History Fair Research Overview

1. FIRST THINGS FIRST… • The first decisions you need to make are… • Will I work alone or with a group? • What category will I work in? • What topic will I choose? • And, what direction will I take my research? • DUE Friday, Aug. 24 History Fair Research Overview

2. It is highly recommended that you work alone—solo—by yourself on this project. Get the message? Group projects rarely turn out well for all concerned. • I must have the signed parent approval form by Friday, Aug. 24. You can download the form from my website www.ahlandon.wordpress.com on NHD resources. • No signed form—No group. • There are five categories that you can choose to work in: • Paper • Exhibit • Website • Performance • Documentary Contrary to popular belief, the paper category is the easiest of the five categories to work in. TRUST ME! I’ve been doing this a long time.

3. TOPICS—Timeline Assignment 1 • NHD sample topics • Do yourself a favor and choose something from this extensive list. Nobody knows history like NHD. These topics are easily researched and documented. • It’s a sure bet that you will not know anything about many of the topics on the list. Before you decide, go over the list with family and friends. You never know what relatives or friends have had experiences or connections relating to topics on the list that you know nothing about. Using them as a resource would make your work much more interesting. • Also, pick out a few topics you have never heard of and check them out. It might lead you in a direction you never thought of and a great project. • Once you have chosen a topic, now you must choose at least four sub-topics to guide your research. For example, America’s expansion west is a huge topic. Are you interested in the movement of the Native American, Americans, immigrants, transportation, plants, animals, ideas, religion, culture, etc. Narrow your focus down to at least four areas of interest before beginning to take notes. • To help you target the main areas of interest are…the essential questions.

4. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS • Your work will be a thousand times easier if you keep these questions at your side and refer to them constantly as a guide for everything—research, note taking, and writing. • Ask yourself the following essential questions about your topic: • How or why is it important? • How was it significant in history? • How did it develop over time? • How did it influence history? • How did events (social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of my topic’s time period) influence my topic in history? • Your interpretation of the historical significance of your topic should be based on research and supported by evidence. Always examine your topic for the short-term consequences and the long-term change. • You will find the essential questions on your timeline for quick reference and on my website www.ahlandon.wordpress.com under NHD resources.

5. DUE Friday, Aug. 24… • Parent permission form for group project, if it applies to you. • Timeline Assignment 1 • Choose topic for teacher approval • Choose four areas of that your research is based on and interest that relate back to the essential questions. • A pack of notecards ready to go to work. DON’T BE…

6. RESEARCH—Timeline Assignment 2 • Research must be BALANCED… • There are two areas of balance to address when doing any kind of research. • One, is my work balancedbetween research categories such as, websites, books, articles, interviews, timelines, maps, film etc. or is the majority from on area. • If all or most of your sources are internet based, your research is not balanced and your grade will suffer. • But, balance also refers to authors perspective. • Good research should reflect all sides of the issue—positive and negative. As the author of your project, your purpose is to inform the reader about your topic • in a balanced and unbiased way. That means telling both sides of the issue or covering the different points of view.

7. Let’s use the example of America’s movement westward again. If you only research and write about the economic opportunities for land, and fortunes to be made in the gold rush, your paper would not be balanced. It would be accurate, but you are only telling one side of the story. What about the effects of the economic boom on the Native Americans? And, what did America’s prosperity have to do with the conflicts and wars with the Indians? So, you see there are always two sides to every issue and as a responsible writer you must inform your readers about them all. I’ve only talked about the white mans experience. Oops! Toomany websites.

8. PLAGIARISM • Plagiarism is the use of other people’s words and ideas without an explanation of where these words and ideas came from. It is dishonest. Here are some ways to avoid plagiarizing: • Summarize and paraphrase when taking notes • Use several sources • Put your sources away when you draft, and use only your note cards. • Be sure to identify each paraphrase, summary, and quote on your note card. • Put quotation marks around someone’s exact words. • If you use specific phrases that someone else wrote, you must credit the source (Example: fortunate peasant). • CONSEQUENSES OF PLAGIARIZING • Using someone else’s work is CHEATING. You are misrepresenting your knowledge of a subject and/or your ability to demonstrate your understanding of that subject. This is a serious offense and is treated as such as you get older. You could loose your job or get expelled from school leaving a permanent mark on your records for the future. It could jeopardize getting into the college of your choice or getting that job you have dreamed of. The consequences in middle school are less severe. If you plagiarize on your project, you will receive an “F” and an opportunity to recycle within a designated time frame. NO DISCUSSION.

9. How to Recognize Plagiarism • We are going to read some examples provided by Indiana University School of Education of text and how students used that information in their papers. We’ll see what they did wrong and learn from their mistakes. • There are two kinds of plagiarism • word-for-word plagiarism • A word-for-word plagiarism is one in which the writer directly quotes a passage or passages from an author's work without the use of proper quotation marks. • paraphrasing plagiarism • A paraphrased must be cited. You cite a paraphrased example as you would a word-for-word quote. Paraphrasing is a condensed version of another author's work, or putting the author's words into your own words. • Let’s see if we can recognize how and why the student work is considered plagiarized by reading through some of the examples. • Pay attention! You will be TESTED on you understanding of the concepts. Now go to https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/examples.html and follow along.