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 has taught in a Catholic girls high school in the South Bronx, at district public schools in the suburbs of Boston, and at a charter public school in the city of Boston. He was the department chair in history and social sciences at Newton North High School in Newton Massachusetts for seventeen years, where he also founded and directed a teacher residency program. He is the founding partner, with Gary Shiffman, of 4QM teaching, an organization dedicated to engaging students in the thinking skills of history and social studies through the Four Question Method.  |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.

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 SchoolsIn 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