The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature and representation
of vocabulary instruction in the teachers' editions of social studies textb
ooks for grades 4-8. Using social studies textbooks found on the Texas stat
e adoption list, we conducted a content analysis of each teacher's edition
for grades 4-8. Findings indicated that although those publishers realized
the importance of vocabulary, they continued to include vocabulary activiti
es that represent traditional ideas about how to support vocabulary learnin
g in the teaching of social studies. Many activities focused on an associat
ional level of word knowledge, such as matching definitions and fill-in-the
-blank exercises. Instructional suggestions calling for a higher, generativ
e level of word processing, such as writing tasks, were problematic given t
he lack of student support prior to such activities.