New English Textbooks implemented

Samo’s perspective on the new English textbooks: My PerspectiveA look into Samo’s new English textbooksThis year Samo has introduced a new series of English textbooks—Pearson’s My Perspective—for all students in grades 9 through 11. These textbooks have led to great controversy, with teachers and students debating whether it was worth the money.“Representatives from the English departments from Malibu, Olympic and Samohi met for an entire day at the district office where we were presented with three textbook series to look at and choose from,” English teacher Meredith Louria said.They are divided into three levels: College Prep (CP), Honors Placement (HP) and Advanced Placement (AP). Samo’s English curriculum has always relied heavily on novels such as The Boys in the Boat or The Catcher in the Rye and have rarely used textbooks. Many teachers did not even have their students check out the Holt Literature textbooks in the previous years.“The textbooks are divided into six units and we don’t have to teach all six,” Louria said. “So when we find a unit that has the theme we like we think of what other books we have in our textbook room that fits with that theme.”Classes have already begun to use these textbooks, highlighting important quotes and writing notes in the margins. Instead of the usual novel format of books, Louria feels that the textbooks introduce an array of literature.“The textbooks also have a lot of diversity, they have poems, they have short stories, they have plays, they have nonfiction pieces, they have videos… They have all kinds of stuff,” Louria said.When asked why they chose consumables instead of the traditional hardcover ones, English teach Nathan Fulcher responded that it could actually benefit the environment.“ [The new textbooks are] actually an attempt to cut down on our use of paper because a lot of teachers make their own copies of worksheets and stories, so the idea is that if we have everything in one consumable book then it helps reduce teachers making those extra copies,” Fulcher said.Though most have not checked out the new textbooks yet, English teacher Chon Lee assures them that they will.“Because it’s our first year—what’s known as the pilot year—some classes are going to use it heavily and some classes are piloting it mildly, so it just depends on whoever you have,” Lee said. “Some will focus it more by the book and some will focus it less so but as a department we picked specific units to make sure we address, like themes in the novels we read and in the textbooks. We’ve matched up specific content thematic units in the new one to blend into ours.”Even with the new textbooks, English teachers will not abandon their original novel-based curriculum and will continue to use famous literary works to connect the lessons of the textbook.