NATIONAL HISTORY DAY IN N.C ONLINE TEACHER WORKSHOP

NATIONAL HISTORY DAY IN N.C
 ONLINE TEACHER WORKSHOP
        Learning the basics of National
         History Day in North Carolina

     Some materials adapted with permission from
     National History Day in Wisconsin, Washington
      State History Day, and National History Day in
                                         Minnesota

WHAT IS HISTORY DAY AND WHY SHOULD
WE DO IT?
National History Day is an in-school program
that aids the teaching and learning of history.
Students learn history by doing their own
historical research and creating a project in a
medium that plays to their own strengths.

WHAT IS HISTORY DAY AND WHY SHOULD
WE DO IT?
Most importantly, History Day helps students develop or improve
skills that they need to be successful in life, skills such as:
• Organizational skills and ability to manage long-term projects
• Ability to identify and analyze a problems
• Knowledge of how to obtain resources and information and to
    evaluate the credibility of that information
• Ability to synthesize large amounts of information into solid
    arguments and ideas
• Ability to describe and defend their work to others
• Ability to work with technology
• Ability to work both independently and with others
• Effective communication through clear writing, speaking, and
    presentation skills

NHD Meets Education Standards
For teachers, History Day provides a platform to
teach students not just the facts of history but the
process of historical thinking. History Day allows
teachers to address the North Carolina Standard
Course of Study for social studies but in a number
of other disciplines as well. Click here for samples
of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study
met by National History Day. Visit
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/About.aspx and click
on “NHD and Common Core” to see how NHD
aligns with Common Core Standards.

AN OVERVIEW OF NHD IN NC
To begin, read the information on the “About”
section of the N. C. History Day page
http://www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/About.aspx.
Once you finish, return here to answer the
following questions.
• What grade levels are eligible for National
  History Day?
• What did a national evaluation find are some of
  the advantages for students who participate in
  History Day?

AN OVERVIEW OF NHD IN NC
Read slide 3 in “Fundamentals of a Good History
Day Project” Powerpoint
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx
and return to answer the following questions.
• What grades participate in the junior division?
• What grades participate in the senior division?
Note: Keep this Powerpoint presentation open as
you will refer to it often during this online
workshop.

NC History Day Organization
North Carolina History Day is divided into six
regions across the state.
• Schools with a large number of participants will
  want to have a school contest to choose those
  students who will move to the district level of
  competition.
• Not all students will have participated in a
  school contest, but all students must participate
  in a district contest in order to be eligible for the
  state competition.

NC History Day Organization
District contests are held in March or April. You
should notify your district coordinator of your
intention to participate, so you will receive the
necessary information for registering for your
district contest. The state contest is held in
Raleigh the last Saturday in April.

NC National History Day Organization
Read the information under the districts tab of
the web site www.ncdcr.gov/historyday. Once
you finish, return and answer the following
questions.
• In which region does your county participate?
• Who is the coordinator for your district?

Topics and Research
Each year National History Day picks a broad theme
around which students will develop their projects.
• These themes are designed to allow students to
  choose topics related to the theme in any area of
  history—local, state, national, or world.
• Both the national office and the state office develop a
  list of possible themes that students may explore.
  However, students should not feel limited to the
  suggested subjects. The best projects are often ones
  based on topics students have discovered themselves.

Topics and Research
On the “Themes” section of the NC National History Day
page www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Themes.aspx, look over
the information there and return to answer the
following questions.
• What is this year’s theme?
• What is one suggested topic from the national office
   related to this year’s theme?
• What is one suggested topic from the state office
   related to this year’s theme?
• What other organization listed on the page provides
   possible topics?

Topics and Research
In order to be successful, students must use
both primary and secondary sources. Make
sure that your students understand the
difference between the two. Here are
definitions you may share with them.

Topics and Research: Primary Sources
• Primary sources are ones that were created
  or in use during the period being studied.
  They may include diaries, maps, photographs,
  music, artifacts, newspaper articles from the
  period, or historic sites.
• Primary sources are important, because they
  provide the researcher with the opportunity
  to evaluate and interpret the materials
  themselves.

Topics and Research: Primary Sources
• Note: Primary materials such as quotations from
  historical figures or photographs of historical
  events can be found in secondary sources, and
  students may certainly make use of those
  materials. However, those sources would not be
  considered primary. The sources should be listed
  as a secondary source, but students can use
  their annotations to indicate that the source
  made use of primary materials.

