Lesson
Reconstruction Deconstructed DBQ Mini-Lesson
Guiding question
How successful was Reconstruction in addressing the challenges of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African Americans?
Founding Principles
Virtues
Objectives
- Students will provide evidence drawn from primary sources to support a specific thesis.
- Students will provide historical context for primary source documents.
- Students will engage in critical thinking to interpret historical perspectives using VIEW (Voice, Intent, Environment, Who).
- Students will develop a thesis statement using historical evidence.
- Students will group sources based on similarities and historical themes.
Materials
Materials
Student Materials
- Document Set (choose 1)
- Deconstructed DBQ Assignment Sheet and Document Set Handout Set
- Scaffolded Deconstructed DBQ Assignment Sheet and Document Set Handout Set
- Documents contained within both sets include:
- Document A: The Thirteenth Amendment, Section 1 (1865)
- Document B: The Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1 (1868)
- Document C: The Fifteenth Amendment, Section 1 (1870)
- Document D: The Freedmen’s Bureau! political poster (1866)
- Document E: Classrooms for Black Children illustration (1866)
- Document F: President Andrew Johnson’s Veto Message of the Civil Rights Act (1866)
- Document G: Uncle Sam’s Thanksgiving Dinner illustration by Thomas Nast (1869)
- Documents contained within both sets include:
- Deconstructed DBQ Graphic Organizer
- Reconstruction Video
Teacher Materials
- Unit 9 Slide Deck
- Unit 9 Model Organizer and Scoring Guide Teacher Resource
- Unit 9 Deconstructed DBQ Document Set and Teacher Context Teacher Resource
Teacher note: There are two versions of the deconstructed DBQ documents. The original version includes light scaffolding and is intended for assessment. The second version is more scaffolded and is intended for using the deconstructed DBQ as a learning activity. The two versions can also be used for different levels of learners in the same class.
Lesson Components
Document Set that address the question: how successful was Reconstruction in addressing the challenges of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African Americans?
Graphic Organizer to analyze the primary sources using the VIEW method, group them by historical themes, and use evidence and context to develop and support a clear thesis about a historical topic.
Scaffolded Document Set that addresses the question: How successful was Reconstruction in addressing the challenges of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African Americans?
Lesson Components
A prebuilt slide deck to accompany the Unit 9 DBQ and review all previous skills.
Document Set that address the question: how successful was Reconstruction in addressing the challenges of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African Americans?
Scaffolded Document Set that addresses the question: How successful was Reconstruction in addressing the challenges of rebuilding the nation and ensuring equal rights for African Americans?
Graphic Organizer to analyze the primary sources using the VIEW method, group them by historical themes, and use evidence and context to develop and support a clear thesis about a historical topic.
In this middle school history lesson, explore the Reconstruction era that followed the Civil War. Using Thomas Nast’s 1874 political cartoon The Union as It Was and the Currier and Ives lithograph The First Colored Senators and Representatives, students analyze how art captured both the progress and the resistance that defined the nation’s attempt to rebuild. Students use DBQ methods to guide their thinking: Group, VIEW, Evidence, Context, Thesis. By categorizing sources, applying the VIEW analysis, pulling direct evidence, adding historical context, and writing a clear thesis, students learn to make evidence-based arguments about how successful Reconstruction was in ensuring equality and rebuilding the nation.
This document provides teacher support for implementing the Unit 9: Reconstruction Deconstructed DBQ in the middle school classroom. It includes seven documents, each designed to help students explore connections to the DBQ question while understanding the relevant historical context.
A prebuilt assessment for the Unit 9 DBQ.
Lesson plan
More Information
Facilitation Notes
- This mini-lesson reinforces all skills:
- Creating a thesis (Unit 1)
- Grouping primary sources (Unit 2)
- Document summary and analysis – VIEW (Unit 3)
- Adding historical context (Unit 5)
- Using/providing evidence (Unit 7)
- This mini-lesson, intended to take 45-60 minutes, builds background knowledge and reviews the skills needed for successful completion of the Deconstructed DBQ. It was created to accompany the mini-lesson teacher slide deck.
- This lesson was created to build upon the previous Deconstructed DBQ lessons. However, it can be implemented in isolation with additional supports. Modify the lesson by using the scaffolding notes to fit your classroom.
Standards
Related materials
A prebuilt assessment for the Unit 9 DBQ.
A prebuilt slide deck to accompany the Unit 9 DBQ and review all previous skills.
This document provides teacher support for implementing the Unit 9: Reconstruction Deconstructed DBQ in the middle school classroom. It includes seven documents, each designed to help students explore connections to the DBQ question while understanding the relevant historical context.