Assessment
Below are the assessment rubrics for the Inspiration graphic organizer and the essay.
Learning Context/ Introduction
This learning experience comes as an introduction to DBQs. Students will be required to analyze a Document Based Question and create a graphic organizer in Inspiration in order to effectively write a DBQ essay.
Duration
Each day of this learning experience will be around 40-minutes. The time duration of this unit could be decreased by having the students complete the scaffolding questions for homework and the teacher can review the answers as a group. The Inspiration organizer could also be assigned for homework and completed during the students' study hall period.
Essential Question
How do you use documents in order to effectively organize a DBQ?
Instructional/Environment Modifications
Students will complete this project in the computer lab with the assistance of the classroom teacher, computer teacher, teacher's assistant and special education teacher. Students with IEP's will be given extended time and other help during their resource period.
Procedure
On Day 1 and 2 as students enter the room they will see the term DBQ on the SMART Board. On a piece of paper, students will individually write what they think the term DBQ means. Students will then complete a think/pair/share with each other in order to define what a DBQ is. Selected students will be asked to come to the SMART Board and write what their groups thought a DBQ might be. The teacher will explain that the term stands for Document Based Question. Students will then be shown the NYS 2003 Grade 5 Social Studies Test on women's rights on the SMART Board. Using the SMART Board, the teacher will read through each document and underline key terms that will help students answer the questions that follow each document. Throughout this activity, selected students will come to the board and model highlighting key terms and using this information to answer the questions that follow in the women's rights documents.
Days 3-5 The teacher will introduce the Inspiration software. The teacher, with student input, will model how to create a graphic organizer using this software and the women's rights document. This step is being done in order to show students how to create a graphic organizer that can be used with future documents in order to produce an effective essay using the document. The teacher's final graphic organizer will be shown on the SMART Board so that the students can see how the Inspiration software can enhance the brainstorming process.
Days 6 and 7 Now that the students have been exposed to the SMART Board, Inspiration Software and a DBQ, we will proceed with the second practice of effectively answering a DBQ. The second practice will require students to use the SMART Board to answer scaffolding questions based on the 2006 NYS Grade 5 Social Studies Test on Child Labor Laws DBQ as a group.(www.nysed.gov) They will highlight key terms and review proper test taking strategies.
Days 8 and 9 After completing all scaffolding questions, students will have an opportunity to create their own graphic organizer using the Child Labor Law DBQ on Inspiration software. This graphic organizer will be used when they are completing an essay based on these documents.
Day 10 Students' completed graphic organizers will be displayed on the SMART Board for the entire class to analyze by giving warm and cold feedback.
Days 11, 12, and 13 students will use their Inspiration organizers to complete a written DBQ essay based on Child Labor Laws and will be scored using the New York State Grade 5 Social Studies Scoring Rubric. (See Assessment Materials) Students' completed essays will be displayed on the Elmo and assessed as a class.
Reflections and Feedback
This lesson was developed as an introductory lesson on how to write an effective DBQ. This correlates with the New York State Social Studies Test that is given each November. We wanted to teach effective test taking strategies along with incorporating technology. It is important for each child to understand how to write an exemplar essay using primary sources of information. After teaching this learning experience, we learned that it took a lot more time than we had anticipated. If we were to teach this unit again, we would need to plan for more time to complete each of the lessons.
The students really enjoyed adding the clip art that related to each main idea of the DBQ into their Inspiration documents. Overall, we felt that this was an effective way to incorporate a variety of technologies into our lessons.
Student Work
Student work samples are attached.
Related Resource
Vocabulary
- Document Based Question (DBQ)
- compare
- conclusion
- describe
- improve
- purpose
- list
- action
