth. Tom Seaver. William Terry. Pie Traynor. Honus Wagtsr. and Ted Williams. “Will. Tom. ed. W New York: Atheneum.1977. 454pp. This compilation attempts to pick the best players in the 107 yea history of organized baseball. The articles on the players selected were reproduced from Sport Magazine where they originally appeaed. 250 Twenty-two players as teataed. one fa each position in both the National and American Leagues. Selected players include Lou Gehrig. Rod Caew. Brooks Robinson. Joe Cronin. Bill Dickey. Ted Williams. Ty Cobb. Joe DiMaggio. Babe Ruth. Walter Johnson. and Whitey Ford from the American League. Bill Telry. Roger Hansby. Pie Trayna. Honus Wamer. Roy Campanella. Stan Musial. Mel Ott. Willie Mays. Henry Aaon. Christy Mathewson and Sandy Koufax represent the National League. There as no photoaaphs a illustrations in this book designed ta older readers. and also no index a bibliogaphy. There is a substantial introduction explaining how the teams were picked. and each entry is lengthy. the print small. Quinn. Brother C. Edward. FSC. Ibfiimmflh; WWW Illustrated by Reverend Thomas Ruhf. CP. New Yak: The Bronx County Histaical Society. 1987. 115 pp. Inducing a short introduction g'ving necessay backgound infamation. this collection includes short. two page snippets about each of the simers of the Constitution beginning with Geage Washington. the president of the convention. Other siglers as aranged by the states they represented. from nath to south with New Hampsh'rs frst and Gsag’a last. Black-and-white line aawings of all signers as included. At the 251 end. paagaphs about the sixteen nonsigting delegates and the'r reasons fa not aiming as g'vsn. along with explanations of committee membership. an alphabetical list of all sigmas. and a state by state ratification recad. A shat bibliogaphy and a listing of other publications of the Bronx Histaical Society complete the book. Richads. Norman. W W. New Yak: Atheneum. 1984. 153 pp. This book contains extensive sketches of four inventas including Robert Goddad. the father of modern rockstry; Chales Goodyea. inventa of the vulcanization process; Thomas Edson. owner of over a thousand patents and inventa of the incandescent lidltbulb; and Geage Eastman. the man who made photog'aphy aftadable fa the general public. All foa have been inducted into the National lnventas Hall of Fame. and a shat introduction explains why each is wathy. A list of all inventas selected fa the National lnventas Hall of Fame and a limited number of black-and-white photogaphs as also included. There is no index a bibliogaphy. Bitter. Lawrence. and Honig. Donald. West Baseballi’laverutmmme New York: Crown .rev. ed.. 1986. Short sketches about the geatest baseball players of all time as presented here. The sketches include mas photogaphs than text. and 252 the text that is included has mas baseball statistics than biogaphical infamation. The sketch on Babe Ruth. fa example. is the longest in the ent're book with eidlt pages devoted to him. Of the eight pages. about two- and-a half pages as text. Also included as a full page photo of Ruth's face. a full page photo of Ruth walking up to bat. a two-page spread of Ruth hitting a home run in a wald series game. a half page photo showing Ruth napping in a launay basket. and two smaller pictaes showing Ruth in the dugout and on the pitcher's mound. Some of the personalities included in this collection as Hank Aaon. Yog' Berra. Roy Campanella. Dizzy Dean. Ducky MecMick. Eddie Plank. Frank Robinson. Jackie Robinson. Nolan Ryan. Pete Rose. Tom Seaver. Ted Williams. Cal Yastrzemski. and Cy Young. There is an easy to read index and a table of contents. Smaridge. Nora. WWW Illustrated by Paul Frame. New Yak: Julian Messner. 1971. 96 pp. Five American aeative atists includng poet. Henry Wadswath Longfellow: composer. Stephen Foster: atist. Winslow Homer; and singer. Maian Anderson. and autha. Mak Twain were chosen fa inclusion because they were the frst to break away from the tradtions of anpean ats to create a dstinct American tracition. Sketches as relatively complete. yet easy to read. Black-and-white line aawings accompany the text. An index is included. but there is no bibliogaphy. 253 Stirling. Nora. Wei Illustrated by Emil Weiss. New Yak: John Day Company. 1965. 250 pp. Ten of the most widely read authas in the English language as feataed including William Shakespeae. Jane Austen. Nathaniel Hawthane. Edga Allan Poe. Chales Dickens. the Brontes. Jules Verne. Mak Twain. Robert Louis Stevenson. and Rudyad Kipling. Arranged chronolog’cally by the'r date of b'rth. each sketch includes a black-and- white line aawing of the personality. A bibliogaphy fa each figure is also provided. Sullivan. George. W New Yak: Chales Scribners Sons. 1988. 273 pp. Twentrnine athletes from a vaisty of sports includng football. baseball. basketball. soccer. hockey. golt. tennis. boxing. skiing. ice skating. gymnastics and track as teatasd in complete sketches. each offering a biblioaaphy fa father readng at the end of the sketch. Baseball has the most representation and feataes Ty Cobb. Walter Johnson. Willie Mays. Jackie Robinson. Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. Foa sports. includng boxing. skiing. ice skating and soccer. have only one star feattred but the'r inclusion g'ves the book a nice balance. Representatives from other spats aeas include Billie Jean King and Matina Navratilova from tennis; Roger Bannister. Bob Mathias and Jesse Owens from track; Babe Diaikson and Jack Nicklaus from golf; 254 Nadia Comaneci from gymnastics: and Wayne Gretzky. Gade Howe and Bobby Orr from hockey. The book includes two tables of contents. one alphabetical and one divided by spat. It also includes a two page introduction. an index. and a chat dividing teataed biogaphical personalities accacfing to the decade of their highest achievement. Each sketch includes one a two black-and-white photos. New Yak: Dodd. Mead and Company. 1984. 168 pp. A fouteen page introduction with intamation on how the president is elected precedes the shat two-to-foa page sketches of each president from Geage Washington through Ronald Reagan. Each sketch begins with a list of facts including the date and place of b'rth. previous experience. political party. term of office and date of death. A simila list at the end of each sketch hidtlights the most impatant events in each president's life. A chat of the electaal votes allotted each state is included at the end of the book. There as several black-and-white photoaaphs. some of poa quality. The photogaphs often featas an event that occurred during the president’s term rather than the president. Fa instance. Hoover's biogaphy includes a photogaph of the Emp’re State Buildng which was completed dlring his term: Piercs's entry features a portrait of 255 Nathaniel Hawthane. autha of W and MM Sacajawea. Taylor. A J P. W. Middesex. England: Penguin Books Ltd.. 1987. 189 pp. Based on lectures delivered on BBC television in 1976. this book provides substantial. twenty-tawny page sketches of Mussolini, Hitler. Churchill. Stalin and Roosevelt fa proficient readers. The last chapter covers several Japanese players in Wald Wa II. and explains why one person was unable to obtain the power of the other wald leaders. The book includes many black-and—white photos with extensive photo aedts g'ven in the front of the book. after the table of contents. There is an index. but no bibliogaphy. Thap. Edward. W New Yak: Grosset and Dunlap. rev. ed.. 1970. 100 pp. This collection is mas an account of different space joaneys than it is a sketch about outstanding indviduals in the field. Fa instance. Neil Armstrong and David Scott ae gouped together into one three page sketch describing the'r 1966 Tltan rocket journey into space. One paagaph is allotted to personal intamation about the pair; the rest of the text desaibes the liftoff. joaney and ealy splashdown. Armstrong's moa famous voyage to the moon in 1969 is not mentioned. 256 Th'rty-three space pioneers as included. both Russian and American. Representative of this group as Frank Baman. John Glenn. Gus Grissom. Alan Shepad. Pavel Belyayev. Valeri Bykovsky. Yuri Gagain. and Valentina Taeshkova. Van Stsenwyk. Elizabeth. W New Yak: Julian Messner. 1980. 128 pp. This book contains shat. three pages sketches about each of the American presidents. Geage Washington througt Jimmy Cater. The intent is to g've a personal dimpss of each president's home mas than it is to give intamation about presidential accomplishments. thoug'l it does provide some infamation. The sketch on Kennedy. fa instance. featass the home in Brookline. Massachusetts where he was ban. It includes a full page photogaph and tea of the seven paagaphs of text desaibs the home. while the other titres tell about Kennedy. The book provides interesting. specialized infamation fa those who have lots of backgound knowledge about the presidents and want to lean something new; fa those students vwiting about a rsseaching presidents fa the f'rst time. this would be a poa selection. 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Some 6 "2 hours later, Commander Armstrong steppedcntc the sutacecfthe moon. Aeheli'et eetfcotcn the moon he said. 'That‘s one small step for a man. one g'ant leap tor mankind. The next day. Armsrong and Edwin E. “Buzz” Ald‘in. .k.. wanted on the moon to explore its striace. Explore means to search for newthingsorplaces. ArmstrongmdAld'inwerehopingtc dscover thingsaboutthe moon. Theyhopedtcfind somethingtheyhad nctseen or known before. After 21 "2 hows, Armsrong and Aldin left the moon. They returned to Michael Collins. who had been orbiting the moon in the spaceship Apollo II. There next stop was home - the Esth. 0w astronauts. the explorers of outer space. were like trove peoplewhofrstexploredtheunknown seas. Both goups set out to make ciscovaies. Otr astronauts were trying to find to find out new thingsaboutspace. Thefrstexpld'ors weretyingtofindoutnewthings 263 264 about the oath. M90 347 Nixon Opens New Doors The United States worked had to reach ResidentKennedy'sgoalotlandngonthemoonbytheendotthe 1960's. You leaned in Chapter that on July 20. 