WebLessons
Reading/Writing/DBQs
What reading skills help students
understand content?
The Indian logicians discussed various rules of inference, the
violation of which would involve mistakes in reasoning. Perhaps
the most important of these is the rule of the saadhya-pervaded
hetu. This requires that the hetu must fall completely within the
saadhya. The pervasion relation meant here is the relation of classinclusion. Thus class A can pervade class B only if all members of
B are members of A, though not necessarily vice versa. Similarly,
class A is pervaded by class B only if all members of A are
members of B, though not necessarily vice versa. Hence our
example above is a valid inference only if the class of firepossessing things really does pervade the class of smokepossessing things. This relation of pervasion or universal
concomitance (vyaapti) can be reformulated as the major premise
of a Western syllogism: for example, !All smoke-possessing things
are fire-possessing things.
Roy W. Perrett, The Problem of Induction in Indian Philosophy, (HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1984) 162.
What Others Have Said
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Ask questions prior to reading
Summarizing as they go – notate
Thinking about the author’s purpose
Getting the overall main idea
Using context clues for vocabulary
Making inferences on what is being said
How are reading and writing related?
What writing skills, at minimum, do
you want your students to
demonstrate/improve?
What Others Have Said
• Predicting and Asking Questions = Developing
a thesis
• Main idea = Thesis Statement/Topic Sentence
• Summarizing = Organizing main points and
details
• Author’s purpose = Developing a Point of View
• Making inferences = making assertions
• Context clues = expanding word choice
Reading to Writing Method
• Is a Backwards Design Approach
– Start with the end in mind
– Identify outcome
– Describe quality
– Think through what you need to teach for mastery
– Gradual Release Method – teaching the steps
through large group modeling, small group
practice, and then individual practice
Backwards Design
Write an essay
What questions would you have?
End in Mind/Outcomes
• An outline
• 5 well developed paragraphs
• Basic thesis and introductory paragraph (extra
credit for own/more complex thesis)
• Summary paragraph
• At least three categories that support thesis –
a paragraph for each
Reding to Writing Method
1. Use reading strategies to comprehend
information
– Need lots of practice – until it becomes second
nature
– Key is to identify questions leading to possible
thesis
– What are some typical readings you would have
your students read – if you wanted them to write
about it – what questions would you have them
identify prior to reading?
Reading to Writing Method
2. Developing a Thesis
Aligned Prediction
Summarizing/Checking vs. Prediction
Identifying Key Details
Making Inferences (What is meant by…)
Drawing Conclusions
Reading to Writing Method
1. Develop a thesis
2. Use a graphic organizer or outline to organize
thoughts into categories that support thesis
3. Use writing process to move towards
publishing
Reading to Writing Method
3. Organization
Categorizing by types of detailed support,
themes discussed, inferences made
Identifying details that support categories
Place in outline or graphic organizer
Reading to Writing Method
4. Writing Process
Drafting
Revising/Feedback
Word Choice
Voice
Mechanics/Grammar
Publishing
World War I Causes
• What are some typical reasons for war?
• Predict what the article is going to be out
• Steer towards “causes of WW I”, that there are different
types of causes, and which type is most important
• Read/summarize/notate - check vs. prediction that there
were types of causes – make inferences about causes, draw
conclusions about what are most important and look for
supporting details
• Use context clues to figure out the meaning of words
• Determine main idea
• Determine author’s purpose
World War I Causes
• Do the activity
• From the foldable - create an outline or
graphic oranizer to show how you would
organize a 5 paragraph essay on what you
think are the most important causes of WWI
DBQs
• Similar to Reading to Writing Method –
comprehension, developing/supporting a thesis,
checking vs. prediction, organizing thoughts
• But must read/analyze several documents
• Check prediction to test vs. all documents
• Topic is provided but students still needs to
develop a thesis with a point of view or draw a
conclusion
• Time limit/use of outside information
Brodie
http://www.pinzler.com/ushistory/dbq2supp.ht
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• What approach did he take?
