While it seems like textbooks are definitely here to stay, Cris Tovani (2004) points out in Do I Really Have to Teach Reading? that oftentimes textbooks are not accessible to students because they are too difficult. In my experience, textbooks were often not accessible to me because they just didn't hold my interest. In any event, a textbook that is not accessible prevents students from making meaning of what they read, and without additional instructional materials, students have a very hard time understanding vital concepts in that content area. It is important to teach students the features of a textbook and how to use them as well as how to apply reading strategies to the text. It is also, in my opinion, just as important to provide students with additional text that covers the same content as the textbook. This allows students choices as to the type and level of reading material, affording each student many chances to understand the concept presented. I feel that this is very important because in my first grade classroom students are taught to choose books that are "just right" for them, that are not too easy, but not too hard, and books that are engaging and help them to learn something. Why should this change as students get older? Students in higher grades are often handed a textbook as their only option for reading, which is not likely to meet the needs of all readers.
One way to provide motivating and engaging material at various levels is through WebQuests. According to WebQuest.org, a WebQuest provides a task similar to a "real world" task that adults would perform. This task also requires higher level thinking skills, such as analyzing, comparing and contrasting, or drawing conclusions. Prior to reading information on this website, I was unable to determine which site I had visited were WebQuests and which were not. I think, however, that the most important thing is not classifying the site as a WebQuest or not, but making sure that the lesson planned has a task that has meaning in the student's everyday life as well as providing the opportunity for the student to do some higher level thinking along the journey. While not all of the links I have provided would be classified according to WebQuest.org as a true WebQuest, they do provide students with an engaging medium through which to learn. Besides holding students' interest longer than a textbook probably would, another benefit is that a WebQuest may provide students with accompanying audio or video to assist them in their reading, as well as interactive activities that keep students moving through the material.
Premade WebQuests and other web explorations are readily available on the Internet, though it is important to check out all links first, as I found that many links were broken (See the Internet Expeditions adaptation page for ways around this, as well as ways to adapt some of these sites to fit the WebQuest criteria or simply to fit your needs!)
WebQuest.org- Read about what defines a true WebQuest, and watch tutorials on how to create your own.
Internet Expeditions- These are not all WebQuests, but all an excellent supplement to textbooks! This site also offers advice on creation and adaptation of WebQuests.
Springdale Schools- This site offers WebQuests organized by grades (K-6) as well as by content.
Just For Kids! from the University of Illinois Extension- This site has many links to explorations, including "Let's Talk About Insects", which I used when creating a unit on insects. Many of these were available in more than one language, making them accessible to those students for whom English is their second language.
Sci4Kids- Stories about various science topics provided by the USDA. Students click from page to page through text about various science topics, some of which have animation.
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