Successful Strategies for Implementing Document-Based Questions

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Successful Strategies for Implementing
Document-Based Questions

• Scholars of History Integrating Primary Sources
• SHIPS An American Journey
• University of Texas
• June 21, 2004

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What is Critical Thinking?

• Metacognition Thinking about our thinking
• Quality control of the mind
• Critical Thinking is the ability to think about
  ones thinking in such a way as to
• recognize its strengths and weaknesses.
• recast the thinking in improved form.

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Is Memory Malleable?

• Memories are malleable and vulnerable to
  post-event information - facts, ideas, and
  suggestions that come along after the event has
  happened. You can, unknowingly, integrate this
  information into your memory, modifying what you
  believe you saw, hear, experienced. (Loftus,
  2001)

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Then what is genuine history?

• If pupils are to learn genuine history they will
  need to understand how the discipline works,
  about the basis of historical knowledge, and
  about what marks off the historical from the
  practical pastWithout an understanding of what
  makes an account historical, there is nothing to
  distinguish it from the ability to recite sagas,
  legends, myths or poems. (Bourdillion, 1997)

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Why is this important?

• students whose teachers reported using primary
  historical documents such as letters, diaries, or
  essays written by historical figures, on a weekly
  basis, had higher average scores than those whose
  teachers did so less frequently.
• The Nations Report Card U.S. History 2001
  Executive Summary

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Why is this important?
Factors Affecting Admission Decisions
2001 NACAC Bulletin November 2001
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Why is this important?
Percentage of AP Exams Taken by US Students The
College Board , 2004
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Why is this important?

• Beginning in March 2005, students taking the
  PSAT/NMSQT and/or SAT will be required to write
  an essay.
• The High School ELA TAKS requires students to
  evaluate multiple documents/sources and write an
  essay.

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What are Primary Sources?

• Primary Sources are actual records that have
  survived from the past letters, artifacts,
  maps, photographs, articles of clothing.

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What are Secondary Sources?

• Secondary Sources are accounts of the past
  created by people writing about events sometime
  after they happened textbooks, secondhand
  descriptions or analyses

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What types of historical evidence or accounts are
used?

• Graphs

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• Charts

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• Maps

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• Cartoons

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• Photographs

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• Artwork

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• Eyewitness Accounts

"I remembered how Pearl Harbor looked the
previous August," Adams said. "It was filled with
what seemed like hundreds of ships--battleships,
aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers. I
thought nobody would be able to defeat us. Now
Battleship Row was wrecked. Four battleships were
sunk, and the other three were damaged. There was
oil and every type of debris floating in the
harbor. I said to myself, 'This will go down in
history. Everybody in the United States should
see this.' I was only 17 1/2 years
old. -Joseph H. "Jack" Adams
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• Historical Documents

Preamble to the United States Constitution   We,
the people of the United States, in order to form
a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the common
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure
the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America.
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The Historical Record

• Contains both Primary and Secondary Sources.
• The Historical Record is huge.
• Is only a tiny glimpse of the past.
• Most of what happened was never documented.
• Much has been lost or destroyed.

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• What kind of historical records do you leave
  behind in your daily life?
• Think about all the activities you were involved
  in during the past 24 hours. List as many of
  these activities as you can remember.

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• Did you create any records of your activities?
  diary, notes to yourself, letter or email to
  friend or relative
• Would traces of your activities appear in records
  someone else created? diary, notes, calendar
  entry, letter or email
• Would traces of your activities appear in school
  records?

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• Did you write a check or use a charge card?
• Would anyone be able to offer testimony (oral
  history) about your activities (who and why)?
• Whats in your trash?

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• Which of your daily activities were most likely
  to leave trace evidence behind?

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• If future archaeologists had the materials
  mentioned, what could they infer or conclude
  about your life?
• What could they conclude about your family,
  community, region or nation?

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• Choose one primary source document that you have
  with you today.

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Your Historical Record - Assignment

• Who is the author of this item?
• What is the place and time of this item?
• What prior knowledge do you have about the item?
• Who is the audience for this item?
• Why was this item developed?
• What is the main idea of this item?
• What is the items significance?

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Rationale for Using Primary Sources

• Expose students to multiple perspectives of
  issues past and present.
• Most issues were furiously debated at the time
  why stop now?!
• Help students develop knowledge, skills and
  analytical abilities think critically, make
  intelligent inferences, develop reasoned
  explanations

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Selecting Primary Sources

• Teach the TEKS
• What are your goals and objectives for the lesson?

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Selecting Primary Sources

• Interest what is interesting to my students?
• Reading Level what is the reading level of the
  source compared to my students abilities?
• Length Do I need to excerpt a portion of the
  source for my students? Can I excerpt a portion
  and preserve the meaning of the source?

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Time and Place Rule

• The closer in time and place a source and its
  creator were to an event in the past, the better
  the source will be
• Direct traces of the event
• Accounts of the event by firsthand observers
• Secondhand accounts of the event from interviews
  or evidence at the time of the event

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Bias Rule

• Every source is biased in some way
• Every piece of evidence and every source must be
  read or viewed skeptically and critically.
• No piece of evidence should be taken at face
  value.
• The creators point of view must be considered.
• Each must be cross-checked and compared with
  related sources and pieces of evidence!

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How can teachers use historical records?

• Ask students to relate a single document or group
  of documents to a previous reading assignment.
• Ask students to develop lengthier, more developed
  essays based on a wider array of research.