Begin with the End in Mind
(DBQ Rubric)
8–9
a.______ Well-developed thesis that addresses
the question
b.______ Considerable specific and relevant outside
information to support the thesis
c.______ Effective analysis of a substantial number
of documents
d.______ Organized and well-written
e.______ May contain minor errors that do not
detract from the overall quality of the essay
5–7
a.______ Acceptable thesis
b.______ Some specific and relevant outside
information to support the thesis
c.______ Effective analysis of some of the
documents
d.______ Acceptable organization and writing
e.______ May contain some errors that do not
seriously detract from the quality of the essay
2–4
a.______ Thesis is nonexistent, confused, or
unfocused
b.______ Little specific or relevant outside
information
c.______ Little or no analysis of the documents
d.______ Problems in organization and writing that
detract from the quality of the essay
e.______ Contains major errors that detract from
the quality of the essay
0–1
______ Incompetent or inappropriate response
to the question
______ Little or no factual information;
substantial factual errors
U
______ Completely off topic; the paper is blank
or not turned in
What is a Document-Based question?
• A Document-Based Question (DBQ)
requires students to write an essay in
which the defense of the thesis comes
from an analysis of original source
documents as well as outside
knowledge of a specific time period and
topic
• Analyze some…break it down to its
parts:
• The period from 1000 C.E. to
1450 C.E. experienced a number
of cultural and social changes.
Explain how the following
documents reflect the events and
ideas that caused change during
this period.
Come up with a similar one…
• One of the most common forms of
cultural interchanges is the transfer of
religious beliefs. As new faiths and
spiritual ideas appear in a nation or
among a community, reactions to them
vary. Based on the documents that
follow, what can you conclude about how
various religions, missions, and
proselytizing efforts have been received
in different places at different times?
• Analyze the similarities and
differences in the aims and the
methods advocated by twentieth
century freedom and
independence movements.
What evaluation can you make of
the short-term and the long-term
effectiveness of each?
The Constitution: A Democratic
Document?
The Constitution was an undemocratic
document designed to protect a minority
of wealthy men from the potential tyranny
of the masses.
You may defend this statement, refute this
statement, or defend it in part and refute it
in part.
Writing the DBQ: A Five-Step Process
Step 1: Read the question and make sure you
understand all parts of the question
Step 2: Read and analyze each document.
Remember to list outside information as you
analyze the documents
Step 3: Make an assertion. Remember to answer
the question.
Step 4: Test your assertion and prepare your essay
using the Yes/But
strategy.
Step 5: Write the Essay.
• On the AP exam students will have 60 minutes
to answer the DBQ. Students should spend
15-20 minutes on the first four steps. Writing
the essay should take 40-45 minutes
Information to Help You Write Better
DBQ’s
1. DBQ essays with no outside information or no
analysis of the documents will receive a score
no higher than four on a nine-point
assessment. A thorough analysis of the
documents with an adequate thesis and no
outside information will generally receive a
four. Students who add some outside
information will generally receive a five or
higher
2. Students who make “Yes/But”
statements will probably drive their
scores into a higher range.
3. Students should make sure they stay in
the time period required by the question
4. Students should avoid quoting long passages
from the documents; this leaves little time for
analysis of the documents.
5. Simply restating what a document is about is
not enough. Students should make sure they
analyze the documents and make inferences
from the documents
6. Making an inference from a document can count
as outside information.
7. Students should avoid writing a “laundry-list”
analysis of each document.
8. Although student scores will not be hurt by
referring to documents in parentheses with the
letter of the document (e.g., Document A), we
should hold students to a higher standard and ask
that they refer to documents within the text
(e.g., “According to the Census Report of 1890 . .
.” or “As evident in John Kennedy’s Address to
Congress in 1961 . . .”).
9. Students should use specific names,
terms, and events (i.e., proper
nouns) as outside information.
10. Students should make sure they
keep returning to the main topic of
the essay
11. Students should use the introductory
paragraph to define terms, provide historical
background, define the time period, and state
points of validation. In most cases, students
should not write an introduction that is too
long; introductory information should be kept
to a minimum.
12. Errors in grammar and style are not a serious
problem unless they detract from the
comprehension of the essay