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This link will take you to a page of grade level assignments that have been reviewed using the Assignment Review Protocol tool that is linked in this column. The justification for their alignment is included as well.

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Social Studies Student Assignment Library

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The Social Studies Student Assignment Library provides examples of student assignments that are weakly, partially and strongly aligned to standards. Strongly aligned assignments are provided for each grade Kindergarten through Grade 8 and high school. Weak and/or partially aligned assignments are provided for each grade band (elementary, middle and high). The assignments can be used

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Share these quick one pagers with families to engage them in the social studies standards.

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Standards Family Guides The Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) Family Guides have been developed to help families familiarize themselves with the content of each grade level’s standards. Each guide contains a standards overview for Reading & Writing, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Ki…

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Use this document from KDE to examine specific assignments to ensure fidelity with standards.

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This is a tool from KDE that can be used to help break down a standard during PLCs or data analysis.

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Structured routines that you can implement into your classroom to help promote critical thinking.

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- Short, simple videos and activities

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Find resources related to civics & government, geography, economics, and history. All of the resources are available in English. Some are available in Spanish. No student is too young to learn how to become civically engaged This robust collection will help to spark new conversations in your classroom.

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-Works well with compelling/supporting questions as well as inquiry and literacy practices. Can also support writing curriculum.

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Helping ALL Students to Read Smart, Think Straight & Write Clearly

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-Free History Detectives lessons.

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How to Use: Private i History Detectives - iCivics

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Grow elementary students' content knowledge, civic dispositions, and critical thinking skills with iCivics' K-5 curriculum.

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-Inquiry lessons for social studies

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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of campaign finance by examining election costs, expenditures, and the complex relationships between candidates and political-action committees. By investigating the compelling question "Does money matter in political campaigns?" students dissect contemporary political campaigns in order to assess whether or not campaign-finance reform should take place.

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-Games, lesson plans, inquiry modules, etc.

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Short, relatable, and connected topics/themes standards.

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Short, relatable, and connected topics/themes standards.

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-World History,American History, and other focused DBQs with scaffolds.

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Our DBQs and Mini-Qs are short units of study. Districts use The DBQ Project across grade levels to aid in teaching reading and writing in social studies.

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Lessons, assessments, and resources that are civics-based.

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Free lessons and assessments that help you teach students to evaluate online information that affects them, their communities, and the world.

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To be used with current curriculum

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Colonial Foundations | New Visions for Public Schools

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BeACitizen.org – Resources for Engaged Civic Education

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Resource bank of various articles, informational texts, etc.

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Education Search | National Geographic Society

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Search educational experiences to engage with National Geographic Explorers through live events, free maps, videos, interactives, and other resources.

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Skip Navigation

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Skip Navigation We're sorry but Search doesn't work properly without JavaScript enabled. Please enable it to continue. Please wait, search is loading. Keep in the loop!

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The document-based essay is hard. Hard to teach. Hard to learn. But that's because it's the culmination and synthesis of all the historical thinking skills in one.

So, we leave it to the end of the school year to practice. Or we let the Advanced Placement and honors classes tackle it. But what if we did it differently?

What if we started the year with teaching the DBQ essay? What if the DBQ essay was the curriculum for on-level courses? What if the DBQ format was used to invite in below-grade students to historical analysis and argument?

Teaching students how to write a thesis-driven argument, supported by facts and primary sources, isn't as cumbersome as it sounds. Instead, it can be a great framework for creating your units!

After teaching AP US History for a few years, I realized my on- and below-level students deserved the same challenge in their regular US History class. I knew they had potential to demonstrate all the same skills, they just needed a little more time and scaffolding.

So, over the years, I developed my regular US History units (and now my and Global Issues units, too!) to be entirely DBQ-framed: we open the unit with our question, we analyze sources as our unit activities, organizing what we've learned as we go, we set aside a dedicated "outline day" to form our arguments and find our evidence, and then we write our end-of-unit DBQ essays.

