Textbook of the Year: 8 titles nominated
Textbook of the Year: 8 titles nominated
The panel of academic specialists, educationalists and teachers who are to judge this year‘s Textbook of the Year contest has nominated 8 titles for the award from the over 40 primary school textbooks submitted. The Georg Eckert Institute and the Leipzig Book Fair created the award to give outstanding and exemplary textbooks and teaching materials the recognition they deserve. The award will be presented to the winners in a ceremony to take place on 14 March at the Leipzig Book Fair, with Sylvia Löhrmann, president of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany, in attendance.
“We read the submissions for primary-aged children in [German] years 1-4 with great pleasure. Many of them create a real enthusiasm for learning in children; they contain lovely pictures, imaginative and realistic tasks, and text children can really understand”, said Prof. Simone Lässig, chair of the judging panel and director of the Georg Eckert Institute, describing the approximately 40 primary school textbooks submitted for consideration for the prize, which is awarded in three categories. Textbook publishers were invited last summer to put textbooks for primary-aged children into the running for the accolade of Textbook of the Year. The expert panel has now nominated the following books and materials for 2014’s award:
Mathematics:
- eins zwei drei 1 (One Two Three 1), Cornelsen Verlag 2011
- Matherad 1 (Maths Wheel 1), vpm 2012
- Spürnasen Mathematik 1 (Maths Detectives 1), Duden Schulbuchverlag, 2012
German/MFL:
- Bumblebee 3, Schroedel Verlag 2013
- der die das 1, Cornelsen Verlag 2011
- Zebra 3, Lesebuch (reader), Ernst Klett Verlag 2013
Additional materials:
- Märchen für die Grundschule (Fairy Tales for Primary Schools), Ernst Klett Verlag, 2013
- Mathe:pro – Muster und Strukturen (Maths Pro: Patterns and Structures), 2012
In the view of the judging panel, “eins zwei drei 1” links up awareness of language and the acquisition of subject knowledge in primary maths in an exemplary manner, while “Matherad” uses innovative techniques to promote individual achievement and learning across different year groups, and “Spürnasen Mathematik 1” stands out by virtue of the interesting tasks and problems it contains and its support for the development of process skills such as problem-solving, creating an argumentation, and modelling. The English textbook “Bumblebee 3” features a wide range of different textual genres, enabling it, in the view of the judging panel, to engage various types of learner. The panel felt that “der die das 1” provides a model response to the challenge of teaching children with a range of different native languages, and that the selection of texts included in the reader “Zebra 3” creates an impressive synthesis between openness to children’s responses and interpretations and a clear structure. The panel also commented on the additional teaching materials nominated for the award in that category: “Fairy Tales for Primary Schools”, which contains a “Fairytale Workshop”, invites children and teachers to engage creatively with literature; the “mathe:pro – Muster und Strukturen” flashcards on patterns and structures help young learners acquire basic principles of mathematical thinking and working.
The winners will be announced, and receive their awards, in a ceremony to be held at the Leipzig Book Fair on 14 March.
The Georg Eckert Institute and the Leipzig Book Fair have been awarding the title of Textbook of the Year since 2012. The two previous years saw textbooks for the lower (German years 5 to 10) and upper (German years 11 to 13) stages of secondary schools respectively competing for the title. The purpose of the award is to provide public recognition to outstanding textbooks, their authors and publishers, thus raising awareness of the importance of the genre and encouraging innovation in the sector. The judges’ key criteria when assessing submissions are the textbook’s educational design, the extent to which it creatively meets the requirements of official educational standards, the nature and types of tasks for learners it contains, whether it is learner-centred, and its visual design.
You can find out more about the award and the nominated textbooks and materials (in German) at www.schulbuch-des-jahres.de.
The Georg Eckert Institute will be at the Leipzig Book Fair in hall 2 at stall C304.
The Textbook of the Year award is given by the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research in cooperation with the Leipzig Book Fair. The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany is the award’s patron.
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Contact:
Regina Peper
Head of Press and Public Relations
Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research. Member of the Leibniz Association
Celler Straße 3
38114 Braunschweig
Tel.: +49 (0)531-59099-299
Email: peper(at)gei.de
www.gei.de
