On-Demand Virtual Training
I am excited to share this video with its resources with the teachers in my school. I think seeing samples, as you have presented, instead of me just describing them, will help tremendously.”
– Anonymous EL teacher
Document-Based Questions, which require sophisticated historical thinking and literacy skills, are often inaccessible to multilingual learners. This session for grade 6-12 social studies teachers, presents a methodology for making DBQs both accessible and relevant to MLLs through scaffolding tools and new model DBQs created by a team of history teachers and EL specialists from Massachusetts through a Library of Congress grant.
This training was held on Thursday, February 27, 2025 and Thursday, November 13, 2025.
Learning objectives
Participants will be able to:
- Make DBQs accessible and engaging for multilingual learners using scaffolds and model tools.
Recordings & Resources
Presented by:
Abigail Driscoll, ESL Academic Coach, Lynn Public Schools, Lynn, Massachusetts
Whitney Nielsen, History Teacher, Hudson Public Schools, Hudson, Massachusetts
Todd Wallingford, Director of Humanities, Hudson Public Schools, Hudson, Massachusetts
President, Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies
Check out these resources:
- Scaffolding Models and Templates (Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies)
Key Concepts
- A Document-Based Question (DBQ) is an assignment where students analyze a set of documents, often primary sources like texts or visuals, to answer an open-ended, authentic question. Students read and interpret the documents, consider context, organize their ideas and usually write an essay that responds to the question.
- Scaffolding DBQs is about access, not simplification: The goal is to maintain rigorous historical thinking while adjusting language, structure and support so multilingual learners (MLs) can engage meaningfully without needing you to “water down” content.
- Know your students before designing supports: Use WIDA domain scores (not just composite levels), check students’ educational backgrounds and consider gaps in historical knowledge to tailor reading, writing and language scaffolds effectively.
- Make text and documents navigable and comprehensible: Chunk background essays, simplify syntax (not content), bold key vocabulary, add images, provide clear captions and create summary tables so students can process complex sources independently.
- Embed explicit language supports throughout the DBQ: Teach vocabulary in context, align questions with the language of the text, add sentence frames and word banks as needed and model academic language in captions and question wording.
- Scaffold the writing process with structured tools: Use graphic organizers, T-charts and model essays.
Please note: The views expressed by guest presenters are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Immigrant Learning Center.