Supreme Court DBQ: Frequently Asked Questions

What is a DBQ?

DBQ stands for document-based question. Each DBQ asks students to write an essay in response to a key question. In order to help students answer the key question, each DBQ provides 8-12 documents. Essay responses should refer to the documents as well as to the students’ own prior knowledge.

What are scaffolding questions?

Scaffolding questions are designed to aid comprehension of each document. If your students are experienced with DBQs, you may wish to have students skip these.

How long should teaching a DBQ take?

If your classes are familiar with the case being studied, and with the DBQ format, you may opt to give students the DBQ in one class period. If your classes are unfamiliar with either the DBQ format, or the content of the DBQ, you may wish to split the DBQ up—students can answer the scaffolding questions over the course of one period, and then answer the key question in class next time or for homework. Additional teaching suggestions can be found here.

What cases are covered in the book?

You can find the unit overviews here.

How should I use the scholarly essays?

The scholarly essays are written for teachers and/or advanced classes. You may wish to read them yourself as you approach the cases—whether it is the first or hundredth time you teach them. You may also wish to distribute them as a reading assignment for advanced classes.

What is “The Issue Endures”?

The Issue Endures is a resource at the end of each DBQ that illustrates the ongoing significance of each case. You may choose to give this to your classes as you are studying the DBQ, or as a separate activity.

Do I have to teach the cases in a certain order? What if I only want to teach one case?

Each DBQ was written to stand alone. The DBQs do not have to be taught together or in any particular order. That said, if you have time to teach more than one case from a unit, we recommend teaching them in the order they appear in the units. This will provide students with the opportunity to understand and evaluate constitutional issues over time.

Do I have to give my students all the documents? Some of the readings look very challenging.

Students do not necessarily have to read documents individually or write responses to every document, but we do not recommend completely omitting any documents. Scaffolding questions have been included to aid comprehension of all the documents. Additional teaching suggestions for going over DBQs as a class are provided here.

How do I check answers to the scaffolding questions?

Can you can find the answer key here. In many cases, answers to the scaffolding questions will vary, and students will have multiple perspectives that will probably generate useful class discussion.

How do I score student essays?

You can find a sample scoring rubric here.

I have purchased or received the curriculum, but the site is asking me for a login and a password that I have not created. Where do I find this?

You need to activate your product in order to create a personalized login and password. Click here to activate your product. If you purchased the Supreme Court DBQs curriculum from our Website (or received it in person), your activation code is located in the back of the book, along with a link to the activation page. If you only purchased the Online version, you should have received your activation code in an email confirming your order. If you have any activation code questions, please contact the Bill of Rights Institute by email.

I can think of a landmark Supreme Court case that is not in this curriculum. Why wasn’t it included?