Stenhouse DBQ Resources

3) PD Corner: Document-based questions

The vast majority of our students will not become professional historians. In their careers, however, they will need to know how to find valid information, analyze it from multiple perspectives, and communicate it clearly. —Sara Cooper, from Making History Mine Analyzing documents from multiple perspectives and communicating ideas clearly are the essence of a document-based question (DBQ). DBQs challenge students to write and think critically in response to a set of documents. Get the gist of the DBQ process at Peter Pappas's site, Teaching with Documents. Find worksheet organizers to support students' analysis as well several example DBQs: http://www.edteck.com/dbq/index.htm Want to construct your own questions around a historical theme? Dip into Paula Goldstein's treasure trove of primary source and DBQ resources: http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listdocumentpa.html Or discover the interactive National Archives Experience and build a question to support students thinking about American history or literature: http://www.digitalvaults.org/ Do your students struggle with analysis? Help them make sense of the evidence with History Matters. Review how to make sense of a variety of text types: http://historymatters.gmu.edu/browse/makesense/ Hone your craft with Making History Mine by Sara Cooper. Chapter 5, "How Historians Think: Writing as a Way of Understanding," builds a foundation for the DBQ process: http://www.stenhouse.com/0765.asp?r=n209 (Click on the Table of Contents tab.)