1969. the tiny space capsule EsgblandedonthemconwithhleilArmst’ongendEdwin E. 'Buzz' Aldin..k.onboerd Under President Nixon'sleadershipthedcor leadng to moon exploration was opened 989° 354 Beyond the Moon The United States dd not end the space progam once the moon was reached. After Neil Armstrong. Buzz Aldin. and Michael Collms'stiptcthe moon. five othertripswere made. thelastin 1972. In 1975. Soviet and American spaceships joined in space. The wortdoheeredtoseethetworival countries cooperatesowell. Textbook Information on Thomas Edson Spelling book. P890 137 Finish these sentences with unit words. 24. In 1879. Thomas Alva Edwn invented the frst practical elm Iigubulb. l-lis mum invention continued to ban for 45 hours. 265 Social Studes pages 32-4 Today. however. most inventions. such as television and the computer, were created by a team of inventors. Perhaps Thomas Edson is an example of both kinds of inventors. Edson invented things on his own but also stated an inventing team. ThomasAlva Edsonwasbornin1847in Ohio. HewascalledAl byhistiendsandiamily. Al Edson ddnotgotoschool until hewase yeas old. He had been seriously ill. Al only lasted tlree months in school. Some people say his mother pulled him out of school because a teacher called him crazy. Others say his father could not afford to pay for the school. Al's mothertaugit him at home. Al read a lot. He leaned how to "its. He found that math and spelling were had la him. His favorite subjectwasscience. Attheageoi 10.hesetupalaboratory. oraplace to experiment, in his lamile basement. He spent most of his time experimenting there. At the age of 12. Tom. as he was now called. got a iobsellingnewspapersandcandyon atrain. Hehadthisiobfor several years. One day. Tom pulled a small child from the path of an oncoming rain. Tom had saved the We of a stationmaster’s childl The stationmaster wanted to rewad Tom. He showed Tom how to opaate the telegaph. a machine that sends messages electrically by wire. He traveled the county looking for work. He was able to get many 266 jobs. Tom became really interested in telegaphy. He was even more interested in how the telegaph worked. He took too much time to tinker withthetelegaph. andddnotdohiswork. Tom couldnotkeepasteady iob. At age 19. Tom Edson had aready planned to be an inventor. At age 22 he (pit his job and waked lufl—time as an inventor. By 1876 he had set up his own business in Menlo Pak. New Jersey. He invited many people to Menlo Pal: to help him invent things. The goup at Menlo Pal: famed an inventing team. Thomas Edson said that he thoudittheycouldttrn out'a minainvention everytodaysandabig thingevery6 monthsorso." ltwasat MenloPakthatthefrst phonogaph was invented. A phonogaph is a madtine that processes sound. We know this machine today as a record player. In 1879. Edson invented an electric lamp that could last for many hows. He also found a way to bring electricity to many lamps at the same time. By 1883 many people were using Edson's invention. Edson also invented a new way to make motion pictu'es. or movies. 9'90 471 (about Harry Ford Museum and Greenfield village) Thomas Edson's wakshop was trougtt tom Menlo Park. New Jasey. Boxca loads of (it were moved. too. so that the laboratory could still stand on New Jersey soil. 267 Textbook Information on Adolf Hitler Social studes book pages 327-8 Adolf Hitler Germany was also had hit by the depression. especially since it was supposed to pay for the damages it had caused tiring World Wa l. The German people looked for someone who would promise to rebuild tre'r economy. They also wanted someone who promised to make Germanystongamin. AdolfI-fitlerpromisedthe German people just what they were looking for. Hitler blamed much of Germany's trouble on the Jewish people. Even before the war stated. Hitler began persecution of the Jewish people. Persecution is making people suffer for the'r beliefs. The persecution continued as Germany conquered other European counties. The result was the horrible killing of 6 million Jewish people. Germany Conquers Neijrbors Hitler thougrt that all German- speaking lends should be brougit together under his rule. In 1936 he begantoact. Hestatedhisattack inthewesternpatofGermany. F'rst he took back the land Germany had g'ven to France after World Wa l. Hitler built an amy and mashed on neigrboring counties of Austria and Czechoslovakia. The League of Nations dd nothing as Adolf Hitler dsobeyed the terms of the World Wa l peace teaty. The final county Hitler set out to contol was Poland. By this time. 268 Great Britain and France had reamed. They promised to defend Poland from Germany. Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939. Britain and France held to the'r promise and declaed wa on Germany. By mid- 1941. the Alfies. led by Britain. France. China. and the Soviet Union. were at wa with the Axis Powers. chiefly Germany. Italy. and Japan. World Wa II had begun in Europe. Pitt. 331 V-E Day The lastattack camein the swingof1945. TheAIlies pushed into Germany from the east and the west until both forces met at the Elbe River. On May 1. 1945. the German rado announced that Hitler had killed himself. The official date of German surrender was May 8. 1945. It has become known as V-E Day for 'Victory in Etropef' Franklin Roosevelt had ded suddenly. just before the victory. 9'90 337 One goal of Communists (people who believe in Communism) is to spread the'r ideas trougrout the world. Many non-Communist counties dd not tust the Soviet Union because of this goal. To defeat Hitler. however. the non-Communist counties and the Soviet Union joined together duing World Wa ll. After the wa was over. the non- Communist counties found that they had to stop Communism from spreadng to free counties. The wartime friendship with the Soviet Union 269 came to an end. Textbook Information on John F. Kennedy Spelling book. page 106 You use capital letters when you write proper nouns. Proper nouns as the names of paticula people. places. organizations. government bodes. and documents. Besident John E. Kennedy House of Bepresentatives Handwriting book. page 37 At the White House dnner honoring all living Nobel Prize Winners in the Western Hemisphere. President John F. Kennedy said: 'I want to tell you how welcome you ae to the White House. I think this is the most extaordnay collection of talent. of human knowledge. that has ever been gathered together at the White House. with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dned alone.‘ Write the paag'aph. Social Studes book page 41 Responsibilities and Roles “And so. my fellow Americans. ask not whatyoucountycendoforyou-askwhatyou candoforyour county." It waswith thesewords that President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans in his frst moments as resident. The challenge remains for each of us today. 270 You will lean a lot this yea about the rights and freedoms Americans enjoy. But rigrts always involve responsibilities. This is tue for young people as well as adults. It is tue for you today. P890 43 Whether you as a good citizen as bad citizen is up to you. Pfesident Kennedy also spoke these words: Now the tumpet summons us again— ...[a call to] stung against the common enemies of man: tyranny [government oppression of its citizens]. poverty. dsease. and wa itself. M90 343‘345 On the kink of WU The presidential election of 1960 showed the changes the United States was going throudi. It was the frst presidential election to be shown on television. The winner was a man of youth. energy. and imag'nation. John F. Kennedy was the frst Catholic to be elected Resident. He was also the youngest person to be elected President The cold wa was tested under Resident Kennedy’s leadership. Could the United States and the Soviet Union avoid a total wa? In 1962. President Kennedy leaned that the Soviet Union was placing missiles in Cuba Cuba. a Communist nation since 1959. is only 90 miles from Florida FindCubaontheAtlasmaponpage560. Kennedy was worried that these Soviet missiles in Cuba were too 271 close to home. He demanded that the Soviets remove the missiles. He later decided to blockade Cuba to stop the Soviets from bring'ng more missiles in. As Soviet ships loaded with missile pats headed to Cuba. it seemed that a total war was likely. Suddenly. the Soviet ships stopped. There would be no face-to-face wa between the United States and the Soviet Union. F ctr days later the Soviets said that they would remove the missiles from Cuba. The Space Race The cold wa between the United States and the Soviet Union is dealy shown in otr race for space. The soviets were the list to send a satellite into space. A satellite is an object made to go around the earth. In 1957 the Soviets launched the frst satellite. Sputnik. A month later they laundied Sputnik 2 with a dog on board. Amaicens were alamed that the Soviets were ahead of the United States in space. In 1958 we launched otr frst satellite into space. The United States Congess quckly stepped up otr efforts to be number one in space. Many schools were g'ven money to expand progams in mathematics and science. The schools were to tain ctr youth to be better than the Soviets in space. When John F. Kennedy became president. he said the United States would readi the moon by the end of the 1960's. Under Kennedy's leadership. Alan Shepad became the frst American in space in 1961. John Glenn went aound the eath in 1962. Amerimns were sire that they would get ahead of the Soviets in space. 272 'Let Us Beg'n' In stating his goals for America. Resident Kennedy said. 'Let us beg'n...