Transcript Junior Historians and Texas History Day

National History Day
One Day Can Change the Course
Program Overview
Each year, more than half a million students,
encouraged by thousands of teachers nationwide
participate in the NHD contest. Students choose
historical topics related to a theme and conduct
extensive primary and secondary research through
libraries, archives, museums, oral history interviews
and historic sites. After analyzing and interpreting
their sources and drawing conclusions about their
topics’ significance in history, students present their
work.
Program Levels
 Teacher
 Campus
 District/Regional (FBHD)
 Texas Contest (THD)
 National Contest (NHD)
Program Structure
 Divisions
– Senior: High School (9-12)
– Junior: Middle School (6-8)
 Categories
– Historical Papers
– Documentaries
– Exhibits
– Performances
– Websites
Individual
Individual
Individual
Individual
Individual
Group
Group
Group
Group
General Rules
 Students may participate in the research,
preparation, and presentation of only one entry
each year.
 Groups may include 2 to 5 students
 All categories except historical papers must
include a “process paper” with their entry.
 An annotated bibliography is required for all
categories. The annotations for each source must
explain how you used the source and how it
helped you understand your topic.
Why Take on This Project?
 Social Studies Skills TEKS
 Development of real-world skills
 Students get to “do” Social Studies
 Differentiated learning opportunity
Choosing a Topic
 History Day themes are usually very
general. For example, “The Individual in
History.”
 The generality of the theme allows students
to choose a topic that they are truly
interested in. Whether that be history, art,
science, literature, sports, music, etc.
Choosing a Topic (Cont.)
 As a general rule of thumb, students should
not choose a topic that has occurred within
the last twenty years.
Theme
2006 Taking a Stand in History
2007 Triumph and Tragedy in History
2008 Conflict and Compromise in History
2009 The Individual in History
2010 Innovation in History
2011 Diplomacy and Dialogue in History: Successes,
Failures, Consequences
2012 Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History
2013TURNING POINTS IN HISTORY
2014 RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Primary & Secondary Sources
Primary Sources
A. Definition: an item made at or near
the time of a historical event by
someone who observed the event
first hand.
1. usually a written record
2. can also include visual evidence
and physical objects
Secondary Sources
A. Definition: an item that provides a
second hand interpretation of an
event after some time has passed.
B. Examples: newspaper, articles,
census records, letters, photographs,
diaries, maps, and sound recordings.
B. Examples: history books, reference
books, maps, and tables based on
other sources.
1.often based on primary sources
2.can use other secondary sources
Interviews
Consider Interviewing people for some of
your sources
– Helps direct all research
– Assists students in narrowing focus
– Forces students to think about their topic by
developing the interview questions
– More fun than just reading all the time. 
Interview Questions
 Binary--These are good for obtaining
factual information that falls into the yesno, true-false category of answer.
Good questions for the students to start
with because they are easy to write.
Interview Questions
 Fill-in-the-blank--This type of question
has a simple answer, usually a name,
frequency, or quantity, which is the kind of
information these questions are good at
obtaining.
Where do I find a person to
interview?
 Topic Library—example Space Shuttle
http://www.nss.org/resources/library/
Where do I find a person to
interview?
 Museum
 http://tankmuseum.org/
 RELATED SEARCHES
– Danville Tank Museum
– Patton Tank Museum
– Tiger Tank Museum
– Tank Museum California
– Tank Museum Bovington
– Tank Museum Maryland
– German Tank Museum Munster
– Tank Restoration
Where do I find a person to
interview?
 University
 http://www.rice.edu/
 http://natsci.rice.edu/
Where do I find a person to
interview?
 Teacher or school personnel
– Teacher worked at NASA
– Teacher worked at Medical Center
– Teacher who has outside interests
– Relative who was in the military
– Neighbor who has an interesting job
– Parents who know people 
Narrowing the Focus
 History Day projects should be specific
rather than general.
 It is difficult to engage in quality analysis
if the focus is too broad.
 Students should choose a topic that
interests them, but that they do not already
have a great deal of knowledge about.
Placing the Topic into Context
 Once a focused topic had been chosen,
students should then work on placing the
topic into a national and/or global context.
 This promotes in-depth analysis of the
topic.
Research (Cont.)
 Resources for Research:
– County Libraries
– University Libraries
– University Professors, or Other Experts on the
Topic
– Internet
Bibliography
 Quality over quantity.
 Having a wide variety of sources is best.
 Not all internet sources, VARIETY! 
 Use the MLA format when creating a
bibliography.
Bibliography (Cont.)
 The bibliography needs to be separated between
primary and secondary sources.
 The bibliography also needs to be annotated.
 The annotations for each source explains to the
reader the importance of that source to the project
as a whole.
You Be The Judge
Campus Contest
 Several projects from each category make
it to the “Campus Finals.”
 As of now, 3 projects from each category
make it from Campus Finals to District
Competition
NHD 08-09 Building/
Campus
Competition
Teacher
Name
Project
Title
Student(s)
Name(s)
Bassett,
Damien
Carter, Judy
Category
History Day:
A Meaningful Way to Learn
History and Social Studies Skills
Program Description
National History Day
 Focus on all history
 Project Based
 Awards are available
for quality research
 For 6th-12th
What does NHD look like?
Websites
 http://42758196.nhd.weebly.com
2010 – THD 1st place winner from FBISD
 http://41129682.nhd.weebly.com
2011 – THD 1st place winner from FBISD
 http://www.nhd.org/studentsites.htm
2011 – NHD entries in all categories
Performances
 http://www.tshaonline.org/education/stude
nts/texas-history-day/1221
2008 – Trent Butler’s Project
How does the competition
work?
National History Day
University of MD
June 14-18, 2009
National History
Day
 Levels of
Competition
Territory
Competitions
Texas History Day
Austin
May 8-9, 2009
State Contests
47 other states
Regional Contests
Feb-Mar
Fort Bend Regional
Competition
February 21, 2009
Regional Contests
Feb-Mar
NHD Project
Due January 21, 2009
Building Fair Week of
January 26th
Additional Resources
 Colleagues/Teachers
 http://teacherweb.com/TX/SartartiaMiddleSchool/MsW
 Librarians
 Historical Societies and Sites
 Archives and Archivists
 Subject Matter Experts