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APPARTS

• Author
• Place and Time
• Prior Knowledge
• Audience
• Reason
• The Main Idea
• Significance

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APPARTS
Author Who created the source? What do you know about the author? What is the authors point of view?
Place and Time Where and when was the source produced? How might this affect the meaning of the source?
Prior Knowledge Beyond information about the author and the context of its created, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent?
Audience For whom was the source created and how might this affect the reliability of the source?
Reason Why was this source produced at the time it was produced?
The Main Idea What point is the source trying to convey?
Significance Why is this source important? What inferences can you draw from this document? As yourself, So what? in relation to the question asked.
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Online Sites for Historical Records

• DBQ Teaching with Documents http//www.edteck.com
  /dbq/index.htm
• Doing History Great Source Education Group
  1-800-289-4490 http//www.greatsource.com

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Online Sites for Historical Records

• The National Archives www.nara.gov
• The Library of Congress American Memory
  Collection www.loc.gov/ammem
• Images and Documents for Interactive Social
  Studies http//www.esc13.net/socialstudies/di
  gital.htm

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What is a DBQ?

• Document-Based Question
• Asks you questions about written or printed
  materials.
• Some questions can be answered in one or two
  sentences.
• Some questions require taking information from
  several documents to write a paragraph or more.

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Sample DBQ Components

• Historical Background and Task
• Scaffolding Questions
• A. Newspaper Article
• B. Cartoon
• C. Quotes
• D. Posters and Broadsides
• E. Graphs and Pictures
• Essay Response to An Overall Question

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What is a DBQ?

• Include both
• Scaffolding Questions
• Written Response Question The Big Question

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What is a Mini-DBQ?

• Document-Based Question
• Asks you questions about written or printed
  materials.
• Some questions can be answered in one or two
  sentences.
• Some questions require taking information from
  several documents to write a paragraph or more.

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What is a Mini-DBQ?

• A Mini-DBQ includes both
• Scaffolding Questions
• Written Response Question The Big Question

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The United States Enters World War I
  Answer the questions that follow each
document  
Kaiser Wilhelm II issued orders to U-boat
commanders on 1st February, 1917We will
frighten the British flag off the face of the
waters and starve the British people until they,
who have refused peace, will kneel and plead for
it. Dr. v. Bethmann-Hollweg, Imperial Chancelor
of Germany The determination to launch the
unrestricted U-boat war depends, then, upon the
results which we may expect. Admiral von
Holtzendorff assumes that we will have England on
her knees by the next harvest. The experiences of
the U-boats during the last few months, the
increased number of U-boats, and England's bad
economic situation, will at least increase our
chances of success.  
1. What was Germany trying to accomplish by
using unrestricted submarine warfare?
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• 2. What would Germany hope to gain by Mexicos
  entrance into the war? What did Germany ask
  Mexico to do?

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World War I Events of 1915-17 January 19,
1915First German Zeppelin air raid on
England. February 4, 1915 Germany declares a
submarine blockade of Great Britain. Any boat
approaching England is considered a legitimate
target. April 22-May 5, 1915Second Battle of
Ypres marks first use of chemical weapons. April
25, 1915 Allies begin assault on Gallipoli
peninsula in Turkey. May 7, 1915Sinking of the
passenger ship Lusitania. May 23, 1915Italy
declares war on Austria-Hungary. February 21
Dec 18, 1916 The longest battle of the war, the
Battle of Verdun, is fought to a draw with an
estimated one million casualties. May 31-June 1,
1916 The Battle of Jutland, the only major naval
engagement of the war is fought with no clear
winner. July 1-November 18, 1916 The Battle of
the Somme results in an estimated one million
casualties and no breakthrough for the Allies.
November 7, 1916Woodrow Wilson re-elected
President of the United States. December 7, 1916
David Lloyd George becomes Prime Minister of
Britain. December 31, 1916The self-avowed
Russian holy man, Rasputin, is murdered by
relatives of the Tsar's. February 1, 1917Germany
again declares unrestricted submarine warfare.
March 15, 1917 Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
abdicates. Provisional government is declared.
April 6, 1917 The United States declares war on
Germany. April 14, 1917British and Canadian
troops advance 3 miles at Arras. April 16-29,
1917 The French Army launches the Chemin des
Dames offensive, but fails to break through the
German lines. Mutiny breaks out amongst the
French troops.
3. What events in 1915-1917 would have had the
most significant impact on American public
opinion regarding involvement in the War?
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The Big Question
After years of neutrality during World War One,
what were the compelling circumstances that led
the United States to declare war on Germany?
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What are Scaffolding Questions?

• Scaffolding questions are essential questions
  included after each document
• Provide information that will help students
  answer the big question
• Should be clear and specific

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Scaffolding Questions - Assignment

• Choose 3 or 4 documents from your folder.
• With your group, write at least one scaffolding
  question for each document or item in your file.

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Sample scaffolding questions

• What are the pictures and symbols in this
  cartoon?
• What does this cartoon tell you about
  ______________?
• What expectations might you have about
  ________________ after hearing this speech?
• According to the poster, what were two reasons
  for ______________?

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What are Written Response Questions?

• Require writing a paragraph to answer the
  question.
• Require a topic sentence and support.
• Look at the Whole Picture What is the Big
  Question? (Essential Question)

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Looking at the Whole Picture - Developing the Big
Question

• The best questions center on issues
• Compare/Contrast
• Illustrate similarities and differences
• Illustrate bias or point of view
• Describe change over time
• Discuss issues categorically socially,
  economically, politically
• Explain causes and effects of historic events
• Examine contending perspectives on an issue

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The Big Question - Assignment

• With your group, write one Big Question for
  the documents you chose to use in your file.

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Sample Big Questions

• Describe the conditions in _________ that led to
  ___________.
• Discuss the effects of _____________ on
  ______________ .
• Evaluate the problems/difficulties that led to
  __________.
• What were the consequences of __________?

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Sample Big Questions

• Discuss the positive and negative effects of
  _____________.
• Should ________________ be praised or condemned?