‘ He wanted the nation to stat tackling the problems of wa. poverty. human rigits. and dsease. Kennedy also wanted the United Statestobealeaderinspaceandtechnology. Hethougitwe should be the world peacemaker. . Resdent Kennedy stated the Peace Corps to help keep world peace. l-isideawasthatifpeoplehadenouditoeat. hadaplaceto live. and haddothestowea. theywouldbelesslikelytostatarevolution. The PeaceCapswasfomdedontheideathatpeoplemnhelppeople. The Peace Corps sent thousands of United States citizens to other counties to help build schools. hospitals. and roads. Peace Corps volunteas helped famers plant better crops. They taugit school and helped train doctors and ntrses. 'Let Us Continue' Millions of Americans were shocked as they watched the'r televisions or listened to the'r rados. They watched or head the events that followed the assassination of the'r Resident. An aweinationismaderbysuddenorseaetattack. Whatashockforotr nation. JohnF. Kennedywasridngin an open cawith hiswife. Jacqreline. waving to the people of Dallas. Texas. All of a sudden there were tlree shots. Resident Kennedy‘s body fell forwad. In half an how he was dead. 273 P890 347 Nixon Opens New Doors The United States worked had to reach ReddentKennedy‘sgoaloflendngonthemoonbytheendofthe 1960's. You leaned in Chapter 4that on July 20. 1969. the tiny space capsule fighlandedonthemoonwithNeilArmstrongandEdwin E. 'Buzz' Aldin. a. on boad. Under Resident Nixon's leadership the door leadngtomoonerqilorationwasopened Textbook Information About Jackie Robinson Rearing Textbook. pages 381-2 Robinson. Jackie. Jackie Robinson became the frst Black player on a modanAmaicenmaja-Ieagrebaseballteamwhenhejoinedthe Rooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Robinson was caefully selected by Brooklyn Dodger owner Ranch RickeyasthemanWowouldshatterMball’scolaline. 'I'm lookingfa aballplayawithgrtsenougi nottofidttback.’ Rickeytold Robinson. To his credt Robinson. one of the game's fiercest competitors. kept his pledge to Rickey and tuned the other cheek to the abuse that washeapedonhim. Hiscouageforcedopenthedoorsofthesportto Blacks. who had been previously bared from the majors. Robinson was ban in Ca'ro. Georg'a. on Januay 31. 1919. and was a fair-spat college sta at UCLA Rickey chose him from baseball's black leagres in 1946 and changed the face of baseball forever. 274 In 10 seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson achieved a .311 batting average and hit over.300 six times. He played on six pennant winners and was the National League batting champion and MVP in 1949 when he batted .342. His base path daing -taunting pitcherswithfakestats. thenstealiruabase-andclutchhittingmade him the unquestioned leader of the Dodgers. Robinson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962. his frst yea of elig'bility. Ten yeas later. at age 53. he ded of a heat attack. Social studes book. page 341 Bariershadtobebrokendownonebyone. In 1947. Jackie Robinson became the frst Black to play major league baseball. In spite of having to deal with insults. Robinson played so well that he was voted Rookie of the Yea. He led the Brooklyn Dodgers to the National League Championship. Later he was voted the Ieagre’s Most Valuable Player. Blacks wae I'rst able to break down many bariers tl'rougi sports. Textbook Information About Babe Ruth Rearing book. pages 380-1 (on basebafl's Hall of Fame) Roposed by Ford Frick in 1985 soon after he became National LeagJe president. it was begun the next yea with the election of Ty Cobb. Walter 275 Johnson. Clristy Mathewson. Babe Ruth and Honus Wagner. There ae now more than 150 members. ......... ln addtion to the bronze statues of the members. there as other momentos in the Hall of Fame that help make it a favorite touist attraction. Among them as the bench Connie Mack sat on in the Philadelphia Athletic dugout for many yeas; a bat used in 1866; Star Musial's spikes; the baseball which Cy Young won his five-hundredth game; the lockers of Honus Wagrer. Babe Ruth. Lou Gelrig. and Joe DiMagg'o; and the slidng pads used by Ty Cobb when he stole 96 bases in 1915. ' Social studes book. PO90 324 (on heroes of the twenties) Out of this thinking heroes were born. A left-handed slugger for the New York Yankees tuned the qriet game of basede into an exciting national pastime. Babe Ruth was the talk of the county when he hit 60 home runs in 1927. Textbook Information About Mak Twain Endish book. page 83 G. Read the story. Then write answers to the questions. 276 MakTwainwroteatalltaleabouta mannamedBemiswhowas chased by a buffalo. Bemis was ridng his horse across the plain when the buffalo chaged him. In running from the buffalo. Bemis and his horse overtook a rabbit and a coyote and nealy passed an antelope. The chag'ng buffalo mowed down weeds and stired up a wh'rlwind of sand. Then Bemis's sadde lroke. and he was them 400 feet into the a'r. He landed in a tee with his ssdde. Bemis still was not safe. The buffalo began to climb the tee. So Bemis took his lasso and waited until the buffalowas onlytenfeet away. Then heropedthe buffalo. tieditto theteeandescaped. 