GET SIGNED AND RETURN THIS ENTIRE SHEET TO YOUR HISTORY/CIVICS TEACHER
Welcome to the National History Day Competition. Over the next several weeks you will be working on completing a research project following the rules for National History Day. We will be having several mini lessons to help you improve your research skills and help you through the process of putting your project together.
The National History Day Competition has a website, it’s address is it is a good idea to go to this site and look around.
Included in this packet you will find the following:
- A brief description of History Day.
- A brief description of each category for projects.
- The annual theme and some sample topics including tips on how to pick a topic.
- General rules for National History Day competition.
- Calendar of Due Dates.
Your History Day packet has holes punched in it, please keep it in your binder. This sheet should be signed by your parents/guardians and returned to your History/Civics teacher.
When you decide on your topic and category, you will receive the NHD category specific rules. With each mini lesson you will receive additional sheets that are designed to help you be successful with the project.
GET SIGNED AND RETURN THIS SHEET TO YOUR HISTORY/CIVICS TEACHER
I ______Have received and gone over with my parents/guardians the History Day Information packet. I understand what is expected and have a copy of the Calendar of Due Dates. I also understand that if I need help I need to speak with my History/Civics teacher sooner than later.
______
Student Signature
______
Parent/Guardian Signature
Dear Parents & Guardians,
Each year Buford students compete in the National History Day Competition. What exactly is History Day? It is a national competition that more than half a million students participate in. According to the National History Day website …
In addition to discovering the exciting world of the past, NHD also
helps students develop the following attributes that are critical for
future success:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Research and reading skills
- Oral and written communication and presentation skills
- Self esteem and confidence
- A sense of responsibility for and involvement in the
Democratic process
Our experience with History Day has been that our students shine. Over the past few years several have gone on to State and National level competition. As great as that is, what makes History Day so valuable is that each student has their moment to shine, their moment when the judges are listening to them. The excitement and pride we see in our students during History Day makes all the preparation time worthwhile. It is a fabulous experience that helps prepare them for the future regardless if they win or not.
Students taking History or Civics the first semester will have a final due date of DECEMBER 9, 2013 The first thing that all students need to do is decide on a topic. During class we have discussed this year’s theme, Rights and Responsibilities, as well as brainstormed many sample topics and discussed how to go about choosing a topic. The due date for students to decide on a topic and category is Monday September 9th. Included in the packet your student has brought home is a calendar of due dates.
If you have any questions or concerns please contact your child’s History or Civics teacher
Sincerely,
The Buford Social Studies Team
Margi Roache
David Zentmyer
Tristan Benson
David Driver
Brad Presley
How to choose a topic for History Day
The first thing you should do in choosing a topic for your project is make sure you understand the theme. This years theme is Rights and Responsibilities. You need to make sure you’ve read the theme sheet you received in class.
Next, try to think of a time period or subject that you are really interested in. Is there something in that time period or subject that you can tie to Rights and Responsibilities? Remember, your topic can be about just about anything. It doesn’t have to be limited to American History or even History. You may be able to find something in Science or even Math. Once you have something you are interested in narrow your topic. Your topic should be very specific. For example, you might be interested in World War II, but what about World War II, you can’t do the entire war, you are looking for one small area to research.
If you are still having trouble try looking through your history book, or your science book for ideas. Your teacher can help you decide and your parents might even have a couple of good ideas, check with them. You can also look through the list on the next page to help you find a topic. Don’t forget that whatever topic you choose you will need to be able to find several sources for your research, so, don’t pick something so obscure that you might have a hard time finding information.
Another thing to keep in mind is that a good rule of thumb for choosing a topic is that it is at least 20 years old. The reason is that most historians agree that we don’t really fully understand the impact of an event for at least twenty years.
