DBQ News and Resources: September

DBQ News and Resources: September

by Megan Eikleberry -
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If you teach Social Studies (3-12) or English and would like access to the online portal with resources, please reach out to Megan Eikleberry at megane@ecboces.org

DBQ News Online Support Series - September 2023Welcome Back to School!
The DBQ Project is here to address district and school needs. DBQ News is our professional development and support program newsletter designed to help teachers help students "read smart, think straight and write clearly," whether it is in-person or virtually. Each month, we will be sending out DBQ News detailing PD opportunities, tips and tricks, new stuff, and DBQ Online support.

September DBQ/Mini-Q Unit Spotlights

How Do We Remember 9/11?

On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked. Terrorists used airplanes as weapons and crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field in Pennsylvania. Almost 3,000 people from 90 different countries lost their lives. This Mini-Q looks at different ways we remember this tragedy by focusing on three particular groups - the victims, the survivors, and the helpers. 

Early Jamestown: Why Did So Many Colonists Die?

In May 1607, a group of roughly 100 men from England landed in Virginia. They would soon establish the first permanent English colony in what is now the United States. The early years of settlement were not easy. This Mini-Q asks why so many colonists died.

DBQ Online Teaching Tips & Strategies

Using the Student Essay Page to Create DBQ “Quick Writes”

A DBQ “Quick Write” is a short DBQ-type lesson. It is short, meaning 1-2 class periods or 30-45

minutes at home in a virtual setting. A “Quick Write” is not a full DBQ, which encompasses multiple

historical thinking skills, not to mention literacy and critical thinking. A “Quick Write” focuses on one or two skills for students to learn and develop in isolation. Using a football analogy, a full DBQ is Friday night’s football game, where all of the skills learned have to be on display. A “Quick Write” is the weekday practice on one skill, technique, or formation.


Attached below is a document showing you how to create and customize a Quick Write and examples using several pages in a DBQ Online lesson.

What's New with DBQ Online?

Three Amazing New Features Added to DBQ Online!

We are listening! 

  • Search feature: The new search feature allows teachers to quickly search for a particular subject, historical figure, event, etc. Just type "Andrew Jackson" in the search box and any unit that mentions Andrew Jackson will appear.
  • Add Audio and Hyperlink Annotation: Through teacher markups, teachers now have the ability to add an audio annotation to any page in the unit. Just click the microphone and record a specific note! This feature is also available in the feedback mode. Teachers can ALSO embed unique hyperlinks into the platform, giving them unlimited flexibility on how to scaffold and support students.
  • District Customized Binders: In the District Admin Portal, administrators can create customized binders and share them with their schools. Customized binders can be created from all units in the library, making courses for grade-level bands and for thematic studies that focus on an era or groups of people.

DBQ District Spotlight

Magnolia ISD, Magnolia, TX

Magnolia ISD uses The DBQ Project as the driving force in a compressed 5th-grade social studies curriculum designed to improve the reading performance of their most struggling readers.


Check out what Bear Branch Intermediate School principal, Coni Felinski, had to say about the success of using The DBQ Project.

DBQ Coni Felinski

DBQ Project Workshops

We offer three types of workshops:

  • In-person
  • Virtual
  • Asynchronous


Our workshops provide the sustained support teachers need to help their students be successful. The DBQ Project is committed to helping teachers accelerate their students at a pace everyone can understand. Students need strong reading and communication skills to succeed personally, in school, and at work. 21st-century teachers need information and support to boost critical thinking skills and close racial and socio-economic gaps in student achievement. We have several asynchronous courses that do just that. Click below for more information.

The DBQ Project

"Helping ALL students to read smart, think straight and write clearly"

Email: info@dbqproject.com
Website: www.dbqproject.com
Location: 1234 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL, USA
Phone: 847-475-4007
Facebook: facebook.com/dbqproject
X (Twitter): @dbqproject