36. Where doesthe storytake place? 37. Who as the chaseters in the story? 38. Howdoesthestoryend? 39. Write one sentence from the story that contains an exaggeration. Handwriting book. page 17 Samuel L. Clemens. who wrote under the pen name of Mak Twain. once said. 'Animals talk to each other. of cause. There can be no question aboutthat. but I supposethere ae veryfew peoplewho canunderstand them." If you pet could talk. what midit it say to you? Social studes book. pages 258-60 Boom Time in Mining Town By 1863 the mining town of V'rg'nia City. Nevada. 'had gown to be the 'ivest' town. for its age and population. thatAmericahad warredrced.‘ Thatwasthe claim ofa V'rg'nia City Tammie! Elm reporter. who used the name Mak 277 Twain. Twain becemeone ofAmerica'sbest-knownandwell-Ioved writers. Mak Twain's most popula books. mmdfam Suva. Mmum'and Iberlmmd/m Fm werebasedonhiseiqrerienceasariverboatpilot. Twainhadother adventtresheuudinwriting Inthebook.floryiylthevroteabout t1etimehespentprospecting.orlookingforminaals.inNevadaintie 1860's. Thatwasthe timewhenV'rg’nia CitywasAmfics’s 'livest‘ (liveliest) town. accordng to Twain. The boom. or time of sudden economic gowth. that Twain reported about in V'rg’nia City resulted in the Comstock Lode. The ComstockLodewasabonanza.orrichdepositofore. TheComstock bonansaofsilver(andsomegold)ranfromnathtosouthtlrougithe town. TheaeawasnamedafterHenryT.P.Comstock.theprospectcr whohadclaimeditsdscovery. Marylagemineswerehikedtothe mainComstockLode. Infact.thereweresomanyminingshaftsthat Twain colorhflyreportedthatvrg'nia City (population 15.00to18.00 people)hadmoreminesthanminersl Not all mines in V'rg'nia City were bonanzas. There were many wildcat. or worthless. mines. ..... Twain described how some dshonest hitters were able to make money on the'r worthless wildcat mines. They usedatrickcalledselfing Thisishoweeltingworked Aportionofa wagonload of valuable Comstock ore would be dumped into the mine 278 shaft. The remainder of the ore would be piled above gound. alongside the shaft. Then the person who had placed the ore there would show the propertyto an unsuspecting buyer andask every higi priceforthe stock ....... Not all mines were 'salted' with ore. Twain reported that one mine had been salted with melted half dollas! Despite such ticks. the folks in V'rg'nia City were doing so well in 1963. accordng to Twain. that "joy sat on every (face) and money was as plenty as dist." Moreover. 'evay indvidral considered himself wealthy“ andasadfaoe‘wasnowheretobe seen.“ noteven onthefacesofthe owners of wildcat mines. For “nobody was dscotraged' Even the owners of the wathless wildcat mines kept dgg‘ng They believed that they would find more gold or silver. People would stake out claims to mines anywhere. 'Imag'ne a strangerstakingoutaminingdaim amongthecostlyslrubberyinyar front yad.’ Mak Twain asked. “and calmly proceedng to lay waste to the gound with pick and shovel and blasting powder!“ Itis easytoundastandwhy MakTwain wroteaboutthelfrg'nia City mining town with such interest and enthusiasm. During the yea he spent prospectugfor silver. hestruck itrich. For aboutten days before he lost the title to his rich mine. he was a millionaire! Alta Boom Time Mak Twain was one of the thousands of mining pioneers who had taveled westwad dring the Civil Wa. In the West the miners could escape the figiting that was taking place between the 279 North and the South. In the West they could seach for silver and gold. After the Civil Wa. more pioneers taveled from other pats of the county in coach of riches. Althougr some miners experienced the boom Twain described. not all miners were as lucky. Even some of those like Twain. who had been able to stike it rich. found that the'r wealth dd not last. Textbook lnfamation About George Washington Endish book. [”908 172-3 You know that adectives often come before the nouns that they desaibs. The Mary chose Washington as President. Adectives can also follow the nouns and pronouns they desaibs. p. Look at the sentences below. Washthamms before the American Revolution. mWelt m with him as the Resident. mfim in their choice of a leader. Name the predcate adective in each sentence. Tell which noun or pronoun in the subject each adective describes. 1. George Washington was successful at faming. 2. Faalongwhile hewasloyalto Great Ritain. 3. Then wa seemed unavoidable. 280 5. The colonies were ready to figit fa freedom. 6. They felt prepaed for wa. Write each sentence. Underline the predcate adective once. Underline twice the noun or pronoun it describes. 1. George Washington isfamous for his honesty. z Accordng to legend. he was caeless cutting tees. 3. Young George was guilty of ruining the cherry tee. 4. His father probably looked argy. 5. However. George Washington was honest about his mistake. 6. Geage Washington was brave. too. 7. Owing the long winters of wa. he seemed fearless. 