Social Studies Content: For Elementary and Middle School Teachers

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.

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.