DBQs

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DBQs
By jl, fourth grade

No stress!!! Right!!! I am with you in your nervousness about this test. I also teach fourth grade and spent so much time on the ELA, Math, and ESPET, that I feel like the Social Studies curriculum went on the back burner.
I am confident the fourth graders that left me in June can write cohesive essays, but I am NOT confident that they can handle all that is asked of them on the DBQs. Now, at the end of fifth grade, I think they might be more prepared for that type of questioning, but November is definitely pushing it in terms of the higher level thinking skills, writing style, and ability to incorporate

background knowledge into the answers for beginning fifth graders (naturally, this is only my opinion). Suzie, you did a great job explaining the DBQs and I know that our school district has created their own sample DBQs, but I thought at one time the New York State Ed. Dept. had posted sample DBQs--maybe a search into their archives would bring up that information. What about your county BOCES organization? I know some of them have teachers working on creating sample materials. I am presently using a book called Education Coach: Social Studies--they make one for the ELA and Math, too. It isn't too bad and if I could only find the time to squeeze in more social studies, I could model these DBQs more often! Good luck this year and try not to stress too much about the DBQs!