8. Hewassensitivetothehadaiipeofthesolders. 9. They were ready to follow him anywhere. 10. Later Washington was dso effective as Resident. page 384 Write each sentence. Use commas correctly. in. George Washington was born in Wakefield V'rg'nia. Handmiting book. page 25 There was no quesfion in 1781 about who should be the frst president of thenew United StatesofAmerice. Buttherewasalotofcpestion about what he should be called. “His Elective Majesty.“ "His Elective Hidinessf' aid 'l-Iis Migitiness' were some ideas. George Washington 281 was very happy with the simple title of "Resident of the United States." Spoiling. use 106 Rewrite the underlined proper nouns correctly. On April 30. 1789. Won became America's fret leader under the spam Shatly afterwad. he approved plansforthe W In 1800.;29nmmetinthe Capitol for the frst time. Social strides book P890 21 (on Washington DC.) Tlree of the most beautiful monuments in Washington were built to honor tires of or: most famous presidents - George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. aid Abraham Lincoln. FIB. "3 (on forming a new nation) Commandenin-chief George Washington led the colonies in the fig'rt agand Engend. Washington (above) planned many battles on maps. He kept his toops informed about the location of British toops througi maps and letters. Duing this time writing was a major form of communication. P090 1 40 (on the orig'n of Thanksg'ving) 282 Other New Endand colonies borrowed the idea of a Thanksg’ving Day. Resident George Washington declaed the frat national Thanksg'ving Day in 1789. After that it became the states' choice whether to honor s Than Day or not. More states followed the holiday as time went on. 989' 145 Second Continental Congess The representatives from all 13 colonies met in May 1775. The meeting was called the Second Continental Congess. Samuel Adams. John Adams. John Hancock. John Jay. Patrick Harry. Thomas Jefferson. George Washington. and Benjamin Franklin were only a few of the outstandng people who gathered in Philadelphia. pages 152-3 George Washington The Second Continental Congess dross George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the colonial amy. or the Continental amy. Washington was a tall. quiet man. He was well known for being wise and kind. He am up on a lage V'rg'nia plantation called Mount Vernon. As a 16-yea-old boy. young George explored lands in Westan Vrg‘nia. Later he took over his brother's position in the amy and got experience as a solder. Washington became well known in the French and Indan Wa. After that wa. Washington maried Maths Dandidge Custis. He settled down to life as a famer and landowner. He became one of the 283 richest men in the colonies. He was a member of the V'rg'nia House of Btrgesees for 15 yeas. He was elected to both the F'rst and Second Continental Congesses. Washington dd not want wa. But he saw no other way. He would prove to be an outstandng leader. On the Defense Washington knew that he had to keep the Continental amy going or indemndence was lost. Washington. therefore. dd not risk toops in all-out battles. He knew he only had to keep his toops figiting until the British gave up and went back to Great Britain. The British knew they had to take contol of the colonies. They immedately went on the attack. The British thougit they could easily defeat the colonists. The British navy was the strongest in the world. The United States had no navy. Also. British solders were well trained. The Continental amy had to rely on the states to send solders to the amy. These solders ageed to serve in the army for a certain length of time. When the'r time was up. they went home. As the wa went on. a small. lull-time amy was built up. Britishsolderswaewellsupplied. George Washington hadtobegthe United States government for food. clothing and weapons. It seemed as if the British could easily put down the rebellion in the colonies. The British Attack By the spring of 1776. the Continental amy faced a big challenge. The British planned to attack New York City. The British had 32,000 solders. and Washington only had 19.000 solders. Washington had to put up a good ligit. He ordered his toops to close in 284 on the British. Instead of pushing the British back. Washington had to retest to New York City. By September the British had pushed Washington out of New York City. The Continental amy reteated all the way across New Jersey into Pennsylvania. They used the Delawae River as a bounday between them and the British. The Continental amy had only 5.000 solders left. If British General Howe had just pushed hader at this point. Washington migit have lost his whole amy. Instead of attacking. General Howe ordered his amy to take winter housing in New York and New Jersey. A ClIistmas Surprise On CIristmas nigit. December 1776. Washington sent solders aaoss the ice-blocked Delawae River to New Jersey. They were to attack the Hessians. Hessians were German solders paid by the British to