Using Document Based
Questions to Assess Student
Learning
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Schedule for the day
Session 1: 8:15-9:35
Session 2: 9:40-11:00
What does a DBQ look like at the different grade levels?
DBQ Assessment Process
Lunch 11:00-12:30
Session 3: 12:30- 1:50
Session 4: 1:55-2:55
2:55-3:30
Implementing DBQ Skills
Putting It All Together
Closing

Goals for the day
• Understand how to implement historical writing routinely grades 6-12
• Understand the benefits of using historical documents to write
• Understand how the writing and analysis process works
• Leave here with strategies and resources you can implement immediately within your curriculum

What we need from you…
• Good Attitude
• Stay focused
• Ask questions
• Be Professionals
• Plan to Implement

Fears/Complaints/Obstacles
• I don’t have enough time to have students write in class I have too much material to cover.
• I don’t want to grade ALL those essays.
• My students can’t write an essay- they don’t even know how to write a complete sentence.
• Students just plagiarize these days.
• I’m not an English teacher- I don’t know what to grade.

Why do we need to Write in History Classes?
• Students need to learn how to think.
• Learning to think requires frequent and ongoing practice in thinking.
• Thinking is hard work.
• Thinking is for all students.
• Thinking is clarified by writing.
- DBQ Project

Why a Document Based
Program?
• Promotes Thinking
• Develops Writing Skills
• Allows for group work in document analysis and peer editing.
• Builds confidence for students to enroll in AP courses.

Session 1: What does the DBQ look like at various levels?
Grade Level What is the student task?
How are the students assessed?
What does the teacher need to know to prepare the students?
6 th World Cul
7 th TX His
8 th US His
World Geo (9 th )
World His (10 th )
US History (11 th )
GOV/ECO (12 th )

Break
5 minute break

Session 2 9:40-11:00
DBQ ASSESSMENT PROCESS

DBQ Assessment Process
Rubric Building
1. What are the common elements that DBQs share at every level?
2. How do these elements factor into grading?
3. What can rubrics look like and how do they assist in the grading process?

What are the common elements that DBQs share at every level?
To be successful, students have to do the following:
• quickly read and understand document content
• interpret documents to use as evidence to answer a question
• craft a cohesive and persuasive written argument using document evidence
Session 3 will cover how to teach these 3 distinct skills to students

Purpose of DBQ Rubrics
1. Measure distinct DBQ skills
• Understanding
• Interpreting
• Crafting an argument
2. Provide effective feedback to students (goal: future improvement)
• Must be timely (while the question and process are fresh)
• Must be specific (grade alone doesn’t facilitate improvement)
3. Facilitate grading
• Must make the process relatively easy for teachers
• Must encourage consistency in grading from student to student

Types of Rubrics
Holistic Scoring
Core Scoring
Scale Scoring

Holistic Scoring
• Essays are judged in their entirety
• Scores are assigned based on successful
• demonstration of skills and understanding
• Scores divided into ranges based on the above
The 8-9 Essay
 Contains a well-developed thesis that addresses all parts of the question
 Supports the thesis with effective analysis
 Effectively uses a substantial number of documents
 Supports thesis with substantial and relevant outside information
 May contain minor errors
 Is clearly organized and well written
The 5-7 Essay
 Contains a thesis that addresses part of the question
 Has limited or implicit analysis
 Effectively uses some documents
 Supports the thesis with some relevant outside information
 May have errors that do not seriously detract from the quality of the essay
 Shows acceptable organization and writing; language errors do not interfere with the comprehension of the essay

Core Scoring
• Essay are judged for core elements
• Scores are based on the accumulation of successful core parts (given points)
• Scores developed from this accumulation of points

Scale Scoring
• Essays are judged in their entirety
• Scores are based on achieving key skills
• Scores are qualitative and descriptive in nature

11th

Scoring
Core Scoring 10 th Grade

Scale Scoring
Any Grade

Questions
• How did using the rubric facilitate grading?
• How did using the rubric facilitate giving students feedback?
• What was difficult about grading still?

Tips for Grading
• Don’t score for grammar
• Think of these as rough drafts
– Grade ideas, analysis, use of evidence, structure of the argument
• Teach the rubric to students before writing

Tips for Grading
• Standardize or grade a few with a fellow teacher first to establish a standard
• Read through some of your students to see a spread of responses before you start grading
• Have students grade according to rubric
– Peer grade
– Ratiocination

Tips for Grading
• Full DBQ is summative – grading parts of the process before this step is crucial
Examples:
– Grade thesis one time
– Grade use of evidence another time
• Feedback must be timely
– the more times you grade, the better you’ll get

Break- Lunch see you at
12:30

Session 3 12:30-1:50
IMPLEMENTING DBQ SKILLS

Speakerdescribe what you know about the person who wrote the document
Occasionwhat was going on in history
Audiencewho is the reader? Who is the person speaking to?
Purposeintent, reason, goal
Subjecttopic

Speakerdescribe what you know about the person who wrote the document
Occasionwhat was going on in history
Audiencewho is the reader? Who is the person speaking to?
Purposeintent, reason, goal
Point of view- authors background
(bias?)
Subjecttopic
Implied attitude toward the subject and the audience

Overview what do you think this is?
Parts pieces of the picture
Title what is it and how does it help you understand the picture
Interrelationship connections between the parts and the title
Conclusion why is this picture important historically

On the Move Analysis
• With your group choose a poster
• Each person pick a letter that you will be responsible for (SOAPSwritten documents,
OPTIC-visuals)
• On your sticky note write your letter and the correct response.
• When all group members are complete
• write one conclusion about the document at the bottom of the poster

Rotate!
• At your new document:
– Add 2 scaffolding questions that would help a student with analyzing this document
• At your new document:
– Answer the 2 scaffolding questions

Cubes
• Tactile document analysis method
• Label the cubes SOAPS or OPTIC
• Each group completes one letter for the document
• Presenter shares the document and the letter explanation that was rolled.

