Student Textbook

                          STUDENT TEXTBOOK: GED SOCIAL STUDIES TEST

This textbook prepares learners for the GED Social Studies Test. It develops students' critical reading, reasoning, and analytical skills needed for admission to and success in Career and Technical Education (CTE) and for postsecondary education and the workplace.

The exercises and answer keys in this textbook cover the content areas of the GED Social Studies test: Civics and Government, U.S. History, U.S. Economy, Geography, and World History. The activities also emphasize the reasoning skills assessed on the GED, including reading for meaning, analyzing historical and informational sources, interpreting data, and drawing evidence-based conclusions. In addition, the lessons align with the College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for Reading.

The textbook is organized into three (3) main sections, thirteen (13) chapters and forty (40) lessons, including one practice test. It applies Bloom's Taxonomy's six levels of objectives (Remembering, Understanding, Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, and Creating) to engage learners in active, rigorous reading tasks that strengthen reading comprehension, historical reasoning, data analysis, and critical thinking skills.

Furthermore, the book teaches learners to apply the SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review) reading framework to improve comprehension and to retain and recall information when reading historical and informational texts. The activities teach and assess the following explicit reading skills and strategies:

1. Identifying main ideas and supporting details
2. Analyzing historical events and social studies concepts
3. Understanding cause-and-effect relationships and chronology
4. Comparing perspectives and information from multiple sources
5. Making inferences and drawing conclusions
6. Interpreting maps, charts, graphs, and other visual sources
7. Evaluating evidence, bias, and point of view
8. Interpreting data and applying quantitative reasoning

Using the evidence-based frameworks mentioned above, this textbook will equip students to complete tasks that mimic the rigor of the GED Social Studies Test. This book serves as an instructional guide to help students become more active, strategic, and purposeful readers and thinkers. The learning activities in this book will enable learners to strengthen their reading ability to analyze historical and contemporary issues, interpret evidence, and apply critical reasoning across academic, workplace, and community settings.

Indeed, this textbook equips students with the reading, reasoning, and problem-solving skills they need to succeed on the GED Social Studies test and beyond. As they progress through the book, they'll develop the ability to analyze social studies texts, interpret evidence, and think critically.

The CBL Team