Explore major questions in civics and history while building the skills needed to analyze primary sources.
DBQuest guides students through the examination of major questions in civics and history utilizing primary sources. With each document, it challenges students to dig into the text itself and find the relevant information through document-based supporting questions.
Whether you’re a social studies teacher looking for fun ways to support literacy skills or an ELA teacher interested in digital writing tools, DBQuest is for you!
Topics
Documents
Images
Video
Maps
African American History
America at War
Civics & Government
Civil Rights
Economics
Founding Documents
Human Enslavement
Native Peoples
Voting & Suffrage
Women in History
Alignments
History
Alignment to state and Common Core standards can be found on iCivics.org.
Use evidence from informational texts to support analysis and answer questions.
Identify each type of source and its purpose.
Analyze a variety of texts, images, and videos.
Draw on several sources and consider questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
Teacher Experience
Teach with DBQuest as a 1:1 assignment, or as a whole class activity.
Each module is supported with the following instructional materials: Teaching Guide & Tips, Classroom Printables, Anticipation & Reflection Activities, Evidence Guide, Overview Reading and Extensions
Student Experience
The tool takes students through the same four steps for each source:
Rate the document for usefulness and determine perspective.
Identify and analyze the text and visual elements that assist with answering the questions.
Address the supporting questions in your own words.
Summarize your findings as a response to the Big Question.
