Doing Research: The National History Day Way
Jan 05, 2016
Doing Research: The National History Day Way
Review of NHD• Project-based• Appeals to various learning styles• Can be incorporated into class• Teaches history core content (primary sources,
secondary sources, timelines, and artifacts are used to interpret history and historical perspective)
• Teaches literacy• Teaches creativity, problem-solving, analysis,
critical thinking
Categories• Documentary• Exhibit• Paper (individual only)
• Performance• Web site
Students may work in groups for performance, exhibit, website, and documentary (up to 5 students)
History Day Project• It is not a book report• Students will have to think about their
topics, ask questions, find answers, and develop their own conclusions.
History Day Rubric
Research
• Explain research to students– It is natural and all humans are curious.
Tell students that they will become detectives and search for clues and then share their knowledge.
– Activity: Have students research about an athlete they like or a band they like.
Getting Organized for Research
• Students will need a way to manage their paperwork– Pocket folders, Binders,
Accordion folders• Students will need to pick a
note-taking system– Note cards, Looseleaf
paper, Spiral notebook, Computer files
Selecting a Topic
• Students should choose a topic that…– INTERESTS them– Relates to the THEME– Has a NARROWED FOCUS
– Topic Activity: • Give students a current newspaper. Ask them to choose
articles that they think relates to the current theme. It will help them see what kinds of topics are out there.
– Common Mistakes!• Topic is too broad, too recent, and too complex
Background Reading
• Have students begin with secondary sources (have them read only books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and articles for two weeks and NO INTERNET!)
• Tell them to read as much as they can. They are detectives gathering information. Tell them to cast a wide net and read as much as they can about their topic.
Historical Context
• Topic needs to be narrow, but students still need to touch on historical context.
– Activity: Have students do a timeline of historical events before and after their topic to illustrate context
Civil War1861-1865
American Revolution1776-1783
War of 18121812
World War I1914-1920
Gathering and Recording Information
• Where should students go to do research?– Libraries (school, public, and
University) TIP: Ask the reference librarians for help!
– Historical societies and/or museums. Come to KHS!
– Contact college professors– Archival Collections at
organizations (i.e. corporations, YMCA, etc.)
• Have students use source sheets to help them organize their sources.
Identifying, Analyzing, and Interpreting Sources
• Discuss the difference between primary and secondary sources. Use identification and analysis worksheets for primary sources.
–Activity: Provide students with an assortment of different primary and secondary sources at different stations in the classroom. Ask students to work with a partner to identify each source, using the worksheet.
Secondary Sources
Secondary sources are not created first-hand.
• History Textbook• Encyclopedias • Books or articles written
by scholars about a topic• Oral interviews with
scholars.
Primary SourcesPrimary sources are materials directly
related to a topic by time or participation. – Letters– Speeches– Diaries– Newspaper or magazine articles from the
time– Oral History Interviews– Manuscripts/Paper collections– Songs and Hymns– Photographs and artifacts– Court Proceedings– Government records, including census
data
Sources for Primary MaterialsCompilation
Books:• Eyewitness to
America: 500 Years of American History in the Words of Those Who Saw it Happen by David Colbert
• Living History America: The History of the United States in Documents, Essays, Letters, Songs and Poems
Internet Sources:•Kentucky Historical Society: http://history.ky.gov/ •National Archives: www.archives.gov•Digital Classroom (on NARA Web site): http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html •Library of Congress, American Memory Web site: http://memory.loc.gov•History Matters: http://historymatters.gmu.edu•University of Idaho listing of repositories: http://www.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html•Listing of Primary Source Material Web sites: http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/pages/listdocumentpa.html•Gilder-Lehrman: http://www.gilderlehrman.org/•Our Documents: http://www.ourdocuments.gov •Digital History: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/•US Historical Documents: http://www.law.ou.edu/hist/•Ad Access: http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/•United States Holocaust Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/•Kentucky Virtual Library: http://kyvl.org•ABC-CLIO (this one isn’t free): http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/login.aspx
Developing, Improving and Finalizing a History Day Project
• Students should choose the best category for them (although some topics may lend themselves better to certain categories)
• All categories (except the paper) require a process paper.
• All categories require an annotated bibilography• All projects can be improved between contests
Developing a Thesis• NHD projects make a point about a topic.
A thesis statement makes an argument about the historical impact of the person, event, pattern, or idea you are studying. Often, it answers historical questions.
• Questions like:– Why is my topic significant? – Has my topic influenced anything else of
historical importance? – What changed as a result of my topic?– What causes led up to my topic?
Annotated Bibliography
• All History Day projects require an annotated bibliography
• Example:Banker, Grace. “I was a ‘Hello Girl’.
Yankee Magazine, March 1974.– This article is an almost diary-like look at
the day by day events of life in France. This was one of my first sources and it gave me a clear picture of what France looked like to the girls at the time of their service.