Topics and Research: Secondary
Sources
• Secondary sources are materials not related
  to the topic by time or participation. They
  may include sources such as textbooks,
  biographies, scholarly history books, or
  current magazine or newspaper articles.
• Secondary sources are important because
  they provide background information and
  context.

Topics and Research: Going Beyond
the Internet
• Students need to understand that while the
  internet can be a great resource, it is not the
  only one.
• The internet does not have—nor will it ever
  have—all available sources.

Topics and Research: Going Beyond
the Internet
The most successful projects will be those that involve
students:
• looking at books, documents, and photographs in
   libraries and archives;
• visiting museums and historic sites to see the artifacts
   and places that were directly connected to history;
• listening to music and other audiovisual sources
   related to the event;
• or talking to people who are knowledgeable about the
   topic either by personal experience or through
   scholarship.

Topics and Research: Evaluating
Sources
• Learning to evaluate sources is equally
  important for students. Help them learn to
  examine each source for bias and
  authenticity.

Topics and Research
Read slides 6 through 13 in the slide show
“Fundamentals of a Good History Day Project”
Powerpoint, which is available at
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx,
and return to answer the following questions.
• How many sources does History Day require
  students to have for their projects?
• What can students do to organize their
  research?

Topics and Research
Click on the “Research” tab of the NC History
Day website, which is available at
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Research.aspx.
Read the information there and return to
answer the question.
• Name two research resources described on
  the page.

Developing a Thesis Statement
All projects, regardless of the category chosen,
should have a clear thesis statement that
explains what the student will be proving in the
project. Read slides 7 and 8 of “Fundamentals
of a Good History Day Project” Powerpoint
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx
and answer the question.
• What is the purpose of the thesis statement?

Divisions: Junior and Senior
Depending on their grade level, students create
projects in one of two divisions:
• Students in grades 6 through 8 compete in
  the Junior division.
• Students in grades 9 through 12 compete in
  the Senior division.

Divisions: Junior and Senior
• Students in different grades may work
  together as long as they are in the same
  division. In other words, middle school
  students can work together and high school
  students can work together, but a student
  from middle school cannot work on a project
  with a student from high school.

Categories
There are five media students may use to
develop their projects: historical papers,
exhibits, performances, documentaries, or
websites. These are divided into 18
competition categories. There are two
categories in which only individuals can
participate. They are:
• Junior papers
  Senior papers

Categories
• All other categories have both individual and group (2-5 students)
  components. They are:

• Junior Individual Exhibit             Junior Group Exhibit
  Junior Individual Website             Junior Group Website
  Junior Individual Documentary         Junior Group Documentary
  Junior Individual Performance         Junior Group Performance
   Senior Individual Exhibit            Senior Group Exhibit
   Senior Individual Website            Senior Group Website
   Senior Individual Documentary        Senior Group Documentary
   Senior Individual Performance        Senior Group Performance

Choosing a Category
There are numerous considerations that need
to go into deciding on a category. Some topics
may not lend themselves to a particular
category. For instance, topics that will not have
a large number of visuals to illustrate them
would not make good documentaries.

Choosing a Category
In addition, students have different gifts, and
they should play to their strengths. Students
who are terrified of public speaking may not
want to choose the performance category. Even
the decision of whether to work individually or
in a group should be made based on the
student’s work habits and expectations of the
project.

Understanding the Rules
It is vital that students know and abide by the
rules. From the “Themes” section of the N.C. NHD
page (www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Themes.aspx),
click on the rule book link and read pages 8-11.
Return to answer the following questions.
• What will students learn from reading these
  pages?
• To what does rule 18 refer?

Understanding the Rules
Return to the rule book
(www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Themes.aspx) and
read the sections for each category. After each
category, answer the following questions.
Papers
• What is the minimum and maximum length of
  papers?
• Rule A3 indicates that papers should not be
  enclosed in what?

Understanding the Rules
Exhibits
• To what does the 500-word limit refer? What
  things are excluded from the 500-word limit?
Performance
• What is the maximum time allowed for
  performances?
• Under what circumstances may students
  have someone else make their costumes?

Understanding the Rules
Documentary
• What is the maximum time limit allowed for a
  documentary?
• Who may operate the equipment in a
  documentary?
Websites
• How many student-composed words are
  allowed in a website?
• What is the maximum length of each multimedia
  clip within the website?

Bibliography
• History projects must be based on solid
  research in order to be successful. The
  bibliography demonstrates the level of
  research the student has achieved. It is the
  first thing the judges will look at during the
  evaluation process.

