From Story to Judgment: The Four Question Method for Teaching and Learning Social Studies

by Jonathan Bassett, Gary Shiffman

Overview

The Four Question Method (4QM) identifies the questions that drive the thinking that real people do when they take the human world seriously. The authors, Jonathan Bassett and Gary Shiffman, have figured out how to describe and teach what it takes to answer those questions well.

This inquiry method gives educators a way to integrate content ‘coverage’ – through storytelling! – with practice in thinking skills that are central to history and its affiliated academic disciplines, together called social studies.

The Four Question Method helps teachers to plan more effectively and students to learn more effectively. It provides guidance for writing research essays. And it transfers – the skills our students practice will work for them when they encounter and make their own history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781913622831
Publisher:	Hodder Education Group
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Pages:	250
Sales rank:	145,834
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jon Bassett has wanted to be a history teacher since he was in middle school. He has a BA in history from Columbia University, an MAT in history from Brown University, and an EdD in curriculum and teaching from Boston University. Jon has taught history in grades 9-12 on all academic levels, from Advanced Placement to at-risk students. He is the founding partner, with Gary Shiffman, of 4QM teaching.
After graduating from the State University of New York at Binghamton with a BA in political science, Gary Shiffman taught elementary and middle school in New York City and Maalot, Israel. Well chastened, he attended graduate school at the University of Michigan, where he studied political theory. He then taught for eight years at the University of California, San Diego. Chastened again, he became a high school teacher in 2002, when his current partner and then department chair hired him to teach history at Newton North High School in Massachusetts. Four years later he became Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator at nearby Brookline High School, where he teaches one class and supervises and evaluates teachers. He co-founded 4QM Teaching in 2017.

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

Question 1 What Happened? (Narration) 33

Question 2 What Were They Thinking? (Interpretation) 73

Question 3 Why Then and There? (Explanation) 115

Question 4 What Do We Think About That? (Judgment) 165

Conclusion: Teaching Toward Independence 209

Appendices 227

Editorial Reviews

The Four Question Method is a brilliant book about a hugely important topic. With only 15% of 8th-graders scoring proficient or above in U.S. history, social studies teachers need practical guidance in how to make their subject engaging, accessible, and meaningful—and how to make learning stick. That’s exactly what Jon Bassett and Gary Shiffman provide, in clear and lively prose.
-Natalie Wexler
Author, The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System—and How to Fix It (Avery 2019)
Co-author with Judith C. Hochman of The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing in All Subjects and Grades (Jossey-Bass 2017)

“Four Question Method where have you been? This is the book I needed as a history teacher, a school principal, and now training teachers in a master's degree program. It should be in the hands of every social studies teacher and any program that trains them. From Story to Judgment provides absolute clarity around the key questions that drive social studies instruction and gives fantastic ideas for how to teach them in a rigorous and engaging way. It brings the "both and" approach that all good teaching requires by balancing learning the narrative and facts with developing deep, historical thinking skills that are essential for our students.”
James Verrilli
Dean, Relay Graduate School of Education
Co-Founder North Star Academy, Uncommon Schools

In every field, there’s one book that tells you How To Really Do It. Marie Kondo's Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing. Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. These books pierce a crowded field and become The One. If you’re a social studies teacher, you just found it. The Four Question Method is The One.
-Mike Goldstein, Founder, Match Education

“I just love the 4QM model—for refined, highly effective history teaching, it's the very best I've seen.”
-Kevin Delaney, Social Studies Department Head, Wayland High School, Wayland MA

This is a most impressive scheme. I love its elegance, efficiency, and communicability.
-Peter Seixas, Professor and Canada Research Chair,University of British Columbia. Director, The Historical Thinking Project, and author, The Big Six Historical Thinking Concepts

Jon and Gary are the biggest champions of social studies instruction out there! Not only do they celebrate the hard work of history teachers, but they make teaching such a complex discipline seem so much less daunting. The Four Question Method has revolutionized the way we think about developing curriculum and teaching students to think critically like historians. Thanks for helping us to create such passionate, erudite “philosopher citizens”!
-Rebecca Lord Gomez, Senior Manager of History, Grades 5 - 8, at Uncommon Schools Network

“I just love the 4QM model—for refined, highly effective history teaching, it's the very best I've seen.”
-Kevin Delaney, Social Studies Department Head, Wayland High School, Wayland MA

From the Publisher