Content Matters - by Leif Fearn & Eric Fearn (Paperback)

About the Book

This book explains the content of nine areas in social studies. If teachers know what history, biographical studies, and the United States Constitution mean for instruction, they can increase the probability of better-focused content in their social studies instruction.

Book Synopsis

This book explains the content of nine areas in social studies. If teachers know what history, biographical studies, and the United States Constitution mean for instruction, they can increase the probability of better-focused content in their social studies instruction.

Review Quotes

It is important to make [the authors'] point that the absence of prior knowledge among the students is a signal to teach, not to avoid....[The authors'] vision for social studies made me want to start teaching all over again.

The connection between writing in the final chapter and social studies content in the earlier nine chapters is important because writing does not occur in a vacuum. In this book, students write in support of their social studies learning. The multiple and interrelated emphasis on content, expository writing, and using writing to think in and communicate ideas -- all key twenty-first century skills -- is explicitly addressed in both content and Common Core standards in both social studies and literacy. The authors offer a view of the social studies as content, including critical social studies content found in the standards but not characteristically taught.


We need to see everything through the lens of what history IS. This is where I think the [book] becomes so critical. You are changing a mindset....My hope is that this book will be in the hands of instructors who believe inquiry is crucial in teaching history....This [book] calls readers to pause and reflect on their personal perspectives on history instruction and their journey to become more historically literate.

About the Author

Leif Fearn began his career as a sixth grade teacher. After a decade in teaching and educational management, he joined the university faculty where he served in the departments of teacher education and special education.

Eric Fearn began his career in Mexico and moved to the elementary grades, then middle school in California. He teaches Spanish immersion history and literature at the middle school level.