Unlike a sight-unseen, 60-minute high-stakes essay, which is the capstone of the College Board's AP history exams, a DBQ unit works on the essay over the course of a few weeks and written over a few days so you as the teacher can support students at every step. This makes them doable even for students well below grade-level. How awesome is that?

Over the years, I have also added layers of a thematic approach as well as a PBL structure to my on-level US History course, but it's not necessary to still create a high-level experience that is accessible to all students.

Here are my best tips organized into the three stages of a teaching a DBQ unit: planning your unit, teaching with primary sources, and writing the essay.

Planning a DBQ Unit

Craft a short, yet open-ended question. There is no getting around needing the perfect question before anything else. It can be a question with a clear historical thinking skill, like change and continuity. For example, "How much did the role of government change in the lives of Americans during the Great Depression?" Or it can be one that raises an enduring theme, like "How successful were minorities and women at gaining greater equality during World War II?"

Keep the question direct and simple. I make mine super short. My immigration unit is guided by the question, "What's the American story?" It is so short because we focus extensively on idea the that immigrant stories define the American story.

Most importantly, you don't want to turn off students, especially your lower-level students, with a question they can't even understand what it's asking! I further detail my question brainstorming process in another blog post, if you want more tips.

Pick intriguing and well-rounded primary sources. These are the foundations of your unit activities. Choose a variety of sources that are written and visual, audio and video, public and well-known as well as private and obscure, and that incorporate different points of view, including people of color, women, immigrants, and lower socioeconomic classes. I have had good luck finding great ones in the primary source readers that accompany AP or college texts. As a general rule, I use excerpts no longer than a page, at most. I have a whole blog post dedicated to my best advice for more effectively teaching primary sources.

Gather necessary outside information. Ask yourself what students need to know about the topic to balance and contextualize the documents and decide how you want to deliver it because DBQ units likely need more tailored content than what is in a covers-everything-an-inch-deep textbook.

I prefer mini backstory lectures prior to activities and brief background readings for students to annotate. Having a "lecture day" at the beginning of the unit with guided notes for students works well too.

Teaching Primary Source Analysis

Ask deep questions about the sources. Ask students "why would" instead of "why" and "how can" instead of "how," and have the students work together to develop answers with quotes to support their thinking. Ask about the author's perspective on the topic, their motives in creating the source, and who their audience is. And give students reference handouts with word banks and analysis strategies to consult. This is key!

My favorite is the HIPPOS historical document strategy. If you want a copy for yourself, along with handouts for four other types of sources, download this free source analysis kit to start using in your classroom tomorrow.

Create a graphic notes organizer. Also support your students with a notes sheet that visually matches the historical thinking skill being asked of them. This is crucial for making higher-level thinking accessible to below-grade level students!

For example, if it's a compare and contrast essay, provide students a Venn diagram to add to at the end of each class. If it's an evaluation "how much..." essay, provide a continuum line.

Constantly circle back to the question. Don't write and forget it on the whiteboard; refer back to daily. If the question is about the effectiveness of Progressive Era reforms, then challenge students to assess how this person or that group created positive change with each new document. Repeat the question, rephrase the question, ponder the question all unit long. I even put the question on every single worksheet and on my daily agenda slides!

Writing a DBQ Essay

Break down outlining into singular steps. The switch from learning to demonstrating learning is often where kids get tripped up because that's when the scaffolds ends. But in an on-level course, you must support students to the end. One way to do this is through a three-step process at the beginning of the essay outlining stage.

First, students pick their side: more continuity or more change, more effective or more ineffective, etc. In the case of my protest unit, students commit to an amount word: extremely, occasionally, rarely, etc. Second, students pick the two categories (or reasons) that best support their side. Thirdly, they pick one category for the other side to be used in their counterclaim. One, two, three discrete steps done one at a time as a class. Then, and only then, do students begin filling in their outline form. And, absolutely provide an outline form!