The next thing you need to decide on is if you want to work alone or with a partner. Keep in mind that this will be a group grade, so if you decide to have a partner make sure it is someone who you can work well with and someone you can get together with outside of school. Also, keep in mind that any disagreements that come up between you and your partner will have to be settled between the two of you. This is an at home project and very little of the work will be done at school. National History Day rules allow you to be part of a group of up to five students. However, at Buford we allow you to have one partner for all categories except for group performance, for that category you may have a group of up to five. The reason we do this is that in our experience with NHD having more than one partner leads to problems.
The theme for this year is Rights & Responsibilities
These sample topics are from the NHD website. Your choices are not limited to them, they are only ideas to help get you thinking.
How to Choose a Project Category for History Day
The first thing you should do in choosing a category for History Day is to read over the descriptions for each category. Think about what you already know how to do and what you might want to learn how to do. If you decide to do a website or documentary make sure that you have access to a computer at home.
It’s okay to try something new. Your teachers will help you learn the different categories if you want to try one of them.
Categories for History Day
(descriptions are taken from the NHD site)
Exhibit
Historical exhibition presents information about an event, person, place, or idea from the past by physically displaying documents, images, or objects. We often see such exhibits at museums, but they are also presented at many other places such as archives, historic sites, park visitor centers, classrooms, and even airports and train stations. For your National History Day project, you will tell the story of your research through historic photographs, maps, drawings and other interesting objects.
The exhibit category is three dimensional and is displayed on a physical structure. Exhibits use color, images, documents, objects, graphics, and design, as well as words, to tell your story. Exhibits can be interactive experiences by asking viewers to play music, solve a puzzle, look at a video, or open a door or window to see more documents or photos.
Exhibits typically are done on a tri-fold board, however they can take any form as long as they fit within the dimensions given in the NHD rules. An exhibit should be a visual representation of a student’s research. With that in mind the exhibit should not consist of solely of a model.
Documentary
NHD documentaries present information about an event, person, place or idea from the past through a ten minute presentation that showcases documents, images, photographs, and actual footage of the topic you are researching. Your documentary needs to have both primary and secondary research but also be an original production.
Creating a documentary is different from other categories because of the technology necessary. Before deciding to create a documentary, you should ask yourself the following questions:
Am I interested in using computers, cameras, and other technologies?
Can I conduct and record interviews (for the purpose of including film clips in the documentary)?
Can I find film clips to use in my documentary?
Are there enough still photographs related to my topic and that I can use in my documentary?
Do I have access to equipment that will be needed to make a documentary?
Is creating a documentary the best way to show off my topic?
Website
A historical web site is a collection of web pages, interconnected with hyperlinks, that presents primary and secondary sources, interactive multimedia, and historical analysis. Your web site should be an accumulation of research and argument that incorporates textual and non-textual (photographs, maps, music, etc.) description, interpretation, and multimedia sources to engage and inform viewers about your chosen historical topic.Web sites can display materials online, your own historical analysis as well as primary and secondary sources. These can be photographs, maps, documents, or audio and video files. Web sites are interactive experiences where viewers can play music, solve a puzzle, or look at a video or click on different links. Viewers can move through the web site in various undirected ways. Web sites use color, images, fonts, documents, objects, graphics and design, as well as words, to tell your story.
All websites must be done through the NHD Weebly site.
Historical Papers
History papers present information and analyze an event, person, place or idea from the past in writing. Although you might attach a map, chart or photograph that you refer to in your paper, you will rely mainly on words. Writing a paper is a chance to tell what you know and what you think about a part of the past.
A paper is a highly personal and individual effort, and if you prefer to work alone this may be the category for you. Papers depend almost entirely on words to tell the story, and you can usually include more information in a paper than in some of the other categories.
Before you decide on writing a historical paper make sure you understand the paper must be between 1,500 and 2,500 words. This is not a five paragraph essay.
Performance
A performance is a live, dramatic presentation of your topic's significance in history. You may perform individually or as part of a group. A performance should be a scripted portrayal based on research of your chosen topic. Your script should be structured on a thesis statement, supporting statements, and a conclusion. Your performance should have dramatic appeal, but not at the expense of historical information.
