Social Studies Content for Elementary and Middle School Teachers

Description

This text gives a helpful overview of both U.S. and world history, in addition to basic knowledge in geography, economics, and civics for pre-service and in-service teachers.

The wide history coverage will allow the pre-service teacher to see historical events in overall context. It is an invaluable resource for the in-service teacher who needs both and overview for planning and help in answering student questions. Geography, economics, and civics concepts are clearly explained, so the book will be helpful when used in writing lesson plans. It saves professors of methods courses from having to re-teach social studies content and remain focused on the methods.

Beyond the text, the book contains extensive resource lists for teachers and students, including relevant Websites and student literature. Major subject area organizations, museums, and U.S. government sites, especially the resources of the Library of Congress and the National Archives will be particularly useful to the reader. Additionally, there is an extensive index that allows teachers to look up subjects and answers at a glance.

• Updated! Internet resources for each content area for easily researched and accurate information
• Updated coverage of economic, policy, and politics.
• Updated coverage of history since 2000 including September 11th and events in the Middle East.
• Addition of maps to the 2nd edition make the book more reader-friendly by illustrating chapter content.
• Additional scaffolding including sub-heads within each chapter make content even more accessible.  
• Updated! A quick reference of updated booklists appear at the end of the text.

Allan C. Ornstein is a professor of education at St. John’s University. He is a former FulbrightHayes Scholar and has been a consultant for more than 60 different government and education agencies, including the American Federation of Teachers, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Educational Testing Service. Dr. Ornstein has published more than 400 articles and 60 books. His latest books are Wealth vs. Work: How 1% Victimize 99% (Author House, 2012) and Excellence vs. Equality: Can Society Achieve Both Goals? (Paradigm Publishers, 2015). See his website: allanornsteinbooks.com.

Francis P. Hunkins was a professor of education specializing in general curriculum, curriculum development, curriculum issues, and curriculum theory in the College of Education at the University of Washington for 35 years. Since retiring, Dr. Hunkins has remained active in writing educational textbooks. As a past president, he also remains active in the Association for Teaching and Curriculum. During his tenure at the University of Washington, Dr. Hunkins served as chairperson of the area of curriculum and instruction (1995–2000). He also consulted widely with school systems around the country. He twice was a visiting scholar at Monash University in Australia and was also a visiting scholar at the Hong Kong Institute of Education in 1999. Over his career, he has written 21 educational textbooks and numerous articles for educational journals. He makes his home with his wife, Dr. Patricia A. Hammill, in the Seattle area.

Norman Eng is an adjunct assistant professor at the City University of New York, Brooklyn College and City College of New York. His work focuses on twentyfirst century education reform and inequality. He recently coedited a special issue symposium on Amazon.com and other websites, “Twentyfirst Century Excellence in Education” (Society, 2015), which included contributions from scholars such as Nel Noddings, Carol Ann Tomlinson, Yong Zhao, and James Comer. Dr. Eng maintains an education blog called The Educated Society.

Preface: A World to the Reader

1. Why Study Social Studies?

2. History

            Early Humans

            Europe

                        The Greeks

                        The Romans

                        The Middle Ages

                        The Renaissance and the Reformation

                        The Enlightenment Period

                        The Age of Revolution and the Industrial Revolution

            Asia

                        The Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Middle East

                        India

                        China

                        Japan

            Africa

                        Western Africa

                        Eastern Africa

                        Outside Influences

            The Americas

                        Native Americans

                        European Exploration

                        Colonial Life

                        Revolutionary War

                        The 1800s

            The Twentieth and Early Twenty-first Centuries Around the World

                        World War I

                        World Between the Wars

                        World War II

                        Cold War

                        Cultural Change

3. Geography

            Basic Ideas

            Water and Land

            Reading Maps

            The Physical Movement of the Earth and Its Effects

            Continents

                        Asia

                        Africa

                        North America

                        South America

                        Antarctica

                        Europe

                        Australia

            Geography Resources

4. Economics

            The Basic Premises

            The History of Economics

            Consumer Choices Related to Needs and Wants

            Entrepreneurs and Ware-Earners

            Supply and Demand

            Economics Resources

5. Government

            The Purpose of Government

            Values of American Democracy

            Constitutional Governments

            The U.S. Constitution

            State and Local Government in the United States

            The United States in the World

            Government Resources

A Final Word

General Resources for the Teacher

Index

This essential overview gives teachers all the content knowledge they need to teach social studies.

A great supplement for students who need to prepare for teacher certification content exams, this concise yet comprehensive reference book provides all of the necessary elementary school content information on history, geography, economics, and government.  It is a must-have for all pre-service and in-service elementary and middle school teachers who may not be experts in the field of social studies.  The history chapter is arranged chronologically within regions of the world and covers early humans through the twenty-first century.  The book ends with substantial resource lists for teachers and students, as well as a thorough index.

Noteworthy features of the book include:

• Provides valuable resources for planning content lessons
• Updates the Internet resources for each content area for easily researched and accurate information
• Gives teachers at-a-glance social studies information in the user-friendly and complete index
• “ Educational Resources” for each content area, located at the end of each chapter, provide pedagogical grounding for the content covered in the chapter.
• “ Student Resources” at the end of each content chapter offer suggestions for further research.

Penelope Fritzer is a former public school teacher who is a Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Davie Campus of Florida Atlantic University.  She earned her B. A. in History at Connecticut College, a B. A. in Education and an M. A. in English at Florida Atlantic University, and her Ph. D. in English from the University of Miami.  She is the author of numerous articles on education and several books, including Math Content for Elementary and Middle School Teachers and Science Content for Elementary and Middle School Teachers, both from Allyn & Bacon.

Ernest Andrew Brewer is a former public school teacher who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the Jupiter Campus of Florida Atlantic University. He earned his B. A. in Elementary Education and his M. Ed. in Elementary Education from the University of Florida, and his Ed. D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Central Florida.  His research interests include social studies in the elementary school, civic education, classroom management, character education, bullying, and social studies integration. He is the author of numerous articles on education.