www.dbqproject.com

Five Core Beliefs The DBQ Project is committed to helping teachers implement rigorous writing and thinking activities with students of all skill levels. They are written at two ability levels, thus making the sophisticated DBQ exercise available to a wide range of classrooms and grade levels. The DBQ Project seeks to create a network of teachers dedicated to engaging all students in high-level thinking and writing activities. We are guided by five core beliefs.

U.S. History

The Process The Question: Spark interest Promotes higher order thinking but does not scare away all students For Example: “Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Whose Philosophy Made the Most Sense for America in the 1960s?”

The Process Hook Captures students’ interest Analyze Question Break the question down and see what it is truly asking Background Essay Levels the playing field and provides basic facts and information necessary to answer the DBQ with the best chance for success

The Hook

The Process “Pre-Bucket” Use prior knowledge and the background essay to predict an answer to the question and place them in analytical categories Analyze Documents (use guiding worksheets) Scaffold the process by first showing students how to analyze a document Then have students analyze a document with you Finally, require students to analyze the remainder of the documents on their own

Pre-Bucketing and Bucketing

The Document Analysis Sheet

Example Documents

Example Documents

Example Documents

Example Documents

The Process “Bucketing” (a pre-writing technique) Students visit their predictions and amend them after they have analyzed the documents Create an outline Write Essay (finally assessment) Students write a well organized and thought out essay

Pre-Writing Techniques

Summary The DBQ Project is a curriculum that fosters and focuses on high-level critical thinking and a clear expression of those thoughts via writing. They acknowledge that thinking critical is hard, takes practice to master, and is for everyone. The DBQ Project recognizes that students are on different levels and scaffolding is required to raise the standard for them.