figit the Americans. They were called Hessians because many were from the German state of Hesse. The Hessians were celebrating Clristmas in Trenton. New Jersey. Boatloads of American solders crowed the river as ice whipped aound its suface. Washington's strprise attack workedl The battle lasted only one how. but it was an important battle for the Americans. More than 900 Hessians were taken prisoner. pages 1 58-9 Surender at Yorktown Many of the American toops were not as successful as the hit-and-run toops. Washington saw that the Continental amy needed help. He sent General Nathanael Greene to 285 take over. Greene won back much of the Caolinas tom the British" British General Cornwallis decided to move the British toops north to Yorktown. V'rg'nia. Cornwallis felt safe on the peninsula because he knew the British navy could always help him out. Washington raced his amy south from New York. He used the French amy and navy to completely suround Cornwallis's toops. The British were no match for the Ameriwn Army on land and the French navy at sea. There was nowhere for Cornwallis and his toops to go. They were tapped. Cornwalfis had to surender at Yorktown on October 19.1781. .......... We had many geat leaders in the United States who helped win the Revolution. General George Washington was one of the most respected leaders. ’ page 161 Women also served as spies. Deborah Champion caried important information to George Washington. page 169 (on the Constitutional Convention) George Washington was elected president of the convention. A new goup of frst-rate leaders were at this meeting. Among them were James Madson from V'rg‘nia and Gouvernetr Morris from Pennsylvania. Madson took caeful notes. Morris would put the finishing touches on a 286 page 177-8 The Fast Inauguration The tip from Mount Vernon. V'rg'nia. to New York City took one week. It was a victory paade. People cheered and childen sang as the Residents coach passed tlrougi towns and villages. At Trenton. New Jersey. the Resident mounted a horse and rode under an ach of flowers and evergeens. Leaving New Jersey he stepped onto the presidential bags. Th'rteen people. one from each state. dessed in spotless uniforms rowed the bags up New York Bay. Ships that passed raised the'r flags. Guns roaed a welcome to the frst Resident of the United States. George Washington became the frst Resident of the United States in New York City on a sunny April 30.1789. A lags crowdwss watching when Washington stepped out onto a balcony above Wall Steet. He promised to "presave. protect. and defend the Constitution of the United States. page 178 Every Resident since Washington has had a cabinet. The number of depatments has continued to gow with the government. Washington's cabinet was made up of the heads of the State Depatment. Wa Depatment. and Treastry Depatment. plus the attorney general. ....For secretay of state . Washington chose Thomas Jefferson of V'rg'nia. Jefferson was well known in foreigi counties. The Wa Department would be headed by Harry Knox of Massachusetts. 287 Knox had been seaetay of wa under the Articles of Confederation government. Washington chose Alexander Hamilton of New York as the seaetay of teastry. Hamilton would be in chage of handing the nation's money. Hamilton was well known for his support of the new government. Finally. for attorney general. Washington selected Edmund Randolph'of V'rg‘nia. Randolph would be in chage of making an the laws of the nation were obeyed. Randolph had been pat of the Constitutional Convention. Washington appointed John Jay. a lawyer from New York. as head of the Supreme Coat. pages 180-81 Many western famers refused to pay the whiskey tax. When the federal government sent tax collectors. the famers tlreatened them with violence. Washington was alamed by these treats. In September 1794. Washington sent 15.000 solders commanded by Alexander Hamilton to stop the rebellion. This rebellion is known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Washington Reties George Washington could have been president for life. But he dd not think that was rigit. Washington dd not want to become a king. He had devoted most of his life to helping his county. At the age of 65. Washington had served two terms. or eigit yeas. He decided he had served as president long enougi. ....... The Nation Grows Under Washington's presidency. three new states were added to the United States. They were Vermont. Kentucky and 288 Tennessee. A new capital for the United States was selected. It was to be built nea Washington's Mount Vernon home. The capital would be called the Distict of Columbia. The capital aea was not pat of any state. In time the city would be named Washington. DC. in Washington's honor. P090 242 Lee and Grant Robert E. Lee ranked with Lincoln as one of the geatest men of his day. Lee was born into one of America's most famous families. His father. "Lig'it Horse Hary" lee served with General George Washington.