The performance category is the only one that is presented live. Developing a strong narrative that allows your subject to unfold in a dramatic and visually interesting way is important. Memorizing, rehearsing, and refining your script is essential, so you should schedule time for this in addition to research, writing, costuming and prop gathering.
Starting Your Research
You will need to read different types of sources from different to complete your research. Nothing in History happens in a vacuum. To understand the connections between your topic and the time period and event, begin reading about it and as you read ask yourself questions. Why did my topic happen at this particular time and in this particular place? What were the events or the influences that came before my topic? How was my topic influenced by and how did it influence the economic, social, political and cultural climate of the time period? All of these questions will help you to build the story of your topic and grasp the historical significance.
Primary Sources – A primary source is a piece of information about a historical event or period in which the creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of a historical moment. The purpose of primary sources is to capture the words, the thoughts and the intentions of the past. Primary sources help you to interpret what happened and why it happened. Examples of primary sources include: documents, artifacts, historic sites, songs, or other written and tangible items created during the historical period you are studying.
Secondary Sources – A secondary source is a source that was not created first-had by someone who participated in the historical era. Secondary sources are usually created by historians, but based on the historians reading of primary sources. Secondary sources are usually written decades, if not centuries, after the event occurred by people who did not live through or participate in the event or issue. The purpose of a secondary source is to help build the story of your research from multiple perspectives and to give your research historical context. They are a great starting point in helping you see the big picture. Understanding the context of your topic will help you make sense of the primary sources you find.
Tertiary Sources - Tertiary sources are based on a collection of primary and secondary sources and may or may not be written by an expert. Tertiary sources should never appear in your bibliography but are only used as exploratory sources, to give you ideas about what to research. Wikipedia is not a reliable source and should not appear in your bibliography.
A. General Rules For All Categories (Taken from the NHD site)
Rule 1: Annual Theme
Your entry must relate clearly to the annual theme and explain your topic’s significance in history.
Rule 2: Contest Participation
You may participate in the research, preparation, and presentation of only one entry each year.
You may share research only with up to four other students who are fellow participants in your group entry. You may not create a common pool of research from which several entries are created.
Rule 3: Individual or Group Entries
A paper, individual exhibit, individual performance, individual web site, or individual documentary must be the work of only one student. A group exhibit, group performance, group web site, or group documentary must be the work of 2 to 5 students. All students in a group entry must be involved in the research and interpretation of the group’s topic.
Rule 4: Development Requirements
Entries submitted for competition must be original and have been researched and developed in the current contest year. Revising or reusing an entry from a previous year—whether it is yours or
another student’s—will result in disqualification. The year begins each June, following the national contest.
Rule 5: Construction of Entry
You are responsible for the research, design, and creation of your entry. You may receive help and advice from teachers and parents on the mechanical aspects of creating your entry.
1. You may have help typing your paper and other written materials.
2. You may seek guidance from your teachers as you research and analyze your material, but your conclusions must be your own.
3. You may have photographs and slides commercially developed.
4. You may have reasonable help cutting out your exhibit backboard or performance props (e.g., a parent uses a cutting tool to cut the board that you designed).
NOTE: Objects created by others specifically for use in your entry violate this rule. For example, a parent takes photographs or an artist draws the backdrop for your exhibit or performance. You may receive reasonable help in carrying and placing props and exhibits.
Rule 6: Contest Day Set-up
You are responsible for setting up your own exhibit, equipment, or props at the contest.
You may have reasonable help carrying them, but set-up must be completed by you (and your group members, if applicable) alone.
Rule 7: Supplying Equipment
You are responsible for supplying all props and equipment at each level of competition. All entries should be constructed keeping transportation, set-up time, size, and weight in mind (e.g., foam core v. solid oak for an exhibit; folding table v. antique desk for a performance). Students must provide their own equipment, including computers and software. Check