The presentation tonight on using DBQ’s in the classroom was interesting, but also a little intimidating. I enjoyed seeing how the kindergartners used the gallery walk and the books to learn more about Native American’s and Pilgrims. I also thought their question was a great question: Would you rather be a Native American or a Pilgrim? Why? I see the numerous benefits of using DBQ’s, such as deeper understanding and higher engagement from the students.
My concern is… when I’m just getting a grasp of teaching, how do I incorporate this into my classroom? I will likely be teaching third-fifth grade high-level learners or identified gifted students and I know they will greatly benefit from the differentiation I can provide them through an activity such as this. But how do I fit this into my day? What if the school I teach at doesn’t use DBQ’s in their curriculum and it is my job to implement this teaching tool from scratch?
I am excited about using this method in my classroom because I think it will be engaging for my students and they will likely learn much more from an activity such as this than from me simply providing the information for them.
Hi Chandley, I appreciate your honest comments and questions about implementing DBQs. My best advice is that before implementing a full-blown DBQ that you implement pieces first. For instance, place students in pairs or groups of three and give each group a primary source image to view. Ask them to share first, what they notice and second, to think about why that particular thing they notice matters. Scaffolding steps of the DBQ will be important. Another thing to you can do to prepare is to do a word or concept sort activity ahead of the DBQ so that students have some background knowledge going in.
Once students have had an opportunity to think metacognitively, ask students a basic question in which they are able to find the answer by looking at the image. Hopefully, these activities will provide some scaffolding needed to move into a DBQ.
Depending on where you teach, varying levels of innovation will be present. You will determine this early on and decide whether you should bring up the idea of teaching a DBQ as a team, or, begin implementing in our own classroom.