Five Days, One DBQ, and Twenty-Eight Reading Levels
Eleventh-grade U.S. history, 28 students, five days before the district-required Progressive Era DBQ. Last year's class averaged 1.8 out of 4 on the same task. Reading levels range from grade 4 to grade 12; six students are English learners, and three have IEPs for reading. The textbook excerpt is about 900 Lexile, but the required primary sources-Jane Addams on settlement houses and Upton Sinclair on meatpacking-are above 1200 Lexile and use archaic vocabulary. The teacher's usual plan is four days of lecture with slide notes and a review game, then the DBQ. A recent observation found that only four students answered questions during lecture, 11 were off-task, and six English learners had blank notes. The teacher has a co-teacher for 20 minutes daily and one classroom aide for 30 minutes on Wednesday. The department pacing guide says the DBQ must be administered Friday.
1. Design a five-day sequence that keeps the DBQ on Friday but builds the reading and writing skills students need. Be specific about daily activities and formative checks.
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Monday: Open with two photographs and a short timeline to build background, not a lecture. Guided close read of a 150-word excerpt from Addams with a glossary and a repeated question: what problem is she describing, and what does she propose? Students annotate in pairs. Exit ticket: one sentence summarizing Addams's argument.
Tuesday: Station rotation with four stations-Source A, Source B, vocabulary, and document-analysis chart. The co-teacher leads a small group for the six English learners using an adapted excerpt at about 700 Lexile that preserves the same historical question. The aide supports the vocabulary station. Exit ticket: one completed analysis box.
Wednesday: Model a thesis and one body paragraph using a document the class already analyzed. Students draft one paragraph with sentence frames. Formative check: teacher reviews three paragraphs per group and gives one revision note.
Thursday: Peer revision with a short rubric focused on claim, evidence, and reasoning. Teacher conferences with students who did not complete the Wednesday paragraph. The aide supports a targeted group.
Friday: DBQ as required. The goal is not coverage of every Progressive reform; it is a defensible claim supported by documents.
2. How should the teacher group students and assign texts, given the reading range and ELL needs? Justify with a concrete example.
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Use mixed-ability pairs for discussion and temporary small groups for targeted skill instruction. Do not create fixed 'low' groups that stay together all week; that reinforces status differences and reduces access to grade-level thinking.
For example, all students can analyze the same historical question about Sinclair's purpose, but the English learners receive a 700-Lexile adaptation with a glossary and audio, while stronger readers use the original 1200-Lexile excerpt. Pairs can compare one sentence from each version and discuss how word choice changes tone. That keeps the cognitive task similar while differentiating access.
The teacher should also avoid routinely using English learners as translators for one another. Instead, pre-teach vocabulary and provide sentence frames. The co-teacher's 20 minutes should be used for pre-teaching or a small-group close read, not for grading or copying.
3. The co-teacher says there is not enough time to cover all the content in the pacing guide. What should the teacher do?
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Prioritize the DBQ skills and the essential content needed to answer it. Coverage of every reform is less important than students learning to source, close read, and argue with evidence. The teacher can assign a short background reading as homework, then use class time for document analysis. That shifts time from passive lecture to guided practice.
The teacher should also communicate with the department about the trade-off: keeping the Friday DBQ but narrowing content. If the pacing guide requires a content quiz, integrate it as a brief formative check rather than a separate review day. Use the co-teacher's 20 minutes for pre-teaching and small-group support, and document the adjustments. The teacher should not silently skip the DBQ or move it without notifying the department, because the assessment is district-required.