Using

DBQsto Transform

your

Classroom

Heather MacKenzieSocial Studies Coordinator

Tony DiSarioElementary TOSA

Regina HolLandSecondary TOSA

Our Role

Introductions

What Is a DBQ?

Document-Based Question

Way for students to interact with historical records

For all students from elementary school through high

school

Completing a DBQ is like the work of real historians.

What is a Primary

Source?

DBQs ask students to…

Read and analyze historical records.

Gather information and answer short scaffolding response

questions.

Assimilate and synthesize information from several documents.

Respond (usually as a written essay) to an assigned task by

using information gleaned from the documents as well as their

own outside information.

All students need to learn how to THINK.

Learning requires practice.

Clear thinking is hard work.

Thinking is clarified by

writing.

Thinking is for everyone.

Core Beliefs of DBQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8MlNzi1s_k

Reading Like A Historian

Read Like HistoriansAnalyze Material

InvestigateThink Critically, Independently,

with Limited Assistance

Decide & WriteMake a Decision & Write about It

What is our Vision?

Teach Students to

Think

Teach All Students

Question ● A central question is included that can be answered by analyzing multiple documents.

Hook An engaging hook is present that introduces topic and guiding

question.

Background

Information

Content information provides context for included documents.

Primary &

Secondary

Sources

A variety of sources are present for students to examine.

Sources are purposeful and provide information that will support

student response.

Scaffolding

Questions

Source questions are included that provide scaffolding which will

improve student analysis.

Rubric Scoring rubric is present and clearly outlines expectations.

Basic Components

● A central question is

included that can be

answered by

analyzing multiple

documents.

Question

Sample Guiding Questions -1. From 1775 to 1830, many African Americans gained freedom from

slavery, yet during the same period the institution of slavery

expanded. Explain why BOTH of those changes took place.

Analyze the ways that BOTH free African Americans and enslaved

African Americans responded to the challenges confronting them.

(APUSH Past Question)

2. How revolutionary was the American Revolution? (DBQ Project)

3. What were three major contributions of Muslim civilization?

(Prentice Hall Text)

4. Mohandas Gandhi had a major impact on his country’s

development. What were Gandhi’s goals for India and how did he

set out to achieve those goals? (Prentice Hall Text)

5. Manifest Destiny: Did the Benefits Outweigh the Negative

Consequences? (DBQ Project)

● An engaging hook is

present that introduces

topic and guiding

question.

Hook

American Progress by John Gast

1. Analyze each quadrant

independently in order to

adequately interpret this famous

painting.

2. List the people, activities, and

means of transportation shown in

each using the chart below.

3. Use this analysis to develop a

definition for the term “Manifest

Destiny.”

● Content information

provides context for

included

documents.

Background Information

Establishing Context from Background Information

1. From which country did Mexico become independent?

2. From which country and when did Texas become

independent?

3. How could the census data reflect a justification for westward

expansion?

4. In general, what types of benefits did the United States gain

from expansion?

5. Was the United States justified in going to war with Mexico in

1846? How might this same event be viewed differently in

Mexico?

6. What negative consequences did the United States deal with

from western expansion?

● A variety of sources

(primary and

secondary) are present

for students to examine.● Sources are purposeful

and provide information

that will support student response.

Sources

Secondary Sources

Primary Sources

Types of Documents

War Message of President

James Polk, Washington, May 11, 1846

A Mexican Viewpoint on the War With the United States,” Voices of Mexico,

issue #41, Center for Research on North America (CISAN), National Autonomous

University of Mexico, 2006.

Taylor, Bayard – Reporter for

New York Tribune – 1849 “Problems of

the Gold Rush”

Images From the Completion

of the Transcontinent

al Railroad

Photograph

of the American

West

Quote from Robert Toombs, Georgia Statement, House of

Representatives Floor December 13, 1849, Wilmot

Proviso

German immigrant

description of a

Rendezvous on the Green

River in southwestern

Wyoming in 1839

Primary or Secondary?

● Source questions

are included that

provide

scaffolding which

will improve student analysis.

Scaffolding Questions

1. What river did Texas and President Polk regard

as the Texas-Mexico border?

2. Would Mexico have viewed a Mexican

advance north of the Rio Grande an invasion of

the US?

3. Where did the April 24 fight between Mexican

and American soldiers occur?

4. What was the response of Congress to Polk’s

war message?

5. Was the United States justified in going to war with Mexico?

Document Analysis

R – Restate the Question

A – Answer the Question

C – Cite the Textual Evidence

E – Explain your Evidence

for Every Answer

● Scoring rubric is

present and clearly

outlines expectations.

Rubric

Engages Students in

Higher Level Thinking

Investigates Multiple

Perspectives, Past & Present

Collaborates with Peers

Develops Knowledge, Skill, and Analytical

Ability

Introduces to Historical

Thinking

Helps Students Read & Write

Critically

Helps Humanize

History

Helps Prepare for PBL & GA

Milestones

Why Use DBQs?

DBQs by Grade LevelGrade DBQ

K Which American symbol is your favorite and why?

1 Which of Benjamin Franklin’s inventions has made the biggest

impact in today’s world?

2 How did Jackie Robinson affect the lives of others?

3 How did Cesar Chavez make the world a better place?

4 What are the seasons like around the world?

5 What caused the Dust Bowl?

Grade

K/1st Teacher: Introduces term “document” and shows examples.

Students: Understands that a document is a visual that provides information.

2nd Teacher: Uses primary and secondary sources to teach content and models for

students how to use these documents to learn.

Students: Read, analyze, answer questions, and write sentences about the documents.

3rd Teacher: Uses primary and secondary sources to teach content and models for

students how to use these documents to learn.

Students: Read, analyze, answer questions, and write paragraphs about the documents.

4th Teacher: Uses primary and secondary sources to teach content and models how

to write an essay to answer the DBQ.

Students: Read, analyze, answer questions, and writes multiple paragraphs about

the documents.

5th Teacher: Uses primary and secondary sources to teach content

Students: Read, analyze, answer questions, and complete a mini-DBQ.

DBQMiddle

6th

Teacher: Uses primary and secondary sources to teach content, models for students how to

use these documents to learn, and provides instruction on the development of a mini-

DBQ/informational/historical essay.

Student: Reads, analyzes, answers questions, and completes a mini-

DBQ/informational/historical essay with teacher guidance.

7th

Teacher: Consistently uses primary and secondary sources to teach content, models for

students how to use these documents to learn, and provides instruction on the development

of a mini-DBQ/informational/historical essay.

Student: Reads, analyzes, answers questions, and completes mini-

DBQ/informational/historical essay citing specific evidence from the documents and

incorporating outside knowledge during the year.

8th

Teacher: Continuously uses primary and secondary sources to teach content, models for

students how to use these documents to learn, and provides instruction on the development

of a mini-DBQ/informational/historical essay.

Student: Reads, analyzes, answers questions, and completes mini-

DBQs/informational/historical essays citing specific evidence from the documents and

incorporating outside knowledge during the year.