Insist on a strict thesis formula. For years, I have used the Even though X, A and B, therefore... template with great success, where X is the counterclaim paragraph and A and B are the two supporting body paragraphs. As much as we think formulaic writing isn't the writing we want to teach students, we ignore the fact that many kids struggle to write well without a formula.

So, I tell my higher-level students to build off the formula and reassure lower-level students they can use every bit of the formula at no penalty, but no one gets to write lower than it. And this formula is the exact one taught by many AP teachers anyway. Same level of thinking, only slower and more supported.

Provide sentence starters. Whether your students are typing their essay over a couple of days or writing it timed in class, staring at a blank screen or paper can paralyze and actually interfere with them demonstrating the content they know. Give them this tiny nudge of thesis, body paragraph, and conclusion sentence starters. I post them on the screen on while they write, and it completely eliminates blank papers or wildly unstructured essays as a result, which is about the biggest win-win I could ask for as a teacher!

You'll be amazed what your on-level students will be able to master in a DBQ classroom, with just a little extra support, like sentence starters and analysis reference guides!

A DBQ classroom is also a great framework on which to layer project-based learning and a thematic approach. I can't overstate the way all three have upgraded my impact as a history teacher, but it starts with a foundation of primary source analysis. Click below to have my free kit of 5 tailored analysis handouts sent to your inbox, which includes the awesome HIPPOS historical primary strategy, and start upgrading your teaching tomorrow!

Feature image credit: LinkedIn Sales Navigator

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How to Effectively Build a DBQ Classroom

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The document-based essay is hard. Hard to teach. Hard to learn. But that's because it's the culmination and synthesis of all the historical thinking skills in one. So, we leave it to the end of the school year to practice. Or we let the Advanced Placement and honors classes tackle it.

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Teaching and Using Document Based Questions in Middle School

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Teaching and Using Document Based Questions in Middle School

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Teaching and Using Document-Based Questions for Middle School (Gifted Treasury Series)

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Amazon.com: Teaching and Using Document-Based Questions for Middle School (Gifted Treasury Series): 9781563089749: O’Connor, Edward P.: Books

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After sporadic complaints that have been voiced for years, fresh concern is being expressed by German and French business circles and some intellectuals about the economics courses in secondary schools and to a lesser extent in the universities. Textbooks used in secondary schools are accused of being tendentious, calculated to persuade the young that the capitalist economy is an engine of instability, disorder, gross inequality and injustice. Textbook publishers say, in their defence, that...

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Introduction The Council for Economic Education (CEE) has compiled a list of the 51 key economics concepts common to all U.S. State requirements for high school classes in economics. The resources arranged here supplement these recommended CEE topics. These free resources are appropriate for teachers of high school and AP economics, social studies, and history ...

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KAS Connections & Other Educator Resources | KHS

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The Kentucky Historical Society created Kentucky Social Studies Resource Guides to help K-12 teachers address current Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies.

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Explore All Resources Search Resource Type Thematic AHA Topics Geographic K-12 Education Undergraduate Education Graduate Education Professional & Career Resources Academic Department Resources History department chairs are on the front lines of the discipline, defending historians’ work and supporting their professional lives at all stages of their academic careers. The…

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https://www.kyagr.com/marketing/ag-education-week-resources.html

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Teachers and community members, we hope these resources help you enhance the agriculture education experience for your students!

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Explore the globe-spanning events and military engagements that shaped America over the course of two centuries, from the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1754 to the end of World War II in 1945.

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Explore the globe-spanning events and military engagements that shaped America over the course of two centuries, from the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1754 to the end of World War II in 1945.

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DBQs in American History

Ten High-Interest Units of Study

What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria in 1692?

How Revolutionary Was the American Revolution?

How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson?

The California Gold Rush: A Personal Journal

How Did Slavery Help Cause the Conflicts Leading to the Civil War?

How Violent Was the Old West?

Was Andrew Carnegie a Hero?

