Doing Research: The National History Day Way

1. Doing Research: The National History Day Way

2. 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

3. Categories • Documentary • Exhibit • Paper (individual only) • Performance • Web site Students may work in groups for performance, exhibit, website, and documentary (up to 5 students)

4. 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.

5. History Day Rubric

6. 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.

7. 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

8. Selecting a Topic • Students should choose a topic that… • INTERESTSthem • 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

9. 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.

10. 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 American Revolution 1776-1783 War of 1812 1812 Civil War 1861-1865 World War I 1914-1920

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. Primary Sources Primary 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

15. Sources for Primary Materials Internet Sources: Compilation 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 • 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

16. 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

17. 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?

18. 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.