History/Social Science Professional Learning

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. Document based questions (DBQs) are authentic assessments. Evidence-based argument, both spoken and written, is a necessary life skill. This is also the primary focus of The DBQ Project, with the additional supports often needed for student proficiency in reading, writing and research. Students who do DBQs find meaning amidst an array of information. In real life, whether we are deciding how to vote, what to buy, or how to spend our time, we answer questions by looking at diffuse evidence and deciding what it means.

This curriculum teaches students how to investigate historical questions by employing reading strategies such as sourcing, contextualizing, corroborating, and close reading. Instead of memorizing historical facts, students evaluate the trustworthiness of multiple perspectives on historical issues and learn to make historical claims backed by documentary evidence. To learn more about how to use these lessons, watch a series of videos about how teachers use these materials in their classrooms on the Teaching Channel.