White Board Warm Ups
• Source: Las Vegas & Greenland Tourism
Boards
1.What do both of these places have in common as to how their physical geography impacts their human geography?

Bucketing
• After reading through all the documents students determine where they will use them in their essay.
Reason 1
Document B
Reason 2
Documents A,C
Reason 3
Document A,D

Shoes
• Everyone throw one shoe in the center of the room
• Volunteer #1
– Group the shoes anyway you want
– Explain your grouping strategy
• Volunteer #2
– Group the shoes in a different way
– Explain your grouping strategy

Shoes
• Group the shoes this time according to the following prompt:
– “How can these shoes represent globalization?”

Understanding DBQ Prompts
Verbs :
Identify
Describe
Explain – How and why

a) Identify two animals.

b) Describe the two animals.

c) Explain how one has an advantage over the other.

Suggestions
• The “primary reason” is one thing – If you laundry list you will not get credit.
• Do not say “Because the dog is bigger.”—THAT
IS DESCRIBING. Explain why the dog being bigger gives him an advantage over the kitty.
• Explain – be able to answer “and so what?” – good idea is to use the sentence and throw in a “because” and be able to answer that.

Thesis Writing
• Since it is NOT acceptable to simply restate the question we will be using a formula. The Thesis
Formula: X. However, A, B, and C. Therefore, Y.
• ‘X’ represents the strongest point against your argument.
• ‘A, B, and C’ represent the three strongest points for your argument.
• ‘Y’ represents the position you will be taking; in other words, your stand on the prompt .

Thesis Statement
Question or Thesis
Main Idea #2

The Good, the Bad, the
Ugly
The Question:
Analyze the changes that occurred during the
1960s and the goals, strategies, and support of the movement for African American civil rights.

The Civil Rights movement in the
United States gave more
American Rights.
UUUGGGGLLLYYY
Does not answer the prompt

Many changes occurred in the
1960s in the goals, strategies, and changes in the movement for civil rights
Bad
Answers the prompt but is not very specific.
Re-states the question.

Civil rights goals shifted from achieving legal equality to social and economic rights in the mid-
1960s. As the movement broadened nationally, methods shifted from nonviolence to violence. Support for civil rights fractured along racial and generational lines.
Good

Preparing for the DBQ: 15
Minute Drill
• Read the prompt. What is the task? What is the prompt asking you to determine or answer?
• Create your conceptual framework.
• Brainstorm SPECIFIC background information.
Place as much SPECIFIC information in the space provided below.
Analyze the ways in which the Vietnam War heightened social, political, and economic tensions in the United
States. Focus your answer on t he period 1964 to 1975

Putting it all together
• Document sources other than print can:
– Keep students engaged
– Expand source material
– Feel good

Caribbean Culture DBQ:
The Music of Bob Marley & the Wailers
• Analyze each document (song)
• Discuss keep points of each document with your small group
• Group the documents into categories
• Create a thesis to share with the class
– Be prepared to explain which documents go in which groups

Session 4: 2:05-3:00
Putting it All Together
“I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.” James Michener
S4
“The wastebasket is a writer's best friend.” Isaac
Singer
"I write to find out what I think.“ Stephen King

Putting it All Together
Truths about writing
1. The writing process embodies higher order thinking.
2. Writing is a skill; practice is the only way to improve.
3. Timely, specific constructive feedback leads to improvement.
S4

Putting it All Together
Truths about teaching writing
1. It requires planning, preparation, and practice throughout an academic year; it is not just a summative exercise for tests.
2. To elicit higher order responses, questions/prompts must also be higher order and not just definitional.
3. Times for feedback, conferencing, and peer grading/editing should be included; students must see and discuss writing to know how to improve

What could this look like in a six weeks period?
Mon
Debrief DBQ rubric and sample prompt
Doc analysis exercise
Tue Wed
Read and score sample DBQ responses
Thu Fri
Thesis writing exercise
Each activity leading up to final draft is a formative assignment.
Discuss new
DBQ prompt
Thesis writing
Conference on thesis writing and outline
Group doc analysis practice
Final draft due
Draft
Prewriting&
Outlining
Peer scoring
Peer editing
Be wary of grades that measure mastery at introductory stages of the process
Teacher conferencing
Teacher conferencing
Teacher conference
All activities above do not take the entire block period – 30 minutes for most.
The first two days and the drafting day are the only times that 60 minutes is used

Goals for Session 4
• Develop and integrate a DBQ writing program in your grade level.
– Integrate DBQ process into an existing unit
• Scaffold individual skills (Session 3) into lessons
– Include opportunities to draft and re-draft
– Include opportunities for teacher and student feedback
– At your campus - Create a DBQ
• Develop a higher level prompt according to grade level TEKS
• Share resources (print and internet) to build a document set
• Create a rubric that measures the essential DBQ skills appropriate to your grade level

Thank you for coming
• Please complete online survey through
Eduphoria to earn credit for this course.