Historic documents can be fascinating, right? Try convincing your students of that! Join us to learn concrete methods for helping students succeed on DBQs. We'll share terrific resources for primary source documents and lessons and give you ideas for how to use them in class to eliminate dull and pump up the fun factor.

1. Agenda
Strategy 1: Response Group
Strategy 2: Skill Builder
Strategy 3: The BIG Paper
Assessment Tips
Where to find resources

2. Strategy 1: Response Group
(with a twist)

3. Response Group
• Challenge students to discuss
controversial and complex issues in small
groups.
• Create heterogeneous groups and a
suitable classroom arrangement.
• Prepare students to answer provocative
critical thinking questions.
• Allow groups time to prepare their
responses.
• Facilitate a lively class discussion.

4. DBQ Response Group
1- Model the skill. Do one question together.
• Begin by decoding the question. Annotate what
the question is asking or rewrite in your own
words.
• Allow each group to respond quickly.
2- Have groups brainstorm five things they
already know about the question topic.
• Allow each group to share.
• Different presenter.
3- Assign each group one of the DBQ
documents for analysis. They decide how they
would use it to answer the question.
• Create one document analysis question per
document.
• Allow each group to share.
• Different presenter.
Complete the essay individually.
Use a Response Group rubric/scoring sheet.

5. Example- Turning a DBQ into a Response Group Activity
DBQ Question
Analyze the extent to which the American
Revolutionary War was truly "revolutionary”?
Round One
Decode the question. Have each group
present what they think the question is
asking them to do.
Round Two
Have each group brainstorm what they
already know about the Revolutionary Era.

6. Example- Turning a DBQ into a Response Group Activity
Round Three
Provide each group one of the documents
found in the DBQ along with the appropriate
document analysis worksheet –map, political
cartoon, illustration, etc.
If you have more groups than docs,
repeat the documents.
Provide ample time—5 to 10 minutes—for
groups to complete their analysis.
Have a new presenter share their
information.
Alternatively, rotate the documents through
the groups and assign each group one
document to present.
Culminate with a discussion about the
approach to writing this DBQ and have
students write their essays individually.

7. Strategy 2: Skill Builder

8. Skill Builder
Use engaging tasks to teach social
studies skills.
Teach the skill through modeling and
guided practice.
Prepare students to work in pairs.
Set clear expectations, allow students
to practice the skill repeatedly, and
give immediate feedback.
Debrief the lesson to help students
make connections to key social studies
concepts.

9. Using Skill Builders with DBQs
Allow students to be actively involved
in learning the skill.
•Decode the DBQ essay question as a
whole class.
Model the skill.
•Do one document together.
Provide clear expectations, practice
skill repeatedly, and give immediate
feedback.
•Create and post placards at stations
around the room. Students work in pairs.
Debrief and make connections to key
concepts.
•Challenge students to think holistically
about their document analysis and apply it
to the question.
Have lesson processing be the
individual essay writing.

10. Example- Turning a DBQ into a Skill Builder Activity
Decode the Question (Middle School)
What was the role of religion in unifying or
dividing societies of the Eastern Hemisphere?
Provide any necessary historical
background:
Religions of the world have historically served to unite
as well as divide the people of the Eastern
Hemisphere. Since the first civilization until the
modern day, religious beliefs have brought people
together in peace and ripped people apart in violence.

11. Example- Turning a DBQ into a Skill Builder Activity
Document 1
Create placards for each document.
Provide analysis questions for lower
grade levels.
Students take notes on their Skill
Builder Handout.
Students complete work at one station
and check their work with the teacher
before going to the next station until all
documents have been analyzed.

12. Example- Turning a DBQ into a Skill Builder Activity
Wrap up the activity and make connections between the documents
and the question.
Divided societies
of the Eastern
Hemisphere.

13. Strategy 3: Fold a Giant Piece
of Paper

14. DBQ: Analyze the responses of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration to the problems
of the Great Depression. How effective were these responses? How did they change the
role of the federal government?
Use the documents and your knowledge of the period 1929-1941 to construct your essay.
Document Effective Change Outside Grouping Need to
Cut response(s) Role of Information Know
, Paste, Analyze, Ann
otate federal
government
Yes- … Government Unemployment; Missing data
A providing jobs. Impact data for women.
source could be biased; cabinet
member
B
C

15. Assessing the DBQ Essays

16. Grading
Have a rubric in mind for the answer.
Prepare to spend time grading, especially initially.
How do you manage assessment of DBQs or essays?

17. Ideas to Make Grading Less Time-consuming
Use Peer Read-Arounds.
Collect essay rough drafts.
Create balanced groups.
Brainstorm qualities of an effective essay for the question.
Have each group identify a facilitator responsible for collecting and passing out essays, a
recorder for discussion note taking, and a presenter. Rotate these roles.
Pass out the rough drafts to groups and provide time to
read (scan), discuss which essay they like best, then
pass to another group and repeat until all groups have
read all essays.
Group discusses which essay they liked best overall
and then have each group present findings.
Teacher records these notes to create a rubric for the
final draft.

18. Ideas to Make Grading Less Time-consuming
Have students highlight their thesis and
evidence

19. Thank you!
Suzy Allione Traci Cook
sallione@teachtci.com tcook@teachtci.com
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