What Caused the Great Depression?

Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Which Strategies Made the Most Sense for America in the 1960s?

Why Was the Equal Rights Amendment Defeated?

Order Print Materials

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What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria in 1692? How Revolutionary Was the American Revolution? How Democratic Was Andrew Jackson? The California Gold Rush: A Personal Journal How Did Slavery Help Cause the Conflicts Leading to the Civil War? How Violent Was the Old West? Was Andrew Carnegie a Hero?

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Educating for Self-Governance. Established in September 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization that works to engage, educate, and empower individuals with a passion for the freedom and opportunity that exist in a free society.

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Mini-Qs in American History

Volume 1

Twelve High-Interest Units of Study

Cabeza de Vaca: How Did He Survive?

Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die?

What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692?

Valley Forge: Would You Have Quit?

How Did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny?

How Free Were Free Blacks in the North?

Remembering the Alamo: A Personal Journal

Was the United States Justified in Going to War With Mexico?

The California Gold Rush: A Personal Journal

What Was Harriet Tubman's Greatest Achievement?

The Battle of Gettysburg: Why Was It a Turning Point?

North or South: Who Killed Reconstruction?

Order Print Materials

Mini-Qs in American History

Volume 2

Twelve High-Interest Units of Study

North or South: Who Killed Reconstruction?

The Long Drive: Will You Re-Up Next Year?

The Philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie: Did It Make Him a Hero?

Should the United States Have Annexed the Philippines?

Progressivism: Where Will You Put Your Million Dollars?

Prohibition: Why Did America Change its Mind?

What Caused the Dust Bowl?

Why Did Japan Bomb Pearl Harbor?

Berlin, Korea, Cuba: How Did the US Contain Communism?

Politics or Principle: Why Did L.B.J. Sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964?

What Made Cesar Chavez an Effective Leader?

Should the US Drill for Oil in Alaska's Wilderness?

Order Print Materials

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Volume 1 Cabeza de Vaca: How Did He Survive? Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die? What Caused the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692? Valley Forge: Would You Have Quit? How Did the Constitution Guard Against Tyranny? How Free Were Free Blacks in the North?

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Social Studies | New Visions for Public Schools

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Teaching American History Collections: Primary Source documents for US History or Civics 

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Teaching American History Collections: Primary Source documents for US History or Civics 

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Teaching American History is an excellent resource. The digital collections of their Primary Sources are available for free. They are dense and require some adapting before use, but they are a solid place to start to look for documents.

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Scroll through our interactive timeline to find Documents.

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Snorkl | Voice-enabled Assignments Powered by AI

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With Snorkl, students record and share their reasoning then receive instant AI-powered feedback to drive deep and meaningful learning.

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Drawing on extensive archival records, this digital memorial allows analysis of the ships, traders, and captives in the Atlantic slave trade. The three databases below provide details of 36,000 trans-Atlantic slave voyages, 10,000 intra-American ventures, names and personal information. You can rea…

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Did you know that you can access the Smithsonian’s treasures and knowledge from home? Millions of digital resources from Smithsonian museums, research centers, libraries, and archives are at your fingertips.

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AI to help teachers give instant, personalized feedback on written assignments. Engaged practice for students, time savings and insights for teachers. Use built-in assignments or add your own. Supported subjects include Social Studies, English, Science, and World Languages.

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Retro Report is an independent, nonprofit newsroom creating trusted documentary videos and classroom resources.

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The Reading Like a Historian curriculum engages students in historical inquiry. Each lesson revolves around a central historical question and features a set of primary documents designed for groups of students with a range of reading skills.

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EduProtocols: Teach better, work less, achieve more with easy to use lesson frames to spark student engagement.

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Educating for Self-Governance. Established in September 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization that works to engage, educate, and empower individuals with a passion for the freedom and opportunity that exist in a free society.

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Preparing thoughtful consumers of information must be an urgent national priority

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Attached are ALL grades standards checklists for social studies.