Bibliography
• Bibliographies should be divided into primary
  and secondary sources. This allows the judges to
  help you, the teacher, determine if students fully
  understand the difference between the two
  kinds of sources.
• Each entry should also be annotated. The
  annotation should not be a recap of the source
  but instead should briefly explain how that
  source was useful in helping the student
  understand the topic.

Bibliography
Look at slides 14-17 of “Fundamentals of a Good
History Day Project” Powerpoint
(www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx)
and return to answer the following questions.
• What style guides are allowed?
• What is the purpose of a bibliographic citation?
• If a student finds a primary photograph in a
  textbook, in which section of the bibliography
  should the source be listed?

Process Paper
Students should create a 500-word process paper.
This document outlines the process students used
to create their project. Students should not use the
process paper to summarize their project. All
substantive information about the project should
be in the project itself.
*Please note: Students writing research papers do
not need to write a process paper. Only students
creating a website, performance, exhibit, or
documentary must write a process paper.

Process Paper
Read slide 18 of “Fundamentals of a Good History
Day” powerpoint, available at
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx,
and answer the following question.
• What four points should a process paper
  address?

Judging
At every level of competition, students will
have the opportunity to have their worked
reviewed by others and to defend their work to
their reviewers. As their teacher, you are the
first judge. The success of the student is directly
related to the involvement of the teacher in
reviewing the students’ work during the
creation period.

Judging
Read slides 41-45 of “Fundamentals of a Good
History Day” powerpoint, which is available at
www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx,
and review the judging criteria.

Narrating vs. Analyzing
The ultimate goal of historical research is to analyze a
topic and draw conclusions. Successful History Day
projects must do this.
• Students should be sure that they analyze the
  importance of the topic in history, not simply relate a
  series of events.
• Historical research must also be balanced. While
  students will and should draw a conclusion about the
  impact of the topic on history, they should also
  recognize that others may have different conclusions
  and demonstrate within the project that they have
  reviewed various views.

Conclusion: Getting Started
• Thank you for taking the time to learn more
  about the National History Day in North
  Carolina program!
• To get started in your classroom, please
  review the “Teacher Toolkit: Suggestions for
  Implementing and Improving Your History
  Day Program,” available at
  www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Lounge.aspx.

Conclusion: Getting Started
• Find out what district your school is in by looking at
  the “Districts” tab at www.ncdcr.gov/historyday and
  get in touch with your district coordinator to request a
  rule book and a theme book and to let him or her
  know if your students plan to compete at the district
  contest.
• You can also download the theme book and rule book
  from the NHD in NC website
  (www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Themes.aspx) or order
  them from the national office (www.nhd.org.)

Conclusion: Getting Started
• You may also ask the district coordinator if he
  or she could visit your school to talk about
  NHD with you and your fellow teachers or
  talk about it with your class.

Conclusion: Getting Started
Be sure to visit the National History Day website
(www.nhd.org) for updates, tips for teachers and
students, and new information.
• At www.nhd.org/ClassroomConnection.htm, teachers can click on
  the links in the left margin to find a sample classroom calendar;
  eight steps to historical research; and information about teacher
  resources. Teachers can also learn more about teacher institutes
  and workshops and can see sample handouts developed by
  teachers who use NHD in their classrooms.

• At www.nhd.org/Contest.htm, students can find information
  about getting started, conducting research, and creating an entry.

Conclusion: Getting Started
• Show students the “Fundamentals of a Good
  History Day Project,” which is available at
  www.ncdcr.gov/historyday/Presentations.aspx)
  to introduce them to NHD and to explore how to
  create a strong project.
• Students and teachers will also be interested in
  seeing sample projects that are available on the
  national website at
  www.nhd.org/StudentProjectExamples.htm.

Conclusion: Getting Started
• The national office of National History Day offers useful
  books for sale on such topics as how to create an exhibit,
  website, documentary, research paper, and performance
  as well as a book designed specifically to help teachers use
  National History Day in the classroom.
• A Guide to Historical Research Through the National
  History Day Program was written by a team of ten veteran
  NHD teachers who provide their best practices in
  supporting student research. The book is formatted to
  take teachers step-by-step through a school year, from
  topic selection to research presentation.
• More information about any of these books can be found
  at www.nhd.org/cart.

Questions?
• For more information, call the state
  coordinator, Laura Ketcham, at (919) 807-
  7395, or send her an email at
  laura.ketcham@ncdcr.gov.